What is wrong with this picture?

[Bjjexpertise@be]

But still, flexibility and evasion are advantages of smaller targets.

Being smaller doesn't necesarilly mean that you are more flexible or have good evasion skills. In order to be flexible you have to stretch often. So even if you are bigger you can still be more flexible than a smaller guy/gal. In order to evade, one must have fast reflexes. Since majority of women don't do MA or enter fights very often, the man will have the advantage.







Also, I'm not trying to say just give up slef-defense. Self-defense is good, but there is a fine line between knowing some moves for self-defense and feeling like you can beat the crap out of every guy in the world. If you want to know self-defense, I'd say go with some Krav-maga ( i heard is is good for self-defense) and do some major track and field.







As for the chi kong. What you are talking about is "Anh hei Gung"(In Cantonese). It is very bad for you. If you want to live to the age of 63 and still feel alright I don't suggest you do it. Yet again it is not 'invulnerability' is is mere ldestroying nerves on your body, getting hit often to get you used to it, and thickening your skin. If you've watched the practioners practice, you should see that they inhale greatly and "flex"(trying my hardest to describe it). This is also very bad for yourhealth. Have you ever heard that you should breathe out when you are lifting something heavy or when you are bench pressing? If you don't you can blow some (I believe they are) veins or blood vessels.






Congrats on escaping the rapist and I pray that nothing of the like will happen to you in the future.






Oh, and sorry If i sound like I'm trying to destroy your self esteem. I'm not really trying to, just trying to debate. Just one of my weaknesses.

[Mulan]

Being smaller doesn't necesarilly mean that you are more flexible or have good evasion skills. In order to be flexible you have to stretch often. So even if you are bigger you can still be more flexible than a smaller guy/gal. In order to evade, one must have fast reflexes. Since majority of women don't do MA or enter fights very often, the man will have the advantage.

Bigger targets are easier to hit. Muscle mass slows you down. I wasn't referring to women that don't do MA or don't spar. If you see the original statement, the argument was for "given the proper mindset, physical conditioning, and training, the playing field is more equal than it seems" and "we as individuals must all acknowledge our innate strengths and weaknesses (which vary between male and male, between female and female), play up our assets, and make the most out of what we got. If the training is done properly, then the average cross-sex playing field (not talking about extremes here) should theoretically be a lot more equal in one-on-one matches."

I know a number of guys who freely admit they know women who could kick their ass, and some of those guys have been in a number of streetfights. If even without MA I could beat untrained guys, and even without MA women that fight back against rapists often either escape or win, I'd say there's a bias issue, and it's not the women. I'm actually not taking MA for self-defense or to beat people up. Other than mind-body link/discipline/spirituality, I'm taking it to decrease my strong aggressive streak while fine-tuning my existing fighting skills.

As for the chi kong. What you are talking about is "Anh hei Gung"(In Cantonese). It is very bad for you. If you want to live to the age of 63 and still feel alright I don't suggest you do it.

Err no, I think we're talking about different things again. Chi Kung is typically practiced to increase health, and this does not typically involve breaking bricks over your head. No, people practicing Chi Kung tend to be very healthy and live long. There's several different romanized spellings of it, gah. I think the other most common one is Qigong.

Oh, and sorry If i sound like I'm trying to destroy your self esteem. I'm not really trying to, just trying to debate. Just one of my weaknesses.

Don't you worry, I have more than enough self-esteem to go around.

P.S. My ego can kick your ego's ass

[mrniceguy148]

As a psychology major, I would have to say that isn't the best way to size up a demographic. There are a lot less females taking martial arts classes than males, and a lot of those females carry heavy cultural baggage regarding their abilities. That small number of women is in no way representative of female abilities as a whole, nor is casual observation a good way to size up the abilities of such a small sample, since casual observation is prone to a lot of selective bias - conscious or not. Either way, I'm not interested in comparing a group with a group, I'm more interested with the capabilities of individuals.


