I always carry a plastic pen in my pocket which is a substitute for a kobutan-iits hard plastic and can easily do the same job if needs be...just incase....you coul dadvise them to always have a pen available. The keys of course are a weapon alone and very capable of inflicting damage. Also a key chain can be used to great effect!
I have to agree with LilBunnyRabbit. That is your own personal opinion however, and you have to bear in mind the repercussions that can and will ensue if carrying an kubaton.... especially if illegal. There are plenty of other ways in which women can as you say "even the odds". I personally do carry one and 'know' how to use it. It's not very easy to learn and teaching a 13 yr. old to break a clavicle with one is not a basic technique nor would I advise it.
How about starting a list of things that we carry that can be used as weapons, kickchick made some good suggestions. backpack bridge of book hairbrush spray cologne Also don't forget your belt which can be easily removed quickly, mobile phone some of which are quite heavy, watches can be dragged across flesh and into eyes, keys on a quick release snatch catch on your belt loop.(with kubotan of course, it was a present honest!)
At least they won't be stupid enough to think that they can learn self defence in an hour. They would leave with understanding. They might even be pushed to defend themselves and find that they are strong.
dude, its a course of lessons...of course you cna't leanr how to do this in an hour but an introduction is needed. Self defense isnt just about beating eachother into a pulp
What a horrid idea that was. If you decide that you want to do offensive techniques (punches and the like) I would suggest teaching palm-heel or backfist/hammerfist strikes. For some reason, we have always had more success teaching this then teaching knuckle punches and you don't have to worry as much about making sure they have their fists correct. Perhaps it doesn't *seem* as agressive to the students to they take to it better, I am not sure. Also, there is a great slap technique that I have used in the past. It was outlined very well recently in Blackbelt. They called it the "combat slap" which just made me giggle, but despite the goofy name, its pretty good.
Good luck with the teaching mate, not something I would like to do in a hurry. All that Matt and Kickchick have suggested are excellent. The only addition I would make is perhaps start with simple releases. Always demonstrate these dynamicly, the more impressive it looks, the more likely people will buy into it. The nice thing about simple releases is they can work even with a high degree of resistance, this gives the right sort of confidence, which in turn might get them to come back and learn more. The other thing with releases is you can introduce violence gradually, this might over come some of the squimish feelings some might have. I suppose you could also use the old one of shouting "NO" or "FIRE" or some other similar thing. It might not be much, but there is something in seeing the look on someones face when you scream at them
For the non-physical stuff, what Matt Bernius said is excellent. For the physical stuff - I really think they need to do MAs properly. There's no shortcuts to getting good specifically for self defense.
Hi there, my Mrs did a short self defence class for women and the instructor did give out kubotan key rings as part of the course and also showed them how to use them. He did however explaing about the legalities of owning one, and as long as it is just a keyring there is not much wrong. He also showed them areas to strike, i.e. shins, throat, eyes, ears etc, was quite a good well structured course. He also spent quite a bit of time talking about reasonable force. She enjoyed it anyway.
