Madison Police to offer a defense class for women
R.A.D students in action. (CONTRIBUTED)
By Aldo Amato
Staff Writer
MADISON – The Madison Police Department will be offering a class that empowers women and teaches them critical defense tactics May 6-10.
Detective Christie Gover of the Madison Police Department will be offering Rape Aggression Defense Training (RAD) for residents of Madison and surrounding areas.
Gover, who’s been with the department since 1999, said that the program has been fantastic since its inception in 2001.
“The response has been fantastic,” she said. “In fact this year we are a bit overwhelmed and at the moment, I have 40 people signed up. We try to accommodate everyone we can for the community. They really enjoy it and we have a lot of return students.”
The class is not exclusively to teach defense tactics. Gover said that it is also a therapy and healing tool for women who have been victims of domestic violence, rape and various other crimes.
“This is not a martial arts class,” she said. “We do incorporate martial arts tactics like using sticks, kicks and other moves. But this is also like a group therapy session. If they feel like they cannot talk to anyone else, they can talk to us.”
The voluntary course works on ground offense tactics and situations in which women may feel cornered.
“We do a lot of close quarter type of tactics,” Gover said. “We also stress where the most physical power comes from. Most of the time comes from the hip and waist.”
Gover said that women of all ages are welcome to the class and she has seen women from 80 to 90 years old attend.
“I have gotten phone calls from women who have avoided a situation using tactics that we taught,” she said. “They have been very appreciative of what we do.”
Gover added that the words “self-defense” could sound intimidating but said that it is anything but that and she would like to continue to help women in the community.
“Just try it,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if you’ve been through a situation before or not. Come and let us help you.”
To Register call Detective Christie Gover at (256) 772-5618 or email christie.gover@madisonal.gov or contact Lt. Wayne Kamus at (256)772-5658.
