Missouri Baptist University’s Public Safety Department is offering free self-defense classes to help students build confidence, awareness and personal safety skills. Led by Officer Dayne Edinger, a martial artist with over 30 years of experience and a Taekwondo school owner, the program teaches practical techniques such as strikes, kicks, wrist control and ground defense. After joining MBU in 2022, Edinger launched both a self-defense club and a Taekwondo club to expand students’ training opportunities.
Missouri Baptist University’s Public Safety is offering free classes focused on physical safety and personal techniques to empower students with security.
”I mean the empowerment that you get, just this mental change, you know, mind, body and spirit,” said Dayne Edinger, the instructor of the self-defense class and an officer at Public Safety. “This change that happens within a person is good for you spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally.”
Edinger, 36, who has been practicing martial arts since he was 5, today owns a martial arts school in Fairview Heights, Illinois, with Taekwondo being his passion.
When he became an MBU Public Safety officer in October 2022, he pushed for a self-defense club on campus, proposing the idea to Scott Patterson, director of public safety and transportation.
Edinger said he Patterson “tinkered around” with the idea when they worked together at the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy, prior to coming to MBU.
But connections to students at UHSP were more challenging, “because we didn’t have like an interactive, like a good interface with the student body there, like we do here,” said Edinger. “Public safety here is a part of the student, faculty and staff. Like we’re all considered interlinked and intertwined with each other.”
That push was the beginning of a small club that met in various places around campus, including North Hall and the SRC Group Fitness room.
Now, Edinger has also started a Taekwondo club. In the self-defense club, Edinger teaches many things.
“We go over all kinds of stuff, palm strikes, front kicks, sidekicks, roundhouse, palm strikes, front kicks, elbow strikes, wrist control techniques, you know, taking people to the ground, how to get up from the ground, what to do if somebody’s on top of you,” said Edinger. “Like the trap and roll, which is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu technique, is one that I teach, and I think everybody should know that because you don’t want to be on the ground.”
But for the Taekwondo club, he plans to teach everything from kicks to sparring.
“So the Taekwondo club is going to be a lot of the same stuff that you learn in self-defense, but it’s just going to be expanded to where it encompasses all of the things that come along with studying a martial art,” said Edinger, who holds a black belt in Taekwondo.
“You know, there are forms. There’s, of course, the self-defense kicking combination, sparring, wearing the uniform, wearing the belt, being able to test and rank to rank up.”
Edinger wants to bring his passion to students at the MBU campus, and he’s making an impact.
“I would say self–defense class impacts me because it makes me feel more confident, especially when adjusting to college and being on my own,” said Kate Thomure, a freshman at MBU and a regular attender of self-defense classes. “I think my favorite thing about class is being able to get tips and takeaways to apply to my daily life that help me feel safer, prepared and capable. From class, I hope to gain knowledge on what to pay special attention to in public settings and also gain confidence in my ability to defend myself.”
She’s not the only one.
“Self-defense is something everyone should look into, not only for their own safety, but the safety of others as well. Self-defense courses will help you learn techniques that you can use to defend yourself, but more importantly, these classes illustrate and emphasize the importance of spatial awareness, risk mitigation, and confrontation avoidance,” said Jordan Notz, a junior at MBU. “The information and practice learned from these classes can make the difference when making the right decision if you find yourself in the wrong situation. The self-defense instructors and members share the understanding of helping each other learn personal safety and how looking out for each other makes our community a safer place.”
Self-defense is something everyone can benefit from.
From freshman girls, who are spending their first time away from home, to veteran MBU students, the self-defense club is empowering them with a sense of security and a way to de-escalate situations, which will serve them outside the walls of this university.
There are many reasons to join the club, but Edinger has a couple that may shift the weight on the fence.
“Come talk to me so that I can put your mind at ease about any uncertainties that you might have. And part of the reason I want this to exist is because we do want to do things that we have never done before,” said Edinger. “You know, like if you’re comfortable in your bubble all the time and there’s never any adversity that you have to overcome, right? Then you never grow. You never get better. And so we want it to be an avenue for people to get better, to be healthy mentally, physically, socially, emotionally.”