Hmm, where do you live and what school is it? Cause I've seen these discussions on other MA boards and a good number of teachers say the female students pick up lessons faster than many of the male students and also initially hit harder (because they underestimate their strength and don't hold back). So, putting your statement together with various other people's, I would have to say you have had an unrepresentative amount of bad experiences with female martial artists.


You represent one side of the opinion spectrum, I represent the other. I would say reality is probably closer to squidd's assessment of "having seen women training together with and under the same regimen as men. in extreme cases it might not make up for the natural disparity in muscle, but along the mean and median, it WILL make a difference." I for one know a number of guys I'd be able to beat up even without training. But I'm really not into martial arts to beat people up, or even for street self-defense. In street self-defense I'd rather shout disorienting gibberish, go for the nearest crowbar and bash an attacker's brain in while shouting ghastly obscenities. Or, better yet, utter a paralyzing scream (and believe you me I've got a scream that can pop eardrums), claw/mace/stungun, and run.


I agree with all of that, especially #2 (and I won't even get into gender-biased MA instruction). But aside from size and varying fractions of "power" (which can either be defined as "brute strength" or force outside of brute strength... I typically mean the latter), I do not see how it would hinder females significantly more than lightweight males of similar size. Perhaps my opinion will change after formally sparring males, perhaps that will only reinforce it... I'd rather see for myself.

Hi Mulan,

Understand, my main sport isn’t MA, but I have studied it. However, I was heavily into tennis from the time I was in grade school until I was forty when I injured my shoulder; then my arthritis kicked in and now I can’t play anymore. Anyway, out of necessity I’ve spent half a lifetime playing the match-up / size-up game. I know my stuff inside and out and I’ve seen time and time again how a person with superior natural ability, but a lack of training, can often beat a highly skilled athlete with mediocre natural ability. It’s not fair, but that’s just the way it is. If training, skill and experience were so much more important than God given athleticism then Rod Laver would still be winning Grand Slam tournaments!

Generally speaking, in tennis as with MA, the guys are usually bigger, stronger, smarter, quicker and more dedicated than the women. In other words, that usually means that the guys are just plain better than the women There are exceptions, of course and I’m not saying that you fit this profile, because I’ve never met you. Realize though, I say these things after careful study, and not through “casual observation“!

As far as comparing men and women of equal size and weight is concerned, you’ll find that the guys are still usually, quicker (faster hands, if nothing else), stronger (less body fat), and meaner and more brutal (there’s the testosterone thing again). A lack of size is much less of a factor when comparing men against women than it is when comparing men against other men.

Actually, I was surprised to see that the gender gap was so much greater at my Kempo school than it was at the many tennis clubs that I‘d belonged to over the years! I was even more surprised to see so many guys, who came in with no training whatsoever, but still actually had the firepower to overwhelm all the women in our school, some of whom had been training for years! You can take my word for it, or you can join a MA school and see for yourself………

BTW, the Kempo school that I went to is a large school in northern NJ. As you may know, that aria of the country if famous for being the home of some of the bitchiest, meanest and most liberated women in the nation!! LOL !!

Take care,

Mr. Niceguy

[Mulan]

Generally speaking, in tennis as with MA, the guys are usually bigger, stronger, smarter, quicker and more dedicated than the women. In other words, that usually means that the guys are just plain better than the women There are exceptions, of course and I’m not saying that you fit this profile, because I’ve never met you. Realize though, I say these things after careful study, and not through “casual observation“!

LOL smarter?? (won't even comment) The average gap in dedication can be explained by both peer pressure, instructor pressure, and societal pressure. I would suspect this would be even more true in NJ, which is prone to a macho environment. (I lived in NYC for 5 years) You may say they're bitchy, but that doesn't mean their bite is worse than their bark as far as ability and self-esteem is concerned. Bitchiness usually stems from insecurity and that's not good for confidence in oneself. As for the rest of your comments, I've already basically replied my take on them in previous posts so won't really repeat it. Bottom line to me is I've heard comments similar to yours from other people, I've also heard comments that completely contradict yours from other people. The only explanation for that is either subjective observation or that you simply have been exposed to different groups of people. But, yes, I'm not too concerned with groups. The abilities of individuals within groups often vary more than individuals between groups.

