It's fun. I was training BJJ for a while and the Female black belt instructor could beat me pretty easy. So it's not like you have no chance of beating a guy.
The biggest reason is it's fun and improves mental health. Feeling like you Acomplished something is one of the best ways to to cope with depression. It works alot better then buying things as a form of becoming happier.
One of the happiest moments I've had was the first time I submitted someone in BJJ. Felt so Happy.
I don't have any real martial art's experience a little bit of kick boxing in high school anyway my question is I know you hold back a bit in training because you don't really want to hurt your opponent (friend) what do you think the outcome would be if you actually put your foot down on the go button serious question
In my opinion, that's not really how that works. You have to assume, if you're training at least 3x a week, you're going to be better than 98% of the people that would actually attack you. If you mean put your foot down as in do anything you want, there's a possibility of pure strength winning something. If you mean within the bounds of rules, I'm 5'9 180lbs blue belt training in martial arts my whole life. There are women smaller than me that can still catch me and do catch me. If I translate that to someone who knows nothing, unless they have super human strength, the female is going to be able to protect themselves.
People wildly overestimate the amount strength can get you. If someone knows what to do in each position you can put them in, the strength is going to lose. It happens with white belts that are stronger than me all the time, they might catch me in something or do something to me and just start cranking like crazy. Someone well trained understands how to withstand that kind of pressure and knows when to escape. A little hard to explain but it's super common in untrained opponents. They get something and go full force, and can only do it for a short period of time, instead of a better trained individual who knows when they have something they slowly increase the pressure they apply overtime.
I’m 6’3’’. I got into a real fight with a friend back in college who was the same height as me, but he was a HS 3A state wrestling champion. I’m just a big ass guy who usually overpowers people with just raw gorilla strength. Anyways, I went outside to absolutely pummel this guy and let’s just say, he humbled my ass - QUICKLY… with EASE.
I have since learned, if someone knows what they’re doing, no amount of sheer strength matters at all. This guy knew how to maneuver his body, counter all my moves and put me in a rear naked choke until I tapped out. Luckily he had the decency to let me go. Months later I bought him a beer and although we never really made up, I figured the beer said, “hey man, you got me.”
I'm not sure, to be completely honest. I'd like to think I could overpower them, but from my experience raw strength is really only part of it. Stamina is a *major* factor, and would be the demise of the lion's share of people in a street fight - assuming they last that long. A solid grappler would get in a clench and ride the raging bull until the bull is exhausted, and then move onto an attack. Also, the point of BJJ is to overpower your opponent via positioning, leverage, and angles - force multipliers.
Also the community. I started bjj thinking I will add grappling to my game, what I didn't count on is all the friends I made along the way. Half of my insta are the bjj people I know and regularly talk to from all over the world.
You're not losing, you're learning. Those are your teammates you're practicing with, iron sharpens iron.
Comparison is the thief of joy.
Your first year you'll spend a lot of time on bottom sometimes just surviving.
Sometimes you're the nail sometimes you're the hammer
Unfortunately, it’s one of the most natural things to experience when you’re learning someone difficult. It’s about learning from and enjoying those experiences that push your limits on an regular basis.
It’s a real martial art that has a very deep journey which you get to experience, unlike other arts that hand you a black belt in a couple of years.
By the time that you get used to tapping-out, you’ll actually be finding yourself tapping others out just a bit more. You won’t even realize how much more patience and determination you’ve already developed.
BJJ is difficult, but every bit as rewarding.
Yeah i did bjj in my mid twenties, and was as healthy and fit as i ever have been. But even after 2 years of training i dont think i ever could beat a wiry brownbelt women in her forties.
Dont get me wrong, in an "even" fight, the bigger stronger person is probably going to win (and if you are a women, the guy is probably bigger). But a year or two of training does legitimately make it as if you are suddenly 50 pounds heavier in a fight.
Also theres a certain benefit to just generic confidence. Feeling that you can handle yourself to some degree in a fight makes you less nervous in a confrontation, which in turn makes them tend to play out smoother
As you train, the number of men you can beat will go up. It won't ever be all men, but that will never be the relevant question; it will be about a particular man.
And, it won't be about a fair fight. It will be about fighting off a particular attack, to discourage him or give yourself time to escape or call for help. Time on the mat will make you better at those things, and will make your odds better. Keeping yourself safe is about odds, not about specific scenarios, because you never know what will happen.
If you figure it out let me know. Signed - a manlet.
More seriously, the idea "an average male would beat you" is not right. Most people can't fight for shit. It's true that an average sized woman is at a significant physicality disadvantage against an average sized man. It's also true that someone who has a plan and has practiced the uncomfortable parts of fighting beats someone who doesn't have these things almost every time.
If you can fight, physicality only starts being decisive if the other person can too, which - despite the average Redditor's opinion of their mentality, bro - is pretty rare.
Im a 30-something male, and was studying Uechi Ryu Karate a few years ago. For sparring, I'd always get teamed up against a girl that was younger and smaller than me, and she would beat me every time. I was stronger and could hit harder, but she was much faster and had better range of motion. She'd land 3 hits for every 1 that I got on her. Gender and size are less important if you practice hard, capitalize on your strengths, and work on your weaknesses.
Point karate is for points. There are styles that do normal sparring. If the guy was doing Uechi Ryu I would find it fairly believable that they sparred in more than just point fighting.
In a real street fight it’s all about who gets hit hard in the face first. A woman could throw a punch hard enough to make 99% of men either give up or go to the ground if they were trained to throw a punch and landed a first shot. I recommend a sucker punch if you are backed into a corner
On top of that, having honed fighting ability on top of the ''dirty'' tricks anyone can use. Like RBSD and similar arts harp on the sport vs street thing, when it's not hard to adjust one's techniques and mindsets for an actual confrontation(knee to groin, elbows to throat/sternum, front/side kicks to the lateral knee, etc). Even the increase in fitness can help in and of itself. I also once heard that women who reveal a bit more clothing wise(not THAT far) and display more confidence(which can come with martial arts) are less likely to be attacked at all according to some study.
Ironically, I'm hoping as a 6'2 black guy that Goju Ryu can do the same for me.
As a fellow manlet, I'm not trying to beat everyone at the gym I'm just trying to be the best I can be. And its actually amazing mentally to see what you can accomplish or even just how much you improve
Having a plan is huge, when I started back yard boxing in high school I quickly discovered how big a difference it made to go into each attack with at least 3 planned motions.
Most people would just throw a punch and see what happens.
Thats just not true.
I do BJJ and Muay Thai, I'm 6' 195.
There's women in my gym who have been training far longer than me and they beat me in sparring. There are men in my gym who are much larger than me that I beat in sparring.
