I come across this video below from a Facebook friend. It is from the woman’s self protection perspective. One of the main things that I liked about it is that it makes the point that self defence is a primal instinct, which we all have the capacity for.
When severely threatened we can all resort to the most primitive and basic animal instincts, which is savage, brutal and barbaric. Civilisation has taught us to control such instincts. In many cases it even teaches us to bury them completely. This is especially true of women, where they are encouraged to be feminine (which is considered exactly the opposite of getting down and dirty and in a fight).
Things have improved over the years. As a kid I remember that the role of a woman in an action film was to get into trouble, scream lots and be rescued by the male hero. Nowadays women are portrayed as far more capable and independent . . . . . . . and rightly so.
Women in martial arts used to be a tiny minority. They still are in the minority, but they make up a bigger percentage today then when I first started back in the late 70′s. Although perceptions have changed and many prejudices have been overcome (still more to go), many women still have this cultural conditioning which bury their primal instincts.
Some years ago, I helped a friend, Wayne Badbury (also of Kamon Wing Chun) doing a self protection course for women. I was one of the stooges to be hit. I had a kind of crash helmet, cricket shin pads and body armour. It was like an early primitive version of the FAST Defence. I had to provoke the women into an emotional response and then be hit. I have to say that I was quite amazed at how hard some of these women hit when actually emotionally aroused (with fear). I would not have liked to be hit like that without the protection and most men would not have been able to withstand it for long.
I hope I don’t offend anybody here, but these women in the emotional state hit harder and were more scary than a lot of female martial artists that I’ve trained with. Most times that I’ve sparred with women, I’ve felt obliged to tone it down a bit (masculine cultural programming). I will say that this is not always the case. I remember once trying out a new club and being partnered to fight a female 3rd Dan. I thought “OK, take it easy”, but the second we started she jumped in and hit me reverse punch. “OK”, I thought, “I’ll go up a gear”.
Now some people may think that I’m sexist, but that same lady 3rd Dan later admitted that she too had to tone it down with most other women. Now don’t get me wrong, I not suggesting that the guys should be laying into the women and knocking them about, far from it. What I am suggesting is that if women can overlook some of their social conditioning, they’ll find they are much tougher then they think they are and are much more capable of physically fighting of an attacker then they think they are.
One of the most primal functions of a woman’s body is child birth. Most men could not take that level of pain, yet many women do it over and over again. Women have far more depths and capacity then most men give them credit for. For that matter, they have far more depth and capacity then most women give themselves credit for. Having the will to fight back (if necessary) does not detract from feminism (as some social conditioning may have women believe). In fact many men actually have more respect for and are more attracted to a strong willed & spirited woman.
Ironically, many women would without hesitation fight to the death to protect their child, but not for themselves. Don’t let social conditioning set you up to be a victim.
