. . . that centers around trainers dressed in heavy foam for protection. The idea is for the students to whack away at the instructors until they succeed in calling forth the necessary skill to smash the smithereens out of their would-be assailant. It’s basically a psychological training class. for the timid.
Also, if any of you have gone through this class, I would be very interested in hearing your opinion of its effectiveness.
Thanks.
Are you referring to RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) Systems?
Do you mean Model Mugging?
Heard of it, never been.
A number of organizations use the padded suit model. Some of the affiliated groups still use model mugging in their name, others are chapters of Impact. Some individual schools and instructors also use the padded suits. The training is primarily for women, but there are also men’s courses and advanced-level coed courses. Specific programs vary, but in general the courses teach de-escalation and avoidance techniques (you don’t HAVE to respond to someone who says something stupid), and they also teach simple, very effective fighting techniques to use if talking and walking fail. (The eyes and groin are key targets.) The idea is that the padded suit allows you to use full-power kicks and blows against the mugger, who doesn’t stop his “assault” until you hit him hard enough that you would seriously injure an unprotected real attacker. The idea is also to teach you not to “freeze” in the face of someone threatening or actively attacking you.
Here are some links:
http://www.impactboston.com/
http://www.bamm.org/
http://www.dcimpact.org/
http://www.rmcat.com
All the links you provided pretty much hit the nail on the head. Thanks for your help, everyone.
Thanks especially to Reader99 for giving me the Boston link which is a quick T ride away.
(Just in case the whole “Boot to the head” thing doesn’t work out!)