Men and martial arts

[JayneK]

Who needs martial arts when you've got a gun?

I don't like being dependent on a gun for self-defense any more than I like being dependent on a calculator for arithmetic.

[Mithrandylan]

Who needs martial arts when you've got a gun?

I don't like being dependent on a gun for self-defense any more than I like being dependent on a calculator for arithmetic.

Sure makes things a lot quicker and easier, don't it?  Less stressful, too.

[The Curt Jester]

Who needs martial arts when you've got a gun?

I don't like being dependent on a gun for self-defense any more than I like being dependent on a calculator for arithmetic.

I'm not a fan of calculators, either.  However, I would hope that my life wouldn't depend on a calculator!   While, if it were hefty enough, it may be used to knock someone over the head and it'd hurt a little more than a slap, I'm just not quite convinced that it has the power to rival a firearm.  Gee, I just don't know...

[JayneK]

Who needs martial arts when you've got a gun?

I don't like being dependent on a gun for self-defense any more than I like being dependent on a calculator for arithmetic.

Sure makes things a lot quicker and easier, don't it?  Less stressful, too.

It might be good to know how to use one, but it is good to be able to manage without one too.

[Vetus Ordo]

The popularity of martial arts is just a recent fad over oriental stuff. Bruce Lee's films and The Karate Kid saga helped to portray it as cool, insightful, honoured and spiritual.

It's fulfilling void left out by religion. Just like yoga.

[iona_scribe]

Yeah, strange statement. I am away from my wife most of the day. Women need to be able to defend themselves. It is not feminine to submit to an attacker.

And yet Christian women have managed to defend themselves for two millennia without martial arts. Who would tell, huh?

I think St. Perpetua, St. Lucy, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Barbara, among others, might disagree with you ;)

But it's a special grace to be resigned to one's death, and very commendable to be resigned to death in order to defend one's faith.  Under normal circumstances though, I don't see anything wrong with a woman knowing the basics of self defense in order to escape an attacker, an abductor, a rapist etc.

I took kung fu classes while in college.  The instructor always reminded us that the first rule of self defense is to run away.  All the rest is for just in case we can't run away, in which case we need to make it possible to be able to get away.

I've always stayed away from the competitive sport aspect of martial arts, I was only interested in self defense and exercise.  I expect if there was any challenge to my honor that my Isshin-Ryu black belt husband would step in and settle it 

[Su]

I took kung fu classes while in college.  The instructor always reminded us that the first rule of self defense is to run away.  All the rest is for just in case we can't run away, in which case we need to make it possible to be able to get away.

That is the reality.

The few stories I have seen about a woman who was trained in anything actually having to use it, was actually just a "lash out and run". It doesn't require any training really. I heard a Krav Maga instruction asked about such things and he stated he showed a woman a few things (I think it was what to do to make someone let go or something basic), and it was basically an eye gouge of some sort. No technique or mechanics, just a simple thing. That woman was later assaulted and she used what she learned and got away.

People in the "martial arts" usually engage in excessive fantasy. They have "what if" scenarios, and contrived situations where one has to stick around and duke it out, just so they can justify the "art".

The reality is that they are sports, a way to use the body, and sometimes art, like dance. Actual physical confrontation is different. It is not technique or mechanics or honour. It is a simple confrontation. One person (or both) is willing to hurt another and the other has to react, or better yet, avoid the situation. That is a very short simple thing in almost all cases.

Too many people go into classes thinking about how to win a fight against someone larger in a dark alley, but the actual defense is: do not go into the dark alley.

The truth is that the average man can easily physically confront the average woman. If the man is willing, then avoidance and escape is the only response. Trying to have an actual fight will result in murder or greater physical harm in most cases.

The same applies for men as well, in actual need, one doesn't really have any hope of a good outcome of "fighting".

[The Curt Jester]

I remember a story told by my uncle.  Many years ago (before I was born, I believe) his girlfriend told him that she was taking self-defense classes and that she wasn't worried about being assaulted or anything like that because she learned how to prevent it.  Then she challenged him to try to tackle her and she'd show him how it was done  (It should be noted that she was bigger than he was).   Well, he said in a couple seconds he had her pinned to the floor helpless and she couldn't move at all.   So much for the classes!   She canceled her classes and then went out and got a concealed carry permit.       

[cgraye]

A gun isn't a magic self-defense tool either.  If you haven't put in the practice to be good with it and you don't have the stomach to actually shoot someone, it's going to be worse than useless.

[iona_scribe]

A gun isn't a magic self-defense tool either.  If you haven't put in the practice to be good with it and you don't have the stomach to actually shoot someone, it's going to be worse than useless.

Yeah, guns scare me. I'd worry that I'd accidentally shoot myself through my purse.  If I could walk around wearing a bow and arrow, that would be more agreeable.