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

Women and Self-Defense - Things You Need to Know!

Training in self-defense at the Arizona Hombu dojo - Suzette defends against an attack with tonfa (side-handle batons),
 defending against sansetsukon (3-sectional staff) attack by Lexi at the Arizona Hombu dojo in the East Valley of Phoenix

Some people have no respect for others, their property, or their lives and we need to prepare ourselves for a time when we run into one of these thugs. I'm not as concerned about personal property - and I would probably turn the other cheek in cases related to mental assault, but when it comes to physical assault on a child, woman, senior citizen, or myself, I look forward to turning the cheeks of these people. If nothing else, maybe they will find a better path. But it is my prayer that it doesn't come to that, even though it has happened in the past.

In traditional martial arts, there is never an end to learning. It is amazing how much there is to learn - so much that one cannot learn it all in one lifetime. There is still a lot more to learn - including martial arts history, different kobudo and samurai weapons, many forms (kata), Okinawan language, philosophy, better physical fitness, meeting more people in the martial arts etc. In our martial art, we have many PhDs and nearly everyone is a college graduate and many work as engineers, doctors, lawyers, scientists, accountants, school teachers, soldiers, pilots, physical therapists, nutritionists, personal trainers, computer techs, etc. Why so many highly educated people in our traditional martial arts school? It's because we all realize how much there is to learn. And our school has a positive environment that is favorable to learning. And the world head of this martial art was a kyoju no budo (professor of martial arts) at four universities over the past 50 years.

Our classes as entertaining and the focus is on techniques that work for almost anyone - simple things like defending with elbows, knees, the palm-heel of the hand, car keys, a fork, spoon, pepper shaker, rock, magazine, pen, etc.

To be able to defend yourself, you should learn good and practical self-defense, learn it well, and practice it every week for the rest of your life. Unfortunately, people think they can just take a course at a college or local martial arts school and then they are ready to defend themselves. Before you start in a self-defense curriculum, first find out a little about the instructor and school - there are a lot of fly by nights out there and you have to be cautious - so just do a quick internet search on the school name and the instructor. Next, you need a new affirmation. Your affirmation is going to need to include training (exercising) for the rest of your life - not just one semester or one class. This is a lifetime commitment that will keep you healthy - just like going to the gym only better - you are not only burning a lot of calories, but you are also learning how to defend yourself!

To be successful in self-defense, it must be second nature. There are lots of crazies out there - not just politicians, but you know the other types - they are everywhere - Congress, drug addicts, etc. Here are a couple of things to think about before beginning a self-defense program:

(1) To be successful in self-defense, a person must practice constantly to build muscle memory so they will not have to think about how to defend during a stressful situation or attack - it is important to learn to react! This is known as mushin. To build mushin, sign up for for "Traditional" Karate Classes and practice often. Once a week is enough, but 2 or 3 times a week is better. And this also means you need to make a lifelong commitment to self-defense training.

This is not as bad as you might think! Actually, its great! It is a great exercise program and stress reliever. So, you will no longer have to go to a gym - you can burn more calories in karate and self-defense classes and make new friends. The nice thing about 'traditional' karate as opposed to other forms of martial arts is that the Okinawan martial artists who developed the art focused on kata and bunkai. Kata are living encyclopedia of self-defense techniques - it is like dancing or shadow boxing, so you can practice most of the time on your own if you are so inclined. Our instructor told us a story about when he was working in the outback of Alaska nearly 30 years ago, searching for gold. Wearing mosquito netting from head to toe, he practiced karate every other day, just like he has for nearly 60 years. So, it can be done. The bunkai are the self-defense techniques that make up the kata. So practice kata in your home and at the dojo and you will also be learning self-defense.

