Martial Arts – Get Equipped for Self Defense

Many schools of self-defense offer special self defense courses for women, teaching techniques aimed at avoiding or combatting any type of physical confrontation. Martial arts can play an important role in women’s self defense and are a great way to help build confidence, strength and skills to combat any potential attacker. There are many different types of classes for women in martial arts and when practicing martial arts, women will find that their strength improves significantly after only a few months of practising the art.

In general, an attacker will test a woman before he actually assaults her. By making inappropriate comments or behavior, a perpetrator will try to find out how assertive and strong a woman is. If she responds in an assertive way, most perpetrators will eventually run away. Martial arts can help you reach this level of assertiveness.

The Goals of Martial Arts Training

Learning martial arts is not just good for self defense but there are many other things than physical strength and techniques that martial arts women can benefit from, such as:

Mental and physical health

Your physical health will improve greatly due to the (often physically demanding) exercise. Martial arts for women will also help you improve your mental strength as you will be taught to focus one one single thing. Concentration is a very important part of martial arts training and being able to form a mental picture of your success is beneficial to your effectiveness as a martial arts student.

Self confidence

By learning a certain martial art you will be able to focus on one goal, physically and mentally. You will feel stronger mentally because you build up a sense of security and a knowledge deep down that you will be able to manage and deal with a potentially dangerous situation.

Learning body dynamics

You will learn about movements and their impact on your body and on the opponent’s body. Knowing when to strike and how to do it will enable to you to use your body to its full potential if you have to defend yourself.

Different Types of Martial Arts

The best known types of martial arts are:

Karate

Basic karate training focuses on the most fundamental techniques such as being able to punch and aim, footwork, kicking and punching effectively. This is the best know martial art and can be very effective when applied for self defense. For women, karate could be one of the easiest self defense techniques to master.

Aikido

The fighting techniques of aikido are meant to control a potential attacker by redirecting their energy instead of blocking them. This goal is reached by multiple poses and mental visualization.

Judo

Judo is based on the idea that you can use an opponent's strength against them. You will learn to adapt to many different circumstances and moves that a possible attacker might make. The main technique is to know when to step out of the way of the attacker to be able to attack them while they think that they are cornering you. With judo, women will have to train their mental abilities just as much as their physical strength.

Kick Boxing

This type of self defense sport is based on the combination of boxing (punching with the fists) and kicking effectively at the same time. These two moves alternate and are often taught as a self defense sport to women who also want to develop more muscle tissue.

Kung fu

This type of Chinese boxing does not only focus on the physical but also on the mental aspect of fighting. Controlling the emotions and acting accordingly is most important in this type of self defense sport. With kung fu, women can empower themselves and build up a strong body as well as self esteem.

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