Posted: 7/4/2013 10:49:12 AM EDT
|
I just posted in the situational awareness thread and I realized that I should just make a comment. Its something every woman should think about. I train in both firearms and brazilian jiu-jitsu. (BJJ) I do this for a very specific reason, realized from somthing silly. I was wrestling and playin arround with my husband and realized that even though we were playing arround, a guy his size would beat me EVERY SINGLE TIME. It then dawned on me, that even a guy smaller would beat me and I would be able to do little in a close quarters situation (as is most of the victim situations that women are involved in). The fact is, when you are attacked, it isnt some guy running towards you, and it definately isnt something you see coming most of the time.
Your gut feeling is definately an indicator, but even then, that might be too late. So, after a lot of research, and a little asking around, I decided to try BJJ. Let me warn you, its gross. I dont want to scare you away, but you are 'rolling' (wrestling) with guys that are strong, sweatty, stinky and you are likely to be the minority in the class--- so its a lot of strong sweaty and stinky guys if you get the idea of the smell.... That said, if you can get over the sweatty stinky part, you will learn something more valuable than gold. The ability to defend yourself adequately against a stronger and larger opponent. I define adequate as the ability to get away. This incorporated with effective firearm usage is more valuable than diamonds. I have yet to hear of a gym that is anti-girl. In fact, most of the gyms that I have been to LOVE seeing women attend. Generally its because women have a tendancy to be more technical, and they get better faster, and because women are a living testament to how well BJJ works as a self defense technique. Be warned though, there are two types of gyms, one type teaches the self defense aspect, the other for competition. Both work, but you will learn more as far as self defense from the first rather than the latter. The latter teaches you the techniques, but it is geared towards scoring in a competition which is a little different. Here are some more reasons to do this training. 1. I went from 28% body fat to 19% body fat, and just about every gal that joins in to our gym loses fat and builds muscle. 2. While I am a confident woman, I gained even more confidence. For whatever reason I was not aware of the slight worry in the back of my mind of 'if something happened'. I still have that worry, but now it is answered with 'I will do this...this...or this... etc. 3. I can fold my husbands clothes.... while he is still in them. (OK this is a joke, but seriously, my hubby is 220 lbs and I can now move him while rolling when he doesnt want to be moved. Its pretty awesome) |
|
Add simunitions and retention tactics and you have the basics of my thread here
You make a great point. Being able fight off an opponent who is 20-100lbs bigger than you is very important to self defense. So often we think we are safe just because we have a gun. There are plenty of times I'm away from my gun that I may have to use physical force or situations where I'm struggling with someone to get to my gun. I know a few of the girls who do this type of training talk to their instructors about using props to symbolize a knife or a gun so they can make a connection between the two. I'm very jealous of your ability to take a class. We live where this isnt available. I guess it will just be me and cowboy wrestling in the backyard. 
|
|
I'm a big fan of BJJ for self defense, especially for smaller people, and especially if you carry a gun. It gives you the knowledge to create space to draw/fire the gun if someone gets on top of you. It can also let you survive long enough if help is on the way.
I'm a pretty small guy (5'7", 150lbs), I would not want to get in a boxing match with a 6', 180 pound guy. I'd have a hard time even hurting someone that much bigger with punches and kicks and would be afraid of getting one punch KO'd. I've put a whooping on some 200+ pound guys during submission wrestling. I've also had a couple women that were probably about 110lbs give me a run for my money. Size and strength aren't as big of factors if you can get someone to the ground. You're still at a disadvantage being smaller. As good as I think Jiu Jitsu is, I'd still recommend some work in striking. Most people don't have a clue how to grapple, so they will start swinging at you. You need to at least have an idea how to defend yourself from strikes. Learn to use knees and elbows, they carry a lot of force. If you go to an MMA gym, you can work on it at the same place. Learn some dirty stuff. Most gyms won't teach you these because they're illegal in competition. Strikes to the throat/groin, gouge eyes, small joint/finger manipulation, headbutts, etc. And yes, you will get in shape. BJJ is some serious cardio, really any martial art is. |