Deluxe Martial Arts Forums - View Single Post - The Truth and Lies About Women's Self Defense

Erica · 06-10-2002, 01:33 PM

Hi Brad!

Thank you for your response.

I think that you should re-read the article though, because most of your arguments are already talked about and adressed in the article.

To start with, I did not write the article. At the top of the page it states that Lorne Coleman (a male - professor- martial artist for 34 years '5 black belts' trained by FBI, GBI, works at rape crisis and battered women's shelters, and taught military etc.) wrote the article that was published by Emory University. You can email him at escapeselfdefense@hotmail.com or call 770-433-9371 if you have questions for him.

Also, all the stats are documented in the article - and the article was published by a university. If you feel that the numbers/ stats - like 1 in 4 women will be assaulted by a man in her lifetime- are not true then just call the FBI and Justice Dept. National Stats Hotlines (I have the number at home if you would like me to post it later) . I understand that it is so horrible that it almost seems that the numbers can not be true. In fact, the numbers only represent the women the government knows about! These numbers do not even include women who have been victimized more than once!

Next I will address some of what the article says so you will re-read it more carefully.

The argument about "Men's Self Defense" is about the wordage, not whether there are not men's self defense classes out in the world. The argument is that the classes are not called "Men's Self Defense Classes". They are called martial arts, self defense, etc. The word 'Men's' is never used because it is assumed. I (and all our insturctors - men and women) have looked at many articles in all different types of books and magazines- and have never seen "Men's Self Defense" word for word. I think the point the author is making is that society assumes men already have a self that is worth defending.

"Do you ever see ads for men's self-defense classes or media pieces on men's self-defense? The reason you do not is that our patriarchal society automatically acknowledges that men have a "self" worth defending, and, rest assured, they will defend it (see Schwarzenegger, Snipes, Stallone, Van Damme, Willis, ad nauseum.) "

In your statement

"The fact is, it IS different. A man will most certainly have to fight another man, but a woman will not fight another woman, she will also have to fight a man. So now you have to deal with developing strategies and techniques for a generally smaller person defending themselves from a generally larger and stronger attacker. You have to deal with the fact that men attack another man differently than they attack women. To paraphrase Tony Blauer, a man just has to defend his property or his life. A woman has to defend her property, her life AND her body. "

I think that you are assuming the bad guy will be bigger. That is not always the case. Even if he is bigger the most effective techniques work the same for a man and a woman (physical power is just one attribute of a fighter - do not forget leverage- and the ability to take hits -and experience- what options are open-mind power - the ability to hit vital striking areas-and even will to survive- etc.
I do think there are different dynamics with every person in a fight, but stating that women need to know different strategies because you assume she is smaller and weaker is what I disagree with. Do you teach men who are big to only learn how to fight against smaller people and base your whole class on this concept?- prob. not. you teach him the most effective techniques that you know that would work with all different types of people. I believe you should do that with women also.

I have to go, but will reply more later!!!!
smiles!
ERICA

06-10-2002, 01:33 PM	#3 (permalink)
Erica Novice Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA Posts: 64 Groans: 0 Groaned at 0 Times in 0 Posts	Reply Hi Brad! Thank you for your response. I think that you should re-read the article though, because most of your arguments are already talked about and adressed in the article. To start with, I did not write the article. At the top of the page it states that Lorne Coleman (a male - professor- martial artist for 34 years '5 black belts' trained by FBI, GBI, works at rape crisis and battered women's shelters, and taught military etc.) wrote the article that was published by Emory University. You can email him at escapeselfdefense@hotmail.com or call 770-433-9371 if you have questions for him. Also, all the stats are documented in the article - and the article was published by a university. If you feel that the numbers/ stats - like 1 in 4 women will be assaulted by a man in her lifetime- are not true then just call the FBI and Justice Dept. National Stats Hotlines (I have the number at home if you would like me to post it later) . I understand that it is so horrible that it almost seems that the numbers can not be true. In fact, the numbers only represent the women the government knows about! These numbers do not even include women who have been victimized more than once! Next I will address some of what the article says so you will re-read it more carefully. The argument about "Men's Self Defense" is about the wordage, not whether there are not men's self defense classes out in the world. The argument is that the classes are not called "Men's Self Defense Classes". They are called martial arts, self defense, etc. The word 'Men's' is never used because it is assumed. I (and all our insturctors - men and women) have looked at many articles in all different types of books and magazines- and have never seen "Men's Self Defense" word for word. I think the point the author is making is that society assumes men already have a self that is worth defending. "Do you ever see ads for men's self-defense classes or media pieces on men's self-defense? The reason you do not is that our patriarchal society automatically acknowledges that men have a "self" worth defending, and, rest assured, they will defend it (see Schwarzenegger, Snipes, Stallone, Van Damme, Willis, ad nauseum.) " In your statement "The fact is, it IS different. A man will most certainly have to fight another man, but a woman will not fight another woman, she will also have to fight a man. So now you have to deal with developing strategies and techniques for a generally smaller person defending themselves from a generally larger and stronger attacker. You have to deal with the fact that men attack another man differently than they attack women. To paraphrase Tony Blauer, a man just has to defend his property or his life. A woman has to defend her property, her life AND her body. " I think that you are assuming the bad guy will be bigger. That is not always the case. Even if he is bigger the most effective techniques work the same for a man and a woman (physical power is just one attribute of a fighter - do not forget leverage- and the ability to take hits -and experience- what options are open-mind power - the ability to hit vital striking areas-and even will to survive- etc. I do think there are different dynamics with every person in a fight, but stating that women need to know different strategies because you assume she is smaller and weaker is what I disagree with. Do you teach men who are big to only learn how to fight against smaller people and base your whole class on this concept?- prob. not. you teach him the most effective techniques that you know that would work with all different types of people. I believe you should do that with women also. I have to go, but will reply more later!!!! smiles! ERICA