Womens Self Defense

[JMSRN159]

I saw a post from the gentleman below and I would like to address his
comment if I can.

(((((((((((((((((Re: Credible women's self-defense?
... Could you guys try speaking to the issues involved, instead of "try
jiu jutsu,"
"try X," "try Y?" For instance, nobody has yet handed me a website that
focuses
on women's self-defense, or named a particular school somewhere that
definitely
specializes in women's self-defense, nor has any expert practitioner
stepped ..))))))))))))).

I have a website that is devoted to teaching women how to defend
themselves
in the real world. Although martial arts is an incredibly beautiful art
and many people can protect
themselves using the art it would take years to become so proficiant at
Karati etc
to be able to protect onesself competently. As I see it the answer to
Womens Self Defense is
"information" and more "information".

Women have to believe they are capable, get the right information and
tools and practice
mock attacks with friends. I have a mock attempted rape at >
http://groups.google.com/group/WomensSelfDefense/msg/583c710daa900a59
Please let me know if it is on or off target.
My website is at http://007protection where there are many articles to
help women defend
themselves.
Thanks for letting me post.
Joan Smith

[Zebee Johnstone]

In rec.martial-arts.moderated on Tue, 29 Aug 2006 21:46:49 UTC

Post by JMSRN159
themselves
in the real world. Although martial arts is an incredibly beautiful art
and many people can protect
themselves using the art it would take years to become so proficiant at
Karati etc
to be able to protect onesself competently. As I see it the answer to
Womens Self Defense is
"information" and more "information".

I agree,

The best self defence is to avoid fighting, because fighting is
difficult and strongly favours the big strong one who gangs up with
his mates and gets you when you aren't looking.

To be a proficient fighter you have to practice a lot, and practice
the situations you might come across, rather than dojo set pieces when
you start out of distance and know what's coming and when.

Plus you need to know when to fight (very seldom) when to run (almost
always) and what the consequences of either action will be.

http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/ is worth a look. Common sense
attitude to trouble which is mostly "how to see it coming so you can
go in the other direction".

It's not a popular idea in martial arts circles because martial arts
is about fighting not not-fighting... but if the object is to stay
unhurt and unraped and out of jail then not-fighting is usually the
best choice.

I believe the best self defence for women is learning to see the
danger signs before you ever need to get physical. See the way the
guys in the street are looking for victims, see how they set up and
learn to not be that victim. See how the date-raper sets up his
victims and learn to not be that victime. See how the lone whacko
picks his victims and learn to not be that victim.

I'd bank on those skills any day compared to physical ones that
require a lot of training and practice and which need you to be fit
and capable. And any physical ones that require the bad guy to allow
you to set them up, and then stand about while you do them because
he's never heard of them before...

(I've not looked at Joan's site, so these are not comments on that.)

Zebee

[dominantmale]

The reason no experts have replied is due to the fact that they would
understand that defending one's self in a violent situation is based on
staying calm, being in GREAT physical condition (especially if you are
a woman), and then knowing what to attack and when to attack. The only
way to achieve this is to train... hard.... several times a week.
Telling anyone that they can become proficient enough to defend
themselves after a 6 weeks course, or by reading a book or website, is
just a scam.

Post by JMSRN159
I saw a post from the gentleman below and I would like to address his
comment if I can.
(((((((((((((((((Re: Credible women's self-defense?
... Could you guys try speaking to the issues involved, instead of "try
jiu jutsu,"
"try X," "try Y?" For instance, nobody has yet handed me a website that
focuses
on women's self-defense, or named a particular school somewhere that
definitely
specializes in women's self-defense, nor has any expert practitioner
stepped ..))))))))))))).
I have a website that is devoted to teaching women how to defend
themselves
in the real world. Although martial arts is an incredibly beautiful art
and many people can protect
themselves using the art it would take years to become so proficiant at
Karati etc
to be able to protect onesself competently. As I see it the answer to
Womens Self Defense is
"information" and more "information".
Women have to believe they are capable, get the right information and
tools and practice
mock attacks with friends. I have a mock attempted rape at >
http://groups.google.com/group/WomensSelfDefense/msg/583c710daa900a59
Please let me know if it is on or off target.
My website is at http://007protection where there are many articles to
help women defend
themselves.
Thanks for letting me post.
Joan Smith

