Every 15 seconds, a woman in the United States is attacked and for every 1000 women in college, 35 will become victims of rape in the course of the school year according to a Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor during a demonstration on American River College campus Tuesday.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu is an offshoot of the Japanese martial art jiu-jitsu, which is very similar to wrestling.

The instructors who presented the instruction, Elizandro Beda and his wife, Brandy Beda, said  jiu-jitsu is about using the leverage of your body and that strength, fitness level, or a disability will not enable you from protecting yourself from attack.

Elizandro is originally from Brazil where he says 15 women are attacked each second. “In Brazil, self defense is a lifestyle” he said.

“Jiu-jitsu is a good self defense, you don’t need to punch nobody or kick nobody…just protect yourself,” said Elizandro.

The idea to start doing presentations on jiu-jitsu began for the Beda’s after an El Dorado Hills woman was shot and killed for her car keys, and Folsom preteen Ronin Shimizu committed suicide after being bullied for being a male cheerleader.

With these incidences happening so close to their gym in Folsom, they felt it was necessary to get the word out about how to defend oneself from such attacks.

An ARC student was robbed at gunpoint on the Arcade Creek trail that is adjacent to the campus, and two sexaul assault attempts as well.

Less than 10 people, male and female were present, but Brandy insisted that they had the most interactive presentation at the ARC campus.

“I’ve been in danger many times with bullies and when my words arent enough and they try to punch me I have to fight back,” said Taylor Ogata, a communications major who attended.

The presentation covered many different attack situations such as what to do if someone chokes one from behind, if someone pulls one’s hair while attacking, if someone has mounted and is choking someone,  if one has been pushed to the ground or if someone has grabbed one’s arm to take them.

“Having a disability doesn’t affect you. I have a friend who is blind and I have also known an amputee who does jiu-jitsu,” said Elizandro.

Vee Arroyo, an attendee, raised her hand and requested that the Beda’s perform a scenario of what to do if someone is being choked from behind with a cord or belt.

Arroyo’s daughter, Monica Anderson, a former ARC student, was murdered after being strangled by a cord in her apartment and then stabbed 91 times by another women.

“I thought it (the presentation) was very informative, you got to build your confidence back because you kind of have PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) after something like that,” said Arroyo.

The Beda’s went into detail on two different ways for people to defend themselves in this situation and Brandy included that “as mothers our first instinct is to protect” and that the jiu-jitsu classes reinforce confidence.

Classes at Beda Brazilian jiu-jitsu are available for kids, women, and adults, and they are currently working on incorporating an executive class for the elderly and a once a month self defense class.

Kids classes range in price from $90 to $120, and are held three times a week, while womens classes are every Tuesday for $20 a class.