Girls learn art of fighting back at Lake Zurich High

Nearly 200 junior and senior girls at Lake Zurich High School got a lesson on how to become dangerous. Dangerous to an attacker, that is.

They learned self-defense techniques like "the steam roller, the eye jab and the booty strike." They learned how to trust their intuition, and that some of the best defensive weapons are right in their purse.

The "Girls Fight Back" traveling seminar made a stop at the high school Tuesday morning.

Erin Weed started Girls Fight Back in the months following the 2001 murder of her sorority sister, Shannon McNamara, who was from Rolling Meadows.

A senior at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, McNamara was attacked by a man who broke into her off-campus apartment.

In the months following the murder, Weed, 31, felt compelled to empower women to defend themselves.

Weed, formerly of Schaumburg, began intensive training with some of the best self-defense instructors. She eventually left her "dream job" as a television producer in New York to make Girls Fight Back a full-time career.

She's given the seminar across the country, speaking to nearly a half-million high school and college students in the past seven years.

"You're going to learn that your purse is filled with improvised weapons. You can stick a pen right in his eye, jab him with your keys, strike him with your hairbrush. These can all be handy weapons for a lady," she said.

She had never been personally attacked until this month when a mugger surprised her on a New York City street.

"He came out of nowhere, grabbed my wrist and said, 'Come with me, lady,'" Weed said. "So I spun around, got right in his face and yelled 'Leave me alone!' in the most satanic voice I could. I even surprised myself." The assailant fled before Weed could hit him.

Based on the loud applause and hearty laughs, the girls seemed inspired by Weed's passion to empower.

"I absolutely loved this," said senior Kylie Kubo. "I want to be secure when I go to college."

Though she hasn't taken real self-defensive training yet, junior Gabby Chapa was fired up.

"She was awesome," Chapa said. "She inspired me to believe I can kick some booty if I have to someday."

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