[Mulan]

Anyways we are talking about the average man vs the average woman, now chances are the bad guy isnt going to choose a women, who seams to be prepared.

I actually didn't intend the topic to be about average man vs average woman. More like trained woman vs average man, or perhaps trained woman vs trained man, and also lightweight man vs heavyweight man... and not necessarily in the rape scenario since I consider that to be fairly easy to both escape from and avoid for the average woman, if even the typically below-average women that rapists target have the success rate that they do. The mere fact that they are selective is indicative in itself. Thanks for the input anyway

[mrniceguy148]

LOL smarter?? (won't even comment) The average gap in dedication can be explained by both peer pressure, instructor pressure, and societal pressure........... I'm not too concerned with groups. The abilities of individuals within groups often vary more than individuals between groups.

Hi Mulan,

“Smarter” was a bad choice of words on my part. What I meant by “smarter” is that most guys are born with an aggressive “hunter / warrior” instinct that is either lacking or laying dormant in most women. You can explain away the average women’s lack of this “hunter / warrior” instinct as being a result of “peer pressure, instructor pressure, societal pressure” or whatever, but nevertheless it does exist and it is a factor.

For example, Nazism was masterminded and brought to power by a few ruthless MEN. However, it couldn’t have succeeded without the willing violent cooperation and sacrifice of millions of misguided MEN. Of course, millions of passive wives, mothers and daughters did nothing as their MEN were sent off to the slaughter to be used as human cannon fodder in the Nazi war machine.

Actually, Nazism was a classic case of the societal cultivation and exploitation of the male “hunter / warrior” instinct for political gain! Granted, the Russians sent some women into battle during WWII and the Germans armed their women for the Battle of Berlin, but those women were only following orders. The men have always been the real killers throughout history.

You said,

“I'm not too concerned with groups. The abilities of individuals within groups often vary more than individuals between groups.”

If you’re making this statement to include fighting ability and a penchant for sadistic cruelty then I couldn’t disagree more. Reread your history and then stop by for a visit at your local battered women’s shelter and you’ll see what I’m talking about! Earlier you had mentioned something about male attackers who underestimate the capabilities of women. The reverse is also true. You never want to be there when a crazy guy blows a gasket and then goes ballistic………and neither do I. It’s never a pretty sight, in case you’ve never seen it………..

Anyway, all this explains why we sometimes refer to our wives and girlfriends as "our better half"! LOL !!

Take care,
Mr. Niceguy

[Tom Yum]

The reverse is also true. You never want to be there when a crazy guy blows a gasket and then goes ballistic………and neither do I. It’s never a pretty sight, in case you’ve never seen it………..

Anyway, all this explains why we sometimes refer to our wives and girlfriends as "our better half"! LOL !!

Take care,
Mr. Niceguy

The closest I have seen to that situation was in an event, where some guy came in on pcp. He was like the tazmanian devil and got into a scuffle, where he took some big hits to the face and kept going!

One of the smaller doorman got him in a standing neck crank and wasn't big enough to pull him around without doing damage, so the door guy just stood there with the neck crank and kept stepping behind the guy to keep him slightly off balance and kept him from going loose.

Two of the bigger door guys took over and picked the guy up and pulled him outdoors.

This guy took several full power hits to the face and was still standing. Definitely shows the need for grappling whether you are a man or a woman.

[Mulan]

“Smarter” was a bad choice of words on my part. What I meant by “smarter” is that most guys are born with an aggressive “hunter / warrior” instinct that is either lacking or laying dormant in most women. You can explain away the average women’s lack of this “hunter / warrior” instinct as being a result of “peer pressure, instructor pressure, societal pressure” or whatever, but nevertheless it does exist and it is a factor.

