In some ways elbows and knees can be more difficult, in that the range is much closer to use them. So maybe stick with kicks/punches until it gets to that range would you say? Although it soon gets to that range in a pub brawl at which point knees elbows will be much more effective.
See, we are all thinking MA people right now and what you have learned. Think about the average female, she uses nails, teeth,ecetera. Most females today have had some self defence information of gouging the eyes, thumbs to eyes or temples, knee or foot to groin, elbow to stomach or face. Even a head butt I saw in another seminar for the non MA.
comming from a male perspective: straight punch to nose, jaw, ribs, grown, or temple (I know some women have less conditioned hands than some men ) tiger claw strikes/grabs (tiger claw grab to grown is effective if your in the position to use the technique and throat (the throat strikes grabs and pulls in a very fast motion)) (for the strike I generally go for the nose and eye) palm heal aka palm strike (similar strike as a tiger claw but does not have the raking grabing motion to it) ( I would use these to jaws, nose, and temple mostly) single knukle punch aka dragon fist and eagle's claw ( good rib shot and temple shot) stomp kick type 1 (stomps the knee going down and then stomps the foot in one strike) hook punch ( I have three different hooks used the same tkd's is less of a telegraph and gets you back to a guard position faster so I generally use that) (it could be from kickboxing dunno my tkd is mixed with it) I go for the temple with this one and usually throw a jab and follow up with a hook elbows or forearm strike (temple) upper elbow or a upper cut (jaw) spinning elbow (good for getting out of clinch strike to temple or where ever it lands and use combos with any move but this one it's really needed) knees (when in a clinch knee to grown or ribs if possible the head too pref the nose or temple) back kick (kenpo version aka donkey kick in kung fu) (grown if in the right position) I honestly dunno if I would use this kick. I think it could come in handy though. tkd back kick (this is a straight kick and not like the kenpo's back kick at all) (good for knocking the opponent back striking solarplex, ribs, or grown) (it has distance like most tkd kicks and can chamber up close to push the opponent) inner crescent kick (knee only) sidekicks (ribs or knees) roundhouse/shin kick (I use shin for a closer range than a roundhouse would have) (ribs, thighs, shins or knees) front push kick aka thrust kick (solarplex) front snap kick (knees or grown) snake strike (throat or eyes) earclap (cup your hands and hit both ears with both hands and it throws the opponents equilibrium off) I left out the grappling and blocks since I don't want to explain them I use techniques from karate, jj and tkd for stand up and ground grappling. I use mostly kenpo,tkd, and kickboxing for blocking. Some of these strikes I would use to the grown that I did not mention. It just matters the position that I am in. Even a snake strike could go for the grown. Every strike needs a combo and practice many combos that are continuous. The best thing to do is to have a punch of combos in a fight that form 1 technique. 1-2 techniques should take out the average joe. Never hesitate during fighting. Fights are fast let it all out. Also do not worry about what is taught as combos but use your own and just flow. I'm a big fan of knees and elbows and also striking to eyes, grown, knees, jaw, and temple. I didn't mention all the areas to strike. I use more strikes/moves than that but I like these sort of moves. I do not know if women can do what I mentioned. I doubt if you don't know these strikes you could use the effectively. I think for getting off the ground women should have some sort of jj training.
There have been some very interesting posts. So to pick up on some. Eddie, thanks for the clarification, it makes very good sense. I know very little about the SPEAR system (I'm currently looking it up), but from the little I've read/seen I can see that it might be exceptionally useful with elbows and weapons. PGM, you make a good point about range. From the fights I've seen after the first one or two hits, range does degenerate rapidly. KenpoKicker, you have listed a number of techniques. Which of those would you consider most effective? Sakura and Darlph, I would really like to hear more from you as you are both female instructors. Although men and women can face similar attackers and reason for attack I suppose that the way in which a women is attacked would be different. From what little I know of criminal attacks against women, the majority would be in the form of a grab, as many men assume that a women is weaker than them. Is it reasonable to assume that you would teach women slightly different weapons, as they face slightly different scenarios? If this is the case, what weapons do you teach? Budo.
no point in jeopardizing my ability to train. NEVER throw a punch in a street fight, only elbows. and any schmuck can try to stand and bang with you. not many people know how to deal with being put in a neck tie and forced to eat knees to the face/chest/stomach/groin.
