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From: ljs@hlhop.UUCP (Lotta Stallman)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Self Defense - comments on Spafford article
Message-ID: <278@hlhop.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 22-Feb-84 23:01:22 EST
Article-I.D.: hlhop.278
Posted: Wed Feb 22 23:01:22 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 23-Feb-84 06:21:15 EST
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 47

To Gene Spafford:

Your article (and attitude) remind me of my karate instructor:

"Unless you are willing to hurt your attacker, you might as well
just do anything he wants."

He's right.

Untrained people, especially women, seem to have an innate
reluctance to physically damage or disable another person.
Occasionally in our dojo we practice street defense, and I
have learned at least two things from these classes.

One is that the average man is much stronger than I thought.
I was always a big kid, and never had any trouble fighting with
other kids in school - girls or boys.  When I grew up and put away
childish things I retained the impression that I was probably still
as strong as a man my size.  My karate training quickly dispelled
that illusion.

Another thing I learned was that strength is not a determining factor
in a street situation.  Surprise, aggresiveness, and the famous
"one good technique" often save the day.  "All you need is one good
technique," my teacher said, one good strike or kick to slow down
or disable your opponent, and you will control the situation.
It is not difficult to break an elbow or a nose or an eardrum;
you just have to know what to do and be quick about it.

In street situations, eyes, knees, and groin are the three
vulnerable areas.  Your attacker can't reach you if he's blinded
or has a broken kneecap or is in severe pain.  And once he's down,
you make sure he doesn't get up for a while, and invoke the first rule
of karate: run away.  Don't wait for his friends to show up.

In general, I agree with Gene's comments, and think his article
was a good "man page" for street defense.  I have never had to use
this knowledge, either - and hope I never will - but it's still
a good thing to know.

By the way, an excellent book on this subject is Py Bateman's
"Fear into Anger, a Manual of Self-Defense for Women," Nelson-Hall,
1978.  Ms. Bateman is a karate instructor, whose book emphasizes
forethought, conditioning, a realistic appraisal of situations 
and an agressive attitude.  Chapters include Staying in Shape,
Weapons Defense, Impromptu Weapons, Special Situations and
The Prevention of Rape.