Coed training

[zen_celt]

I'm curious about the considerations in coed MA training. I've found in my experience, that there are quite a number of women who can hold their own with men and I've met women who can whoop @$$ on most men both in and outside the training hall. But more than that, I wonder about the benefits of gender specific training vs coed training. I went to an all male training facility for my military training and all the men I've talked to since wish they had gone there if only to get more rigorous physical training(they said they could do without the hazing etc.) and get away from the women that whined all the time(the whiners being the exception not the rule...we had whiners too). In regards to MA training itself, a girl I was talking to relayed an incident she had with a male during hand-to-hand combat training in which he became aroused and she had to switch partners as she was uncomfortable with it. In relation to this, I have never before had this happen to any of my training partners or to myself but I'm sure it's not all that uncommon. There's also the subject of people being more comfortable within their specific gender. At Ft. Benning, a lot of guys were more comfortable maxing out on push ups, and running because they felt they weren't constantly being compared to others in terms of their manhood being challenged. On the flip side, I've seen a number of MA schools offer women only classes or classes specifically called, "women's self-defense". Thinking it will offer women a more comfortable enironment to train without the sexual advances of men, having to deal with physical superiority and being able to discuss female specific issues(rape being the most common) in relation to self-defense. But in order to teach anti-rape techniques, I trained under an instructor who brought in three of the biggest guys from the "regular" class to give the women an idea of the resistane they could encounter.
There's also the concept of men being embarrased at being beaten by a woman. I know a guy who was embarrased at being thrown by his wife. I also like to train in wrestling and a little KF, at the gym on base but find it hard to find guys to train with when I tell them women may be present. They find the concept of wrestling the opposite sex appalling in terms of chivalry and the thought of losing. I personally don't care so long as the training is good and someone is learning. I learned my lesson after being kicked to the ground by a woman I was training with when I first started. I've met women who kick serious man butt at physical things like push ups, weight lifting etc.

I think I'm starting to ramble so, please share your thoughts on training with the opposite sex. Do you feel it impedes or assistes your training? How do you react to sparring/grappling with the opposite sex? Etc.

-ZC

[SaMantis]

IMO it's always going to be a controversial subject, because there are pluses and minuses to both coed and separate training.

As you pointed out, men training separately felt more comfortable "maxing out" in workouts rather than being held back by some discomfort having women on the field with them. This is also true of women, who can be just as structurally competitive as men in a separate environment.

I went through Army basic when men & women trained separately. The women in my unit consistently maxed or surpassed the standards set for them, and many said they would have been intimidated training with men (quite a few came from abusive environments). Whiners weren't tolerated, any more than men would tolerate whiners in their units.

But coed training has its place, too. Training with other women is great for working within a comfort level and getting mutual support (the "you go girl" factor), but when I want to move past that comfort level, coed training supplies a greater challenge.

[Ben Gash]

The most embarrassing Co-ed moment for me was when I grabbed a girls left breast with a tiger claw during sparring :o Sometimes it can be hard to restrain a trained response.
I must also say I've trained with far too many women who've been more than happy to kick lumps out of me and then cry after a light punch in the face.:mad:

[Robinf]

This is a topic about which I'm torn.

As I've mentioned before, I'm the only woman among 20 brothers in kung fu. I match and/or surpass them in fitness. However, I lack, or I think I lack, the brute strength they use in sparring. I am generally faster than they, so I evens out. I think the guys get frustrated sparring with me sometimes because of my speed and because they feel they have to hold back brute force. I think they also get embarrassed when I pin them after they try to throw me to ground (for lack of anything better to do). After I've pinned quite a few of them, none of them have since tried to throw me.

Meanwhile, I'm getting an excellent workout and am really growing tougher.

I don't want to think that my brothers are getting cheated, however. I think my speed compensates for my lack of strength and size--gives them something new to fend off.

On one night, however, when we were practicing some ground fighting and grabs from behind where the attacker is on the victim's body, my brothers chose not pair up with me, for reasons that were truly no one's fault--I understood. However, my instructor stepped up and practiced with me after class once he saw I was left out. That was a great session!

[Shaolin-Do]

I dont mind training with women, Its hard to hit them tho.
I always go too gentle, Just sweep a lot. :)
For some reason I have less trouble taking a woman off her feet than hitting them.

[SaMantis]

There may also be a girlfriend/boyfriend factor at work in this "discomfort" thing.

For example, when I took a judo class in college there was a higher ratio of guys to girls, so I was often paired up with a guy for randoori. After one session (just throws, no grappling) my partner's girlfriend who had been watching the class came up and said, "I just want you to know, he's mine. Don't try to steal him or I'll kick your @ss."

I just walked away shaking my head.

[Shaolin-Do]

You should have grabbed her by the throat and let her know that "you were the one who knows judo, b!tch."
:D

[Robinf]

But this is an interesting thing. Why do men feel they need to throw women more than hit them?

Using less force with a punch or kick shouldn't be that difficult. I certainly use less force when sparring with lower ranks and when sparring in TKD (we're a mix in there). It's not difficult. The point about using less force is you can concentrate on more speed.

[Shaolin-Do]

The only 3 chicks I spar with are really short and really quick, so I gotta keep on speed anyways. Just doesnt feel right to hit them, was pounded morally into my brain as a child, pre-teen, teen, and even still to adult years that it IS NOT OK TO HIT WOMEN. Regardless that I am supposed to in sparring, it still doesnt feel right. Same reason that most dudes I know would push their girlfriend forcefully when they become abusive during an argument, rather than hit them.
Basically, when it comes down to it, regardless of wheather or not the girl said "its ok for you to hit me in the face", it still just doesnt feel right, so its harder to do.

[SaMantis]

You should have grabbed her by the throat and let her know that "you were the one who knows judo, b!tch."


LOL! :D