Anybody that says that to me and my sword/dagger collection is in for a world of pain. I'm fairly secure in my fighting ability, and am aware of the biases, criticisms, stereotypes, underestimation (and, yes, I agree males can also be underestimated), etc etc that males have about females, and really I've stopped caring about that a long time ago... because in my personal experience and that of many of my friends, the average untrained playing field is somehow learning towards balanced anyway (this is not to imply that any woman can beat any man, but neither can any man beat any man, nor any man beat any woman).

But it's actually statements about female aggression alone that prompted me to start this thread at all, because this kind of ignorance proves to me that you guys have not been dealing with real women. Have you ever faced the wrath of a mother protecting her children? You can pass that off as "maternal instinct," lol, but it's just as lethal regardless. If you want to make the case that males attack stuff without reason and females attack stuff with good reason, maybe I'd be willing to agree. But the fact remains that when a woman attacks to protect herself or those she loves, it's with all the fury of a man, if not the average brute strength to back it up. This has been proven across-species, along with the fact that females have a tendancy to use "dirtier" tactics.

The so-called "warrior instinct" is just as dead in the average male as the average female. You think the average businessman is going to fight back against a robber? You think the average professor will have the guts to kill somebody? For better or for worse, society has instilled a conscience and a helplessness into all ye ancient warriors, although I'd say it was there to begin with as part of being human. Some do snap and fight back, of course, but so do women. *shrug*

As you can probably tell, I'm not a big fan of the whole branch of evolutionary psychology. Then again, it's not a very popular branch of psychology in the field of psychology itself, because so many other branches have much better explanations for human behavior. Yes, let us look at history. Let us look at Celtic women who fought by their husband's side or Mongol women who served as regulars in campaigns against the Turks. Or famous female military leaders such as Joan of Arc, Boadicea, or Ching Shih (who headed the largest pirate fleet in history, a threat to even China's own navy). Individuals like Yu Niu (the best swords"man" in China at her time) or Ng Mui (developer of Wing Chun Kung Fu). On the other hand, we can look back on ancient and modern societies where women hunt just like the men do, often well into old age. Where men are gentle and docile and play with the children. Or modern militaries where women train and fight alongside men.

If the women you've seen in your classes don't have the determination or mentality to pursue a martial art, that's not a factor, that's their problem. Same goes for the men. Fact remains that there are plenty of women who do have both the determination and the mentality, and who most men would not want to mess with. The battered women in shelters are just shells of what they were and of their real potential. I have a lot of respect for their strength and perseverence, but what happens to them is typically a result of many years of emotional abuse that snuff out their confidence and self-esteem, often stemming from child abuse, and climaxing in physical abuse. As many have mentioned in past threads, males are also physically and emotionally abused in relationships, but often don't come out with it for fear of ridicule.

[Tom Yum]

you guys have not been dealing with real women.

Hey, Sensei Saki is too real! So far I'm the only guy that she hasn't rejected I'll sum up your Master's thesis in a few short, sweet sentences:

An in shape woman, with realistic martial arts training and life-death driven motivation can inflict a serious amount of pain and damage on a male or female aggressor.

The role of passive gatherer is one role of woman's many historical roles which also include hunter, battlefield officer and ruthless Chinese dictator.

---------

Mr. Niceguy was saying that the average woman does not have the warrior spirit. This is true, most woman are not trained to physically manhandle their attackers. But this can't be assumed among all women. Some of the woman who come out of battered shelters and into the ring, can hit f@!$ing hard!

[squidd]

As many have mentioned in past threads, males are also physically and emotionally abused in relationships, but often don't come out with it for fear of ridicule.

i pray that the above quote is a realization that will deter mulan from pushing through with the quote below...

Anybody that says that to me and my sword/dagger collection is in for a world of pain.

[gregimotis]

PRELUDE: I train mostly Muay Thai and Boxing, two high contact sports/arts.

