EASTERN IOWA -- Iowa City has had more than 30 assaults on women since September 2006. Assaults near and on campuses nationwide have Cedar Rapids students looking for ways to protect themselves.

Students at Kirkwood Community College invited a martial arts instructor to campus Tuesday night. The skills he taught them might save their lives one day.

"I want to learn that I can actually stand my ground and be able to get away," student Emily Gaeta said.

A local Hapkido instructor spent about an hour and a half teaching a few basic ways to stop a violent assault.

Instructor Matt Rion said, "Self defense helps not only with physical self defense, but it helps with your self-confidence as well."

Students can't truly become confident until they practice these skills over and over again. The goal of this simple class is to get young adults interested in martial arts.

"I think knowing and having the confidence is a good thing," student Charlotte Uteg said.

Student Ali Carlson said, "I just wanted to have the determination and confidence if something ever happened in the Cedar Rapids area."

The students say they feel safe on the Kirkwood Campus. When they visit other schools, that sense of security isn't always there.

"A lot of people have friends who go to Iowa. So, they go to Iowa City on the weekends and they need to know how to defend themselves," student Natalie Niemeyer said.

Preparing for the unexpected takes hours, weeks, months...even years of training.

Now, the students must decide whether to take this knowledge and build on it or just let it drop.

The University of Iowa has hosted a variety of similar sessions on campus....including one Tuesday evening.

Martial arts instructors in both Cedar Rapids and Iowa City also say they've noticed an increase in students during the past few months.

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