You are quite right, most women are grabbed. As mentioned before, keep a distance from strangers. Survey you surroundings. Grabbed from behind- heel or foot to groin or shin. head butt put your hips to the side and fist to groin or grab and squeeze. Grabbed front- knee to groin stomp their foot swing hands up and tothe center to sweep hands away Thumbs to eyes or temples. Never put your fingers or hands near mouth. Punch the nose hard and quick Voice.. yell fire same as you tell a kid. As soon as they release hold haul butt to safety. Usually a female is attacked in secluded areas or non visual places. Be aware. If it makes you incomfortable to be somewhere there's a stranger and you are alone, get out of there. Car keys make great weapons in parking lots and at secluded doorways. Books are great tools for learning self defense. As a MA person I try to practice new things. The average person doesn't do the same or practice like MA people do. They are at a disadvantage. They take a self defense course once and never practice those escapes or defense moves again. They are forgotten about in time of need. So it ends up being kicked in the groin, a distance thing. Perhaps just changing a few habits now can help them later. Some of the things i stated in a previous post.. don't make yourself a victim.
Holy god. Elbows are NOT the kind of end all solution they're advertised. Now as a SE Asian kickboxer and vale tudista I use elbows all the time. But they have some important limitations. ONE: They are worthless when you're grabbed, most of the time. They are certainly worthless when someone's on/got/bearhugging your back, for several reasons. Firstly, they simply don't work on someone determined. Second, they're hard to aim. Third, they require you to step off to the side, which puts you off balance and will thus get you slammed down. For an illustration of this point see UFC Severn VS Maccias. TWO: They require good clinching skill. Otherwise you're taken down, thrown or slammed before you can get even one off. If someone has underhooks on you or has you in a neck clinch, you aint getting nowhere with them. THREE: They are pretty much only useful for hitting the head. The only time you can hit the body is if you've quickly changed levels and are far below them. FOUR: Elbows must be thrown with an OPEN hand. A fist makes them stiff. And unfortuenately fist elbows are taught in the majority of women's SD courses. Now for the rest: This eye gouging, nut stomping, etc stuff doesn't work. It doesn't work for MEN to defeat men, it certainly won't work for women to do the same. First of all, groin attacks are a PAIN based technique. Some people can ignore pain, and unless your attacker is a wuss it won't KO them. It'll probably just make them madder. Palm heels should be thrown with the same mechanics as boxing punches. If a woman is unwilling to hit a man wearing a helmet and mouthpiece with big boxing gloves she sure as hell won't be willing to hit him with a palm strike, barehanded. Second most of these techniques are practiced against nonresisting opponents. The men in suits have distorted body proportions (making for tiny arms, but HUGE heads with eyes five times normal size) and aren't really resisting or attempting to slam/hurt the women in those courses. I watched my mother take the IMPACT course twice. It was crap.
roundhouse/shin kick (I use shin for a closer range than a roundhouse would have) (ribs, thighs, shins or knees) straight punch to nose, jaw, ribs, grown, or temple (I know some women have less conditioned hands than some men ) tiger claw strikes/grabs (tiger claw grab to grown is effective if your in the position to use the technique and throat (the throat strikes grabs and pulls in a very fast motion)) (for the strike I generally go for the nose and eye) palm heal aka palm strike (similar strike as a tiger claw but does not have the raking grabing motion to it) ( I would use these to jaws, nose, and temple mostly) elbows or forearm strike (temple) knees (when in a clinch knee to grown or ribs if possible the head too pref the nose or temple) sidekicks (ribs or knees) hook punch ( I have three different hooks used the same tkd's is less of a telegraph and gets you back to a guard position faster so I generally use that) (it could be from kickboxing dunno my tkd is mixed with it) I go for the temple with this one and usually throw a jab and follow up with a hook "ONE: They are worthless when you're grabbed, most of the time. They are certainly worthless when someone's on/got/bearhugging your back, for several reasons. Firstly, they simply don't work on someone determined. Second, they're hard to aim. Third, they require you to step off to the side, which puts you off balance and will thus get you slammed down. " Worked for me in real life with a elbow to the solarplex they let go right away. technique used from a bearhug from behind: elbow to solarplex, tiger claw to grown and pull up and elbow chin. They didn't want to fight after that technique. Simple and effective from kenpo. I only got to test it once but it works tested by me and is nowheres near useless. My master can send me flying on the ground with a elbow from behind (when holding shield pad). It is powerful. I can send pad holders flying back from this sort of elbow. I don't recall the name but tkd practices it as well
It's really good advice you've given - similar to what I teach! With reference to the above, I think it depends entirely on your location and the circumstances. Not all victims are timid and retreat into themselves. This is something that the media makes us believe to make us feel better about ourselves if we are the confident type, forcing the less confident to feel more like 'victims'. I've seen & heard about just as many confident women being attacked than less confident. The more confident women can sometimes be worse off afterwards as they have been conditioned to think that it wouldn't happen to them!! The awareness is so crucial in all of this. Be aware of your suroundings, the people around you. Even when you get a cab, sit on the opposite side to the driver in case you have to flee.