Of the women who join our gym, about 70% drop out in the first thre months or so - this washout rate is about equal to the men. Women join in a ratio to men of about 1:6 (these are very much estimations)


On to the meat of the post:

Of the people who stay and train seriously for more than six months or so, it's the women who consistently hit harder than is really necessary for sparring. Which isn't to say that the men can't hit harder, it is to say that the women with the mindset for fighting tend to be more aggresive* than the men.

My point here is that women with the mindset to train in contact martial arts are not only above average in that they are trained, but also above average in their willingness to 'play rough' (or 'play dirty' depending on how one looks at it). Therefore, when discussing hard training women, I think we are discussing a very small minority of the overall population - and also a very capable minority - in both skill and mindset.

I realize I've made a few generalizations here based on limited experience, but it is a number of years of limited experience, after all.




*I'm defining 'aggressive' here not as a skill, but as a mindset. While the men are sparring at 20-30% power, it's sometimes difficult to prevent the women from jumping up thier power and taking advantage of the light contact to strike harder than really needed.

[Mulan]

As many have mentioned in past threads, males are also physically and emotionally abused in relationships, but often don't come out with it for fear of ridicule.

i pray that the above quote is a realization that will deter mulan from pushing through with the quote below...

Anybody that says that to me and my sword/dagger collection is in for a world of pain.

Well... I do need to test out my new TaiChi sword.....

My point here is that women with the mindset to train in contact martial arts are not only above average in that they are trained, but also above average in their willingness to 'play rough' (or 'play dirty' depending on how one looks at it). Therefore, when discussing hard training women, I think we are discussing a very small minority of the overall population - and also a very capable minority - in both skill and mindset.

*nod* Muay Thai and Boxing is as full-contact as it gets, I would think. If you get that many women there (a minority, but still more than I thought), I can only imagine that there's even more equally-determined women in the less brutal arts.... still with sparring, of course.

Well Mulan do you want to do debate average untrained man vs trained women. If so what level of training does this women have, is it going to a karate class, a few times a weak and yelling kia as she beats the shit out of the air.

The original argument was for "given the proper mindset, physical conditioning, and training, the playing field is more equal than it seems" and "we as individuals must all acknowledge our innate strengths and weaknesses (which vary between male and male, between female and female), play up our assets, and make the most out of what we got. If the training is done properly, then the average cross-sex playing field (not talking about extremes here) should theoretically be a lot more equal in one-on-one matches." Yes, that includes sparring, and I would like to add mental conditioning for the internal arts.

[mrniceguy148]

Well... I do need to test out my new TaiChi sword.....

*nod* Muay Thai and Boxing is as full-contact as it gets, I would think. If you get that many women there (a minority, but still more than I thought), I can only imagine that there's even more equally-determined women in the less brutal arts.... still with sparring, of course.

The original argument was for "given the proper mindset, physical conditioning, and training, the playing field is more equal than it seems" and "we as individuals must all acknowledge our innate strengths and weaknesses (which vary between male and male, between female and female), play up our assets, and make the most out of what we got. If the training is done properly, then the average cross-sex playing field (not talking about extremes here) should theoretically be a lot more equal in one-on-one matches." Yes, that includes sparring, and I would like to add mental conditioning for the internal arts.

Hi Mulan,

The reason why more guys don't get into Muay Thai and Boxing is twofold:

1) The guys would be (obviously) fighting with other guys and most people are smart enough to not want to get their brains scrambled over a sport that most don't have the talent to ever be successful at.

2) Real Muay Thai and Boxing training is hard to find in most arias. I don't see that kind of training here in central NJ, and this is one of the most densely populated arias in the country.

The only reason why we see as many women in these sports as we do is because they are training to fight other women. Otherwise we wouldn’t be seeing any of this this. Also, if every person, girl and boy, were forced to get this type of training, starting in grade school and ending in grade 12 of high school, than the gender gap would be even greater than it is now. That’s because a person with superior natural ability (mostly guys), who also trains hard, will always improve at a faster rate and will reach a higher level than a person with lesser ability (usually women). That means that if everyone were trained in Muay Thai and Boxing then the overwhelming majority of women would fall even further behind than they are now!

