Training in martial arts has become widely popular over the last decades, especially with the influence of movies. It is however still fundamentally a male’s world, or so it could seem. Girls or a woman usually only begin training after they had experienced a traumatising or violent event, or feel that it is a good precaution to learn self defence.

I find that when I pick up a martial arts magazine or watch a martial arts movie, women are usually portrayed as the less able to physically defend themselves and usually need to be defended. Or they are there to be on the shoulders of the men in photos and advertisements in magazines, and most of the club or tournament photos would only have a few female faces in it, but more often than not, there are none.

Martial arts has been described as being beneficial by those who have trained martial arts, with benefits for physical training as well as helping with discipline, control and self –  confidence. However, regardless of the martial art, many women still choose not to train or partake in this art because it seems too hard or physical. This leading to harboured fears of damaging hands, face or other bodily parts.

 

Most of the common martial arts, such as karate, tae kwon do, kenpo, judo or kick boxing are mostly hard hitting impact arts with relatively physical aspects to the training. This can be something that is off putting to girls or women who are considering training, and this is sometimes also made more so because of what would seem to be very strict discipline practices. Since this is usually what they would observe when they go either try the training or just watch what is done in a class or a training session.

These harder impact arts are usually more dominated by males, even when at times women and girls can engage with the techniques they are taught more easily than their male counterparts. Girls and women may have less muscle mass than most men, but because of a lower centre of gravity and less muscle mass they are often better able to move, learn and gain understanding of the techniques they are being taught quicker.

And usually because of some societal gendered norms, women do not always see training as a competition, but as a chance to train and learn when they do decide to train martial arts. It is also in my experience that I have seen that women usually prefer the practice of kata or forms since it is far lower in impact and only requires opponents when learning application to the techniques.

Kata is a set or pattern of techniques which is used for training and preparation in a ‘imaginary’ multiple attacker’s situation, and this is also when technique can also become more in depth and sometimes can provide good training for co – ordination, concentration and discipline.  This is also sometimes where I have seen women and girls withdraw from some arts, as some arts would not have kata or forms, which although high impact in application with opponents, to train has no impact.

More often however most girls or women aren’t fully aware of the intensity in the training that is expected in higher grades and will more often than not only stay in training long enough to pass three or four grades. I have been training martial arts since childhood and have seen many girls begin, grade a few times, but then withdraw when training becomes more in depth and need more time. Most of the girls and women I have trained with, with the exception of a few, only train for about a year to a year and a half.

Since these gradings are usually the lower grades and are not quite as intense and difficult, usually when women or girls will usually leave training is after these grades have been achieved. However I have encountered the occasional girls or women who has stayed in training and succeeded to achieving Dan grades and are able to prove themselves just as capable martial artist as any of their male counterparts, even in the hard striking martial arts.

There are however more women or girls usually in what could be observed to be softer martial arts, such as aikido, aiki – jitsu, some kung fu forms and Tia chi. This is not because of how the training differs, although sometimes more slower it can still come across to be just as gruelling. It is mostly because these forms of martial arts do not necessarily rely on physical strength like the harder impact arts. They are often also rich in the theory and personal development which, although apparent and beneficial in all martial arts, is given more time in these softer forms of martial arts to be practiced and developed.

I have found in my fourteen years of training martial arts, right back from when I was an eight year old, that often I would become the only girl in my dojo among many guys. I also found that the divisions at tournaments that I would enter were usually pretty small and I would often contend and compete with the same girls on more than one occasion. 

As an instructor I have found that girls and women usually find it easier to take their time and break down technique with more patience. They sometimes also don’t treat training as competition with one another and do not aim to just beat each other. I have often found it difficult however to motivate women and girls to train when they get to the more higher grades as the training and time needed then intensifies. 

However the benefits of martial arts training, such as fitness, self control, discipline and co – ordination is often very good qualities which all students appreciate once they had been training a while. The other benefit which then also comes from training is being able to identify and choose whether or not to engage in a conflict situation.

So, in terms of self defence training women and girls usually find martial arts very applicable and can often speak of how it then helps them to be able to decide what situations are safe to enter. They often express a certain level of confidence which allows them to effectively cope and diffuse with most conflict situations, even if they are not required to actually engage in a physical manner. 

The benefit of knowing and being able to manage safety and conflict is beneficial for all who train martial arts. I have been in martial arts training since I was a child and can also speak to how this has informed and aided in my ability to successfully cope with situations as a child, like being bullied and picked on at school.

As an adult, I have found that my martial knowledge and training has on more than one occasion helped me escape from situations which could have been very volatile. I have however found that in most arts there are few girls or women training and that there seems to be a gendered way of thinking about training in many women’s, girls and mum’s thinking when training.

Overall there is still an idea that can be encountered about whether girls should be learning skills that teach them to ‘fight’, even though martial arts training are actually not about just learning to fight. There is usually a misunderstood meaning behind martial arts training, since the observed training is only seen to be fighting skills.

It is however the personal development and also the self control that is overlooked by most who look into a martial arts class. Martial arts was in history developed to be self defence against threats to safety, and to find another manner to prevent violence, and this is still relevant in most martial arts systems available today. Some may have changed to allow for a more contemporary way of self defence, although still originating from the original traditional art with the same principles for personal and physical development, as well as self defence still prevalent in most arts trained in today’s contemporary westernised society.

Remembering that the dangers that martial arts were used to fight and defend against warlords and tyrants that usually ruled their lands with dictatorship, who were more than able to contain their subjects with armies of men. In the histories of Japan, China, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and even Okinawa had times when citizens were very suppressed by violent armies of overlords, who often were not very ethical or necessarily fair, they were above all cruel and violent in their rule and control.

This is still the basis from which all martial arts originate as a self defence; they have however evolved to be more relevant, although it can still seem gruelling in training. It is still also mostly dominated by males. There is also however more and more girls and women being able to consider trying and training martial arts even if only for a short while.

Those girls and women that I have had the privilege of training with and at times, whose women who have trained me, have given me a lot of learning in terms of what it meant to be a woman in martial arts who happens to also live in society, works and have relationships and friendships just like any other woman.

In the nearer future there will hopefully be more and more women who achieve Dan grade level and be able to contribute to the learning and development of other girls and women who are pursuing martial arts.