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Women training in martial arts and training for self defense are different


Martial arts training is one of the best things for anyone irrespective of age or gender. It instills so many qualities and personality traits that no other physical activity can. 

There are a lot of women training in martial arts today, it could surely be higher but it is increasing with every passing day. 

When selecting to train in martial arts one first needs to decide if they wish to compete in the sports competitions or train for self defense. Both are very different and though training in any martial art may help a lady fight back if attacked on the street but it will always be better if your training revolves basically around self defense than point based sport competitions. There is a huge difference to what transpires in a tournament with a refree than what may happen on the street with no refree and the chaos of uncertain factors. 

If one decides to train for competitions then their training revolves around weight categories, better combinations to get more points or even a knockout. When one selects to train for self defense there is no weight category, it is just how strong and tough you can get and you pressure test yourself in training to see if how much of your training you are able to apply in a simulated real attack scenario. This is a huge difference. This is what can decide whether you become a victim or immobilize and hand over the violent attacker to the law enforcement authorities. 

When we talk of a realistic self defense situation, your attacker can be a man or a woman or it could even be more than one person. One needs to prepare to try and make the odds stacked in their favour without even knowing what the odds may be. 

Men have the evolutionary and genetic advantage over women when it comes to strength and brute force. Which makes it very difficult if not impossible for an untrained woman to defend herself. Even with training it can be very difficult when considering the weight and strength difference. 

Let's assume the average weight of men in India who are not excessively overweight is 70kgs. Now to be able to fight off an attacker of that weight even with good training may not be easy especially if the man is also training. To balance it out a bit women need to be minimum 5kgs to 10kgs more than the average weight of men at 70kgs. This needs to be muscle weight. Pure muscle strength combined with proper self defense oriented training can help women stack the odds in their favour.

An attack on the street is totally unplanned. We do not know the gender, age, weight, physical fitness levels, training background, intent, criminal background, intoxicated or high on any drugs, motivation and lots more of the attacker. This is just variables of the attacker then things like surface on which you fight like concrete, mud, rubble, slippery tiles etc, weather - so is it raining, windy, is the sun in your eyes etc, bystanders, how your mindset is when attacked, did you just have an argument with someone at work or a spouse before the fight, are you stressed about something etc. The list of variables of a real self defense scenario are just unimaginable. 

This is exactly why if women really wish to be able to defend themselves then they don't just need to learn techniques and how to strike but need to become tough as nails, put on lots of muscle weight and gradually with persistent effort become into a force to reckon with. One needs to work on oneself physically, mentally and emotionally. You can't have a mental breakdown or freeze in shock or have an emotional breakdown right in the middle of a fight. 

Anyone telling you a few hours workshop or few months training will make you ready to defend yourself is either fooling you and taking your money or they themselves don't really know anything about self defense. That being said a workshop or a seminar is a good way to get introduced to self defense and after that one can take it further by training regularly. Just like we can't breathe a lot today and stop breathing for the next few days, similarly we can not train a lot today and hope it helps in the future with no regular training. It is a continuous process, a lifestyle. 

It is not something you do. 
It is something you become.

Train like a warrior to be a warrior!!!!

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