Based on African music and dance, it was designed to reestablish African martial arts in America and aid political and civil activists if necessary. The southern Indian state of Kerala has its own acrobatic, animal form and weapons-based martial art called kalarippiyattuu which has dietary, behavioral and devotional demands similar to some classical yogas. Model mugging is not a martial art, but it is worth mentioning as it is a defense system designed soley to help women fend off an attacker. It was developed in 1972 following the brutal attack of an accomplished female martial artist who found herself unable, with all her training, to fend off her attacker. In the class, situations are designed to simulate life-like attacks.
Women practice full-force defense techniques on heavily padded mock attackers.