There’s one interesting issue that I keep on hearing about from female readers of this blog. And it’s one that many of them feel embarrassed about.
It’s the feeling of resenting another female student, who seems to be more interested in getting male attention than in actually learning anything . . .
Emma (a Karate beginner) has written in response to the article: Ten ways martial arts training can help survivors of abuse:
“I found this a very insightful article which reflects my own experience – thank you for writing it. I wanted to ask you what you think the benefits of sharing a personal history with my sensei might be. I don’t want to burden them with unnecessary information, and am also quite private, but if there is anything that might be of use, I might want to tell them . . . “
As a training tool, sparring has loads of physical / technical benefits.
But according to Professor Janet (Jay) O’Shea – who is both an academic and a martial arts practitioner – sparring has all kinds of sociopsychological benefits too.
Here are five key points from a lecture she gave on this last week . . .
Some people come to martial arts training hoping to heal and move on from their experience of physical and/or sexual abuse.
This doesn’t always work out, as the experience can be overwhelming or triggering, or unsuitable in other ways for some individuals. However, if all goes well, here are ten wonderful benefits that training can bring for such students . . .
Why is an abused dog apparently easier to sympathize with than an abused human being . . . ?