In a nearly 70-year-old building, women from around the Capital City honed their punching skills and chokeholds Thursday night.The Baton Rouge Police Department hosted the second of a free four-part self-defense class in the Police Academy gym. The classes are part of three sessions offered throughout the winter.BRPD Sgt. Carl Dabadie, the primary instructor of the classes, said the classes are designed to teach women to “escape and survive” any violent encounter. “It’s part of our duty as a public servant [to teach the classes],” he said. “We feel that teaching women to defend themselves is part of our duty.”Women should travel in groups and trust their instincts, Dabadie said.”If something doesn’t feel right, then it’s probably not right,” he said.Carol Plummer, University social work professor, said young women should be constantly aware of their environment because of “the whole idea of just being independent for the first time.””You’ve moved into a new arena, and you can mistakenly think that it’s equivalent to or exactly the same, in terms of safety, as your home territory,” she said. Plummer said that while self-defense classes are shrouded in controversy, self-defense can be the best approach when all other defenses fail.”It’s a way to make women recognize that there are certain inherent dangers and to feel as though they are strong in their body and also aware of what they can do,” she said. “Women gain confidence [from classes] and, in some ways, confidence puts you on better footing if you’re in     potentially dangerous situations … They’d much rather find someone who is helpless, defensive, passive.”Women in the class ranged in age from 16 to nearly 50.”I think every lady should have some source of self defense for confidence just to know what to be aware of and what to look for in order to be safe [and] to be able to defend themselves to the point of just surviving,” said Karen Cameron, 47-year-old Baton Rouge resident.Katie Walsh, a 2006 alumna, was a student at the University when the city was at the height of panic because of serial killer Derrick Todd Lee.Walsh said she always planned to take self-defense classes because of the experience.Lucie Morvant, Louisiana state director with Rape Aggression Defense Systems, said the classes hosted by R.A.D. — normally with 30 women enrolled — had enrollments up to 50 during the hunt for Lee. Morvant stressed the importance of classes for college-aged women.”You’re out going to night classes – you’re out socializing: I can’t stress the importance of it enough,” she said.R.A.D. Systems classes are offered nearly year-round.Dabadie said the first class was primarily a lecture class, the second class taught women proper stance and how to hit punching bags, the third class will teach chokeholds and the final class will teach women how to escape from underneath an attacker.”Each time we go, it gets more and more physically demanding,” he said. The first session of classes will end Thursday. The second session is scheduled on Nov. 4 and ends Nov. 13. The third and final session of the season is scheduled to begin Nov. 18 and end Dec. 2. —-Contact Lindsey Meaux at [email protected]