(2) 'Traditional' Karate is considered to be a self-defense weapon rather than sport, so your goal of being able to defend yourself will be better served in traditional, rather than sport karate. If you watched the original Karate Kid (1984) movie, you'll remember the difference between Sport Karate (the nasty Corbra Kai group) and traditional karate (the Miyagi-Ryu Karate Kid).  Another significant difference mentioned in passing in the movie is that sport karate is about winning trophies; whereas, traditional karate is about self-defense and self-improvement. One of the great Okinawan martial artists - Gichin Funakoshi - made the following statement about traditional karate, "The purpose of karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of its participants". Now that sums it up nicely. But if you are really competitive, then you will probably benefit more from sport karate, but at the same time, you will be giving up some of the self-defense benefits.

After teaching self-defense clinics for more than 30
years at the University of Wyoming, author and
 Shorin-Ryu karate instructor, Soke Hausel
indicates clinics are great for entertainment
and provide information to assist women and
men in general self-defense. But to be really prepared,
people need to consider weekly karate and
self-defense classes. And forget about aerobic kick
boxing classes: they provide little self-defense value.
 Kicking the air or a
punching bag does not teach a person how to react to
an attack or block attacks.

(3) There are free, one night, self-defense clinics offered by local police departments. Some are good in that they help you become aware of your surroundings. BUT they will not prepare you for self-defense! The reason is simple. These clinics do not teach muscle memory.

You must learn to react to movement without thinking using full force and devastating focus we martial artists call ki. The reason for this is simple. During an attack, you will be under stress unless you are well prepared. If you do not react to movement but instead try to judge which hand or foot a person is going to attack with, you will be in a lot of trouble. Imagine a thug is harassing you and you have to defend yourself. You stop and think "I'll block his RIGHT punch with my left hand and then kick". Then you discover he is left handed! If you were properly trained to react to movement, you would not be lying on the ground on your back with a broken jaw. 

(4) Schedule a weekly night out at a dojo (karate school) with your best friend, husband, father, boy friend, girl friend, mother, or even grandmother or grandfather. It will bring you closer together and give you both something to do each week and talk about. And when you search for a dojo, look for a school that offers 'Adult' Classes. This is important, otherwise you may end up like one of our lady black belts who trained at a taekwondo school. Sensei Paula attended taekwondo and she was the only adult in the class. Training to defend yourself against 3 to 5 year old boys and girls was not realistic, and its even more embarrassing when you are old enough to be the mother of the pimple-faced instructor. At the end of each class, Sensei Paula, now a Hall-of-Fame Shorin-Ryu Karate instructor told us she had to stand in line with all of the little kids to site the dojo philosophy. Now get this - the dojo philosophy was "I will obey my mommy and my daddy". Very hard to swallow, especially for someone like Paula, who was born in Japan. Also, most karate schools close within two years. So, if your instructor hasn't been around very long, chances are real good he will take your contract money and run.

Weekly traditional karate and kobudo classes at the Arizona Hombu dojo in
Mesa Arizona provide adults (and families) with muscle memory through
kata (forms) practice. Students are
taught how to break down kata so every single movement in
 becomes a self-defense application known to Okinawan
practitioners as bunkai. When properly taught,
"these kata become living encyclopedia of self-defense applications."
If you are taking karate or taekwondo, and you do not understand what each
move in every kata is for, you may be in the wrong martial arts school. Nearly
all traditional Okinawan karate schools focus on the bunkai or self-defense
applications.

(5) Not all instructors are certified. In fact, many are not. So, do some quick background checks on the instructor and school you are considering. It is very easy to do a quick BING search, or Yahoo Search, or GOOGLE search for information on the instructor, the martial arts school, the martial arts association - you could find out that you are about to sign up for self-defense classes with a person under investigation for sexual harassment or a person with many complaints on aggression. Even more scary, you may find out that the person has a history of politics - Egad!

If you do not learn self-defense, you may want to learn how to  use a gun, pepper spray, etc. But remember, you can not always get to these; whereas your hands and feet are always with you. And if you are a school teacher - forget it, they will not let you carry weapons - or will they? If you are trained in traditional karate, you have your feet, elbows, hands and knees - that are attached!