The MTSU Police Department is adding more free sessions of its practical self-defense course this fall to help women throughout the campus community boost their safety and self-confidence.

The first series of the Rape Aggression Defense, or RAD, basic course is set for Tuesdays from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. beginning Sept. 3 for five weeks, ending Oct. 1.

The second RAD basic course series is planned on Mondays beginning Oct. 21 for five weeks, ending Nov. 18. That class will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. each session.

MTSU’s police department began offering the RAD self-defense course to the campus community in 2003. Since then, hundreds of women have learned its practical safety techniques.

MTSU’s nationally certified instructors teach participants in the introductory RAD course about awareness, prevention, risk reduction and risk avoidance as well as options to analyze situations and choose what may work best to help them escape, resist and survive an assault. Class members learn helpful verbal skills and get hands-on training in basic defense and counteracting assaults by both strangers and acquaintances.

This fall’s free RAD classes are open to all female MTSU students, faculty and staff and to the public.

More class details are available here. Participants also can register directly here.

Organizers say RAD class members must attend all five course sessions to complete their training because new material is introduced in each class. Instructors will provide more class information when students register.

Class size is limited and there’s always a waiting list, so the MTSU Police Department is encouraging participants to enroll as soon as possible.

The Rape Aggression Defense System, a comprehensive program of realistic defense tactics and techniques, is designed for women age 13 and older with no previous experience or background in physical skills training. Instructors also can accommodate any participant’s disabilities.

A preview of the class is available in a video from the national RAD website at http://ow.ly/JNKr30oweyi. (Note: The video depicts examples of aggressive behavior for training purposes, as well as self-defense tactics.)

For more information about MTSU’s RAD classes, email rad@mtsu.edu.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)

A Rape Aggression Defense Systems instructor, wearing red protective gear, tangles with a student during a RAD course at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, in this file photo. The MTSU Police Department is teaching basic RAD courses this fall for the campus community beginning Tuesday, Sept. 3, and Monday, Oct. 21. (U.S. Air Force photo courtesy of Airman First Class David Bulkley/Luke AFB)