AKA hosts self-defense workshop with Stanford Boxing Club 

“Jab, cross, uppercut, repeat” — all to the beat of Rhianna’s “Breakin’ Dishes” — made for a high-energy self-defense workshop at Roble Arts Gym Wednesday night. 

Organized by the members of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA)’s Xi Beta chapter in collaboration with the Stanford Boxing Club, the event, “Pretty Protected,” hoped to teach women to practice self-defense with confidence.

“It was a lot of fun, a lot of good energy,” said Nia Patton ’25, one of the coaches leading the session. “It was great to see so many people interested, whether it’s self-defense or boxing, whether they’re here to work out or to feel a little bit more confident as they’re going about their lives.”

Founded in 1908, AKA was the first Black Greek-letter sorority in the country. The Xi Beta Chapter was chartered at Stanford in 1981 and has been throwing events for the Stanford community ever since, according to vice president and event chair Noelle Ingram ’27.

“I really wanted to host a self-defense event to make knowledge of basic self-defense strategies more accessible to the girls on campus,” Ingram wrote to The Daily. She said she “knew of the Stanford Boxing Club and it seemed like a great group,” so she was excited for the opportunity for “both organizations to reach a broader audience.”

Ingram said she wanted Pretty Protected’s participants to leave the workshop feeling like they’d learned something — either about boxing or AKA.

“I’m hoping our attendees will walk away with new knowledge of basic boxing skills and feel a little more confident in their abilities to defend themselves,” she said. “I also hope they were able to learn a bit more about my sorority’s values as well as [those of] the Stanford Boxing Club while having fun.”

During the event, as the women practiced their fighting stances and one-two punching combinations, laughter and teamwork mingled with important guidance from the coaches.

“My biggest advice would be to use your opponent’s body weight against them,” said Nicholas “Nico” Aguirre ’26, co-president of the Stanford Boxing Club. “You know you want to fight smarter, not harder.” 

Aguirre’s tip stuck with many of the participants.

“It was helpful how they reiterated that if you’re being attacked, odds are someone is bigger and stronger than you, so your best bet is to use their body weight against them to get away,” Bryce Hunt ’29 said.

Aguirre and the other leads brought instruction to life by encouraging attendees to pair up and practice their footwork by trying to “tap” their partner’s shoulder without being touched themselves.

“My favorite part of the class was getting to practice with a partner. I feel like it made it so that I could envision the moves better,” Rayne Crenshaw ’28 said. 

Even those who had no experience with boxing said they found themselves enjoying the high spirits, uplifting atmosphere and strong sense of community that the Pretty Protected event offered. 

“It was overall a very fun, supportive environment to learn boxing and self-defense,” said Crenshaw.

The post AKA hosts self-defense workshop with Stanford Boxing Club  appeared first on The Stanford Daily.