Think about it! For example, a person with a high I.Q. often takes advanced math and physics classes and either goes on to medical school or gets a well paying high-tech job, while the person with a low I.Q. often drops out of high school and gets a job as a truck driver or a janitor. By it’s very nature, education and training pushes people in opposite and extreme directions and creates gaps that are even greater than when they started. By the same token, across the board MA training would actually hurt, not help, most women if gender equality in fighting ability is the goal.

However, as things stand now, an athletic women who trains hard could probably reach a point where she could hold her own against about 50% of the untrained male population. Add in a generation of institutionalized gender bending political correctness combined with the now accepted castrating practice of fatherless child rearing, and I’d say today’s women are already doing better than they could have ever hoped for.

BTW. Have you heard about the latest military sex scandal that congress is now looking into? It seems that 100 women stationed in Iraq were raped by male US soldiers. This is what I’m trying to tell you.
The women were trained in hand to hand combat; the men were trained in hand to hand combat, but the rapes happened anyway. Also, I’d venture to guess that most of the rape victims were some pretty mean women. Why do you think that this happened?

Take care,

Mr. Niceguy

[Mulan]

The only reason why we see as many women in these sports as we do is because they are training to fight other women. Otherwise we wouldn’t be seeing any of this this. Also, if every person, girl and boy, were forced to get this type of training, starting in grade school and ending in grade 12 of high school, than the gender gap would be even greater than it is now. That’s because a person with superior natural ability (mostly guys), who also trains hard, will always improve at a faster rate and will reach a higher level than a person with lesser ability (usually women). That means that if everyone were trained in Muay Thai and Boxing then the overwhelming majority of women would fall even further behind than they are now!

Woah, now I KNOW you're severely underestimating women! I understand you've had some bad experiences, but dude, that's just chronic. Oh well, more advantage for me.

If every person started training in grade school, then the societal/peer pressure against it would probably diminish faster, and with it eventually instructor pressure. As of right now, a lot of instructors I've read say that girls actually improve faster than guys since there seems to be less of a know-it-all ego to get past. It would also get more girls with natural atheltic ability into it by default. As of right now, most girls I ask don't even think about taking martial arts or self-defense... either because they feel they don't need it, or because it never even popped into their heads as an option.

Did you read the first few posts by me? Did you read the part about the majority of (at least eastern) martial arts teaching moves that defeat strength rather than promote it, that find ways to overcome size rather than enhance it? They use principles of physics and physiology and are appliccable by people of any stature. Such principles are best described by the Treatise on Tai Chi Chuan: "There are many other arts which are different, mainly they are none other than strong against weak, fast against slow, using strength against those with less strength. All these are natural [abilities], not derived from profound art [which goes beyond natural ability]."

If you're going to make the argument around force or brute strength, you have to remember that there is a point that force and strength pleateu at. If you can knock out people with your hits, if you can break bones with your hits, and do all the damage you need to with your hits, then you can hit "hard enough." I would wager females can reach that point. There aint much of a difference between hitting for 1000 pounds or for 1500 pounds against a human being. What's the point of going further? Ego? It's just wasted time that you could be using to improve other aspects of your style.

I don't know where you got the idea that females move their hands slower than males, but I would advise you go to any Wushu competition and then come back and try saying that again. Sure a lot of it isn't combat application, but we're talking about sheer movement speed here, right? As for military training... do you mean the US military? Last I heard women aren't allowed to fight close-combat in the US military. As such, I don't know how much of their training focuses on hand-to-hand or weapon combat, how much that training differs from the guys', and whether it teaches them in the way that I suggested in my hypothesis (maximize natural strengths, minimize natural weaknesses, use techniques that counter size and strength).

[mrniceguy148]

Woah, now I KNOW you're severely underestimating women! I understand you've had some bad experiences, but dude, that's just chronic. Oh well, more advantage for me..

