Hi everyone,
Mr McTavish, I would also like to reply to your post concerning women
in the martial arts.
You will find throughout the martial arts community that men are the
most prolific practitioners. It is generally more men who are exposed
to the benefits of this sort of training, through friends or as a
basic desire to fullfill the masculine role of protecting their "own".

This is not to say that women are not interested in martial arts,
quite the contrary in fact. both women and men operate identically on
a fundamental mechanical level, this means that whatever can be
achieved by a man can equally be achieved by a women. The instructor
must recognise the subtle variations between the physical abilities of
the sexes (i.e. men usually are bigger/stronger - not always the case)
and adjust the teaching accordingly.

Wing Chun is a good example - it was created by a women (allegedly),
the system illustrates the theory of using sound body mechanics and
softness as opposed to brute force to achieve its goals. Sometimes in
class I find that my male students will go easy on the females - this
only hinders the training, it does them no favours at all. In learning
how to deal with the bigger/stronger when they apply pressure, the
smaller/weaker learns very quickly how to apply correctly with good
structure - where as the stonger can mask error with strength. This
applies to both men and women. Both sexes can be succesfull in martial
art, it is individual determined rather than sex determined. If you
train hard, you will be good, if you don't, you won't - That simple.
As for women and fighting, well I personally think that fighting is
counter productive, if there is a valid reason, then so be it. There
will not always be times when the "heroic" man can protect the women -
like when they are alone and some sicko wants to take things that
cannot be replaced. I feel it to be my duty to ensure that any woman
that wants to learn from me will get the best of what i have to offer,
so they have a fighting chance. To turn them away because of gender is
akin to turning them away because of race. Wing Chun is an ever
evolving art mr Mctavish, perhaps this is something you should apply
to your predjudice?
Mark.
--- In lunkuenacademyofwingchun@yahoogroups.com, sifugen1
<no_reply@...> wrote:
>
> An interesting subject.
>
> I would say that if one were to put an average woman in a ring with
> an average man and they slugged it out toe-to-toe, in most cases the
> man would win.
>
> However, you are forgetting the element of surprise where the man
> does not expect the woman to fight back. A well placed strike to the
> eyes, throat or genitals (soft targets) is all that��s needed for a
> woman to initially gain the upper hand and either follow up or make
> her escape.
>
> From my experience the women I have taught have taken to Wing Chun
> very well and in some cases progress quicker in the early stages than
> their male counter parts.
>
> Unfortunately my friend we live in an age where chivalry is all but
> dead and women need to think very seriously about protecting
> themselves and their loved ones as a matter of course.
>
> As for the origins of Wing Chun, I have always been led to believe
> that it was initially designed by a Shaolin Nun call Ng Moi, who
> later taught her newly found skills to a merchant��s daughter called
> Yim Wing Chun.
>
> I tend to believe this tale because Wing Chun is a particularly
> cleaver and nasty style typical of a woman ��
>
> Just kidding ladies!!!
>
> --- In lunkuenacademyofwingchun@yahoogroups.com, "troy"
> <masterthunderfist@> wrote:
> >
> > hello again!
> > yes the question i want to ask is given that womwn are not to really
> > be placed in the situation where theyll have to be fighting, should
> > they learn martial arts - not me being womanist, i'm a gentleman
> and i
> > think it is duty to protect them instead of arming them, i have
> never
> > taught women, and was even told that the misconception that a woman
> > devised our cunning art is not true either by my teacher, he said it
> > was a tale to say if no strength dainty ladies can do this, you dont
> > use force. but what do i know im only listening to what people telll
> > me recite that, i also believe that sometimes i take too much in
> but i
> > actually like to learn as much as possible.
> > mr mactavish
> > --- In lunkuenacademyofwingchun@yahoogroups.com, sifugen1
> > <no_reply@> wrote:
> > >
> > > I have several women students in my class.
> > > What is your question?
> > >
> > > Steve.
> > >
> > > --- In lunkuenacademyofwingchun@yahoogroups.com, "troy"
> > > <masterthunderfist@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > hello every one,
> > > > glad to be here on this fine day, i would like to ask you all a
> > > > question about women and martial arts.
> > > > mr mactavish
> > > >
> > >
> >
>