Women's Self-Defense - Why Most Programs Are Wrong

Written by Jeffrey M. Miller


Women's self defense issues are constantly inrepparttar news and a 'hot' topic for conversations. It seems that everyone from police officers to karate instructors has his or her own philosophy and theories aboutrepparttar 130166 how's and why's of self defense for women and girls.

The truth is though, that many ofrepparttar 130167 same techniques and tactics taught to men for self-protection simply will not work for a woman. Why?...

... because attacks perpetrated on women have, at their foundation, certain inherent problems, issues, and conditions that are often very different for men who find themselves in defensive situations. Women have to deal with things that, quite frankly, men don't.

If this is something you're really concerned about, you owe it to yourself to do some serious research to get more information about real-world self-defense for women designed around issues specifically related to womens self-defense.

Now, before some of you start rolling your eyes or nodding your head in agreement, this is not a women's lib issue or anything ofrepparttar 130168 sort. It's simplyrepparttar 130169 way it is.

What kind of things make self-defense for women different? I'm glad you asked.

Well, for starters, physiologically speaking, there is a 7-to-3 strength ratio between male and female bodies. That means that if you were to stand a man and a woman, havingrepparttar 130170 same height, weight, and build, side-by-side, and all things considered (health, fitness, etc.)...

...repparttar 130171 man would still be two-and-a-half times stronger thanrepparttar 130172 woman!

This is not theory or one person's belief over those of others. It's scientific fact.

Next, women are more likely to be slapped, grabbed and pinned than punched or kicked. For men, it's justrepparttar 130173 opposite. The fact is that, most of us have been conditioned since childhood to act, play, and, yes, fight with each gender very differently. And attackers are no different.

The good news is that more and more women are being drawn torepparttar 130174 life-enhancing benefits ofrepparttar 130175 martial arts and basic self-defense programs for increasing their level of self-confidence and overall feelings of safety and security. The not-so-good news is that...

... there is a shortage of:

* Martial arts instructors who understand scientific self-defense, 'and' haverepparttar 130176 necessary life experience to be able to teach from a perspective that shares that experience.

After all...

... if an instructor has never been in a real-world self defense situation themselves, it will make it nearly impossible for them to teach real self defense to anyone - let alone self defense for women. It's kind of like going to a priest of counselor for marriage counselling who has never been married themselves. They both have information passed on by others but, neither has anyway of expressing that information based on real-word knowledge.

However, there is an over-abundance of...

...so-called self-defense experts who are ofrepparttar 130177 tough-guy, fighter type orrepparttar 130178 "This is Reality - Deal With it! macho-type.

These people, by their very nature arerepparttar 130179 "slugger-types" who rely and depend on speed, strength and size to win. Since self defense situations usually involve a bigger, faster, stronger attacker victimizing a smaller, less-prepared target - and, that'sexactly what most women are up against when they're attacked...

Mindfulness and Housework: Vacuum This

Written by Maya Talisman Frost


As a guest on a local television show recently, I decided to bring along my vacuum cleaner.

No, it wasn't for a segment on household hints. I wasn't there to share secrets for deep-cleaning a carpet. Instead, I was using my vacuum cleaner as a memorable visual (aural?) aid to talk about mindfulness.

My host, Roland, gamely turned it on during my bit, and we attempted to shout overrepparttar roar ofrepparttar 130165 machine. After a few seconds, we gave up, and as he turned it off,repparttar 130166 ensuing silence was a welcome relief.

I usedrepparttar 130167 vacuum cleaner to talk about how we have this noise in our heads allrepparttar 130168 time. Our thoughts are creating a swirl of sound, and it can be exhausting to try to concentrate, relax or get creative with all that racket going on.

This mental vacuum sucks our energy and makes it difficult to gain clarity, let alone peace of mind. We need to turn it off in order to haverepparttar 130169 quiet space we need to truly pay attention.

The surprising part of this is that turning on a REAL vacuum cleaner and running it across your floor provides an excellent opportunity to quietrepparttar 130170 noise in your head. You can use your power switch to make an intentional shift toward mindfulness, and let this housecleaning task become your chance to watch your thoughts.

Any slow repetitive physical task lends itself beautifully to mindfulness practice, andrepparttar 130171 back-and-forth motion of your vacuuming can give a soothing rhythm to your thought-watching. Set your body on auto- pilot and focus onrepparttar 130172 thought parade in your head.

Or, you can choose to use your dust-sucking time to focus onrepparttar 130173 physical activity required. Feelrepparttar 130174 muscles as you move. Focus on your shoulders and arms as you stretch and retract, stretch and retract. Switch arms and watch how it feels to relax that one side while flexingrepparttar 130175 other.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use