Teaching SD to teenage girls..

Okay,
I have ideas about techniques and things to cover in a SD course for teenage girls, but I was just wondering about particular issues/tricks/tips etc that girls and women can use. Also, any particular topics I should address.
What are your thoughts folks??

 

Good luck getting them to stay focused (yes, I speak from experience!).

I would think about the kinds of situations teeage girls find themselves in. Abusive or pushy boyfriends... how would a girl be attacked by them (grabbed hair, wrists, how to get away from someone who's forced you down..)? Out of control parties... multiple attackers? Late night empty-ish parking lots (awareness, common sense...)?

Focus on techniques that require less strength but are still easy to remember. Hope that helps some.

 

Hey Cait,
Yeah, I was thinking along those lines myself, I've done a couple of sessions on awareness and basic strikes, but was contemplating what to do next and just wondered about specific situations that girls find themselves in..... I like the idea of the out-of-control party, and the pushy boyfriend - don't think I would have thought of those.
Thanks, and keep-'em coming....

 

I'd see about getting approved to teach in the schools. The schools over here allow a martial arts teacher to teach self-defence to girls in many of the local high schools.

 

I'll be a bit of a devils advocate here saying don't bother with any strikes, wristlocks or techniques at all.

The single best self defence you can teach to any woman/teenager is this:
Don't get so drunk you have no idea what on earth you are doing
Do not go anywhere alone or anywhere that there isn't significant lighting
Make sure all your friends are where they said they are.

In the event that someone does try to kidnap you, slam your stilleto heel through their foot and spray perfume in their eyes. Run like madness.
If they want your money give it to them.

There Is in fact a good reason for this

 

Being a teenage girl, I can only tell you what usually keeps me focused. I've noticed the teens I work with are usually like this:
If you talk for 15 minutes straight, I'm going to lose interest. If you repeat yourself more than twice or over-analize your point, I'm going to lose interest. And over all else, don't start explaining the finer points of a technique before I'm comfortable with the basic motions of it.

 

Edited to circumvent over zealous health and safety laws in the UK

 

I am 45 and a guy but that applies to me too.

 

A 2 hour self defense class isn't going to really give them much. I'd focus on advice like the Count was saying rather than the typical stomp on toes, knee in groin, finger in eyes self defense route that is typically taught (was to my sister anyway).

 

A few things to add to the Count's sound advice:

a) if we are talking about the states, it's incomparably more likely that you'll be injured in a car crash than by an attacker. Don't drive drunk or go anywhere with a driver who is drunk. This is why we have taxis.

b) never carry anything you have to worry about or so much money that it will be a disaster if it gets stolen.

That said,

c)

thorough attention to carotid chokes

kicks to the knees

Osoto gari, ready made for mild situation with drunk guy at party

those with nails can scratch attacker's eyes

most of them will not be heavy / strong enough to hurt a male attacker with body strikes, they should use palm straight to the nose or larynx

don't bother with pepper spray, which you will not have time or space to use in a real situation

There is always a weapon somewhere

 

PS, for most people, its harder to know when it is time to fight than how to fight. A street robbery usually starts with an approach like "could you lend me $5 for a taxi?" not with "hey, sucker, I'm going to steal your wallet." I married young, but I imagine date rape usually starts in ambiguous territory between two possibly drunk people who are unclear about each others' intentions and perhaps about their own.

Perhaps for teenage girls, the key to self defense is that they are clear in their own minds about how to set limits and communicate them. The right message may be that, if they mean "no," they should say "no" politely and unambiguously and stand their ground. Knowing how to recognize the time to fight preceeds learning techniques.

 

If you had a teenage daughter and wanted the best self defense for her, and wanted her to enjoy the training, and she was keen, what would you suggest for her?

This is your daughter. What instruction are you going to entrust with her life if worst comes to worst?

I imagine her being grabbed from behind from someone much bigger than her, pulled down, mounted, punched and strangled. Sorry to be so brutal, but that is what we're talking about ultimately, right? Reality. And it's real ugly.

I would have to go with BJJ.

1. Women are most likely going to get pulled down to the ground - BJJ is ground foucussed.

2. Women will be weaker than their attacker - BJJ techniques use leverage and balance to overcome attackers, not strength.

3. Women need to be prepared for a brutal, overwhelming attack - BJJ training is fully alive, they will get thrown down, mounted, and choked daily.

There are many other reasons, but these are the main ones why I would pick it for my own daughter. (As for multiple attackers and knife defense: that's fantasy land - no art will help you much there, so fucus on the fundamentals of BJJ training, that's the best you can do.)

 

I agee, if you can get you daughter to focus on martial ats BJJ or even judo is the way to go. If you can get a good standup into the mix all well and good.
Not sure how much realistic self defence can be taught in a couple of weeks, which is all you've got for each pupil.

 

2 weeks is not enough, you need three months at least, then twice a week to maintain your training. If you can't do it right, don't do it at all...

