Women in Martial Arts: A Roundtable
Violence against women and girls is a worldwide problem, even if the question of whether the level of violence is increasing is debatable. By some estimates, one out of three women will experience some form of domestic violence. Martial arts has a unique role to play in giving women and girls essential tools for stemming violence on personal, social, and cultural levels. This prompts the question: Why does martial arts teaching and practice continue to be dominated by men? Why aren’t more girls and women studying martial arts?
The search for answers to these questions led me to convene a roundtable of highly experienced and accomplished female martial artists in the fall of 2012. All these women have practiced and taught martial arts for more than two decades with cumulative experience of more than 150 years. All have advanced black belt degrees, and they include owners of martial arts schools, practitioners of multiple martial arts, and, in at least two cases, developers of self-defense curricula focused on women. Their insights draw on a wide range of martial arts, including Ninjutsu, To-Shin Do, Ninpo, Kempo Karate, Tae Kwan Do, Tai Chi, Tang Soo Do, Hapkido, and Escrima as well as boxing and kick-boxing. Thus, the insights and lessons learned are applicable to the self-defense and martial arts communities more generally.