Karate - the Ultimate Self-Defense for Women

Remember those lovely wiccans on Charmed. When witchcraft failed, Phoebe's karate saved the day. Why bother with super-powers, when karate works better? 

In many episodes, it took precious seconds to cast a spell by the witches; whereas, karate was automatic and activated by muscle memory. Instead of searching for a wand in a purse, or a spell in a book, karate is ready to go. 

This is one thing  women, seniors or anyone else needs to realize. When  attacked, you usually have at most, one to two seconds to get to your .38 special, pepper spray, ninja key chain or bazooka, particularly when someone attacks without warning or provocation. It happens every day! 

Some years ago, I worked for a couple of gold companies in the middle of nowhere Alaska, and those pesky bears periodically came to camp looking for a geologist, or driller, for a bed time snack. Our small crew was composed of a couple of geologists from Wyoming, a couple of geologists and drillers from Alaska, and a camp cook from Alaska. Living in these regions, we understood bear dangers, so we all carried the biggest guns money could buy. No one bothered with bear repellant because rumor had it,  repellant was only good for spicing up the bear's dinner. 

Check it out for yourself! Put a small cylinder of pretend bear spray in your pocket and stand by a paved road. Try to be ready for the next car driving in your direction at 35 mph from a distance of 50 feet. This means, the car (bear) can travel at 3,080 feet in a minute, or about 51 feet in a single second! Can you imagine getting bear repellant out of your pocket, removing the cap, aiming it in the proper direction before it has its meal smothered with the bear's favorite spices? 

You might have a chance with a human? Well, maybe not. The fastest human on earth broke the world's record in 2009 running as fast as 27.8 mph according to the tree hugger. Both, 35 mph and 27.8 mph are a lot faster than I can run, and usually faster than I drive (I know, I'm like Captain Slow, but I feel more in control driving slow). Now imagine some scumbag plans to attack you - he/she/it (using woke terminology) doesn't need 50 feet. They can reach out and grab you when they walk by. So, if you have that pepper spray you purchased from a local gun shop in your pocket, purse, or like many people who jog in the evenings, in your pants pocket back at the house, you have a weapon! Well, probably not! Hopefully, you can see why karate training is beneficial (except against a hungry grizzly). With karate, you only need a fraction of a second to react. Depending on how you train, your defensive technique may act instantly to aggression.

And, with constant training in karate, your health is improved and your weapons are always attached to your body. Don't get me wrong, I like weapons (such as in kobudo), but, sometimes you don't have the time to grab your car keys, key chain, knife, or samurai sword.  

Traditional Karate is excellent for personal self-defense, whether you are wiccan or just another Kara Zor-El searching for a phone booth. When you learn traditional karate, you take it with you everywhere: on a plane, bus, through TSA at the airport, and even Target's restrooms. With karate, you have a weapon 24 hours/day and don't need a conceal and carry permit!

Anyone can be targeted by a politician or some other bum; so, when things get out of hand, a self-defense clinic at a local martial arts school, police station, or community center is NOT a solution. These make you aware of surroundings, teach you a few tricks, but fade after a few days. And striking a punching bag, or a officer while wearing gloves for an evening, is unrealistic. It may build a little confidence and provide things to think about, but you must learn to react without thinking and learn to strike efficiently with force. This happens through muscle memory - which is part of the genius of traditional Okinawa karate. And, as a woman, you should learn martial arts to protect yourself, your family, and even your date. But search around to find a good, qualified instructor.

Learning to develop a one-punch knockout.

Gun ranges in the Phoenix area (as well in other cities and states) typically offer special Women's days, such as Caswells in Mesa. After you learn to use a gun; remember, each state has laws on carrying guns that apply to honest citizens (not criminals). Politicians are under the erroneous impression that the Second Amendment was written only to guarantee politicians a right to carry guns - its sort of like all of their other special perks.

Not into guns? Try a taser or pepper spray - and be cautious of martial arts instructors claiming to be human stun guns. You can find pepper spray at some Sporting Goods. But keep in mind, you are not going to get many dates wearing a sidearm or carrying a bottle of pepper spray on your belt to the movies. And think of all of the places you can't easily carry a gun (jogging, shower, dancing, movies, gym, library, school, airport, Chicago, California, New York)! You can be assaulted anywhere at any time of day - take Congress for an example! 

