A group of Kansas University students learned how to kick the you-know-what out of a would-be attacker Thursday afternoon.

Their safety lesson came on the heels of a recent rape in Lawrence, which police believe is related to a series of other sexual assaults in the city over the last five years. Many of the attacks involved KU students, police said.

Students who attended the two-hour self-defense workshop at KU said they were ready to learn some new skills to help them stay safe. Concerns among female students are heightened after the recent assault.

“You always think you’re fine and then it happens to people that you know, that you also thought they would be fine,” said Danica May, KU junior, of Oberlin. “It makes you rethink everything.”

KU’s Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center hosted the course following the most recent sexual assault in the city, in which a 19-year-old student was raped Dec. 1 in her southwest Lawrence home.

“It’s pretty scary,” said Naomi Shelton, KU junior, of Harrisonville, Mo.

With all of the sexual assaults happening during KU student breaks — none of them on campus — Marlesa Roney, vice provost of student success, said the university wanted to make sure female students stayed safe during their winter break, which begins after finals wrap up on Friday.

“The news about this connection of sexual assaults gives us that opportunity to tell students this is serious business and we encourage you to participate now,” Roney said.

Martial artists from Premier Martial Arts, 3201 Clinton Parkway Court, presented the workshop and taught students self-defense tactics and “street fighting” techniques to use if they come face-to-face with an attacker. The Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center hosts similar classes at least three times each semester.

The event was held during finals week, a time when Kathy Rose-Mockry, program director for the Emily Taylor center, said students were more distracted and could become more vulnerable in the eyes of an attacker.

About one dozen students attended the workshop for free. It was also available to members of the Lawrence community for a small fee.

University officials said they didn’t want to frighten people but wanted to stress the importance of empowerment.

Last week, KU also sent an alert to students and parents regarding the series of rapes.