* a woman looking to be able to defend herself, or...
* a concerned parent looking for a self-defense course for your child
This is a very important point, because, like few other things in your life...
... your life could depend on your making the right choice.
You and I both know that the world has its fair share of people with barely enough knowledge, skill, and common sense to be doing what they do, let alone teaching anybody else. You prbably know a few of these people yourself. And, believe me, the same holds true when it comes to martial arts and so-called, self-defense experts.
This is not to say that a karate instructor with a xxth degree black belt cannot defend him or herself. But, who would you trust your life to...
... the person who has practiced their skills in a game or sport atmosphere for the purpose of winning a belt or trophy, or...
... someone who has direct life experience in actually surviving real attacks from real assailants and had to make sure that what they were learning would work to save their own life?
We both know the answer, don't we?
Other Considerations for Choosing The Right Girls and Women's Self-Defense Program
The following is just a partial list of some of the other significant differences between self defense for men and women.
* Cultural Influences - girls have been taught from a very early age that fighting was not "lady-like."
Oh no! What would people think of her!
* Situational Self-Defense - rape and sexual assault are two of the biggest differences between the genders when it comes to suriviving an attack.
This goes back to cultural beliefs and influences. And in ours, we find that men are typically attacked by male attackers with the intention of crushing their victim, where-as women are attacked more with an eye on control or conquering.
Add to this the strength differential discussed earlier, and you have a very different situation, requiring very different self-protection tactics.
* Wrong Information - I think that the majority of instructors teaching self-defense mean well. I don't think that they intentionally try to mislead anyone. It's just that...
... if they lack any real experience in dealing with violence to go on, they will do what anyone else does when he or she doesn't know any better...
... they make seemingly logical assumptions within their own frame of reference.
The problem is that we're talking about self-protection here...
... real-world self-defense for women...
... self-defense for teenage girls. Not...
... chicken soup. Where, if you screw things up, you can just dump everything and start over.
A mistake in a self-defense situation, especially for a woman, could be very, costly indeed.
