Women in Martial Arts

Discussion in 'Women's Self Defence' started by ICT, Mar 7, 2004.

  1. ICT

    ICT Shaolin Malay Silat

    Hello all,

    Well since this is the Women’s Self Defense forum I figured I would give it back to them!

    I was wondering about the following questions:

    1) Do women prefer an art like Tae-Bo, Traditional MA, Combat Fighting MA or a Self-Defense seminar geared towards a woman’s needs?

    2) Is there a statistic on how many women study the martial arts? If so does the results break down the above types of training?

    Sincerely,
    Teacher: Eddie Ivester
     
  2. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member

    I don't know any statistics, but it all depends on the person of course. I have friends who do Tae-Bo because they like a high-powered aerobics session. I have students who started training TKD because they want to learn some kicks and self-defence techniques and that is why there are women of different ages. A self-defence seminar for women is a splendid idea because 'often or sometimes' martial arts are related only to men, therefore some women don't feel comfortable joining a club. A women-oriented self-defence class is the right solution for them. But there are also women who like fighting and competitions, just like me, and you should see some of the girls at my club. They are even tougher or more cruel than some of the guys in certain situations. As I have said it all depends on the person because not all men are into or good at martial arts, right?
     
  3. Adam

    Adam New Member

    Why don't women like grapply stuff, especially groundfighting?
     
  4. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member


    who said they didn't???
     
  5. Mrs Owt

    Mrs Owt New Member

    I can only speak for myself and give you an idea of what they women I train with think. We don't like Tae-Bo because it is too much like aerobics. We want an art that teaches us applications, not just moves. We, at my dojo, agreed that one day seminars were useless for us until we had a basic grounding in our art because just learning a series of brand new techniques without the opportunity to practice and really absorb them they would quickly be forgotten. We are finding that the TMA we are currently training in is giving us a nice mix of self-defence (the sensei's actually make a point of stressing this for the women) and cardio - so we can run instead of fighting.

    To be honest, very few of the women started in our dojo for self-defence reasons. It was more for exercise, curiosity or friends were involved. We now know that what we do will help us but hope we never have to encounter those situations, our sensei's stress awareness.

    As far as stats go, I can't help you there.

    And as far as Adam's question about not liking grappling I find it is true. Most women AT FIRST don't like it and are uncomfortable. But if taught by an understanding teacher who doesn't throw you into triangle chokes your first dday you can get used to it. I had huge problems with it but now, thanks to a very wise and experienced coach, enjoy it and train regularly in groundwork.
     
  6. KungFuGrrrl

    KungFuGrrrl Valued Member

    I began MA out of curiosity mostly, and i ws afraid in the first few classes. I just watched.

    I prefer traditional.

    I have been in now this is my 8th year. I prefer Wing Chun and TCC WC because it is redirection and deflection and I do not have to absorb brute force ( I have many injuries; ruptured discs, arthritis etc.....)

    In my Kwoon, I find that most of the women join after one of the major MA movies come out! Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon thing!
    KFG
     
  7. AgentS

    AgentS New Member

    Once again, as mentioned earlier it all depends on the person. For instance, I enjoy anything that has to do with fighting ( grappling/throwing/kicking etc). I have always been the aggressive/tomboy type. Seriously, the first Judo class I had I was begging to grapple :D. But then, thats just me.... :p :cool:
     
  8. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member


    wooow...great...i thought i was the only crazy one here. welcome to the club! :D :D :D

    i've got a friend who runs a martial arts school and once he invited me to his school as a guest instructor. i came to the training session and the first thing i noticed was that there were absolutely no girls there. 20 men. when they saw me they were surprised. they probably expected a guy. but believe me when i started training them, they didn't have time to think about whether or not they want a female instructor. they were extremely satisified with the training session and even now when they see me, they call me 'coach' :D :D :D
     
  9. Saz

    Saz Nerd Admin

    Personally, I don't. I do think that some attention in training should be paid to some of the issues women face in fighting, especially if the class is self defence orientated.

    2) Is there a statistic on how many women study the martial arts? If so does the results break down the above types of training?[/QUOTE]

    I'd honestly say I think it differ's from style to style.

    Not all dislike it. I don't. I think one of the main bones of contention is that its very up close and personal, and grappling with a complete (male) stranger can be a little unnerving and even awkward, (especially if they're a teenager! :D )

    Its something to do with allowing strangers into your personal space I believe. You do get over it eventually though, you just have to want to learn badly enough to learn to live with it.
     
