“REAL” Women’s Self-Protection and Awareness

• One rape or sexual assault occurs every two minutes.
• One violent crime occurs every five seconds in the U.S.
• 172 Women are physically and/or sexually assaulted every hour
• 261,000 rapes and sexual assaults occurred in the U.S. in 2000.
• 90,186 forcible rapes in 2000 as reported to police.
• In the year 2000, 2.8 % of college women experienced rape in a six month U.S. Department of Justice study.
• 17% of rape or sexual assault victims were victimized by someone they knew!
• One murder occurs every 34 minutes.

Statistics from the National Center for Victims of Crime – Year 2000

The proceeding statistics bring light to a very serious issue that exists in all societies, and specifically in the United States.   Please look again at the alarming statistics presented here, because I don’t know about you the reader, but as a husband and father of two girls, the fact that a rape occurs every two minutes, and that 172 women an hour are assaulted in some manner is unimaginably frightening.  Further as a self-protection specialist and reality and combatives martial arts instructor, the fact that a violent crime occurs every five seconds, and a murder occurs every 34 seconds is also quite jarring to consider.  It amazes me how many people still ask me if the manner of “hardcore” martial arts that I teach is even necessary in today’s society.  Obviously they are even more in need now than ever before. 

Society may appear more civilized in some areas of this great Nation, but in far too many places that go forgotten about and unseen, violence is still a normal and regular part of life.  Quite honestly in my own neighborhood, which is less violent than where I grew up and lived as an adult for many years, I still see/hear at least 3 violent altercations a week.  Usually it’s heated arguing and pushing and shoving.  However, I still see fights frequently and honestly hear gunshots at least 4 times per month (I can’t say it happens once every week, but it averages out to be about that). 

All this brings me to the point of this article.  I must honestly say that I am shocked and saddened by what I see being taught as “self-defense” and more specifically “women’s self-defense” programs.  Often these programs involve either instruction in fine motor martial skills (which CAN be used effectively after YEARS of regular instruction and regular adrenal stress training and sparring; and training that causes intense and spontaneous adrenal dumps), or techniques instruction in attacking vital points and organs of a would-be assailant.  The problem is that this is techniques-based instruction, and these techniques are taught VERY specifically, with no room for adjustment or alternating based on potential attacks/attack variations. 

Further, in the heat of an assault most people, even supposedly high-level martial artists revert back to their base instincts, and their supposed skills deteriorate exponentially based on the intensity/severity of the assault.  This is because while they are used to pulling off their high-level techniques, under non-stressful conditions, in friendly confines with cooperative teammates/classmates; a real-world assault involves none of these variables.  Additionally, the immediate adrenal dump that most people (especially those inexperienced in adrenal stress response training) experience, totally shuts down the part of the brain that allows them to control and execute these high-level, fine motor skills. 

The programs we teach at Delaware Combat University (www.delawarecombatuniversity.com) are first of all principle-based.  This means that while specific techniques are taught, it’s the principles that allow the techniques to actually work, and allow the practitioner to compensate for unplanned/unexpected variables in conditions and attacks.  Students are taught in a high-intensity environment (at times with variable conditions).  Essentially wearing “street” clothing (anyone who’s ever experienced an adrenal dump will tell you that even the clothes you wear, certain smells, and other environmental cues can actually impact the way you perform when you need to protect yourself or your loved ones) and training begins with moderate cooperation so that skill-sets can be ingrained into muscle memory.  Soon training involves increasing levels of REAL resistance, and students learn to MAKE their skills work both in ideal conditions AND when things go wrong, and how to immediately improvise without “hitches” or “hick-ups”. 

This is reality and this type of training and combative sparring is what leads to real-time, real combat effectiveness and success.  This is what teaches students to fight through surprise, shock, and pain.  This is where they learn to not shut-down, to never give up, and to persevere until they escape or prevail.  This is where they condition and harden themselves for the rigors of real world combat. 

Finally to more specifically address the type of training women receive, I again, am saddened.  Women are taught to box/kick-box with a male assailant; to try to place rear-legged power kicks on a man’s groin with no instructions in setting this technique up; to attack an assailant’s pressure points, again with no set-up, or striking instruction so that they learn how to open and activate these pressure-points, to apply very fine joint locks/manipulations, and other basically ridiculous tactics that will get them killed. 

Before I go any further, I must be clear that I truly mean no disrespect, and I applaud both the women who realize that they need to acquire adequate self-protection skills and have a willingness to do so, and the instructors who are honestly trying to teach the skills they feel will help these women.  Also, some instruction and training is absolutely better than nothing.  Now here’s my issue: no matter how strong or skilled a women is, any male assailant truly bent on completing his assault is at least wired on natural adrenaline, and usually other things, and he WILL overpower you, so grappling or fighting/striking with him is a blueprint for pain and failure, and potentially much worse.  Also, being totally honest about what a women can and should expect from a male assailant needs to be made clear from the beginning of the program.  THIS IS REALITY. 

With all that being said, it is entirely possible and plausible for a woman to defend herself against a male assailant; and fending off a male assailant is an entirely winnable scenario.  However, the right attitude, principles, and techniques must be taught to female class participants.  These techniques must begin with gross-motor skills, and be taught in adrenal stress response type, and scenario-based training.  This does not mean teaching “kick him in the groin!” 

Examples of actual gross-motor skills that work very effectively are palm heel strikes, ear/eye slaps, eye rakes/gouges, vital point bites, skin tearing, ear tearing (takes very little pressure to tear an ear off of someone’s head), stomps to feet (ankles and knees), close quarter (and therefore disguised) groin strikes, properly set-up and executed groin kicks (this is actually a bit of a higher level technique as men learn from birth, essentially, to protect themselves from direct hits to the groin, and really, only direct hits work), and use of tactical flashlights and kubotans, chemical weapons (mace, pepper-spray), improvised weapons, and even knives if necessary. 

I teach my wife Filipino kali, and I believe this system (both empty-hand and knife techniques; though it would be higher level training, after someone has already shown proficiency in utilization of base gross-motor skills and techniques), along with Filipino kino-mutai, and a mixed bag of truly (high stress situation) applicable jujutsu techniques, as well as the aforementioned specific gross-motor techniques from a variety of other systems, are tailor made for women to effectively and decisively, and TRULY  protect themselves from any assault, but only when combined with proper, principle-based instruction.  This is real self-protection training.  THIS IS THE TRUTH IN COMBAT!