None of the women I know who do BJJ do so just for self defense--they may have started for that reason, but then they get addicted to the fun and trying to improve the sporting/ art side of it. Just like the men. 3 months of BJJ, and you can just about smash anyone on the street.

I wouldn't bother with a 2 week course - but if I absolutely had to, I guess I would go with Paul Vunak's PFS system.

 

After the first few steps the heels will be obliterated anyway.

I still maintain though; self defence isn't all smash bang wallop.

 

Not wishing to be too much of a blowhard here, but my thoughts are, with respect, if you've already started...

what the hell are you doing teaching this?!

If you didn't have a course designed, i.e. have experience or qualifications to teach this kind of thing (you can get certification from various places) what made you think you should be able to teach it!?

The fact that you didn't think of out of control parties of boyfriends which are the two most obvious situations makes me even more convinced you have way too little practical experience or common sense to be teaching something that could literally be a matter of life and death. Sorry to come of as harsh but... once you've finished this course, if you want to repeat it, I suggest you get some training to do so. If you haven't started: just don't do it! Send them to a local police course or something.

OK, that out of the way, I agree with Flashlock that some basic ground grappling is an obvious starter. Guard, passing guard, basic sweeps, basic chokes etc are essential. But I don't agree that two weeks isn't enough. To beat your average scrub (yeah yeah, I know we want to train to beat the max trained muscle-bound inhumanly conditioned MMA pros usually, but let's assume that most scumbags who are going to be attacking teenage girls aren't such fine specimens) a few basics in these aspects of BJJ or whatever will give them a huge advantage and confidence boost while keeping it real and not making them overconfident. Flashlock said, if you can't do it right, don't do it, but in self defence even more so than in the ring, it doesn't matter if you really fluff it up as long as they're off you and you're running. Even just the shrimping movement can be enough to get out from under someone with no ground experience and up and ready (to run or fight) in my experience.

Basic palms, elbows, knees (esp to nuts), shin scrapes, stamps, kouchi gari, osoto gari, landing on top of them with elbows/knees etc, headbutts, headbutt defence (lowering your head to meet theirs at the right point), basic flat breakfalls etc all have their place.

Also, 'NO!' practice. Get the biggest ugliest smelliest guys in your club to push them around, chuck them down and lie on top of them with their weight full on them, and get them to say 'no', then shout 'no' then scream 'NO!!!'. It helps if you get other teenagers to do this for various reasons. Get them practising the 'NO' at all levels and at various stages. The girls from Merseyside I've met haven't been backwards abut coming forwards but even then this practice is useful!

The thing about there always being a weapon around is double-edged. There may always be a weapon around, but even a second of looking for one could mean you're asterisked. If there's one REALLY to hand, then OK. For example, you hear footsteps and can't run for whatever reason but you have a glossy mag in your bag... tightly rolled and there you go... how to use keys without hurting yourself etc.

The Count is also absolutely correct of course, about the situational awareness stuff. But as Aikido Girl said, this has limited application in terms of teaching!

I'm assuming you can teach some of these things... it says Self-defence on your profile, so I'm still wondering why you're asking this question!

Also this

... is part of the reason why most SD courses are crap and dangerous.

Good luck... and sorry again if I'm being harsh.

 

The other thing:

get them to practice outside the gym/dojo too... a carpeted lobby area/bar area/social area or whatever is a good one to start with. Gyms/dojo are often spacious and don't give them the panicky hemmed in feeling they're going to need in a tight spot. Plus the whole thing about having to forget themselves (they can't afford to be self conscious in their practice either), apart from discomfort (once they've practised on the mat they should be able to practise off to some extent - though no, I'm not suggesting the lava, needle-covered str33t).

Also practice against a door/wall etc too.

A good test to see if any of it's going in is to get the mouthiest most confident of them to go out front against a big guy in scenario training. She'll probably give him a mouthful, and maybe push him or whatever, but of course, the correct answer is to push and RUN! for the nearest exit (where there may well be someone who can help...). See if any of the others think they can do better and let them have a go. It's a good way of demonstrating the point that escape is better, esp after you've taught them some techs so they think they can handle themselves.

 

Bah, another one I forgot:

Get a big guy to shout nasty things at them to their faces/whisper them in their ears too. Be aware that even in training this can be traumatic, so give them plenty of encouragement and comfort after (get them a drink - soft or whatever's appropriate and have a chat with them to wind down in the lobby). It's horrible but works well.

 

I am in agreement with the posts so far on this thread. I would however emphasise it is NOT a fight, it is an attack and the major priority is to get away. Even strong adults would have to ensure there is no possibility of the attacker getting back up and this is MOST difficult to do.

The shock of an unsolisited attack can be traumatic so the simpler the reaction is the better.Try to go from alert to 100% attack/escape mode.


regards koyo

Hi Mr Punch how's the family

 

2 weeks is not enough but it's proberly all your going to get. The drop off rate at these sorts of classes, particually for teenage girls is very high.