I am writing this article to clear up a few misconceptions that were perpetuated in last week's "Staff Editorial: Male RAD class needs retooling."
RAD Systems, and the RAD for men program, was founded and developed by Larry Nadeau. Nadeau holds a 3rd degree Black Belt from the International Hapkido Karate Association (IHKA) and among many other things, is a nationally recognized police defensive tactics instructor.
Rape Aggression Defense Systems, Inc. and the RAD for Men program Instructors attempt to provide attendees with information, tactics, and considerations which we believe may be useful for various types of confrontational encounters perpetrated against men. The RAD for men program has been developed on the basis of research provided from a variety of self-defense experts. The RAD for men objective is "To provide responsible information and tactical options of self-defense for men who find themselves in confrontational situations." RAD for Men is founded on the same four basic principals as the RAD for women program: Risk Awareness, Risk Reduction, Risk Recognition, and Risk Avoidance. These principles are the basis for 90 percent of self-defense education. Similar to the female restrictions of RAD for Women, RAD for Men is a male only class. This is done for several reasons. Many men who enroll in RAD's basic program often do so because they feel vulnerable. Some of them are survivors of a previous assault, rape, or child abuse, and come to RAD seeking information that may help them in avoiding a recurrence of the assault they've already survived. The goal of RAD is to make the participants as comfortable as possible and having a member of the opposite sex in the same class can often interfere with that goal. In addition, assaults against men are generally very different than most assaults against women. When a male is assaulted he is usually more likely to face hand-striking assaults primarily targeted to the head. The goal orientation of "men attacking men" is very different from the goal orientation of men attacking women. Men who attack men are usually motivated by robbery or the damage they can afflict during the initial assault itself. Assaults against men are different than that of women, so the appropriate basics of their defense will without a doubt be different.
As with the RAD for Women program the RAD for Men program is composed of two basic components: an educational component and a physical/tactical component. The educational component help men recognize and avoid physical altercations as well as to recognize and dissect societal misperception of what a "real" man does. Unfortunately, our young men are inundated by our media with misconceptions and images of what is expected of them as men. Mainstream media gives them images of Clint Eastwoods, John Waynes and XXXs that suggest that a real man never backs down from a fight and never takes NO for an answer. If we take a step back we all know that these images are not realistic but how often do positive male role models take time to explain this? The education aspect of the RAD for Men program does just that and tries to set these young men on a better path of understanding their true role in our society. Things such as knowing how to understand that "no means no" and how backing down from a fight takes more strength and courage then participating in one. In the real world, it is very difficult for a male to walk away from a fight and not lose face. RAD for Men is a program which is very effective at teaching males how to walk away without feeling that they have done something wrong.
Finally, despite our best efforts, in some cases physical confrontation is unavoidable. This is where the tactical aspect of the RAD for men program takes over. The program teaches over 25 different and very effective physical defense techniques such as: blocks, hand strikes, elbow strikes, head butts, knee strikes and kicks. I have taken and taught many forms of martial arts and self-defense over the years and I have no hesitation in fully standing behind the RAD for Men program. I challenge the male members of the Eagle Editorial Staff to take this course and then offer a more informed opinion of the class. I encourage all the men of the AU community to enroll in Public Safety's new RAD for Men program. The first course will be provided on Jan. 26, 29, Feb. 2, and 5, on Mondays and Thursdays from 5-8p.m. in the SIS Lounge. Attendees must go to all four classes. If you or other male AU students are interested, please e-mail RAD@american.edu. Information in this article was taken from www.rad-systems.com and the RAD for men Instructor Manual 2005.
Sgt. Dale Booth Coordinator, Public Safety Administration
