cmgiuliani@watrose.UUCP (cmgiuliani) (03/30/84)
There has been much discussion about the merits of martial arts in this
newsgroup, and that is what prompted me to write this. I have been
practicing martial arts for about 3 years now (mostly Karate, some Judo,
some TaeKwanDo) and have some thoughts on their value.
We have all heard that martial arts train your body -- that they improve
balance and coordination, get you fit, teach you to be calm admist the
storm, prevent cancer, etc.. Well so does squash. All active sports train
your body just as well as any martial art, if you put in the equivalent
time and effort.
HOWEVER -- it is possible to play sports and not be very agressive. Mind
you, if you are not aggressive, you will probably not be a very good player.
Futhermore, most sports require *PHYSICAL CONFIDENCE*. You have to hurl
your frail body into the midst of things without being overly concerned about
getting scraped of bruised. If you try to play soccer without getting any
bruises, you will soon be recognized as a wimp (I have no other word for it).
About women --- most women are wimps. Generally speaking women do not
play sports as much as men, and do not play as aggressively. As a result
they are in general less competent and less confident in physical conflict,
be it for sport or in defence of their lives.
The reason that most women are helpless when attacked by the average man, is not
just because the man is bigger and stronger. It is in large part because she
does not know how to use the strength that she has. A typically man of similar
strength is likely to be a much more formidable opponent.
The point of all this (and I admit there is a bit much of it) is *any* sport
can do a great deal for women in terms of self-defense. Martial arts remain
for those who want to learn how to fight. Don't tell me you take martial
arts only for the benefits mentioned above. If that's all you want, take up
soccer.
Carlo @ the U of Waterloo