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From: hernan@prism.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Orphaned Response
Message-ID: <50000002@prism.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 26-Dec-85 13:37:00 EST
Article-I.D.: prism.50000002
Posted: Thu Dec 26 13:37:00 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 30-Dec-85 18:43:54 EST
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Nf-From: prism!hernan    Dec 26 13:37:00 1985


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>The Martial arts I know something about: I was involved with them for about
>ten years at an earlier stage of my life.  I have only these comments.  A
>Martial Arts contest is far more like ballet or gymnastics than a real
>fight.  For obvious reasons (e.g. you'd decimate the MA community) you
>aren't allowed to land real blows.  You're judged on things like speed,

It depends on the martial art, and on the instructors. AAU taekwondo
matches, for example are conducted by rounds, and are full contact
to the body and face, allowing knock-outs, and use of most non-disabling
techniques. I assume you're also not talking of thai kickboxing
or many of the other styles which approach the martial arts as
applied self-defense.

>technique, etc, and since women tend to be quicker and more supple than
>men, they do pretty well.  But the best kept secret in the field is this:
>none of this matters in real violence unless you have the reach to get past
>your opponent's defence, and even very scientifically placed blows need to

It depends on what you are targeting, and what your opponent is defending.
If you are a woman, at a disadvantage in reach and weight, you would be
foolish to attack a large man's body as your first target. You would
be surprised, however, at just how fragile knee joints and spinal areas
are.

>contain a considerable degree of force to be effective against a powerful,
>aggressive opponent.  The only real fight I've ever seen between a
>martial-arts trained woman and an untrained but aggressive man was resolved
>in a brutish but effective manner -- he used his hands to keep her away,
>(she hurt him quite a bit, incidentally, in the meantime), then he grappled
>her, and fell on her.  The only woman I can conceive of winning such a
>fight would be some kind of androgyne.  So my earlier comment stands: SF

I assume she did not use her full array of techniques - the only
confrontation I've heard of like this happened to my sister in Paris.
She and 2 friends were attacked by four men, two of whom were able to
run away, the rest she left on the ground. She
had been exposed by then to the martial arts for at least 10 years, and
within the family was surrounded by martial artists, so maybe she is
not typical - she doesn't fit the androgyne mold, however.

>with women eminently successful at violence is (do I dare use this word
>here?) fantasy.

A style of Chinese martial arts, Wing Chun(sp?) was invented by a Buddhist
nun. It is a successful style now, and has admirable hand techniques. This
was in the time that martial arts were used in war. I assume she was a
doer in her art, not just a designer.

 I've studied martial arts( Hapkido + TaeKwonDo ) for 12 years, and have
come across outstanding male and female martial artists. There are many
styles and teachers, but I've found most of them to be dedicated and
effective both in self-defense and in furthering their art.