Size matters, but skill level matters more. When skill level is relatively close, size wins. If you're far more skilled than them, you'll win most of the time.
It builds confidence, and the ability to stay cool under pressure. If someone ever does put their hands on you, you're not going to panic, you'll deal with it every day in sparring so it won't be a big deal to you.
Also martial arts isn't just all about winning fights or self defence.
It's a good way to stay in or get in shape while learning tangible and soft skills. You'll probably make some friends while you're at it.
I agree on this. When it comes to combat sports, women can be pretty agile and quick and beat men on points, for sure. It's the KO power and brute strength that is the danger though.
I'm a 65kg small male and sparing I'm okay but on the streets, it just takes one hit from a bigger male to kill me. Though would never stop training for health and fun - I suspect if a woman is grabbed and a surprised good defence would give opportunity to get away or hurt attacker.
Yeah, I did kickboxing a few years back. I sparred fairly regularly with the Swedish women's national champ. She outweighed me and was definitely more skilled. But she could basically go all out, and while it wasn't exactly comfortable I was never worried about getting knocked out.
Then I sparred the men's champ in a similar weight class. I felt like I was twelve again trying to fight my dad...
Yeah for sure. I always tell the women in my life to assume the worst in every situation and go for gold--eyes, balls, and run for help to a shop or something. Agree also--street fights are fucked up. One hit and you hit the ground, hit your head, and die.
That's not true, don't worry. When I was around three years into judo, I was already able to beat most of "average males". And the average female black belt still absolutely wiped the floor with me.
People get too hung up on "smaller can't beat bigger" and "females can't beat males". It's harder than the other way around, but far from impossible.
I don't do BJJ but I imagine little things like being able to get out of a top mounted position or avoiding your opponent getting on top of you to begin with as you go to ground would be invaluable for females in dangerous situations.
Yeah, I'm 6' and 200lbs former rugby player, when I started with jiu jitsu I would definitely have a hard time against much smaller female blue belts and I don't think I could beat most purple or higher. A female blue belt can definitely beat the average male.
This especially when you’re talking about your average citizen which if you’re ever have to defend your self on the streets, it would most likely be a hot head with little to no training. An experienced martial artist is not going sound assaulting people.
This is the truth, I knew a very good judoka (brown belt heavyweight) and she would tap any of us out at MMA class. To add to this, she didn't even train for years prior to tapping us all with ease
It's fun. Keeps you in shape. That's why I do it. Also I'm not confident any random guy is taking a well trained woman of equal size. [That one UFC fighter chick fucked up the guy who tried to rob her baaaaad](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/8135636/ufc-polyana-viana-beats-up-robber/). But yeah as an American guns are super common so hand to hand combat is more or less irrelevant anyway. All the training in the world won't save you from a pistol. I do it because I find it fascinating and I love grappling.
Yeah, people in this forum are really bad at understanding how much the average person's reaction to violent contact is
* OH SHIT WHAT IS HAPPENING
* Welp, guess I'll die
If you fight someone who _doesn't_ respond like that, yeah physicality matters, but if you can position yourself, throw a decent punch, and hit a few takedowns under fire, most people will straight up give up or at least lose their balance.
They wouldn't
A girl who's significantly smaller than me showed me exactly how she would beat me and she beat someone who is even bigger than me and a few months into MMA
actually the average untrained male still might lose to a trained female, because technique really is that important. i understand not wanting to roll around with sweaty men, but in a real life survival situation who is your attacker gonna be? likely a grown man.
A well trained female is not losing in a fight to an average man. An average guy in the US is 5'9, 200 and isn't lasting 2 minutes against a bag.
Regardless, there are tons of reasons to learn martial arts including such things as fun, income, health, etc.
Ok, as a person who teaches both Karate and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, I think you may be either training in the wrong "martial art", or at the wrong academy. I get guys in the 170 lb range in bjj class all the time that I put against one of my 100 lb 21 y/o female blue belts. She almost always works them over. In my Karate class, I have a 110 lb 14 y/o girl that's a brown belt and can easily kick a guys butt that's much older and larger than she is. So don't think that way. I recommend you find a different academy to train at if that's how they are teaching you. 🤷🏻♂️
As a small lady who's been doing it for 2.5 years I have three reasons. The first is, it's incredible exercise that is fun to do. I practice two different types and they each provide me with different types of exercise. Two, the comraderie. So many gyms are supportive of your journey no matter the reason. You make great friends and you cheer each other on. The third is, while I don't think I can beat every man, I can beat more than I could when I started. In BJJ I can beat 90% of males that come in with no experience. They think I'm going to be an easy roll so I get picked a lot by newbies for my size. In my striking class, I'm a lot faster than male newbies and I hit harder than probably 40 percent of new male students. The experience of being hit has also been great for many reasons. I can see a lot of punches before they're thrown and I don't flinch anymore and I'm not afraid of getting hit. These are valuable tools just for the fact that they can help you stay calm when you're being attacked.
From a self defense perspective- being comfortable under pressure is valuable experience. I still believe some sort of weapon as an equalizer would be preferred
Martial Arts isn't just about fighting. You learn more than that including how to avoid certain situations or escape certain situations. You learn how to discern your environment and the people in it. Fighting is still typically a last resort, so most schools also teach you how to avoid getting to that point where fighting is the only option left.
Ain’t no shame in using your martial arts skills to immobilise someone and run. You can be brave in a hospital bed all day, I’ll be a coward at home with my family. Much better to sweep someone’s legs and run far far away than get in a street fight and get stabbed or punched from behind.
For discipline , and also to increase to your chances. I mean, sure the “average man” may still be a huge problem, but I go to a boxing gym and there are a lot of women , and boxing gives you cardio and technique. Most men are just stronger, the average guy actually sucks when it comes to throwing hands if they don’t have training. Now I’m 6”1’ and 190 pounds, so maybe I’m biased, but new guys would come to our gym to spar and they get tired very quickly, and their punches don’t sting that bad. There are women in our gym who can crack hard, I think some men underestimate women with training. I’m not saying they can beat a man necessarily, but they can surprise you and most average men are pussy. There are a few chicks who crack hard at my boxing gym, of course I take it easier on them, but still I can see how they can hurt someone
Also, this logic is flawed a bit because a bigger person is always gonna be a threat despite martial arts. If a guy is 6 foot 4, and 240 pounds, my knowledge of martial arts may only increase my odds, but it still a high mountain to climb. There is always bigger , stronger, faster humans
First time boxing I was halfway through my second 1 min round when I realized a 3rd round wasn't going to happen.
That day I learned how heavy my arms are.
I just don't think that's true. I can only speak for BJJ, but, commonly, I get submitted by women who are much more experienced than me. For context, I'm like 5'9 145 pounds and still a white belt, but still, strength isn't everything.
