Self-Defense For Women

Can a woman train as effectively for self-defense as a man?

What are the most common types of attacks used against women?

Should a woman who is being attacked by a man fight a “fair fight”?

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I want to tell you, as a man, why I think self-defense for women is so important...

The subject of personal safety for women can be complex. How do you identify rules and parameters around something that, culturally speaking, is just not supposed to happen in the first place?

That is why training techniques, information and articles on self-defense specifically for women are so essential today.

Your Personal Safety Should Not Depend On
A Simple Two-Hour Self-Defense For Women Course!

I’m not bashing martial arts instructors here! But let’s understand one thing:

Just about any basic, two hour course on self-defense for women is intended to give only an introduction to self-defense with the hope that the student will sign up for regular martial arts classes and train all the way to a black belt.

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That is, realistically, the goal of most of the instructors. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a good way to promote increased attendance in their schools.

But even those instructors will tell you that to really learn to defend yourself well, you need more than a two hour course. At the very least, you need to learn a dozen or so basic techniques and practice them over and over again.

And keep learning more and more variations, better tricks, new ideas and methods. In other words, your personal safety as a woman depends greatly on how much time you are willing to invest.

Let me save you some time and work…

I’ve created this resource site you don't have to search all over the internet for resources on self-defense for women. This began as a labor of love for my wife, her niece, and her niece's children, and has grown from there.

I’ve spent hours reading through books and manuals on personal safety courses that teach self-defense for women, and I’m collecting the best of the information here in this one web site.

You could jump all over the internet looking for articles, resources, free samples of techniques, video clips and the like until you’ve finally found information useful to you. But I’ve already done the work for you.

Why is self-defense for women so important to me?

Of course, there's the obvious answer: I care about my own family. I’ve been married to the same woman for over twenty years. Being a husband as well as a martial artist, my wife’s safety is important to me, as well as the safety of all the women in my family that I care about.

But there’s another reason.

From 2001 through 2003, I was a counselor in a women’s prison. It was the best job I ever had, and I sometimes kick myself for ever moving on. (I continued my counseling career in a men’s maximum security prison, where I still work today.) While I was a counselor for women inmates, I began to understand from the women, themselves, what their own concerns were for their personal safety, not just in a prison, but in their lives as a whole. By sincerely listening to them, I learned that most women…

• Do want to feel safe and protected
• Need to—and should be—respected by men
• Have experienced at least one incident in their lives which they felt seriously threatened

I also learned that women have certain advantages over men when it comes to learning personal safety. That most women are…

• More skilled at “verbal self-defense” than men
• Often able to learn fine motor skills easier than men
• More supportive of each other when training than men are

It is also true that men and women approach challenges differently. Men are usually goal/task oriented, whereas women are relational. For instance, a man will usually approach self-defense training as a series of challenges to be overcome, or won. Winning is very important to a man. On the other hand, most women approach their training as an “experience” that involves relationships. For many women, this actually gives them an advantage over men.

You see, for training in self-defense to be effective—that is,

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realistically useful in a real self-defense situation—it needs to become an ingrained habit. Too often, men reach a goal, then want to immediately jump on to the next goal, and the next—all without truly mastering the goals they’ve reached.

Women, by nature, are more patient with pursuing and achieving goals. Rather than seeing a martial arts belt rank as something to be conquered, they tend to see it as something to be experienced and reflected on.

The Advantage Women Martial Artists Have Over Men...

As a result, women are more patient with their training than men, and have less tendency to quit once they’ve started.

As a black belt, I’ve competed in tournament sparring against women as well as men, and I can tell you from my own personal experience and observation, than women martial artists

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are every bit as capable.

And because of their relational approach to martial arts, if they lose a sparring match, they usually don’t go off to sulk for a while like men often do. Instead, they begin to reflect on their “relationship” with the experience they’ve just had—something any good martial artist needs to do if he or she is ever going to improve.

So to answer to find answers to those questions at the beginning of this page, take some time to explore the articles, video clips, and resources on self-defense for women that we’ve collected. And check back often for updates!

4th degree black belt Noel Gyro:	How to defend against abduction.

Defense against a knife attack	Defense against a choke hold

The Real Secret To Self Defense for Women
There are many different ways to interpret self defense for women. Here are some basic strategies that all women should know.

Women's Self-Defense - Why Most Programs Are Wrong
A partial list of some of the major differences between self defense for women and men.

Verbal Self Defense - A Critical Factor in Self Defense for Women
Knowing verbal self defense, or the use of your voice in a threatening situation, is an extremely important and critical tool neccesary in protecting yourself.

Women's Self-Defense: Rape And Sexual Assault
The author reflects on an incident in her past when she was held up at gun point. She discusses how she got away and what readers might be able to do to protect themselves.

7 Surefire Self-Defense Tips Criminals Want Women To Never Learn
Are you at risk? What makes a woman a perfect target? Here are 7 ultimate techniques and weaknesses criminals who were interviewed look for to take advantage of you.

Women's Self-Defense & Personal Protection Options
Women's Self-Defense Institute provides realistic, effective self-defense training for today's busy female.

Self-Defense For Women Is Important
Joining a self defense for women class will teach you how to act and react in dangerous situations. You will learn which are the weak points of the attacker ...

Self Defense For Women—Start With A Sense Of Confidence
Did You Know? --One out of four women will be sexually assaulted on a college campus.