Self-defense club is a new club at Stillwater Area High School that was formed so students could learn to defend themselves. The club was formed by seniors who wanted to learn ways to defend themselves.

“I thought it would be cool to do some more practical self-defense because I’m going to the University of Minnesota next year and for students who are living on campus it is getting more and more dangerous so it might be good to prepare for it, and it’s been really fun,” said senior Natasha Pilacinski.

Many organizations teach the art of self-defense, such as martial arts, but this club is different.

“The main difference between Asian Martial Arts and Krav-Maga, which was founded in World War II by the Jewish People, is in terms of the principles. In Krav-Maga, there are no rules like there are in martial arts. It’s all about saving your life and getting out of dangerous situations quickly and effectively as possible,” Pilacinski said.

Krav-Maga is the self-defense principle that is taught in Valley Self Defense, trending today as a way of life to give confidence and personal safety instruction.

“The club absolutely gives me so much self-confidence since a lot of us are graduating next year or this year and when I go to college I want to be safe,” said senior Gabby Murer.

Self-defense is about confidence and feeling safe in the world.

“One of my friends, Natasha, went to the Krav-Maga classes and she loved it, so then she got me involved with it. I really liked it and then we got Gabby involved with it.  We wanted to get our other friends involved but they didn’t have time or the money to pay, so then Natasha started up the club and we helped her do it,” said senior Anna Kobilka.

Having an affordable, easy club for everyone is exactly what the girls had in mind while founding this club.

“We practice self-defense for situations like being in a head lock, or if someone points a gun at you and a threatens you. We will learn to defend ourselves against multiple attackers because the instructors always say, ‘the bad guys never travel alone,'” Kobilka said.

Participants are having a good experience; that gives the founders and members a sense of confidence, knowing they will be safer.

“It’s really interactive and you learn lots of stuff and I’ve met lots of friends in there. It’s a good way to let off steam and get out all of your rage,” Murer said.

The club has lots of juniors and seniors, but the club is still looking for more members. Everyone is welcome to join.

“The purpose of the club is to learn how to protect themselves because there’s a lot of nasty people out there,” Murer said. That supports the purpose of why self-defense is important and good to be taught. It is as follows, “one can walk with peace”, and is really the purpose of teaching self-defense.

“It’s really interactive and you learn lots of stuff. I’ve met lots of friends in there and it’s a good way to get out all your rage! I’ve been doing both the club and classes for a while and it’s so fun, I love it! Everyone loves the club, and I founded it but I couldn’t have done it without Anna and Gabby, and all the members and instructors,” Pilacinski said. The club meets every Tuesday after school and the Valley Self Defense classes meet Monday through Thursday at 6 p.m., open for every student because everyone has the right to walk with peace and confidence.