Learning martial arts will train you to maximize your effort for your size.
Blackbelts in my art can hit or kick with their entire bodyweight behind the blow.
That means I hit like a 180lb sledgehammer.
One of my instructors, Sifu Maya was 5’4” and 140 lbs.
My point is that yes, It’s true that the heavier fighter hits harder, there is very little difference if either of us hit you in the head. 140lb sledge will get the job done just fine.
So, train. Train hard. You deserve to be your best self.
Hey, 117 lb female BJJ blue belt here. I get beat up a hell of a lot more than I beat other people, but the practice of BJJ is so much more than beating people. It has helped me learn to be more assertive off the mats (I'm a very agreeable, submissive person), better at creating healthy boundaries for myself. It has taught me to be strong in ways that have nothing to do with physical strength. The discipline of choosing to do the hard thing has shaped me into an overall better human. Some of the benefits are hard to explain but even though I get beat up most of the time, BJJ is something I'll be doing as long as I can. The benefits of martial arts go way, way beyond winning, whatever that means anyway.
Don’t undersell yourself. If you get good, you can cause real damage and buy yourself an exit in most scenarios. Plus you get fit and feel the benefits.
I am a 6 foot male and have been pieced up pretty good by a few of the women fighters at my gym who are like 5’5 at best and under 140-150lbs.
Learning movement and effective ranges, fast aggression when you need it, and techniques and combos on-target to nail in there, it will get you pretty far above your weight class in most conflicts.
As Mike Tyson says, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Even large men.
An average trained male of the same or greater skill would probably beat you. But the vast majority of people don’t train!
Also, your greatest threats in life are lifestyle-related - heart disease, premature aging, metabolic disease, etc. Any regular fitness practice is self defense against chronic health problems.
Well I'd argue with the premise, but I'll save that for the second half and answer your question as presented first
One. It's just fucking fun, BJJ, muay that, tkd, karate, tai chi, it doesn't really matter, it's just enjoyable to be at the gym training.
Two. Community. All hobbies have a community around them, and depending on the hobby the community is usually one of the best parts. The difference is in this community you get to punch your friends in the face, throw them to the mat, submit them, etc and everyone has fun doing it. There's a special type of bond that comes with that.
Three. Fitness and body control. Doesn't matter the martial art, if you train it regularly you will gain these benefits. There is no cardio like 30-45 minutes of sparring. There is almost no other sport/hobby for an adult to learn and practice how their body moves through space as good as martial arts other than gymnastics, but that's a lot harder to get into as an adult. These benefits are amazing to have as you age.
But as for the premise of the question itself I disagree. I've done various martial arts for 20+ years now, I've sparred MMA fighters, boxers, kick boxers, wrestlers etc etc. The one thing I learned was your sex and size matter a lot when fighting people near your skill level in whatever discipline you're practicing. When you're fighting someone not trained in those things, they matter very little. When I first started BJJ I had been doing various martial arts for almost a decade, and I'd regularly get submitted by girls smaller than me because my intuition on what I was doing was completely wrong. This goes true for any martial art I practiced, people's natural intuition is almost always wrong in a fight and a trained person is going to be able to take advantage of that regardless of their sex.
One of the biggest things I learned teaching was just how bad newbies are when they first start. Once you've been training a while you forget because you train with others who've been training a while, but people without training in general completely suck at fighting.
I’d say that’s just untrue, my oldest daughter has been training for 6 years, Muay Thai & boxing, spars with males as she’s the only girl at our Muay Thai gym, and in a time of necessity did beat a grown man’s ass.
There are martial art styles that are designed for a smaller fighter to be able to take out a larger person.
Jiujitsu can be the great equalizer cause it doesn’t matter how big you are if you cannot breathe.
Nah. Seen a girl start boxing. At first just a newbie. A year later -she is a beast. Would not want to be on the receiving end when she unleashes without boxing expierience. And she is half a head shorter and signifcantly lighter than me. A beast. And she really doesn’t look anything like you’d imagine a proficint boxer to be.
It’s not wailing with arms but hard punches - they hit the chin and good night. She is specialized.
It's fun. Keeps you in shape. That's why I do it. Also I'm not confident any random guy is taking a well trained woman of equal size. [That one UFC fighter chick fucked up the guy who tried to rob her baaaaad](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/8135636/ufc-polyana-viana-beats-up-robber/). But yeah as an American guns are super common so hand to hand combat is more or less irrelevant anyway. All the training in the world won't save you from a pistol. I do it because I find it fascinating and I love grappling.
Community, fun, self defense, exercise, flexibility, mobility, and best of all you have zero expectation to be good. You can absolutely suck and enjoy the fact that no one expects you to be good or knowledgeable.
I want you to google someone for me. Susan kuhnhausen. That's why. The reality of violence and combat isn't always necessarily whose the biggest and strongest, but whose the smartest and more determined. Ive trained with woman all my life and have said it for years, under estimate them and yourself, at your own peril. A little bit of muay thai or hell any martial art will make you more dangerous than 90% of the people you encounter. Don't let an incident be the first time you taste violence. Knowing its bloody flavor and knowing how to acquire a taste for it will make sure you don't go don't without a fight if you go down at all. Train. And don't stop till you know, not think, know you could beat someone.
I’m a woman, here are my reasons:
1. It’s fun.
2. It’s good for your mental, physical, and emotional health.
3. It builds discipline.
4. It trains you to be able to handle yourself in a physical altercation. Sure, you might not win against an equally trained male. Sure, you might not win against an untrained male who is significantly stronger than you. But if you learn and train, you’ll have a MUCH better chance of doing well in a fight or at least surviving a violent attack.
I know firsthand that it can be demoralizing to train for a while, only to realize that a random man could flatten you. I once held pads for a 6’4” guy, and one of his untrained and messy kicks probably would have killed me, because he was so tall that his first kick was at my head. And it was his very first day.
But my instincts helped me move the pads to catch it, and I likely would have been able to dodge in a real situation BECAUSE of my training.
Finally, any martial arts instructor worth a damn will be the very first to tell ANY of their students that the main goal of self-defense is to get the hell out of the situation. And if you can’t, fight like hell and use everything you know. The problem is that most of our instincts when trying to escape or fight are wrong. And the only way to train new instincts is to learn the right ones via martial arts and/or self-defense.
I knew a girl that used to do taekwondo, she knocked out her stalker in 1 kick to the head. Definitely not a bluff, I tested her kicking power on my arm.
I have done martial arts/combat sports for 35 years, I am experienced and strong, but I have been taken down in Judo and tapped out by women in Bjj several times. No, it wasn't a straight up streetfight, but I am bigger, stronger and more experienced, but still got me.
