IRVINE, Calif. – Strength isn’t how hard you can hit, even though Sydney Weber can hit hard. It is about feeling empowered when you walk out the door.

“With that confidence you’re not walking around as a victim,” Weber said.

Weber has been doing Krav Maga for four years. She started as a student, and then became an instructor, like Elana Maibor.

“Krav Maga is Hebrew for contact combat and it’s the Israeli self-defense system,” Maibor said.

Even as an instructor, Weber is taking the college prep course as a freshman at Irvine Valley College.

“You hear of students always getting abducted or hurt or assaulted someway. I wanted to have the confidence to know I would be able to defend myself,” Weber said.

Weber says she reads about a high number of assaults, specifically on college campuses.

“There is crime you can’t avoid it. The best way to avoid is to never get in it,” Weber said.

Situational awareness is one of the main things taught in a Krav Maga college prep class. The goal is to be aware of your surroundings by avoiding threats in the first place.

“If that situational awareness doesn’t take you through, we have all sorts of defenses,” Maibor said. "I’m not here to make them strong. I’m here to show them how strong they already are. So they can get home safely.”