In this article I want to start out by asking and answering some questions to hopefully gain help my readers gain more understanding into the differences of
women‘s training and men‘s.
First off, Why do most people, women in particular, learn self defense? In my experience, as a generalization, it is because they have been scared. Sometimes by an experience of their own, such as an attack or a close call, or sometimes it’s because they have heard of something happening to someone they know. This brings me to my next question. Is this a good motive for learning self defense?
I suppose it’s as good as any, but in my opinion, it is wiser to take preventative measures rather than reacting after something has happened. However, this does give us some insight into how to train and tells us we need to be sensitive to the emotions and possible scars that some of these women carry.
So who are the majority of attacks on women perpetrated by? Short answer, men. Women are much less likely to instigate an attack than are men. Therefore, as I have stated in other articles, it is only logical that women should train with male opponents.
Will a woman be able to get realistic training with a man, who is most likely afraid of hurting her? Or who she is afraid of hurting? That is pretty difficult to answer and is dependant on each person involved. If we are talking about a woman who has gotten into SD training because of an incident that has taken place, she may still be very emotionally scarred because of it. In a case like this, my prescription would be to have her train with someone who she knows very well. A brother, father, boyfriend or husband for example. Having someone she is comfortable around will go a long way in removing the fear from the training. In the case of training with a brother, most women I know would be less hesitant to hurt him in training than a boyfriend or husband. Something about revenge for all those years of siblinghood.
So will a woman be able to defend herself against a man who is much larger and stronger than her? The answer is no, not likely. I don’t care what ad you saw in a magazine or on the internet that says you “ WILL BE ABLE TO DEFEAT EVERY ATTACKER, AND EVEN MULTIPLE TRAINED OPPONENTS NO MATTER HOW LARGE OR STRONG THEY ARE.” They are trying to sell their books or DVDs. Next time you come across one of those ads, check out 2 things. 1. How many guarantees are in their ad? 2. Do they offer any option of training with them or is it all books and DVDs?
The Diamondback Combatives curriculum is a system of self protection, rather than self defense. We define protection as having a smoke detector rather than a flame retardant blanket (defense). In other words, we would rather be aware of an impending situation and avoid it, rather than simply have the skills to react to it. The difference is that when most people’s smoke detector goes off they simply try to find a way to shut it off. We prefer to trust our “mental smoke detector” and remove ourselves from harm’s way. Awareness makes us cognizant to the fact that a situation is arising, Avoidance is the smart option to keep us from being affected by it. However, as Tony Blauer of Blauer Tactical Systems likes to say “Awareness is great, but without the skills to back it up, all you have is anxiety.”
Our contact training is intended to give our students confidence as well as a balanced, realistic idea of what a physical confrontation is. So in closing, stay out of fights whenever possible, even if you have to lose face by turning and running. If you can’t avoid, prevail. Fight dirty and run as soon as you can break contact.
Thanks for reading,
Dan
While you are reading this your enemy is training
First off, Why do most people, women in particular, learn self defense? In my experience, as a generalization, it is because they have been scared. Sometimes by an experience of their own, such as an attack or a close call, or sometimes it’s because they have heard of something happening to someone they know. This brings me to my next question. Is this a good motive for learning self defense?
I suppose it’s as good as any, but in my opinion, it is wiser to take preventative measures rather than reacting after something has happened. However, this does give us some insight into how to train and tells us we need to be sensitive to the emotions and possible scars that some of these women carry.
So who are the majority of attacks on women perpetrated by? Short answer, men. Women are much less likely to instigate an attack than are men. Therefore, as I have stated in other articles, it is only logical that women should train with male opponents.
Will a woman be able to get realistic training with a man, who is most likely afraid of hurting her? Or who she is afraid of hurting? That is pretty difficult to answer and is dependant on each person involved. If we are talking about a woman who has gotten into SD training because of an incident that has taken place, she may still be very emotionally scarred because of it. In a case like this, my prescription would be to have her train with someone who she knows very well. A brother, father, boyfriend or husband for example. Having someone she is comfortable around will go a long way in removing the fear from the training. In the case of training with a brother, most women I know would be less hesitant to hurt him in training than a boyfriend or husband. Something about revenge for all those years of siblinghood.
So will a woman be able to defend herself against a man who is much larger and stronger than her? The answer is no, not likely. I don’t care what ad you saw in a magazine or on the internet that says you “ WILL BE ABLE TO DEFEAT EVERY ATTACKER, AND EVEN MULTIPLE TRAINED OPPONENTS NO MATTER HOW LARGE OR STRONG THEY ARE.” They are trying to sell their books or DVDs. Next time you come across one of those ads, check out 2 things. 1. How many guarantees are in their ad? 2. Do they offer any option of training with them or is it all books and DVDs?
The Diamondback Combatives curriculum is a system of self protection, rather than self defense. We define protection as having a smoke detector rather than a flame retardant blanket (defense). In other words, we would rather be aware of an impending situation and avoid it, rather than simply have the skills to react to it. The difference is that when most people’s smoke detector goes off they simply try to find a way to shut it off. We prefer to trust our “mental smoke detector” and remove ourselves from harm’s way. Awareness makes us cognizant to the fact that a situation is arising, Avoidance is the smart option to keep us from being affected by it. However, as Tony Blauer of Blauer Tactical Systems likes to say “Awareness is great, but without the skills to back it up, all you have is anxiety.”
Our contact training is intended to give our students confidence as well as a balanced, realistic idea of what a physical confrontation is. So in closing, stay out of fights whenever possible, even if you have to lose face by turning and running. If you can’t avoid, prevail. Fight dirty and run as soon as you can break contact.
Thanks for reading,
Dan
While you are reading this your enemy is training
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