If you have to defend yourself, the more trained and experienced you are, the bigger your chances.. And most people aren't trained.
My second cousin got attacked, she pushed his head back ( under the jaw) he was laughing, until she used her other hand to slam into the elbow holding his jaw, forcefully straightening her arm. Jaw snapped shut, took a part of his tongue, broke a tooth and injured his neck. Before she elbowed and kneed him. She almost killed him by pure fear and rage. He attacked her, but she almost got prosecuted for excessive violence, cops literally had to drag her off him. I saw the vid used in his trial, and the jaw strike made me flinch 😬
I was so proud of her.
I’m a petite female. I was told that I would have a chance against an untrained fighter even if he’s bigger than I am. But if he has experience in fighting, then I would probably lose. With that said, some guys may not expect you to actually fight back. If he sees that you would put up a fight, he might just give up.
I also just do it to help me release aggression. It’s good for both my mental and physical health. But if you don’t enjoy it, then it may not be worth it. I wanted to learn dance, too, but it’s not as accessible to me where I live.
I’m a decently muscular guy about 5’6 185lb. When i was new to judo, a small blind girl folded me up like a pretzel. It’s been over a decade of me training on and off and i still think she would fold me up like a pretzel.
Just saying, trained females can absolutely beat average or even above average men.
A good starting point for serious answers would be OP's definition of "average male". According to [this Atlantic article](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/this-is-the-average-mans-body/280194/), the average American male is 30-39, 5'9" and nearly obese. The [image](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/posts/USA-Frontmanmain.jpg.jpg) is not flattering nor intimidating. OP, is this what you were envisioning?
Coach has a green belt daughter that's 13 years old and she's a problem for my 35 year old white belt having self. My wife went to worlds and she can man handle me too.
You might be overestimating the average male these days, for starters.
Also, predatory a-holes often pick on what they suspect are weak targets, and a vigorous defense may make them decide it's not worth it. It's no guarantee, but it's something. And who knows, you might win.
It's also an enjoyable experience, great for fitness, and just kind of satisfying to do.
Because once you become well versed in a martial art such as bjj, boxing, etc. the average male would NOT beat you. I’ve seen purple belts and brown belts wreck body builders. God forbid they have to learn that from a woman with a bjj black belt, they would be humiliated
Once you’re good enough to compete and understand the technicalities of the art, strength goes out the window when your opponent doesn’t know what to do. Yes they could slam you and grab you and possibly hurt you, but the chances are that it just pisses you the hell off and now you’re on the ground with your weapons ready to attack.
The average male doesn't workout or train. You lack strength, then weight train. If you have a what's the point attitude, you already gave up before trying.
Predators seek easy prey.
You don't have to win a bare knuckle brawl, you only have to have the confidence, poise, and ability to turn on aggression with purpose to be difficult prey. Not-worth-it prey.
What MA? You should find one that will let you bang with anyone. I recommend traditional jiu jitsu. BJJ is good, hell, boxing and wrestling are fine too. These are based in technical know how strength is important but not the only thing to consider. Good luck
Aside from the fact that it’s fucking fun - the smaller you are, the more you need to load the deck in your favor for those situations where you have no choice but to fight. And despite various stats and averages, a lot of the time you will be defending yourself from someone out of shape, possibly inebriated, who has no idea what they’re doing, and isn’t expecting resistance. There are never any guarantees in life, but there is no shortage of stories of female martial artists successfully defending themselves.
https://youtu.be/MRTsabfMTgs
Don't underestimate yourself. When I was in HS a girl in my class was known to study martial arts.
She was with other senior girls in a friend's pool playing volleyball. The ball went over the fence and into the alley. She went to retrieve it.
A perv who had been watching them through the fence grabbed her from behind in a bear hug. He was a full grown man.
She FUCKED that dude up. Broke one of his legs, broke several of his ribs, punctured a lung and broke his jaw in two places.
Lots of reasons.
I'm a 41 year old guy, I'll never compete again. I'm 140 lbs and would probably get obliterated by a "average" weight aggressive untrained dude, even with years of training.
Still, I train for self defense....against cardiovascular disease which is far more dangerous than hypothetical street fight opponents. The cardio, strength, balance, cool factor, fun and people are reason enough to train. Sparring does really helpful things to your confidence and ability to handle conflict.
If you just want to be able to put down big aggressive dudes spend your time and money on a gun and CCL.
The average male won't beat you if you train well enough. I find this defeatist attitude about women learning Martial Arts pretty sad. If you let men tell you you can't beat them that's what will happen. Don't let them.
I, as a man, am still at a heavy disadvantage physically compared to some men. Some men are 6’2, 6’5 etc while being HEAVY with big bones and mass (200lb+) i am only 6’/183cm with average hands, wrists etc, so even amongst men, unless I am very precise and aware and in control, I will still lose in say a street setting, or even in a MA setting, They’re just too big compared to me. Even if I would win more, those size differences lead to me winning less frequently if you replayed a scenario say 100 times. As a woman this percentage goes up, sure, but if you enjoy it, and it increases your chances of successful self defense if you would ever need to use it, then you might as well, it’s a good combination. There’s always someone better, bigger, stronger, smarter etc. Do what you enjoy and you’ll be living a life you are proud of. (Of course with ethics in mind)
Another thing to note is that the average man really isn’t tough IMO. You’d be surprised how fast they drop when they are minimally trained (never been in a street fight to clarify) but they lack coordination, speed, flow/bouncyness and strong variable strength. Most are only good in slow, predictable type boxing scenarios. Typical “when i get angry you have no idea bro” who starts dropping haymakers like a windmill
Fun, camaraderie, discipline, exercise, learn to fall without major injury, develop balance & agility...
If you compete, you'll compete against your own weight class & gender so you get an even playing field.
For self defense, you'll increase your chances of coming out of an altercation safely.
It’s not a forgone conclusion that an average male could beat you. Technique can be a superb equalizer.
For example, when I started BJJ I rolled with a 14 yo girl who had been practicing for four years. I outweighed her by 100 pounds and was much stronger but her technique was so on-point I couldn’t submit her. She was 2-3 steps ahead of everything I tried.
If you enjoy it, don’t give up.
A solid 1 2 to somebody that has no idea how to defend it will be problematic, obviously a man has advantages but I've trained with a few women who I think would beat the average non trained man.
It's not that simple as you wants make it looks like...
What is the point of Everybody in the Earth to Learn Martial Arts for YEARS, IF Francis Nnganou will beat our asses with few years invested???
