That surprises me. I would have though there were dojos out there that were a bit more pragmatic. At very least I would expect them to allow her to wear a white skirt over the top of the pajama uniforms.
Obviously it would rule out several schools of martial arts. Karate and Taekwondo would be out for example—too much reliance on kicking. I don’t see why she couldn’t learn judo, aikido or krav maga with that handicap though.
Then there are options available to her to learn to defending herself while wearing skirts despite not wearing them in practice. There is skirt choice—shorter skirts, fragile skirts and skirts that are easily removable all provide little penalty in combat. Practice in removing, cutting/tearing or moving the skirt to an unconstraining position would also serve her. But even ruling out those options she could simply have training in one of the practical martial arts and just not use any kicks higher than the assailant’s kneecaps. Kicks are overrated anyway.
Depending on how long the skirts are, they could be restrictive even for low kicks, for ground fighting, stand up grappling… Long skirts are really not combat appropriate attire.
Depending on how long the skirts are, they could be restrictive even for low kicks, for ground fighting, stand up grappling...
They interfere with punching rather a lot too.
Long skirts are really not combat appropriate attire.
Obviously. And they are even worse attire for running away (my preferred option if it is available). We have to the best we can with what we have.
I’d go as far as to say that not being a tall well built male in his prime wearing dragon skin armour and wielding an assault rifle is inappropriate for combat. ;)
I remember someone once asked my Krav Maga instructor what he would do if someone threw a grenade at him, and he said “die?” (after he stopped laughing). While that’s not strictly true—there are ways to minimize your chances of being killed by a grenade—it expresses a good point, which is that there are certain circumstances that martial arts aren’t really designed to protect you for. Thankfully, though, those circumstances are unlikely to occur in civilian life, and knowing martial arts does help against the random drunk/crazy guy and the like.
That surprises me. I would have though there were dojos out there that were a bit more pragmatic. At very least I would expect them to allow her to wear a white skirt over the top of the pajama uniforms.
Obviously it would rule out several schools of martial arts. Karate and Taekwondo would be out for example—too much reliance on kicking. I don’t see why she couldn’t learn judo, aikido or krav maga with that handicap though.
Then there are options available to her to learn to defending herself while wearing skirts despite not wearing them in practice. There is skirt choice—shorter skirts, fragile skirts and skirts that are easily removable all provide little penalty in combat. Practice in removing, cutting/tearing or moving the skirt to an unconstraining position would also serve her. But even ruling out those options she could simply have training in one of the practical martial arts and just not use any kicks higher than the assailant’s kneecaps. Kicks are overrated anyway.
My rule of thumb is that if my knee cannot reach the average person’s groin, my clothes are too restrictive.
Depending on how long the skirts are, they could be restrictive even for low kicks, for ground fighting, stand up grappling… Long skirts are really not combat appropriate attire.
They interfere with punching rather a lot too.
Obviously. And they are even worse attire for running away (my preferred option if it is available). We have to the best we can with what we have.
I’d go as far as to say that not being a tall well built male in his prime wearing dragon skin armour and wielding an assault rifle is inappropriate for combat. ;)
I remember someone once asked my Krav Maga instructor what he would do if someone threw a grenade at him, and he said “die?” (after he stopped laughing). While that’s not strictly true—there are ways to minimize your chances of being killed by a grenade—it expresses a good point, which is that there are certain circumstances that martial arts aren’t really designed to protect you for. Thankfully, though, those circumstances are unlikely to occur in civilian life, and knowing martial arts does help against the random drunk/crazy guy and the like.