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“Overcoming obstacles, overcoming fear … if you can overcome that part of yourself and manifest courage and become strong, that applies to everything in life,” said Matthew Kane.

Matthew Kane, teaching in the MACC Annex. Photo and header photo by Bob Christy, senior photography coordinator, University Communications and Marketing 

Kane is a graduate of ������’s master’s program in sports management and owner/founder of Paragon Martial Arts and Fitness in Tallmadge, Ohio. He’s also an adjunct professor in Kent State’s School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies within the university's College of Education Health and Human Services. Kane recently led a literal “hands-on” final exam with the students in one of the self-defense classes he teaches at Kent State.

Photo by Bob Christy, senior photography coordinator, University Communications and Marketing 

This one-credit-hour course is designed for students with little or no martial arts or self-defense training. Physical, verbal and mental defensive techniques, tactics and strategies are taught to prepare students for any potentially dangerous situation they may encounter.

Photo by Bob Christy, senior photography coordinator, University Communications and Marketing 

In the final exam, Kane and two of his associates from Paragon Martial Arts and Fitness don protective gear and take turns playing the “bad guy” in different scenarios designed to test the students on what they have learned in the class. Each student is tested with four scenarios, which can include someone throwing a punch at them, getting them in a “bear hug” from behind, unwanted, aggressive advances, a kidnap attempt, a knife attack or a holdup at gunpoint.

Photo by Bob Christy, senior photography coordinator, University Communications and Marketing 

Choosing Safety

Kane’s students are taught that some situations are best resolved not with physical defense, but mental and verbal defense. In several of the test scenarios, the students resolved the conflict simply by “talking down” the “bad guy,” and keeping a safe distance from them. In scenarios where the “bad guy” had a (rubber) gun and was going to rob them, students gave them what they wanted to end the interaction peacefully, without injury. However, in the scenario in which the person with the gun had intent to kidnap the student, the student’s response was to use their training to fight back and get away.

Kane said he talks to his students about “choosing safety,” and what he calls “The Three I’s: Instinct, Intuition and Intelligence.”

Beating the “Bad Guys” to Be Your Best

Students in the class fared well against “the bad guys” and gave excellent demonstrations of the things they had learned from Kane. They handily defended themselves against physical attacks and demonstrated exceptional skill in de-escalating and defusing verbal attacks that could have easily become physical.

Photo by Bob Christy, senior photography coordinator, University Communications and Marketing 

“It’s more than just learning how to kick and punch and knee a bad guy in the groin,” said Kane. “It’s really about becoming the best version of themselves, and that’s the main value of their self-defense class here.”

Kane offers a  to all Kent State students who would like to take classes at .