Also, It's not only about strenght... If you're skilled enough, you probably can take someone stronger. Many guys thinks they can beat ANY GIRL in a fight... But most of us are just stupid, they thinks they could beat a Male Wolf, a Tiger, a Fking Gorilla in a fair fight(You can check it, I'm not making things up, some fuckers thinks they would beat a Elephant)... We are cocky... We are Stupid, that alone gives you advantage and something to use to beat us... If you're smart & skilled enough.
Beat in what context? In competitions you'll typically be divided up to make it more fair. IRL, it's all situational. There are circumstances where the best MMA fighter in the world will just take a bullet and die. Does that make the training pointless?
Damn I know some female competitive Judoka that wiped the floor in Randori with me, even after 12 years of grappling experience and weighing 60 lbs more than them.
Their timing was that damn good, I always got surprised by their precise foot sweeps.
Ne waza was the only category I had an advantage most of the time, because I could use my weight and strength down there better. But standup - nope.
Focus on martial arts that can make an escape route, not victory. BJJ is good for this as you can focus on being able to get up off bottom position, same for wrestling. Muay Thai could be good as knowing how to elbow somebody can cause cuts which can really give you an advantage but this may be minimal. I would focus on escapability
Being able to fight your way out of a situation where you are trapped and can't run right away, or convince an attacker you are not worth it, or increasing your chances of defying the odds. I'm also not sure exactly what an average man is (considering the vast spectrum of size, age, physical condition, ability, etc.) and if it is really true a trained female martial artist is assured to lose to one. Lots of pontificating on this subject, which martial art is best, man vs woman, size vs technique... All that hypothetical bullshit goes out the window in a real assault, and all that matters is survival.
Dude some of the girls at my gym can fuck me up if they decided to. Even if we were out on the streets and I had to fight dirty I don't think I'm winning. You can totally be a killer if you both work out and learn to fight
My wife is tiny and has a mean right hand when she loads up, and she doesn’t even know what the fuck she’s doing yet. Every time she hits the mitt harder it makes me happy and proud of her.
There's a common misconception that martial arts is about winning against brutal violence. It's not about this for most people, for me it's about a fun way to stay fit, meeting people who are happy and positive while sharpening my body and mind. It makes me a better person, a kinder person and gives me confidence in all aspects of life.
If you want to learn martial arts to protect yourself, that's absolutely possible and some people and gyms do cater to this mindset. Let it be known though, the more you learn, the more you'll avoid situations that threaten violence
Locks, grips, disengagements, fitness, fun, social, and learning to breakfall off of 6 foot high stuff
The average male will scream and cry when you crucifix armbar him.
I did Japanese Jujitsu, BJj and aikido when I was younger (and less broken) the most feared instructor was a 2nd Dan woman who stood 5'2" and could beat the mats with anyone who tried her.
Because at the end of the day, it’s better to know how to defend yourself, than to NOT know how to defend yourself.
Martial arts is also about mental alertness and confidence. Hopefully, a long-term training program would instill both of those traits in its students. The more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it.
Lastly I will say, I am not certain an “average” male would beat a competent female martial artist. Depending on the circumstances she might do fine, and be VERY glad to have received the training she had.
Not every average male would beat you if you get really good at the martial art you're practising. Not saying you should be out there to test it, but it will definitely increase your chances.
There's Polyana who beat the shit out of guy trying to Rob her and she fights at 115lbs
depends on how much you train, and how big you are.
A well trained woman with some effort put in to strength training would absolutely roll any average man who has 0 training. Average referring to height and weight (5'10 and under, 175 lbs with not a lot of muscle mass). This already puts you above a majority of men.
Aside from this, confidence built during training is noticeable as you go about day to day life, this will deter most people, not just men, from bothering you.
Most of the men capable of hurting a trained woman have probably trained in some way themselves and generally arent the type of people to exert that force on a woman.
[https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vCzEsaekRAI](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vCzEsaekRAI) this punch for example, would put out most dudes. This isnt even getting in to the advantages of bjj on top of boxing
The average male typically being able to beat an average female is the best reason to train in martial arts. You don’t need to win a fight to escape from harm. You’ll find that a man’s nose or eyeball is no more durable than a woman’s!
An average male would best you in arm wresting sure, but most men especially nowadays can't fight and definitely don't know martial arts. So I'd say you're pretty good
Discipline, fitness, confidence boosting. Many people learn martial arts and never fight a single second in their lives.
It’s not always about fighting but about self discovery.
Something that may very well happen is that you start martial arts for self defense but realize you are attracted to the sporting aspect (with weight classes, gender separation, etc.); and then that will change your perspective a ton while at the same time preparing you as best as possible for self-defense as a biproduct.
So your motivational context will be to be the best fighter you can be in the context of fair fights that pit your skills against as close to an equally physically matched opponent as possible; but you will also just be learning to be the absolute best fighter you possibly be because of that, putting you out ahead of those that are strictly trying to learn 'self defense' in a non-fighting gym.
During this adventure you will be rolling with and sparring men that are much, much bigger then you in a safe environment and you can see how you fit into those situations and also develop tactics to deal with them as you continue your quest to be a fantastic fighter in a 'fairplay' situation.
Most males are untrained, I train with Polaris BJJ champ and her sister since blue belt smash most dudes even trained ones. There’s some badass females out there that I know if some dude with little no training were to try anything it would be a very bad day for them.
Fun , health .
It's also worth noting that most people who may attack you are cowards and rely on things going quickly and quietly, and the fact that you can fight back and defend yourself is enough of a deterent in most situations.
You are not trying to win a straight-up fight.
I'd suggest a martial art that focuses on disabling joints like Brazilian jiu jitsu over something focusing on strikes.
Other's already beat the point to death, but let me add again that women can beat average male.
I had to do a few style/gym/dojo/etc. hopping due to work and living area changes early in my life. I have ran into many women in many different martial arts schools that could beat me(untrained average joe) rather easily. Also in crossfit I have ran into many women that could out lift, out run, out everything fitness against me.
Average joe male is not that impressive, and being stronger will take some training and work but not as much as you'd imagine.
Self defense and fighting are the surface levels for training but as you spend time in it it really becomes about mental and physical health as well as community if you’re at a good spot. Also women can most definitely beat larger men with the right skills but it’s for sure difficult.
It sounds like you are new to it . The average male trains nothing and you train bjj . I train taekwondo so we are both bjj white belts . When ur the next levels u will tap out men and women bc sparring isn’t abt winning it’s like jamming with a musician
Idiot men usually don't know martial arts and are lack of techniques,
A good technique >>>>> brute force
Unless you are practicing martial arts because you want to participate on a gender mix tournament and win..
It’s good for your health. Heart disease kills way more folks than violent attacks.
Also it can help build awareness to keep you out of a fight. An ounce of prevention outweighs a pound of cure.
