Features Reporter
Photo by Kenny Coles
Aleksandr Kolpakov, a tall Russian man dressed in camouflage pants and a black t-shirt, entered and flipped on the lights as I sat alone in the dark exercise studio Saturday evening. He was followed by his assistant, CMU student Natalie Bagnard, who set up five large blue mats into a giant square in the middle of the room. When time came for the class to begin, no one else arrived. Lucky me, I got a private lesson in self-defense.
“Every sentient being deserves the right to protect themselves,” Instructor Kolpakov said. “Here, we will provide the tools for you to do so.”
Kolpakov was born and raised in Russia, then traveled with the Peace Corps to several countries where martial arts played a prominent cultural role. After learning many different styles of martial arts, he received dual citizenship with the United States and joined the U.S. military. It was there he learned to combine them all.
The first things I learned were hitting Bagnard with the palms of my hand and kneeing Kolpakov in the face. They protected themselves with a big red cushion.
“Of course, we do not condone violence,” Kolpakov said. “This is about preventing violence from happening to innocent and good people, essentially.”
One of my toughest lessons came when Bagnard pinned me to the wall by my throat. They taught me to lift my arm over the attackers’ hands and knock them away to escape. I knew I was in a safe environment with people on treadmills watching through the windows and two friendly instructors standing by my side, but I couldn’t help but feel a little scared. My adrenal glands spent the rest of the night pumping out the chemicals to keep me on high alert.
“It is important to take the time to reconcile your philosophy concerning violence,” Kolpakov said. “It is your priority to survive. You can learn the techniques, but if you can’t mentally implement them, they are no good to you.”
I took a few deep breaths, and by the end of the two-hour class, I felt just a little bit stronger and more powerful. Of course, I would need much more practice to perfect the skills that I learned and learn new ones.
“If you keep coming to class, you keep practicing,” Bagnard said. “It is also good because you use your whole body instead of just parts on a machine.”
The class borrowed from the striking techniques of Muay Thai, grappling from Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the survival mentality of Israeli Krav Maga. With all of those different Martial Arts coming together, the self-defense class is not just for women.
“It is military-grade defense,” Kolpakov said. “I think a lot of times when males hear self-defense, they think it is soft somehow. It is for all genders and all physical abilities, although it does help to be physically fit.”
The class is available for free for CMU students in the Maverick Center on Wednesday nights from 8-9:30 p.m. and Saturday evenings from 6-8 p.m.
akmaddox@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
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