According to the NCADV (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence), “42.1% of Maryland women… experience intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner rape and/or intimate partner stalking (2019).” Now THAT is a scary statistic. Nearly half of all women in MD will, at some point in their lives, be physically harmed by someone they know. For men that statistic drops to 27%.
Out of those two groups of people, why is it that women are less likely to train in a martial art than men are? Through my years of training and instructing, these are the typical responses I get from that question…
- “I don’t have any experience… your other students will laugh at me because I don’t know anything.”
- “I’m out of shape, I can’t move like a fighter.”
- “I want to know how to defend myself, but I am not comfortable sparring or grappling with others.”
- “I don’t want to be in a room filled with guys who can knock me out with one hit!”
See a pattern? There’s an innate fear of judgement from others and a stinging lack of self-confidence. Now, let me tell you the reality of joining our studio….
- All of our best students today started exactly where you are now; nervous, not sure whether or not this is ’for you’. It’s like learning how to ride a bike. No one automatically knows how! It takes patience, time, and practice. And with those three elements, one day you will be one of our best. As an instructor, it’s my mission to make sure you are comfortable and confident throughout your entire self-defense journey.
- Being overweight or having pre-existing physical conditions will not hinder your ability to learn self-defense. In fact, enrolling in martial arts helps you lose weight and also helps to strengthen different muscle groups, especially those in the back and legs! We have so many Before & After stories of students who came in with one or both of those issues and are still with us today, leaner and stronger than ever!
- A good instructor will always take their students’ comfort into consideration. We believe in a teaching style known as titration. Titration is the process of introducing elements, in very small/brief amounts, to achieve the desired end result. This is the same method in which people learn how to drive a car. You don’t immediately go out in a snow storm on the highway; you start in a parking lot doing basic maneuvers and build your way up from there!
- Walking into our studio is like walking into a gym… all you see are normal people working to better themselves in some way, shape, or form. We have students ranging from 14-65! We have people from all over the country. People with disabilities, different heights, and different weights. You will not be an outlier, because there are no outliers at Ninja Abingdon.
We have a saying at our studio: “An ounce of preparation is better than a pound of cure.” Starting a martial art, as told from our own female students, is the best decision they’ve ever made. Because they’re more confident in themselves, and even more so in their capabilities. And now, they’re prepared for whatever life may throw their way. (I mean, it is 2020, who knows what could happen next?!)