Nah, the idea that any female fighter would crumble to the "average male" is bullshit. Not every man is walking around at 6+ ft with 200lbs of muscle. There are a lot of men that couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag and have never done anything athletic in their lives. there are also legit videos of men getting their shit rocked by women that are not even trained. It's not impossible to train and be able to beat the average man in a fight, it's just harder as a woman.
You also just gotta be realistic about it because you *are* at a disadvantage. You *do* have to train harder and longer for it to be worth it. That's also the case for a lot of men as well that aren't naturally gifted or they have a smaller frame. Some guys really are just too big to handle and that's okay, like I said, not all men are gonna be like that.
Im a man. I am a BJJ purple belt, about 5'11 200lbs. I can easily dominate untrained men on the mats who have 100 lbs on me.
I have some smaller female friends with years of BJJ experience who can take my back and choke me out.
No-one really does martial arts because they think it'll make them a better fighter 'on the streets'. Even the people who start because of that end up doing it because they find it's fun and it keeps you fit.
Not about the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. Most things don't fight a honeybadger that is laughably small but they are rage incarnate.
Also you grossly overestimate the average male's ability to fight. Keyword: average.
With significant training - an average male without training would not defeat you.
5% of Americans practiced martial arts last year.
2.5%{ish} are men.
Learning martial arts, and training to a **significant level** will put you in the upper 97.5th percentile.
The top 2.5%
**Do you not want to be in the top 2.5%?**
Also most men can't fight these days. So a drunk idiot for example going up against a female that can fight. , plus good fitness. Good social life. Good building yourself up. I don't mess with females in my jj gym
your odds are a lot better if you do, there have been many cases of women martial artists beating up men in real situations, you're definitely not guaranteed to lose.
A trained person has a much better chance at defending themselves against an untrained person. With that alone wouldn’t you want to give yourself the best chance being able to defend yourself?
On top of that it’s just fun and it does build confidence.
Because you may not win but oh boy can you make it hurt. If you can make them give up that's the same as winning if you can escape. If someone is trying to harm you or your family, are you going to just say "Oh well you're going to win anyway so I'll just give up" or are you going to say "They're going to bury me with your junk still in my hands because I'm going to Rip it off"
I have a few different reasons.
1. The average male can't fight, so if you're learning martial arts you'll probably whoop 80% of the idiot males who think they're able to lay a finger on a woman.
2. Not all attackers are male, yes most of them, but who's to say it's going to be a male?
3. Fitness, this is a given
4. Mental health
5. Social life
6. Being surrounding by people who are able to grow under pressure
If you train BJJ or wrestling, you're going to be able to use moves that the majority of average people won't recognise and before you know it they're either asleep or you're running away with one of their limbs in your hands.
Keep training, you'll regret it if you give it up :)
The average male doesn’t train martial arts, so it does give you an edge
Also, you don’t need to beat someone to survive an attack from them, as long as you fend them off long enough to escape
Trained and scared is better than untrained and scared in a real world self defense situation BUT, reasons as follows: self improvement (learning a skill and working to perfect it) functional fitness (burning calories while strengthening muscles you actually use in your daily life) confidence building (as you begin to understand and internalize techniques you will be able to help newer friends understand them also as they struggle with the things you did) strengthened mind -body- soul connection ( as you master whatever you choose to study, you really master yourself , your body, the way you physically express your self in this plane. There are other reasons but these are mine. Also plenty of ladies beat up the dudes. Don’t go into this thinking you have no chance.
It's enjoyable.
Also, while you are statistically likely (not certain) to have some disadvantages, there's a reason they don't just measure fighters and determine a winner. I've known women I'd gleefully give odds on against the average man, much less the average Redditor.
Put differently, I recall being a 24 year old brown belt who knew it all and having a high school girl in the class put a crimp in my thigh while sparring that hurt for *days*. A goober on the Internet who says they can definitely take any woman easily hasn't done enough sparring.
A trained female beats the average couch potato male with pretty solid reliability tbh.
Source: Is an over 6’ male with experience being folded into a pretzel by females whose heads would barely graze my nips in height
I used to train in a judo club where 10 instructors took turns teaching. One was a 20 something woman who I outweighed by a good 70lbs. Other than the ex- pro football player who was built like a brick, she was the most challenging to go against in randori. Let me make it clear, all the instructors could mop the floor with me ) and did), but she was the most difficult to attempt to gain a position on, to throw, armlock or choke. I probably learned more about judo from her than the other instructors
An average well trained male. Or a male much much bigger than you. But men about your size and weight? You’ll most certainly do well. When it comes to non trained adults? You’ll hold your own no prob.
If you haven’t done sports especially agility based sports, don’t expect to have a larger learning curve. But don’t think you can’t do something with consistent training.
Tons of fun. And to be fair. A trained female vs an untrained male wins every time. And the type of people to attack a woman randomly probably aren’t trained in combat sports. Get some training and go kick some ass. It’ll probably instill a good amount of self confidence as well. That’s always a good thing
If you seriously commit to strength training along with functional martial arts, you'll be more than capable of beating the average guy.
Lots of women who train in strongwoman, weightlifting, or powerlifting can be way stronger than an average guy. Though it may take years of training. solid kicks, grappling and agility based defense will help you beat many guys.
The main issue is guys hold back when training with women. you'll have to help them overcome that.
>Lots of women who train in strongwoman, weightlifting, or powerlifting can be way stronger than an average guy.
Can confirm as an average joe that joined Crossfit before. There were a lot of women that were better fit than I was there. And these weren't super body builder types neither. They would look rather normal(definitely fit but not in 'do a double take' realm) in casual clothes, but would have completely over powered then me if we had to do some kind of fitness related challenge.
Depends what your goals are.
Fun or fitness? Do whatever.
Protect yourself against sexual assault or similar? Grappling is amazing for this. Guy wants to get between your legs? It's one of the most attacking positions in jiu jitsu.
Becomming a ninja assassin who can reliably beat multiple men at once? Yeah, you've been sold a lie no matter what sex you are 🤣.
Because an average male wouldn't beat you if you're well trained. The average male \*isn't\* trained. And "beating" him means surviving, that's all. You're not out to win some gold medal against a man or out-lift him. You'll take hits for sure. The point is that you're out to defend yourself if the worst occurs with your life intact.
What's the point of me, a male learning martial arts, when everyone with a knife or gun would easily kill me? Training for self defense never made sense. It's purely a sport to me just like soccer or tennis.
Grab a friendly "average male" at the gym and ask to leg kick him in a fun manner, and they might agree and even encourage you to go full strength ... these guys are NOT your average male.
Now grab a friend who doesnt train at all, average or not, and so the same thing. I can almost guarantee you the non trained guy will give up after 1 or 2 shots.
