HERE’S HOW—Former state police officer Jodie King shows Madison Kracht, a second-grader at Brookside Elementary School in Oak Park, how to be assertive if she feels threatened by an adult. SYLVIE BELMOND/Acorn Newspapers One night in January 2005, State Police Officer Jodie King responded to a disturbance at the California State University Channel Islands student housing complex in Camarillo.

When she arrived, a man attacked her and engaged her in a hand-to-hand combat. But even as she was hit hard on the head and sustained several injuries, the police officer fought to control her assailant.

The man refused to surrender and the officer fired a bullet into his waist. Although injured, the man kept fighting until another person came to King’s assistance. “It was one of those wonky calls. When he decided to go off the deep end, it was so quick that I didn’t have time to think. I just reacted,” King said.

AIM HERE—King uses a cut-out and a target to show vulnerable areas of the human body. SYLVIE BELMONDAcorn Newspapers Today, she teaches and lectures others about the fundamentals of self defense.

The Newbury Park resident began her career with the Santa Barbara Police and did a stint with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department prior to joining the state police. The officers can work anywhere in California for the state government. King, who had been teaching women’s self-defense for the agency since 2002, was assigned to protect the California State University at Channel Islands campus.

After retiring from the force in 2006, she founded The Women’s Self-Defense and Empowerment Group because she wanted to continue helping women and children.

She shows her students how they can defend themselves in a few simple steps.

“Elbows and legs are very powerful,” said King, as she showed nine girls in Oak Park’s Brownie Troop 60503 where attackers are most vulnerable.

The casual, yet convincing lesson took place last week on a lawn next to Brookside Elementary School.

Kelley Foster, co-leader of Troop 60503, said the information King provided to the Scouts will prove valuable.

“She is very knowledgeable and passionate to keep children safe,“ said Foster who hoped that King’s teachings would help her 8-year-old daughter, Samantha, to be more assertive in the event of a threat.

A strong showing

According to King, more than 70 percent of victims know who their attackers are.

“The principles we teach, are look, listen and feel. If it looks creepy, it is creepy. We teach them to pursue their inner feelings and if something does happen, tell someone,“ she said.

Since criminals look for victims who appear weak, King said women and children must strive to demonstrate poise when in a public setting.

“It takes about 5 to 30 seconds for someone to form a first opinion of you. So we only have 30 seconds to portray that we’re strong and not a target. Therefore we always have to have our head up, our shoulders back and pay attention,” she said.

“ If you’re hunched over and looking at your cell phone, you’re a target and that’s what they’re looking for.”

In addition to using coloring books to cover difficult topics with children in a non-threatening manner, King employs boxing pads and a series of exercises that allow kids to practice what they’ve learned.

Charlene Snibley, co-leader of Brownie Troop 60503, said one can never be too careful.

“The girls need to know about stranger awareness and how to protect themselves if they’re approached by someone,” Snibley said.

Snibley said the girls benefited from their time with King. “ She kept them engaged the entire time and the information was age-appropriate.”

Survival is a mindset

King said 90 percent of selfdefense is knowing what to do and how to react.

Her law enforcement experience exposed her to many different self-defense disciplines and techniques, allowing her to create a program applicable to women and children’s everyday lives.

Most people know what to do instinctively when threatened, but few act on it without coaching from an expert.

King travels to her clients’ locations so they can learn to be safe in their own environment. She also tailors her lesson to different ages and groups and makes sure they’re inclusive, yet brief.

“It’s all simple, you truly can learn how to save your life in two hours,” said King who also taught a home and personal safety class at a May 12 meeting of Mothers and More at the Westlake City Hall.

King reminded her students that the victims of crime should never give up.

During the fight six years ago at CSUCI, King knew she had suffered a bad head injury. She was in a great deal of pain, but the adrenaline rush and previous training enabled her to to save her own life.

“Ironically, I had been teaching women how to defend themselves, and the very skills I passed on to them saved my life,” she said regarding the fateful night.

King received the Medal of Merit from the Ventura County Peace Officer’s Association for putting her life on the line and protecting others during the Channel Islands incident.