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Writer Michelle Hampson (right) tries out some new moves. (Nick Pearce Photo)

Even after sparring with countless other people who are much more advanced than I am, I was not prepared for Leigh Horne鈥檚 speed. His hand shot through mine and stopped centimetres before my face. That hand was gone before I blinked.

My delayed block made me feel like a sluggish cat swatting at the air.

He told me to try to block his hand again, but this time I was to follow his advice.

When my hand stopped his, I have to admit I was extremely rattled. I barely had to do anything to stop his hand, and yet before I took his advice, I was concentrating all of my efforts into blocking his lightning-fast hand.

Leigh Horne, a traffic officer with Dalhousie鈥檚 Security Services, teaches the free self-defence course for women. I would not suggest ever messing with him.

When the folks at the Women鈥檚 Centre heard about the class, they helped promote it and mobilized more women to participate.

Mr. Horne, 53, says the self-defence class is like an insurance policy for women, giving them a-just-in-case 鈥渟trategy to stay safe.鈥�

The difficult part? Getting through all the material in three hours.

The class starts off by exploring pressure points. Sure, it鈥檚 the more painful part of the class, but it鈥檚 also very interesting and funny. There鈥檚 a constant stream of聽 鈥渙w鈥檚鈥� as the participants find their pressure points.

If you have ever had one of your pressure points hit, you know how effective they can be. Mr. Horne told the class that there are 366 pressure points on the human body, 188 of which are used for fighting. He showed the class about 10 good ones for self defence.

From there we were taught how to easily stop someone from grabbing and choking us. In general, there seemed to be little difficulty in learning the moves.

鈥淚 appreciated the evening. I will definitely take it and use it wisely,鈥� said participant Sandie Smith.

Another woman, Jennifer Shaw, said she found the class useful, but that she want to take it again just to make sure she鈥檚 absorbed all the information.

I agree: A lot of material was covered in the three hours, and some of the ways to escape chokes could be complicated if you are under pressure. With kick boxing, I prefer the moves that I know extremely well and am comfortable with. When I鈥檓 not comfortable with a move, I tend to shy away from it.

Deborah Kiceniuk has assisted Mr. Horne in teaching this class since September. She recommends self defence courses. 鈥淚t could save your life one day,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f we can save one woman, I think we did our job.鈥�

This self-defence course is usually taught on the last Tuesday of every month, and continues through the summer. The next class is being held Tuesday, May 19 in the Cameron Dining Hall. Interested? E-mail leigh.horne@dal.ca if you want to participate.