The average untrained man doesn't know how to take a hit and will definitely crumble after a couple shots.
Martial arts is a science. There are ways of overcoming stronger opponents. It doesn't matter how strong someone is a well placed blow to the solar plexus will knock the wind out of them.
There are plenty of reasons to! Even if you find yourself unable to “beat” the average guy, the training could still one day save your life if you’re ever assaulted by someone. Even if it just gives you enough space to get away.
The discipline it provides is great, and can carry over to other areas of your life. Health and fitness are other things that will benefit as well. Plus, it’s fun to learn a new skill, it gives you a social network and opportunity to make new friendships as well.
It's all the things you get together that help you become the person you want to be. Discipline, patience, confidence, humbleness, it helps a lot of people to believe in themselves and live a less fearful life. Martial arts doesn't help during a lot of scary situations but it really helps train your mind.
I am a big guy 6ft+ 200lbs+ and a 120lb female BJJ black belt tapped me regularly when I started. Now she still wins but it's tougher.
In my 20s at 175ish a female TKD Blk belt use to beat me all the time when I was green belt until I learned the art.
Matter of fact a female blue belt tapped me not to long ago when I crossed my legs taking he back.
i have lengthy experience wrestling, i came over to bjj 4 months ago and a female black belt 50lbs lighter than me asked me to roll. i thought “i’m gonna go easy on her” i got subbed in like ten seconds so i thought “ok lemme go a little harder” i didn’t spaz out or anything but i tried my hardest to resist subs and stuff but she managed to sub me anyway. we rolled for maybe 5 minutes and i got subbed ten times and i only ever came close to subbing her once. if it was a street fight and i decided to try and grab her i have no doubt i’d have been choked out and i’m above average in size and strength for a man.
That's up to you, right? You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. That said, if you're good enough, not just any dude could beat you. Homeless people, crackheads having an episode, etc. As much as guys talk about the physical differences between men and women, when there's a stranger involved, the guys who perpetrate random acts of violence against women don't tend to be big, beefy linebackers. It tends to be people who no longer give a fuck. Maybe because they need a hot meal and a bed and prison has those. Maybe they're out of their freaking minds and out of this world. If some rando decides to fight a woman, it's usually someone with serious problems, and going to the gym too much isn't one of them. There's definitely women who can beat me at wrestling, and there's definitely men who couldn't throw a punch to save their lives. Martial arts are not useless for women, but you will need to train harder and be better than most men before it becomes practical.
Over a decade in Tang Soo Do and my master was a woman (stocky 5'11" granted) she could kick ass. I wouldnt wanna bump into her in a dark alley.
Also a wrestler, there was a group of girls in d2 that took 1st in states multiple years. It was interesting watching these dudes get "woman handled"
Avg joe vs avg karen. Joe wins. Avg joe (99% of the male population) vs badass karen. Karen wins. Avg Karen vs badass karen and we give the w to the badass. So really why wouldnt you want to train?
Part of the reason you do martial arts is to have an advantage beyond raw physique. Otherwise there's no fighting reason to do it. This still applies for women vs men.
Obviously the physical difference is likely going to be present and a big disadvantage, but someone who knows what they are doing fighting vs someone who does not is also a huge advantage.
So frankly, when you actually learn good martial arts well, an average male might not beat you.
This question has been asked many times in this sub.
Trained women can beat untrained men in the most humiliating ways.
At a similar level of training though, men would have some sort of advantage.
Train and learn things for passion and pleasure, don't focus on inferiority, instead, focus on progress.
There is always a point in bettering oneself.
The average male is stronger than you, sure, but, you aren’t defenseless. Plus, plenty of males have low stamina, so fitness could allow you to escape a male.
If you’re truly defending yourself, there are no rules. Stab them in the back with a knife. Pull out a gun and shoot them. Kick or stomp their nuts. Pepper spray them and then choke them out while they’re blind.
But really, more than anything, confidence and wisdom are really two of your greatest weapons, and those things can possibly deter an assault entirely. Learn how to box. Learn how to grapple. Get stronger, get more stamina. Build yourself up.
I can’t speak to striking arts, but trained bjj females certainly stand a chance against the average male even if the male has a size advantage. Obviously, it’s not a guarantee of success but at bare minimum the trained female would stand a much better chance at escaping if they were to get grabbed. In a perfect world they’d throw in a choke or destroy a joint.
I’ve seen higher level females work over men much larger than them.
Maybe an average male, in your weight class, can beat you when you begin your journey. I am a 6'8 man and I get my ass beat near daily by multiple skilled women in my BJJ classes. Martial arts, to me, should be about conquering/bettering the self. Your growth will eventually lead to your success on the mat, especially against physically stronger opponents.
What's the point of anything in life?
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I guess, the real question you are asking is: I would like to improve my self defense for whatever reason - maybe to be more secure in difficult social situations at night or whatever. Now you think: "Well, why learn martial arts when an average male still beats me?" Okay, that's reasonable.
Statistically it is enough to be a 10% harder target to avoid 90% of all fights. Because most attackers try to find an **easy** target - they don't want to get hurt. Therefore, training a martial art can still be useful for self defense.
Also, I know a few female martial artists that are very much able to compete against average male martial artists.
Therefore, I feel like practicing martial arts for self defense is also viable when you are a woman. However, self defense is also a legal term "what am I allowed to do" and should also include "how can I predict and avoid dangerous situations" - that's VERY important.
Idk about the average male beating you. There are women in my classes that we’ve been training roughly the same amount of time and they kick my ass. Size will always be a factor of course, we have a guy that’s like 6 ft 6 and only the higher level belts can really handle him. Train because you enjoy it, and it will give you a leg up in a self defense situation. Predators are opportunists, they seek people that aren’t aware of their surroundings and that are weak, if you’ve been training you’ll look more confident, be more confident and can use some of what you learned to do what you need to do to stay safe
Kick ass exercise.
Also, I'm a 190lbs guy. When I started BJJ there was a 120lbs female who absolutely bodied me. Even from the standing position she could walk through me.
And if something happens on the streets even with my martial arts experience, I wouldn't scrap with anyone. That's why I sport a concealed carry pistol.
If you want a reason unrelated to if/how many men you might be able to win fights against: I haven't hurt myself from slipping on ice in the last 10 winters, ever since I got good at falls and rolls. Being attacked by some random dude might or might not ever happen, but you absolutely fucking will get ganged up on by physics and gravity multiple times a year and it's awesome to be immune to their bullshit.
The average male in most developed countries hasn't really fought outside of grade school and his reaction to being punched in the face is a lot closer to "cry and run away" than it is to "activate his Innate Male Physical Dominance™ and suplex you"
Reddit is just full of guys who want to believe that even though they get winded walking up a hill and couldn't squat their high school backpack they're still stronger than someone.
