Training Women in the Martial Arts: A Special Journey
Authors: Jennifer Lawler & Laura Kamienski
Publisher: Wish Publishing
Buy from: Amazon
Don’t let the thiness of this book fool you. Training Women in the Martial Arts may be only 118 pages long, but it’s 118 pages packed with information and ideas. One of the authors, Jennifer Lawler, is a taekwondo and self-defense teacher, the other, Laura Kamienski, owns and operates a women-only martial arts school in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania where she teaches tae kwon do and self-defense. Both are skilled martial artists and instructors.
One thing I should state up front: this books is unabashedly feminist. Which doesn’t mean the authors hate men — they merely recongnize that women entering the martial arts may be dealing with issues their male counterparts don’t have. Many women who enter the martial arts do so after freeing themselves from an abusive situtation; becasue of this, the authors advocate women-only martial arts classes to help these women regain control of and a sense of empowerment in their own lives. Much of their advice can be adapted to mixed male and female classes.
The book is aimed at anyone — male or female — who teach martial arts to women. It describes the special circumstances/obstacles women may encounter as they begin studying a martial art and gives suggestions on ways to overcome them. These suggestions are valuable for teaching women any physical activity, not just martial arts. I loaned my copy to my bellydance teacher who said she found valuable information there for her students.
This is very much a book aimed at teachers. The average student, male or female, probably wouldn’t get a lot out of it. But if you’ve had trouble reaching a female student, particularly one who seems extremely nervous or afraid, this book could you give valuable insights to help your program.
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Tags: abuse, Teaching, training, women in martial arts
And I would add that it helps with teaching women at all. Despite being a martial arts book, I found a lot of information in it that was directly applicable to working the way women are socialized in our culture into teaching them both dance and needlework (my specialties).
Recommended from this end, too.
In the era of chaos… I think all have to learn some form of martial arts or self defense. In this case, women especially.
Thanks for your review. I will check out this book.
Lamy
Martial Art Training
Hi Lamy — Pleased to meet you. You’re quite welcome.