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Different poll for the ladies
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I teach martial arts part time, and I'm thinking of starting again to teach womens' self defense courses around the Phx area, with the idea of marketing towards athletic women (Such as all of yourselves) that might spend a lot of time training alone.

Is this something that you would be interested in? (Not necessarily as Yes, sign me up for a class! but if a class was available to you, you would avail yourself of it.)

Thanks!

John
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Re: Different poll for the ladies [Devlin] [ In reply to ]
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I studied martial arts for a number of years and personally, I wouldn't sign up for a women's only course, but our dojo would put on self defense clinics and they were quite popular.

clm

clm
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Re: Different poll for the ladies [Devlin] [ In reply to ]
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Like Cathy I did martial arts for a number of years, and the women's specific classes always put me a bit off. Some of the women did love them though.

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Re: Different poll for the ladies [Devlin] [ In reply to ]
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Personally, I would (and have) sign up for a self defense seminar but wouldn't necessarily sign up for an ongoing martial arts self defense course (ie - I'd go once or twice for a seminar but not on a continuous weekly basis). I actually think it would be interesting to market it to athletic women - "Do you know how to protect yourself if someone attacks you while you're out running" type thing - and could do well if marketed to area running clubs, tri clubs, etc as then you may have groups of women who know one another from training opt to go together. I wonder if you could also market it to local high school cross country teams as I would imagine that many of those girls go out for long runs by themselves from time to time. I would imagine that parents might be more than happy to pay for a teens type class.

It's definitely interesting since I would imagine the techniques might be different from the standard "you're walking alone at night when attacked" classes as the idea of digging your high heel into the soft part of their foot doesn't necessarily work if you're wearing running shoes.

And the social community aspect of me will throw this out - you may want to consider the idea of giving a portion of the revenue from the classes to a local battered womens foundation or the like. Certainly not all but many women like to know that the money they spend will help their community in addition to helping themselves so it may help attract even more participants.


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Re: Different poll for the ladies [Devlin] [ In reply to ]
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I would. My training has been all swim, bike run, and some cheerleading my entire life.. well, gymnastics, some softball, soccer, and dance in there too.

I think it would be really beneficial because you're not just walking along, heart rate at norm. For instance, I did a hard 8 this morning, around 7:30 a mile for the middle 4 miles. I was pushing hard and while my adrenaline was kickin, can't say that I'd be super strong or fast defending myself. I would think the techniques would have to be a little different considering that there is a certain amount of fatigue already there. Does that make sense? I know some things would be the same, but I'd imagine a little difference...esp on the bike.

I would love for someone to do some kind of seminar on that around here...but I would look for something that was like 1 nite a week for 2-3 weeks or a seminar on Saturday afternoon for a couple hours.

Good luck with it and I think it is a great idea!



Tiger for Life -- War Eagle!

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Re: Different poll for the ladies [Devlin] [ In reply to ]
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I would definitely be interested in a self defense course like that. In fact, I've already found one here in Toronto that I'm going to try to fit into my schedule.
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Re: Different poll for the ladies [Devlin] [ In reply to ]
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Like Kathy and Kylie, I studied martial arts for several years. (In fact, I was a junior instructor for a couple years before I quit to go to graduate school.)

I personally don't go for the women-only classes because a while back, I took a "Women's self defense" class to see what techniques were being recommended for women. It was the most dumbed-down excuse for self-defense I've ever seen. (For example, someone grabs your wrist, and you're supposed to hit them in the arm, but the strike they were teaching was worthless because it was supposed to hit the part of the attacker's arm that one uses for outward blocks -- not very painful. I was corrected because I twisted the "attacker's" arm so I could get a clear shot at the radial nerve. Since I didn't want the instructor to know I was a martial arts instructor, I played along with her.) I understand that not all "women's" self defense is this way, but I suspect there's enough of the ineffective stuff out there that I view "Women's" self defense classes with a bit of skepticism.



"Real winners aren't content with yesterday's victories"
Last edited by: SaraJean: Mar 31, 08 7:57
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Re: Different poll for the ladies [SaraJean] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
instructor to know I was a martial arts instructor, I played along with her.) I understand that not all "women's" self defense is this way, but I suspect there's enough of the ineffective stuff out there that I view "Women's" self defense classes with a bit of skepticism.
Agreed. Usually it's a 3-4 hour seminar with breaks, where I teach weak link releases, how to effectively use elbows, knees and fingers on soft spots, self awareness and attitude, etc. I do a little bit of nerve strikes, but I don't stress it too much as it's not an exact science, takes practice, and ANYONE that is hopped up on adrenaline without a lot of training is going to be wild. I'd rather spend time teaching something that will definitely be effective rather than a peroneal or radial strike that may or may not work anyway.

Thanks for the feedback, especially the women's shelter thing. I hadn't considered that, nor had I considered the high school teams thing.

John



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