And the circumstances of this? Was it an attacker or just a demonstration? I'm not impressed by what youcan do to bag holders. Sending a person who's fighting back flying, that's impressive. They're pretty much the same thing.
Attacker and was caught off guard. The person holding the pad is sent flying back. That is even better. When I was attacked at that time my elbow was not as strong as it is now with tkd training. Nobody fights me anymore, and I don't pick fights so dunno what my elbow will do. I agree with you that it is not the holygrail but works great in this particular situation. "They're pretty much the same thing." I disagree to me the palm heal is stronger.
Nobody fights me anymore, and I don't pick fights so dunno what my elbow will do.>>> That's why you should fight in class. I disagree to me the palm heal is stronger.>>> They are thrown with the exact same body mechanics. Watch pancrase to see exactly how strong that palm strike is.
Then you've just proven me right!! You wouldn't PUNCH you'd use a "decent palm heel strike"!! They're pretty much the same thing. Well in the last anatomy class that I took the heel of the hand was on the palmar surface - the opposite side of the hand to the knuckles (traditionally used for punching!!!)
A Woman's prespective We are taught hard target = soft weapon, soft target = hard weapon IOW if u are aiming for the head [hard target] you get a better and more effective hit by using a soft weapon like the palm heel. Working in waveform technique it is even more powerful as u come back and hit him again and again.... :yeleyes: I wouldn't hesitate to use my Right cross targeting the solar plexus either. Or any other weapon I had at my disposal, an elbow or a kick or whatever was appropriate. Use the closest weapon, closest target. My main targets would be the knees [they cant hurt u if they cant catch u!], the face and eyes if I could [they cant hurt u if they cant see u!] and the other points around the face and neck for a KO. Then some sort of an armbreak [they cant hurt u as much if u break their arms too!]. A handy dandy thing we were taught for a nite home invasion scenario was to drop to the floor in the dark [where they cant see u] and incapacitate them by cutting their archillies tendons with a kitchen knife.... A bit messy because apparently it bleeds a lot, but I can see it being quite useful in a desperate situation. They won't be so keen to mess with you or others in the future. Let's face it, if your life or your family's lives are in dange you will do whatever you have to do to stay alive. I would, and I believe that there are many other people who will risk being prosecuted by the law in the same way. Everyone should practice and practice their self defence moves constantly so they become permenent in muscle memory and an automatic response.
Some may be thrown the same but their is more solid bone in the palm heal strike, and I hit harder with it. There are types of palm heals that cannot be thrown with the fist in the same way either. If you did you would punch with the wrong knuckles and would be ineffective so the mechanics are not the same. I also like straight and hook punches. I just use both and like palm heals a little more. This is for me not u. Not everyone fights the same. I also usually use tiger claws which are the same thing except they rip, pull, and rake in addition. It is ezier to also break somones nose with a palm heal. "That's why you should fight in class." Spar or you suggestion I challenge somone to a fight in my school they would probly think I was joking. I spar alot. "Then you've just proven me right!! You wouldn't PUNCH you'd use a "decent palm heel strike"!! They're pretty much the same thing. Well in the last anatomy class that I took the heel of the hand was on the palmar surface - the opposite side of the hand to the knuckles (traditionally used for punching!!!) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- " I said to me not you. I never tried to prove palm strikes are better than punches, lol. Same thing to u not to me. It was a personal preference.
