All Origin Approach to Women's Self Defense

Good Women's Self Defense DOES NOT START IN THE RAPE POSITION!!!

(Explanation and Videos Below)

The All Origin approach to women's self defense is an aggressive, offensive, empowering one.  It is somewhat pandering to say that there is a different set of skills for "women's" as opposed to regular self defense.  It is really no different than teaching any male student in terms of what it takes to physically prevail against a criminal assault.  The differences are only in the fact that often a size and strength discrepancy exists to a larger degree and that the context of attack is more often associated with unwanted intimacy.  

Basic Mindset: Turn the Tables.  

For starters we do not take the perspective that a woman is the lesser animal and must find a way to "defend" herself against a more formidable adversary.  This is the wrong mindset from the start and it yields strategies and tactics in line with the deficient mindset.  "Self-Defense" as a term is a misnomer.  It just sounds weird when you say "self-offense", but that would be closer to the correct term.  We are going to turn the tables on the attacker.  We are planning to make the attackers decision the worst decision of his life and the hardest thing he could ever attempt.  We train women to move powerfully and decisively and to take the fight right back to the attacker.

Principle of Decisiveness: Engage the Enemy the Moment they are Identified and Control the fight.

I cannot begin to state how many women I have spoken with and trained in self-defense who had prior training that always seems to start when they are already pinned on the floor.  We also train women how to fight out of such positions (called fighting from negative), but being honest, if that is the main emphasis of a woman's training and she really only knows what to do from there it is not ideal.  You don't magically get to the ground.  You are thrown or knocked down to get there and by that point many of the best options are less available and you are already behind the curve.  

Everyone starts with awareness and that is important, but it needs to come with strategy and a decisive mindset that is prepared to use appropriate violent force when called for.  A mindset that has no problem stacking the deck to use a weapon or go for vital targets.  One thing that is true for women's self defense is that women are more often involved in life threatening self-defense situations that justify the use of more force.  Learn to participate in the mental part of the fight, where they are sizing you up as a target and positioning.  Use this time to escape or to stack the deck in your favor then decisively engage and take the fight to the enemy as they move to attack.  Surprise them with your decisiveness and preparation.  

Fights are messy and you may end up on the ground fighting from there.  We train women (and all students) to be able to END a fight fast and go where ever the fight goes.  Women (and men) should have the mindset that getting me down to the ground will be like going through hell and will cost you more than you can afford.  By the time the attacker goes through the effort to get you there they are going to be injured to the point where they have lost the fight or will shortly lose moments later. The ground is just another part of the territory, it is YOURS not theirs.

Kyle Whiteley
Tang Wei Association Senior Instructor
All Origin Training LLC Head Instructor