Why Not Self Defense?

The majority of self-defense courses are about fighting not escaping. These courses tend to be designed by men and generally utilize fighting concepts derived from three different areas: techniques and set forms from traditional martial arts; punching, kicking and grappling from competitive sport martial systems; and pain compliance techniques from law enforcement. Each of these martial systems is extremely effective for its original purpose and the people creating self-defense classes based on them all have an earnest desire to help women. It’s just the principles being applied may not be the most efficient answer for women.

The traditional martial arts are very structured and teach techniques that must be done exactly as presented…when this happens you do this, etc. This makes sense if you understand the concept of Budo (the way of martial arts). Judo, aikido, karate-do and many other Budo arts were created as gentlemanly arts that were designed for personal development and character building; you strive to perform the techniques and forms to perfection as a way to push yourself beyond your current capabilities. To this end they have been extremely successful but to take this approach when teaching self defense, where the situations encountered are impossible to predict, providing an exact answer is just not possible.

Competitive martial systems are based on defeating your opponent not escaping from them. They can build confidence and determination but size, speed and strength play a major role. That is why they have weight, age and gender divisions in most competitions. The reality is that on average men are bigger, stronger and meaner than women. In a fight this gives the advantage to men. To take a competitive attitude in a self-defense situation, trying to win versus trying to escape could put women at risk.

Pain compliance techniques are extremely effective and are used quite well by law enforcement personnel, trained professionals, who use pain compliance along with backup and superior force to control dangerous situations. When these techniques are used the law enforcement personnel are more often than not the superior force in the confrontation. This is not the case for women in most violent situations. 

Something else is needed, something that is not only effective but also attractive to women. It is obvious that women have not been presented with the right choice yet. If they had been they would flock to it, making sure that every woman and girl they know was with them. Yet more than 95% of women have never taken a self-defense class. Why? The threat is real. The violence is real. Women are afraid and they know they need something to make them safe. So why aren’t they taking the classes in large numbers? We asked them. There were three main reasons.

1. They don’t believe that they are physically capable of doing what is being taught in most self-defense classes. From a very early age women are exposed to the idea that men are stronger and they could never defeat them in a fight. Teaching them better ways of fighting doesn’t overcome that doubt.
2. They don’t believe that what is being taught will work against a large, angry man. Seasoned martial artists, if they are honest with themselves, sometimes question the effectiveness of their training. An attacker’s size, strength, testosterone, drugs, and alcohol level or just plain mean attitude are a few of the reasons women question the effectiveness of what they’re being taught. 
3. They are not willing to do what is being taught. Most of the self-defense classes available assume that the attacker is the proverbial stranger in the bushes. He’s not. He’s someone you know. When you’re talking about abuse, the women know one hundred percent of their attackers. When you are talking about rape the victim knows eighty percent of the attackers.

So what is the answer? We can’t change the fact that men on average are bigger, stronger and meaner. But what if we look at it from the other side? Women on average are smaller, more flexible and more sensitive. In an attack where the goal is not to fight but to escape and survive these are the traits that can save your life. What’s needed is something new and different that will bring out a woman’s natural capabilities to defend her.