I really dont understand why a womens self defense should be any different to a males self defence. My Wing Chun sifu made this point to me the other day. Strength isnt an issue as vital sports are so sensitive anyway.... and Ive seen many very competant female martial arttists who id never even try to mess with. Isnt this just a bit patronising towards women?
I agree, to some women the term "women's self defense" can be a bit patronizing, but it usually means self defense training that is: a) geared specifically towards not having to muscle their way out of a fight; a man under attack has more of a chance of being attacked by someone of equal strength, whereas most women are not physically as strong as men; while strength isn't an issue in many martial arts, it IS in some, and this clarifies what the student can expect to gain, and b) geared towards women who may be intimidated by training with men; it implies it's a class for women only. I'm usually the first to jump at sexist language, but I don't have a problem with this.
Some classes are out there for woman AFTER they have been attacked - these woman suffer at the hands of some men for years and years in domestic violence and are not attuned to being close to or wanting instruction from men, hence why some classes are ran by woman for woman in these instances. I was a strong feminist as a teenager - then I realised - I don't need to prove a point
ok, back in the world of reality- a womans attacker is usually likely to be far stronger than them. we are talking about rape/abduction here. strength is an issue in any fight, anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar. strength is an advantage. some things simply wont work if you dont have the strength. in a struggle a womans attacker is very likely to attempt to take them down, and often will succeed with brute strength. women need to know what to do in this situation to avoid being raped I think the biggest difference is actually what you claim doesnt matter- strength. i can knock most people out unless they are unusually tough and large. my 120 pound sister? no. she cant afford to be throwing punches, she probably wont be standing much in the attack, and it is probably going to be a LOT more serious than any fight I get into. womens self defense has to be geared entirely towards escape, making noise, and struggling
I completely disagree. A child of 10 years old can apply enough pressure to specific points ont he body which will cause ample pain to any attacker. The testicles being a prime example.
because an adult is going to stand there while a kid grabs his nuts. seriously, how often do you hear about anything like that happening?
My point is really that given training a child of 10 can still be affective at defending himself, as so can a woman. I was more hinting at a swift kick to the nuts, grabbing is not a good idea as youd generally get hit quite hard.
we have been over this so many times. a hit in the nuts is more likely to **** someone off than be a fight ender, especially from a ten year old.
But a successful shot to the nuts can temporarily stops someone from wanting to rape you. (think about it)
I always thought the term "women's self defense" was subtly derogatory towards us men...Hinting that our fragile Egos aren't capable of accepting the possibility of an attack we're not born capable of defending ourselves from. Anyways... IMO men's and women's self defense classes should be designed a little differently. Men have a higher probability of being the victim of some attacks , and women others. So self defense classes whould be designed with the most likely scenarios in mind. :woo:
Hence the reason for a class-- to learn what to follow up with and how so as to put yourself in the least risk while getting the frell out of there. Protecting yourself = self defense beating the other guy to a bloody pulp = sometimes, but not always
This part makes sense, somewhat. The physical skills and methods of training (real sparring, athletic conditioning, training standup, clinch and ground) remain the same. For a woman you might emphasize groundfighting more, because of the increased likelihood of her being in such a situation, but the techniques used there would largely remain the same. I truly love this typo. However, the intended message is completely wrong. Strength is always an issue. A stronger person hits harder and can pull and push more weight. If you don't see how this is an advantage, then...well, you're probably retarded.
Some good points were made about the nature of the attack; I don't think this can be understated. People tend to imagine some crazed rapist coming out of the bushes when they picture women's self defense, but most rapes are committed by people the woman already knows. If you're a guy and you're being attacked, it's pretty obvious pretty fast, because it's usually someone you don't know, and it starts out pretty furious from what I've seen. A lot of violence against women is not only going to be from someone they know, but it will be a lot more subtle. It will often start out very close (in a date scenario, etc.) and there will be a much longer "is this really happening?" factor. Psychologically, reacting to someone you don't know coming up and punching/tackling you is a lot easier than reacting to someone you know going from kissing you to pinning you. As mentioned, strength differences are a big factor as well.
The term "Women's Self Defense", as opposed to just plain "Self Defense" actually does make a lot of sense. First, the situations men and women face are very different. The 800 lb. gorilla here is rape. Some men do get raped. No doubt about it. But women are much more likely to have to deal with sexual assault. And any situation they do get in is almost certain to be with someone who has the advantage in height, weight, reach, upper body strength and aggression. This calls for different tactics. For one thing, these add up much more quickly to "disparity of force". A woman is more likely to be in a legal and ethical situation which allows for deadly force. Ubermint is right in part. A lot of the skills and training are similar. But as I've said, repeatedly, what you have to do to train a bunch of 20-something guys who want to win prize fights in the Octagon against similar guys in their weight class is worlds different than what you have to do to get basic combatives and mindset in place for a group of women, some of whom have certainly been victimized. Sparring to the submission is a very useful exercise, but fighting to safety, escape or psychological advantage is a different game.