One book published some years ago, reported 25% of women were sexually assaulted on college campuses (another place where only criminals are allowed to carry guns). So, if you are not a criminal, remember, you still have God-given weapons: your hands, feet, elbows, knees. Learn to use them, because you can't aways get to a gun or pepper spray, and they can not be taken away and used on you! Ask Phoebe!

Women's kobudo

But why train in karate? Karate, if taught correctly, will teach you some interesting Zen philosophy and provide you with good physical fitness that even your local gym can't match. In the right dojo, you can learn as much as you would like and continue learning for the rest of your life, if you have a good, qualified instructor. And make sure you have a qualified instructor. There are not many statistics out there that tell us how many instructors are really instructors and have proper certifications that did not come out of a Cracker Jacks box. One grandmaster of a very large Okinawan-Japanese-American martial arts association told me that at least 85% of the instructors who apply to him for membership, are rejected because they have no valid certification!

So, when you go visit a karate school to sign up - look for certifications on the wall and take note of certifying associations and instructors. Do an internet search to check on the credentials before you spend any money. This will not guarantee you have a good instructor, but it will eliminate many bad ones. 

Traditional karate was created for self-defense on Okinawa hundreds of years ago, and later, in the 19th century, Japanese martial artists attempted to copy Okinawan karate, but made it into sport making it less effective. And, keep in mind that "traditional sport karate" is an oxymoron.

MARTIAL ARTS SCHOOLS. Visit a school you are interested in and watch a class to find out if you can stand the instructor. If his or hers breath is a deadly weapon, and they want you to sign a contract and stick you in a class with 5-year olds, or if the instructor has acne, hold on to your purse. It might be a real ego booster to defend against a 5-year old while wearing angry white pajamas, but how many times do you expect to be mugged by a kid other than at the lemonade stand? Search the internet for a karate school that focuses on self-defense for adults. Try a simple Google search of the school. Do the same for the instructor's name. As a woman, get into a self-defense or karate class with other women and men, because it likely will be a man who attacks you. Martial arts training should be positive, educational, fun, provide good exercise and keep your interest for the rest of your life. This has little to do with the martial art or style, it depends on the instructor. Take your best friend, your daughter, son, or mother to train with you: make it a family night. I also HIGHLY recommend you learn one of the few martial arts that teaches 'One Punch Knockouts'. Anyone can knock out an attacker if they get the opportunity to hit them numerous times, but this doesn't aways work. In many traditional Okinawan styles of karate such as Shorin-Ryu and Goju-Ryu, students have the opportunity to learn how to knock out opponents with one punch by focusing strikes on pressure points. But you have to be motivated and listen to your sensei, and train hard. If you practice like a tai chi practitioners, you will always defend without focus. One must train with focus in a dojo to properly educate muscle memory.

After personally having to defend myself, I can tell you, it is a relief when you take down an attacker with a single focused punch and not have to hit them a half-dozen or dozen times. And if you are attacked by multiple attackers, a one-punch knock out of the first attacker floods the other attackers with fear. 

People are under the impression they can learn to defend in kick-boxing classes: learning to kick to music at Lifetime Fitness or any other gym without focus or blocking will not do anything other than burn some calories. To be successful in self-defense, learn to block and hit with force. Work on affirmations and keep positive and plan to train for life. Kata (forms) in karate are beneficial - they are a form of shadow boxing and look like Asian dances, but are packed full of muscle memory, focus, and self-defense applications (known as bunkai).

Along with karate, you might also learn kobudo. Why? Well, having a weapon (tool) in your hand increases your advantage, and kobudo is a martial art of weapons. Hundreds of years ago, people on Okinawa learned to use farming, gardening and fishing tools such as hoes, rakes, paddles, etc for self-defense. Modern tools such as pens, cell phones, car keys, magazines, books and even vacuum cleaners and curtain rods can be weapons of self-defense.

Excellent video produced in 1947

NUNS kick the Habit