  10. Reiki

    Reiki Ki is everything!

    Well I like grappling most of the time! :D

    It's only when my oponent outweighs me more than twice my weight and strength that I find it a bit difficult to deal with!

    Last nite I ended up in this situation during free grappling and only managed to choke my partner out twice by getting a couple of quick ones in first. The next couple of rounds he managed to get me with a snap and sprawl. He was sooo heavy I couldn't breathe properly but he didn't manage to get the hold on properly and with a little more work I could have gotten free. As it was I ended up with his arm just next to my mouth and he got a chomp on the arm for digging me in the ribs! I was just about to whip my legs around his head when the bell went.

    We do BJJ style and have a mixed MA syllabus incorporating a lot of weapons work... I LOVE it.

    Our MA club has approx 40% women: 60% men.

    I did judo for many years when I was younger and quit mainly because I was the only girl there and always ended up being partnered with macho guys who were twice my size and only wanted to prove their egos.

    I started again mainly to learn more self defense and also because I was getting cold & bored watching my son have all the fun in his class, and to get fitter for riding.

    The rest is history as they say,,,,,,

    Now I'm teaching the juniors and loving it, and enjoying training with the seniors.
     
  11. fasthands

    fasthands New Member

    badmamajamahi
    hi reiki,seen some of your posts on fightingarts.fasthands,aka,badmamajama
     
  12. Guerilla Fists

    Guerilla Fists New Member

    WTH? Is Tae Bo really considered a martial art?
     
  13. Reiki

    Reiki Ki is everything!

    gidday mate, nice to see u made it here too!
    At least there's some good discussion and a lot of things to share...
    :D
     
  14. AgentS

    AgentS New Member

    About darn time! We need more of us :D! It feels so darn good whooping the macho ego :woo:
     
  15. Ghost Frog

    Ghost Frog New Member

    Yeah, I'd agree with Neryo. Individual women vary as much as individual men in their aggression levels. A lot of women (myself included) start an MA to learn self-defence and then get more into the Martial Art itself.

    I also prefer grappling to sparring with strikes. Some problems are that it can be hard for a woman to learn anything in grappling if you're physically smaller than your partner and they don't give you any openings and just pile in with their fifteen stone.

    I also think that some men get very embarrassed in some groundwork positions, so they might avoid working with women, or avoid lingering in those positions, making it difficult to learn from them. I've noticed that Male/ Female pairings in groundwork rarely seem to move towards the mount position. I don't know if this is the reason. I suppose it's understandable, though.

    Nice thread, BTW. :)
     
  16. Kinjiro Tsukasa

    Kinjiro Tsukasa I'm hungry; got troll? Supporter

    I study traditional MA, and definitely prefer it to some geared-for-women thing. I don't mind that my class is mostly men (I'm often the only woman in class, or one of only two). I may be unusual, but I like grappling -- liked it right from the start. I've never had the other women in the class as partners for grappling, so it's always been men. I'm not physically smaller than them, so that's not a problem.
     
  17. creamcheese

    creamcheese New Member

    Do you teach Kung Fu? Any advice on how to attract the women? How many women in the Kwoon? I would love nothing better than to teach the gals, but not having much luck in attracting them at the moment. I'm probably not working hard enough at it but I believe it's centuries of brainwashing. Of course it's much better in recent years, but still has a long way to go. The guys are great but would sure welcome more women.
    Any suggestions??
     
  18. KungFuGrrrl

    KungFuGrrrl Valued Member

    I would suggest a way to *interest them* might be to advetise a way fun way for weight loss, great work out, and self defense, and offer a free intro.......... ....make the intro fun......have one of the girls that is in the class go up and talk to the newbie........... get them interested.....
     
  19. budogirl

    budogirl Armed and fabulous!

    Where do you teach? Is it in London? I currently do jujitsu but would like to try another MA but am not sure which. In my club the only females are myself and my jujitsu partner who is 16. (One new girl has just joined, also around 15/16 and she normally trains with us). I would like to join a class that is taught by a woman/ or mixed and one that has a higher male-female ratio. :)
     
  20. Lynnee

    Lynnee New Member

    Hi Budogirl. :)

    Quote: "I would like to join a class that is taught by a woman/ or mixed and one that has a higher male-female ratio."


    Thought you might like to know that "Snap Punch!" Newsletter contains just the information you seem to be looking for.


    Regards, Lynnee www.snappunch.co.uk

    THE NEWSLETTER FOR WOMEN IN MARTIAL ARTS
     

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