Women’s Self Defense – 4

A question that was sent to me last night whether or not I was going to actually start a women’s self defense class at Keller Williams. The answer is…yes! And what I will be teaching in this class is what I will write about today because it has to do with my objectives for the blog that I mentioned yesterday.

 The very first thing I talk with any person (man or woman) about is environmental awareness. If you see a sign that says “Danger: Do Not Enter,” then it’s pretty obvious that there’s some reason, whatever it may be, why you shouldn’t enter that area. If you were to enter that area, then the “Danger,” whatever it is, may bite you in the butt.

I’ll tell you a story – a true story – that happened to me one night. Hopefully it will bring home the point.

 I was out and about one night with a friend. It was a Friday around 10pm. We stopped by a local gas station in a nicer part of town. As we pulled up to the gas station I saw 2 guys standing near the side of the gas station. No big deal, right? But I noticed that although they were standing side-by-side like good ‘ol pals, they were not talking.

Women’s Self Defense – 3

 I got A LOT of responses concerning my question about whether or not women’s self defense was important. It was unanimous – Yes, women’s self defense is important.

At this point I feel a responsibility to be very serious. If any of you have read this blog consistently then you know that I like humor. I try to make these blogs readable by using humor comingled with the topic. However, this post will be void of humor. No, I’m serious. Really! Quit pressuring me.

In my years of living in the martial arts world I have found VERY few schools that teach a practical and applicable women’s self defense program. Did you see those 2 words – practical, applicable. These 2 words, by and large, are void in the martial arts world where women’s self defense is concerned. I am not entirely sure why. One could conclude that the school teaching an unrealistic women’s self defense program is either a) Unaware of how a real attack would “go down,” b) Is not versed in how real fighting takes place, or c) Is really more concerned with the contract committing a women to said program vs. really equipping a woman to defend herself.

Self Defense

I was approached not long ago about the possibility of starting a self defense class at Keller Williams, mainly for women. The reason, I was told, is that too many women are (sometimes – not always) naive to their surroundings and the people therein.

Ok, so let me back up a little bit.

 That’s not me. It’s just a cool Kung Fu pose.

So a little about my background in Karate, or, the Martial Arts: It all started a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…no it didn’t. It actually started at Churchill High School when I was 11. I started taking traditional Karate; better known as Tae Kwon Do (the way of the foot). Now, I didn’t care anything about how the martial arts evolved, or the art of what I was doing. I wanted to learn how to kick people. I was an angry young man. I mean, my last name is Curlee. And given the fact that my hair was actually curly, you can only imagine.

Anyway, I took Tae Kwon Do for about a year. I got pretty good at it. However, when I tried to use it on the street it just didn’t work. Trying to kick someone in the face when they are rushing at you is a hard thing to pull off. And considering that Tae Kwon Do was started in order to fight opponents who were on horses, it wasn’t very practical.