Womens wrestling was finally added into the Athens Olympics in 2004 and will be on again in 2008. Is wrestling a good form of self defence and how practical (or not) is it in your opinion?
Very effective as wrestling is practiced against non-compliant partners and teaches excellent balance and poise.
I think it would be very effective against the average rapist. It would also work well I would think, against the standard grabs which seem to be a popular threat amoung most self defense classes. I have personally found grappling highly useful, I would assume that wrestling ought to fall in about the same catagory.
If you wrestle you'll be in good shape and have a lot of strength, plus all the other good things people have talked about. It's not perfect for self defense. There's a lot to be said for learning standing hits. And on the ground most wrestling stresses going for the pin rather than disabling. But it's a great component of a thorough self defense strategy.
Any type of contact martial art is going to help. Especially one that helps breed a competitive mindset. (That's my way of saying that I agree with everything ya'll are saying!) - Matt
Honestly, when you think about it, wrestling with merely a few modifications would be very good, it'd just be difficult to teach in any standard self defense class, not to mention the average woman is liable to be a bit timid doing it.
wrestling would be very useful. I imagine a rapist possibly tackling his victim, in which case, wrestling would allow you to escape.
