Why We Do Not Teach Self Defense Workshops at Zhang Sah

September 12, 2024

I was recently asked to start a self defense class for women. The person that suggested it told me that there were many in our community that would benefit from knowing a few things that they could do if they were involved in a violent altercation. My response was that we certainly should not teach self defense workshops. Why not? For that answer,  give the following three points of consideration:

1. During a violent attack you will not have time to think and recall what you were taught briefly during a workshop. Your body will be overrun with adrenaline and your best response will be to do whatever saves you without having to think about it because you probably only have a second or two for your response to work.
2. The physiological disparities between men and women put a woman at a severe disadvantage. Size, weight, muscle mass, and bone density are confluent advantages that most men have over women in a violent exchange. Given this, in general, avoidance is the best strategy and not engaging in combat. 
3. If you really need to defend yourself, it is impossible to predict what the context or scenario would be. Is the other person bigger than you, faster than you, or wearing protective clothing? Are you simply taken by surprise? These considerations and more can alter how you ought to handle the situation. Besides, workshops are greatly limited and only offer hypothetical scenarios for consideration and in my opinion it is malpractice to speculate about these matters. 

You should run. You should try to get as far away from danger as possible. Otherwise, if you desire to defend yourself; instead of trying to learn a few quick tricks that may or may not work, I posit that regular and consistent conditioning to respond efficiently is the correct manner to approach this subject. The conditioning should happen in phases: solo practice, cooperative practice, and then oppositional practice. This is easily achieved in a Zhang Sah class. What’s more, there are a variety of classmates to practice with and against that can help you gauge how to use what you once learned in a solo and cooperative context before stress testing in a controlled oppositional environment. This is why joining a Zhang Sah class can help you learn self defense that you will be able to use if you need it. This is why we do not promote women’s self defense workshops but we do offer an all women’s martial arts class.