The Striking Hatters Combat the Great Self-Defense Myth

Athena: Goddess of warfare and strategic battle

Michaela Hawthorne (left) participates in a Striking Hatters self-defense class.

I always felt intimidated as a woman to train for self-defense. I had accepted a life where I would walk down dark streets on trepid alert, mace and a safety alarm equipped in my bag. I always wanted to learn to fight but I grew up in an early 2000s world where the representation of strong female fighters was mostly fictional and overly sexualized. The girls I knew who trained in self-defense sports, like wrestling or karate, were such a rarity that I worshipped them as akin to the goddess Athena. Now, there are obviously many reasons I knew more boys than girls growing up who practiced fighting and none of that had to do with the girls’ abilities. It’s 2025 and I am here to throw the binary myth that women cannot fight out the window!

When classes began in August, I was greeted in the Hollis Center’s fitness studio by Karah Evan ‘27, a double black belt with over 10 years of self-defense experience. She is trained in both the Kenpo and Isshin-ryū disciplines. Kenpo is a Chinese ‘fist method’ known for its speed and fluidity, while Isshin-ryū, originating in Okinawa, Japan, is typically perceived as more direct and forceful. 

In my later interview with Evan in the CUB cafe I learned that it is her first semester at Stetson. She volunteered to teach a self-defense class after she learned of the Wellness and Rec. staff’s intentions to begin classes in that vein. 

Evan described the class as a beginner-friendly class for all genders, but the teachings are catered specifically to women, who are more likely to find themselves in a situation in which an attacker is larger than they are. “You have to anticipate it happening. You never want to go through life like, ‘Oh, I'm invincible, whatever.’ You always want to be prepared that something could happen. Hope for the best, you know, prepare for the worst,” Evan said. 

The purse-clutching college commuter in me really resonated with that idea. During the first class session, I felt hopeful as I learned how to properly perform punches and kicks, focusing on technicalities like guarding myself and balancing my weight. Alongside me were students like Jennifer Bentley, an exchange student from Germany working on her master’s degree. “So everybody told me that America’s very dangerous, and there are so many crazy people around. That’s why I thought ‘I wanna be safe here’. That’s why I’m attending this course,” Bentley said in our later interview. 

Also joining me on this journey was Alex Barnett ‘26. Though a fellow newcomer to self-defense, “The movements aren’t as hard as I thought they’d be. They’re a little complicated but I’m sure they feel strong. So, I think that they’ll be very helpful,” Barnett said. “Being able to do it with a group of people I really like is empowering because it feels like I’m not being judged at all.”

I would have to agree on Barnett’s sentiment of empowerment. Performing my first delayed sword combination, I felt a jolt through my body. Not to be dramatic but Evan was my Athena and I was one of the ten soldiers in that studio training for the Trojan War. 

Through my conversation with Evan, I learned that self-defense is powerful not just as a killer combination, but as a mentality. They define self defense as “not being a victim, honestly. I think that is the best way to put that. I mean, if you are able to make it out and you might be injured, that's fine. You can heal from that. But if you make it out with your life, I think that's pretty effective,” said Evan.

Though this class is motivated by a serious subject matter, Bentley noted a simple joy that arises during class time. “It’s great. I think it’s fun. I met amazing people…what else can I say?” Bentley said. 

For anyone nervous to join, Evan advises a mentality shift. “Honestly, just alter-ego it. Just pretend you're someone else, in a way. This one personality that I have is going to be confident, it's going to not fear anything. Like you got this and it's an hour, you know, it's an hour out of your life. In the grand scheme of things, if you mess up, who cares?” Evan said.

And mess up I did. Especially when learning the attacking mace combination – it was easy to fumble a punch or forget to block my ribs. But in the long run, I know I will remember my commanding skills over my occasional fumbles. Maybe one day I will even look in the mirror and see myself as one of those goddesses I always dreamed of being.