[Shava_X]

Post by JMSRN159
I saw a post from the gentleman below and I would like to address his
comment if I can.
(((((((((((((((((Re: Credible women's self-defense?
... Could you guys try speaking to the issues involved, instead of "try
jiu jutsu,"
"try X," "try Y?" For instance, nobody has yet handed me a website that
focuses
on women's self-defense, or named a particular school somewhere that
definitely
specializes in women's self-defense, nor has any expert practitioner
stepped ..))))))))))))).
I have a website that is devoted to teaching women how to defend
themselves
in the real world. Although martial arts is an incredibly beautiful art
and many people can protect
themselves using the art it would take years to become so proficiant at
Karati etc
to be able to protect onesself competently. As I see it the answer to
Womens Self Defense is
"information" and more "information".
Women have to believe they are capable, get the right information and
tools and practice
mock attacks with friends. I have a mock attempted rape at >
http://groups.google.com/group/WomensSelfDefense/msg/583c710daa900a59
Please let me know if it is on or off target.
My website is at http://007protection where there are many articles to
help women defend
themselves.
Thanks for letting me post.
Joan Smith

Try putting to together a list of what makes self defense for women any
different than self defense for men.

First on that list would likely be that the attacker will almost always be
bigger and stronger than the woman (the defender).

But when You step back an analyse things, You will find that the
difference does not exist. The attacker will usually be bigger and
stronger, and/or better armed (at least initially) no matter what the
defenders gender happens to be.

What it boils down to is that essentially all 'women's self defense'
programs are mostly marketing. Nearly every thing referred to as a
'martial art' is designed to allow a person to effectively defend against
an attack from a bigger, stronger person. Courses put together to be
specifically for women are usually just a schools way of targeting
potential customers who are interested in self defense, but have no
interest in becoming a black belt or going to tournaments, etc...

When You are looking for an effective self defense program for women, what
You should look for is an effective self defense program. If the program
will allow men to defend against larger, stronger attackers, the same
methods will allow women to do so as well.

Something to keep in mind is that taking a six week (or month) program
once will probably not be sufficient. That first time through will expose
the student to all the techniques, but it will take repeated practice to
become proficient with them even under severe stress (such as when being
attacked).

The system developed by the Israeli military would a good example. It is
designed to very, effective, and to be used by both men and women, and
by persons of almost any ability. Military service is required of almost
every person in Israel, including women. So the IDF needs a hand-to-hand
combat system that anyone can use. And because there is a very good
chance that persons serving in the IDF will have to use that system in
real combat, it absolutely must be as effective as possible. Because of
the nature of the conflict, not being a front-line soldier will not get a
person out of that need.

Haganah (fight2survive.com) is an example of a system derived from that
used by the Israeli military, and taught to civilians. The full system
can learned in 3 months. After that, the whole thing is repeated.
Students are encouraged to repeat the rotation several times so that they
can become proficient in it. That is how the Israeli military trains.
After the (civilian) student feels confident, they can stop taking the
rotations back to back, and proceed to only taking occasional refresher
rotations if they like.

Another aspect of Haganah that should be considered requisite to any self
defense program is that it addresses defense against armed threats. In
the modern world, if You can not defend against an attack with a firearm
or knife, You can not really defend Your self. Some will claim that if
attacked with a gun or knife, You should just run. It that is an option,
it is the best option. That applies to nearly any threat of physical
violence, armed or not. However, that is not always an option. The whole
point of self defense is to prepare for when running is not an effective
option. Training only for unarmed threats is training for only a small
subset of likely threats.

The only criticism i have of Haganah as a self defense system is that it
generally does not cover how to incorporate simple, common self defense
tools (like mace) into one's defense, but that can be easily overcome.

Self Defense, and martial arts, are not, and should not be, gender
specific.
But if You really want some sites that are aimed specifically at women,
rather than at a general audience, then here are a couple:

National Women's Martial Arts Federation ->
http://www.nwmaf.org/

American Women's Self Defense Association (AWSDA) ->
http://www.awsda.org/