Woman's self defense

random1329 · 2020-11-22T18:37:28+00:00

I went to an all girls’ school and we had a mandatory self defence class - they even brought in a guy who wore padded clothing and a large helmet, who we defended ourselves against at the end of the term.

A lot of the stuff we learned was using our legs, or fighting “dirty” (like going for the eyes). A lot of other stuff was how to prevent something occurring in the first place - for e.g. walking confidently (and looking directly at someone who might be following you, so they know you see them and what they look like), or if someone approaches, telling them you’re enroute to someone and they expect you to be there soon.

I don’t know if I could 100% defend myself, but this certainly gives me a better chance! And a lot of the moves you can’t demonstrate in play fighting, as it relies on doing lots of damage to win, so I’ve luckily never tested it out since then. Also, if you do knock a guy out, ALWAYS make sure he is down before you call the cops.

Marigold-ink · 2020-11-22T19:06:24+00:00

Unless you’re taking an actual martial arts class and stick with training, a short self-defense course would be a waste of your time. You cannot cram what you need into a short course. Your No.1 priority is to run away. Any kind of self-defense that requires physical contact needs to happen from a place of instinct, no hesitation or need to think about “What do I do?” Furthermore, the moment you engage any kind of counter moves, the perpetrator WILL up the aggression, so you better be sure that what you’re doing will absolutely give you an advantage to get away.
So unless you’re keeping up with regular training and conditioning your body, it’s a waste of your time.

Lastly, beware that there are courses out there advertising themselves as women’s self defense, but their moves make no sense, don’t work, and actually put the woman in more harm’s way.

Ni-You · 2020-11-22T18:51:33+00:00

I think any form of self defense is a good idea. But please take a women only class or go with a female friend. I took some krav maga classes last year and it was about 85% men. They weren't there to learn self defense, they were there to learn how to harm others. They would get way too close during sparring, touch my back a little too long or very obviously stare at my butt while we had to do squats. I quit and will start looking into women specific classes after the pandemic.

the_moocher80 · 2020-11-22T18:23:51+00:00

Absolutely! As a teen I went to a karate class for several years, even just the escape techniques are invaluable

Partypuppers · 2020-11-22T20:25:37+00:00

I've done martial arts on and off for about 20 years now (kickboxing, karate, Krav Maga). I love it, but I would never try to use it in a conflict unless it was a life or death situation and I had no other choice. My first instinct would be to not engage and to get away from the danger as soon as possible.

When you take martial arts classes, you realise how easy it is to hurt yourself and to hurt others. This is often overlooked when you're in a conflict situation, hyped up on adrenaline and feeling like a superhero. You feel invincible. Taking martial arts classes has allowed me to understand it's very dangerous to engage in physical combat.

Men are also so much stronger than women. Granted, I'm a 5 ft 2 petite woman so I'm already at a physical disadvantage, but I'm always surprised at how strong the average man can be.

I do love it though. It's like therapy for me. It helps get my physical aggression and anger out, is great exercise and I've been lucky enough to train with some awesome dudes who are very respectful towards me. While I don't feel confident using my fighting skills, I still like the knowledge it has given me (especially Krav Maga), if shit were to really happen. No one expects a 5 ft 2 girl to know a variation of sweeps, elbow locks and moves to break off a chokehold, for example.

sstena · 2020-11-22T18:39:24+00:00

I am skeptical of any self defense course taught by a man, honestly. I've attended a couple and they would say their techniques would work on heavier, stronger men than myself, yet when I asked to prove it I wasn't able to. Of course they'd brush it off saying it's "just technique", but if it really was that easy then we wouldn't have weight categories in fight sports.

Having said that, I think any activity that gives women a sense of empowerment in their own bodies will be benefitial to their safety.

To me, any self defense strategy must have a strong element of prediction and understanding signs of danger, though. For that I recommend the book The Gift of Fear. I think it's invaluable.

Fran2795 · 2020-11-22T20:41:18+00:00

I did Krav Maga for a couple of months and I loved it, they teach you how to actually defend yourself if someone attacks you and they even encourage you to go for the most vulnerable parts. The place where I trained, the instructor always emphasized that we weren't supposed to win a fight, but get rid of our attacker and run, and gave us the tools to do it.

DiscombobulatedBabu · 2020-11-23T15:37:30+00:00

I do Krav Maga - highly recommend but worth trying out sessions at a few different classes as some are legit and some are a waste of time.

One of the benefits of krav is it teaches you that it doesn’t matter how big or strong a man is - they still have balls, a throat, eyes - lots of delicate places. Going for those can buy you a moment of time in which to escape.

Kristeninmyskin · 2020-11-24T06:22:49+00:00

Thank you for bringing this up! I was thinking about this a while ago and sort of let it slip away. I’m interested to hear everyone’s opinions and experiences!

2020-11-22T23:44:04+00:00

I watch Mandalorian and I fell in love with Cara. I want to be like her and fight like her )))

whatiidwbwy · 2020-11-24T02:29:10+00:00

I take Krav Maga. The weakest parts of the body are the eyes, throat, and balls, in that order. Right now we're learning grappling and how to fight a larger opponent by bursting in and staying low.

In an actual fight, I would be relying on muscle memory as everything would go way too quick to actually think about it. This is why defense classes you take once or twice won't do, you need consistent training so that you don't have to think about what you're doing in a fight.

samarsharqi · 2020-11-24T05:49:16+00:00

Krav Maga. Miss me with the “mindfulness” and “discipline”- brutal, street smart is what self defense needs to be. If you find a Krav school, make sure it’s one that is focusing heavily on scenario based drills (drunk stranger, stranger with knife, etc)

straighthairgreece · 2020-11-23T06:17:43+00:00

I honestly don't think it will help. Personally I'm petite and no amount of training will physically protect me from most men.

Title	Woman's self defense
Author	TheTower_14
Upvotes	65
Comments	27
Date	November 22, 2020 4:11 PM UTC (5 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/FemaleDatingStrategy
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/comments/jyy4i8/womans_self_defense/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/womans-self-defense.332147 https://theredarchive.com/post/332147

Comments