By Olivia Jones for The Cord
On Wednesday Jan. 23, the first class of a five-week series of Wen-Do Women’s Self Defence was hosted for students on the Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo campus.
The Laurier Sexual Violence Education Action Group, in conjunction with the Wellness Education Centre, organized this sold-out series.
“It is a self-defence program that is a combination of mental self-defence as well as physical self-defence. We have discussions as well as physical practice. The discussions focus on awareness, as well as empowerment,” said Shailagh Keaney, the Wen-Do instructor and Laurier alum.
The name “Wen-Do” is a combination of the Japanese word “do” — meaning “way” — and a contraction of the word “women.” It translates to “women’s way.”
This course comes at a time in history where women, more than ever, are speaking up and speaking out, sharing their personal experiences of sexual violence and sexual assault.