What bad experiences?

If every person started training in grade school, then the societal/peer pressure against it would probably diminish faster, and with it eventually instructor pressure. As of right now, a lot of instructors I've read say that girls actually improve faster than guys since there seems to be less of a know-it-all ego to get past. It would also get more girls with natural atheltic ability into it by default. As of right now, most girls I ask don't even think about taking martial arts or self-defense... either because they feel they don't need it, or because it never even popped into their heads as an option.

Hi Mulan,

You're going faster than I can keep up! I hanen't even gotten my resposes ready from your yeaterday's post.

Actually, the women would quickly feel overwhelmed and intimidated in high school co-ed MA training just like they did in our high school co-ed gym class basketball games! It was no contest! The girls were more worried about avoiding being trampled tham actually playing the game! Can't say that I blame them either.....

Did you read the first few posts by me? Did you read the part about the majority of (at least eastern) martial arts teaching moves that defeat strength rather than promote it, that find ways to overcome size rather than enhance it? They use principles of physics and physiology and are appliccable by people of any stature. Such principles are best described by the Treatise on Tai Chi Chuan: "There are many other arts which are different, mainly they are none other than strong against weak, fast against slow, using strength against those with less strength. All these are natural [abilities], not derived from profound art [which goes beyond natural ability]."

If you're going to make the argument around force or brute strength, you have to remember that there is a point that force and strength pleateu at. If you can knock out people with your hits, if you can break bones with your hits, and do all the damage you need to with your hits, then you can hit "hard enough." I would wager females can reach that point. There aint much of a difference between hitting for 1000 pounds or for 1500 pounds against a human being. What's the point of going further? Ego? It's just wasted time that you could be using to improve other aspects of your style.

You really should take a MA class and then you'll find out real fast that this Akiddo type garbage never works in a real comfrontation. If it did then these old worn out "leverage guys" would be mopping up in the death matches, but it's not happening that way. As far as judo is concerned, you'd better be able to overpower the person first or those leverage moves can never work. You were on the right track in your first post when you were talking about throat strikes. Now, that really works! That will stop anyone! Like I said, women certainly can defend themselves buy not by using all this fancy shit. BAMM sticks to just a few basic strikes and techniques and you should be content to do the same!

Obviously you've never been either punched or sat on by a person who's 6 inches taller than you and 50 pounds heavier than you. FYI, firepower and brute force rule in the street (always have and always will) and the guys just happen to have more of it than the women and they improve on it even faster. Many women don't even know how to make a proper fist when they join a karate school so they're starting out behind the curve from day one.

I don't know where you got the idea that females move their hands slower than males, but I would advise you go to any Wushu competition and then come back and try saying that again. Sure a lot of it isn't combat application, but we're talking about sheer movement speed here, right? As for military training... do you mean the US military? Last I heard women aren't allowed to fight close-combat in the US military. As such, I don't know how much of their training focuses on hand-to-hand or weapon combat, how much that training differs from the guys', and whether it teaches them in the way that I suggested in my hypothesis (maximize natural strengths, minimize natural weaknesses, use techniques that counter size and strength).

I'm pretty sure that, in the military, the women train hand-to-hand with the guys. These days women are on the supply lines so they'd need the same type of training as the guys.

Over the years I've nailed enough pretty damnerd good women tennis players right in the boobs with a tennis ball to know that even a trained women has slower hands then the average guy! Also, the women in my Kempo school didn't only have slow hands, they also had zero weight behind their punches. I know this because I held the mits and pads while they worked out on me! However, save yourself allot of time and money and just stick with WSD because it's easier to learn and it's more effective. If WSD is good enough for me than it should be good enough for you. A simple kick in the groin can actually drop a guy so don't make things any harder on yourself! Just run like hell when he doubles over. However, this section is really about self defense, and not about beating up guys, so escape should be the main concern. You can certainly do that and you obviously have!

Take care,

Mr Niceguy