From: cgates@mitre.org (Curt Gates)
Subject: Re: women, training, && violence
Organization: The MITRE Corporation
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 13:27:27 GMT

In article <3342@unisql.UUCP> wrat@unisql.UUCP (wharfie) writes:
>  "What can be done to help people, and female
> people in particular, get over this mental block of hypertrophied 
pacifism
> so that they can benefit from learning to deal with violence, and is my
> perception that women are more subject to this...confining...point of
> view accurate or colored by my personal experience, and does anyone 
agree 
> that the first step to taking back the night might be to stop having to 
be
> afraid of every half-assed punk with a gleam in his eye" ?

Maybe women are smart enough to realize:
a.  For marital arts to be really effective, you have to make a life-long 
    commitment to staying in condition, at least twice a week practice.
b.  For every lone half-assed punk, there are several packs of half a 
    dozen punks.
c.  Todays punks carry guns, in addition to knowing a smattering of M.A.

You know what happened to some of the bolder kung fu practicioners in the 
Boxer rebellion -- they got shot.  This sort of leaves the question, why 
not spend one night a week on the firing range? That kept going through my 
head as I worked out with traditional weapons like the staff.  

My Tai Chi class consistently had more women than men, not that this had 
much martial aspect to it, at that point.  And it seemed that the 
instructor was drawing from people from new-age interests.  Maybe if there 
were more *female instructors*...role models....

I believe your basic premise is sound.  It does not take a whole lot of 
sparring to realize that you have a lot more control than you first 
believed, no matter what your sex, size, weight, and age.  That 
*fundamental* change in mental attitude would surely counteract the 
prevalent attitude  of panic, fear, and helplessness.   Basically, the 
goal is to change an attitude.  Whether it is with open hands or .... 
something else.

I think you have seen the limits of marketing martial arts as martial 
arts.  If you establish a program that is promoted as primarily a 
life-long program for physical fitness that will help establish positive 
attitudes toward conflicts with other people (mental fitness), you could 
have a winner.  A difficulty is in keeping people interested over a long 
period of time.  But thats true of any activity.  You would have to 
attract people who were basically not interested in martial arts, but in 
maintenance of health and fitness, including people of a wide age group.  
Maybe something based on Tai Chi with push hands, or Akido, plus a touch 
of Zen philosophy.  That could be a neat package.  So what is really new?  
Not much, except for a slightly different perspective, and a new marketing 
appeal.

Why do women appear to have a higher drop out rate?  The only way to find 
that out is to do a follow up and ask them.  Obviously, people leave when 
they no longer get what they want, need, or expect.  The answer is there 
with you.  Really listen to Sugar Magnolia!  You wont change her mind with 
all the logical arguments in the world.  Design a program that would 
appeal to her.

Thanks for the cross-posting notice. Maybe you could post a summary when 
the thread runs its course.


************************************
I worked as a technical writer ... editing manuals ... on how to dispose 
of sewage in permafrost; we all had to wear white shirts -- that was 
mandatory -- and I was fired at the end of two weeks for spending too much 
time staring out the window.  
(Edward Abbey)
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