Posted on 03/15/2021 8:03:44 AM PDT by Mrs. Warrior
When my petite 8 year old granddaughter was taking Tae Kwon Do lessons we went to a demonstration. The male instructor was making the students bow to him and say “Yes sir”. Things started out slowly and students were supposed to yell with forceful aggression as they executed the movements. I noticed our granddaughter getting intimidated.
I looked at the little girls using small hands and feet to defend themselves; they did not know at that age what the threat against them would be. I recalled standing in terror before a new stepfather. I had bought a candy bar with my own money and I was beaten by him for doing so.
When my grand daughter was demonstrating her moves and counters to the instructors hands and feet I I was standing on the sidelines alert and ready; if he had gotten more assertive with his onslaught of commands and strokes I felt a primeval urge to go out there and use my authority voice to tell him to stand down. I realize now that I was transposing myself and the instructor into my own bad experience as a child.
In my world view, the biblical one, this little girl has a guardian angel watching over her. Her armor is her love, her defense is her Heavenly Father and godly men and women who would stand for her and provide her safety and protection..
There are people who think that they can sexually harass, intimidate and harm without constraint. Predators in office building or alleyways roaming, seeking animal instincts. We see it in the NEWS from government to clergy, left and right.
The ideal that a woman could walk safely in free spirited light hearted enjoyment of her day in reality never has been so. Always there has been a potential risk and real threat. Good men and women are always needed to be alert to defend one another, even if there are not personal ties or relationships. People of courage and faith to become guardians and if need be warriors to protect those around them.
Thinking of the sweetness of little girls whose angels are before the face of God, God gives us armor of heavenly strength, mighty to pulling down strong holds, and a prayer for God to change the heart and convict the soul of sin.
There is a light of grace around a Godly woman, love flows from her in warm calming waves, she has an armor for when the waves that crash against her love ones become storms.
There is a time coming when predators will answer to the justice of God.
So True. I teach my daughters - your mother and I (and family around you) have created a bubble that surrounded you as children. We have chose to live in a safe neighborhood, sent you to good schools, guided your moral education, chose similar-minded friends, and vetted anyone and everyone with whom you come into contact. You have only known love and support. Any disappointment you have had with humanity has been superficial.
Do not believe the whole world is this way. You haven't seen evil.
I’m sad to hear of the abuse you endured as a child. Your granddaughter is blessed, indeed, to have a loving grandmother who loves the Lord. I was moved by what you wrote here. God bless you.
I am a strong advocate of Woman carrying firearms and knowing how to use them. The great equalizer. Open carry displaying the gun is even better. The scum will not approach them. When I moved to Idaho from the east coast I was surprised and how many woman have a firearm on their person. They have these really cool shoulder bags with a Velcro opening to have instant access. The depictions in movies and TV of 110 lbs. ladies kicking the shit out of grown men is pure B.S.
“Good men and women are always needed to be alert to defend one another, even if there are not personal ties or relationships. People of courage and faith to become guardians and if need be warriors to protect those around them.”
This theory died in the 1950’s. I can remember living in a small town in central California that lived in peace. We were those ignorant farmers that didn’t want or allow trouble in our little town. If a bad person came in and caused trouble by insulting women or getting drunk he was asked to leave and go live in a little town of trouble makers about 5 miles south and east of our little town. If he came back, or didn’t go, he just disappeared. I was not old enough to understand what happened in those days and I was not told. But there were a lot of cement sandpipes and wells dug in that area at that time as, like today, it was a high agriculture area, basically grapes and oranges.
Soon, when word got out, they went directly to that other little town on their own if they wanted to live in the area. Problem solved.
BTW, my daughter packs CCP. It may not make a big hole like a .357, but it will do the job. We brought her up right. Want not, waste not.
wy69
When dealing with a large class of kids, it is just easier to be more direct. Instructors have only so much time and cannot always give too much attention to one child in a large class.
Kiai is a word, not a sound. In the USA even in traditional Okinawan dojos, I hear adults and children yelling “kiai” after punches or in katas (forms). I believe that actually defeats the purpose as it reduces something internal into yelling a word. The best English explanation of kiai is; spirit yell. But it is more than that. It is internal maybe even primal. It has to do with Kime (focus) and the energy expended in a particular attack. Kiai can vary in sound and intensity depending on the technique and timing of the attack.
With no knowledge of the instructor or his teaching methods, going strictly by what is written, it sounds like the instructor is using the kiai to bring out aggression in the techniques. If that is his intent, he was absolutely right in his approach. Although heavily rebooted as a competition based combative art, Tae Kwon Do traditionally is a martial art and as such is violent.
I have not taught a class for the last year so, I am venting, sorry. One last thought. We sell Asian arts as “self-defense” in this country. They are not self-defense, they are fighting arts. They are by nature violent. At some point after years of training, it becomes internal and meditative vice outwardly violent. That is a totally Asian concept. Making a better person through controlled violence. It is sold here as self-defense otherwise parents would not enroll kids and kids classes pay the bills. When Gichin Funakoshi said there is no first punch in karate, he was not telling us to turn the other cheek. He was telling us not to be bullies. If threatened, a well trained martial artists will not wait for his opponent to attack.
The instructor asked me to leave because she said the female students would always pull their throws and strikes for fear of angering me. That was when I realized just how hard it was to teach women how to defend themselves from men.
I read a newspaper article years later in which male instructors of female self-defense courses said they had to focus on getting their students to be agressive towards men. Most of the courses' instructional time was motivational and psychological.
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