Women's Self Defense - Take two

[Steve]

@shesulsa brought a long dead thread back and that got me to wondering if we could have a constructive discussion about women's self defense. I know it hasn't gone well in the past, for a variety of reasons, but I have reason to be optimistic.

I am a big fan of teaching people what actually works and not simply exploiting peoples' fear. I also like the idea of being objective enough to know the difference.

I've mentioned that the only actual, scientific study on self defense I've seen offered some surprising conclusions, and I've referenced it before. If you're interested in reading about a women's self defense program that seems to have been very effective, take a look.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1411131#t=articleBackground

Along with a 2 year follow up:

SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals​

Subscription and open access journals from SAGE Publishing, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

And they now have an SARE center that focuses on women's self defense specifically

Enhanced Assess Acknowledge Act Education Program (EAAA)​

sarecentre.org

Some takeaways I see from these various resources.

1. While some Wen Do Women's Self Defence training is included in the program, it's not prioritized. The emphasis of the self defense training is on soft skills such as assessing danger, promoting confidence and self-worth, empowerment, and things like that.
2. Incidents of rape and sexual assault were dramatically reduced for women who took the course, and those who were raped or sexually assaults were much less likely to blame themselves for the assault.
3. The program effectively debunked many rape myths, and also the idea that women often precipitate their own rape.
4. The program is relatively short, suggesting that the benefits of a self defense program can be realized without spending a bunch of money buying a protracted self defense program from a self-proclaimed SD expert who has no actual experience.

I know we have had in the past some women who are very involved in teaching self defense classes for other women. While the site is predominately male, I am also hoping to here from women with insight into the topic, see what you think about the articles above, and your thoughts on women's self defense in general.

 

[lklawson]

1. While some Wen Do Women's Self Defence training is included in the program, it's not prioritized. The emphasis of the self defense training is on soft skills such as assessing danger, promoting confidence and self-worth, empowerment, and things like that.

I am not surprised in the least little bit. I've been saying for, literally, decades that many of the "traditional martial arts" could learn something from the "Firearms for Self Defense" community where it is nearly an article of faith to promote soft skills such as:

• Awareness
• Avoidance
• Don't stand out / Gray Man
• The Rules of Stupid (Don't go Stupid Places, at Stupid Times, with Stupid People, to do Stupid Things)
• Don't be afraid to apologize, even if it's not your fault - it costs you nothing and you don't really have to mean it deep inside
• Know and use the OODA loop
• Your firearm is the last resort and if you have to use it, you've already failed a bunch already

This is the community who's sacred texts include "The Gift of Fear" and "Left of Bang."

The Gift of Fear: And Other Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence: de Becker, Gavin: 9780440226192: Amazon.com: Books

The Gift of Fear: And Other Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence [de Becker, Gavin] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Gift of Fear: And Other Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence

www.amazon.com

Amazon.com: Left of Bang: How the Marine Corps' Combat Hunter Program Can Save Your Life eBook : Van Horne, Patrick, Riley, Jason, Coyne, Shawn, Pressfield, Steven: Kindle Store

Left of Bang: How the Marine Corps' Combat Hunter Program Can Save Your Life - Kindle edition by Van Horne, Patrick, Riley, Jason, Coyne, Shawn, Pressfield, Steven. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and...

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So I'm not surprised at all that the same strategies have been found, yet again, to work. What surprises me is that it still surprises people. That makes me sad.

But at least a few more people who need it are getting the information.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

 

[hoshin1600]

I believe I have looked at SARE before but I would like to look at it again in depth before I comment on it.

One of the main complaints that gets posted and beaten like a dead horse here, is that most rapes are committed by someone who is known to the victim.
This phrase is tossed in to somehow disqualify men and martial arts from the discussion. My response is "OF COURSE". in those cases martial arts are not the solution. If a man is molesting a step daughter then martial arts is not the solution. However the participants of this forum are mostly men and we are all ( I think) martial artists. So duh, of course we are going to talk about martial arts , this is a forum for that topic, just sayin.... Let's make the assumption here that we are talking about those cases where martial arts might , might, be helpful.
I would add that it is up to the individual women's discretion as to whether or not she feels she wants to learn martial arts. That is her choice. it is our responsibility to teach martial arts no more no less. If however someone is going to run a class that is designed to be specific to women's issues than it is that teachers responsibility to have a wide and indepth knowledge of the subject.

We could improve by admiting that most instructors don't have a clue about violence as it applies to men, never mind women.