Library holds self-defense night
By JESSICA ALLEN Staff writer
Kathy Hart of Duvall’s Academy of Martial Arts coaches students in basic self-defense techniques during the library’s self-defense night.
Tucked behind the numerous shelves of books at the Maryville Public Library on Wednesday evening, a group of people, all ages and sizes, was doing anything but reading.
As part of the library’s summer programming, Young Adult Librarian Kelsey Noble organized a self-defense class taught by David Duvall of Duvall’s Academy of Martial Arts.
Duvall was joined by Kathy Hart and several martial arts students to help teach and demonstrate basic defense techniques.
Duvall teaches the Korean art of hapkido, which translates to “the art of coordinated power.” He describes the defensive art as “mellow, but devastating.”
“If someone attacks us, we respond to that attack and take control,” Duvall said. “We don’t start fights, but we finish them really well.”
Hapkido involves using attackers’ energy against them, meaning smaller people can defend themselves against someone much larger.
“One of the best descriptions I’ve ever heard (of hapkido) is that my energy and my opponent’s energy are united,” Duvall said. “We don’t rob them of power, we rob them of control.”
The library’s event was open to students in fifth through 12th grade, and focused on simple techniques of defense and escape.
“We want to show them some basic self-defense techniques that are intuitive and something anyone can do,” Hart said.
Duvall began by explaining the art of hapkido and how it can teach people to overcome fear and pain. He said that if a person learns to become calm during an attack, he or she is able to easily recall details of the attacker, making it more likely that police will catch the perpetrator.
“The world is not a friendly place,” he told the students. “We always say to train like your life depends on it, because it just might.”
After demonstrating to the students how to center themselves—feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent—he showed them how to first escape the grasp of an attacker, and then how to use their knees and elbows to strike back.
Once you are free from an attacker, Duvall continued, don’t just run. Criminals often know the area better than their victims, so it’s important to run toward a place that is well lit or where there is a crowd present.
He added that yelling, “fire” as opposed to “help” will usually garner more attention.
Duvall has taught self-defense classes all over town and believes that men, women, and children of any age can benefit from learning to defend themselves.
By JESSICA ALLEN Staff writer
David Duvall demonstrates how to use an opponent’s energy against him to break free from a two-hand grip during the Maryville Public Library’s self-defense night Wednesday. Duvall teaches the Korean defensive art of hapkido at his martial arts studio in Maryville.