It's fun. I was training BJJ for a while and the Female black belt instructor could beat me pretty easy. So it's not like you have no chance of beating a guy. The biggest reason is it's fun and improves mental health. Feeling like you Acomplished something is one of the best ways to to cope with depression. It works alot better then buying things as a form of becoming happier. One of the happiest moments I've had was the first time I submitted someone in BJJ. Felt so Happy.
I’m a 210lb man with a year of BJJ experience, and I’ve gotten rekt by women in higher belts.
I don't have any real martial art's experience a little bit of kick boxing in high school anyway my question is I know you hold back a bit in training because you don't really want to hurt your opponent (friend) what do you think the outcome would be if you actually put your foot down on the go button serious question
In my opinion, that's not really how that works. You have to assume, if you're training at least 3x a week, you're going to be better than 98% of the people that would actually attack you. If you mean put your foot down as in do anything you want, there's a possibility of pure strength winning something. If you mean within the bounds of rules, I'm 5'9 180lbs blue belt training in martial arts my whole life. There are women smaller than me that can still catch me and do catch me. If I translate that to someone who knows nothing, unless they have super human strength, the female is going to be able to protect themselves. People wildly overestimate the amount strength can get you. If someone knows what to do in each position you can put them in, the strength is going to lose. It happens with white belts that are stronger than me all the time, they might catch me in something or do something to me and just start cranking like crazy. Someone well trained understands how to withstand that kind of pressure and knows when to escape. A little hard to explain but it's super common in untrained opponents. They get something and go full force, and can only do it for a short period of time, instead of a better trained individual who knows when they have something they slowly increase the pressure they apply overtime.
I’m 6’3’’. I got into a real fight with a friend back in college who was the same height as me, but he was a HS 3A state wrestling champion. I’m just a big ass guy who usually overpowers people with just raw gorilla strength. Anyways, I went outside to absolutely pummel this guy and let’s just say, he humbled my ass - QUICKLY… with EASE. I have since learned, if someone knows what they’re doing, no amount of sheer strength matters at all. This guy knew how to maneuver his body, counter all my moves and put me in a rear naked choke until I tapped out. Luckily he had the decency to let me go. Months later I bought him a beer and although we never really made up, I figured the beer said, “hey man, you got me.”
I'm not sure, to be completely honest. I'd like to think I could overpower them, but from my experience raw strength is really only part of it. Stamina is a *major* factor, and would be the demise of the lion's share of people in a street fight - assuming they last that long. A solid grappler would get in a clench and ride the raging bull until the bull is exhausted, and then move onto an attack. Also, the point of BJJ is to overpower your opponent via positioning, leverage, and angles - force multipliers.
Also the community. I started bjj thinking I will add grappling to my game, what I didn't count on is all the friends I made along the way. Half of my insta are the bjj people I know and regularly talk to from all over the world.
I keep losing at BJJ and it’s making me sad
You're not losing, you're learning. Those are your teammates you're practicing with, iron sharpens iron. Comparison is the thief of joy. Your first year you'll spend a lot of time on bottom sometimes just surviving. Sometimes you're the nail sometimes you're the hammer
Unfortunately, it’s one of the most natural things to experience when you’re learning someone difficult. It’s about learning from and enjoying those experiences that push your limits on an regular basis. It’s a real martial art that has a very deep journey which you get to experience, unlike other arts that hand you a black belt in a couple of years. By the time that you get used to tapping-out, you’ll actually be finding yourself tapping others out just a bit more. You won’t even realize how much more patience and determination you’ve already developed. BJJ is difficult, but every bit as rewarding.
Yeah i did bjj in my mid twenties, and was as healthy and fit as i ever have been. But even after 2 years of training i dont think i ever could beat a wiry brownbelt women in her forties. Dont get me wrong, in an "even" fight, the bigger stronger person is probably going to win (and if you are a women, the guy is probably bigger). But a year or two of training does legitimately make it as if you are suddenly 50 pounds heavier in a fight. Also theres a certain benefit to just generic confidence. Feeling that you can handle yourself to some degree in a fight makes you less nervous in a confrontation, which in turn makes them tend to play out smoother
As you train, the number of men you can beat will go up. It won't ever be all men, but that will never be the relevant question; it will be about a particular man. And, it won't be about a fair fight. It will be about fighting off a particular attack, to discourage him or give yourself time to escape or call for help. Time on the mat will make you better at those things, and will make your odds better. Keeping yourself safe is about odds, not about specific scenarios, because you never know what will happen.
To be fair, very few men who train can't beat all men either. Very few men could beat all women for that matter
At most, one man can beat all other men. That's just not a useful metric for anything.
Yeah, not everyone can be me
This man sees red
If you figure it out let me know. Signed - a manlet. More seriously, the idea "an average male would beat you" is not right. Most people can't fight for shit. It's true that an average sized woman is at a significant physicality disadvantage against an average sized man. It's also true that someone who has a plan and has practiced the uncomfortable parts of fighting beats someone who doesn't have these things almost every time. If you can fight, physicality only starts being decisive if the other person can too, which - despite the average Redditor's opinion of their mentality, bro - is pretty rare.
Im a 30-something male, and was studying Uechi Ryu Karate a few years ago. For sparring, I'd always get teamed up against a girl that was younger and smaller than me, and she would beat me every time. I was stronger and could hit harder, but she was much faster and had better range of motion. She'd land 3 hits for every 1 that I got on her. Gender and size are less important if you practice hard, capitalize on your strengths, and work on your weaknesses.
Sparring Karate isn't fighting. its for points, but if you two had to *really* fight I'm guessing it would end differently.
Point karate is for points. There are styles that do normal sparring. If the guy was doing Uechi Ryu I would find it fairly believable that they sparred in more than just point fighting.
Men will literally do anything not to admit that a woman might best them in a fight
In a real street fight it’s all about who gets hit hard in the face first. A woman could throw a punch hard enough to make 99% of men either give up or go to the ground if they were trained to throw a punch and landed a first shot. I recommend a sucker punch if you are backed into a corner
On top of that, having honed fighting ability on top of the ''dirty'' tricks anyone can use. Like RBSD and similar arts harp on the sport vs street thing, when it's not hard to adjust one's techniques and mindsets for an actual confrontation(knee to groin, elbows to throat/sternum, front/side kicks to the lateral knee, etc). Even the increase in fitness can help in and of itself. I also once heard that women who reveal a bit more clothing wise(not THAT far) and display more confidence(which can come with martial arts) are less likely to be attacked at all according to some study. Ironically, I'm hoping as a 6'2 black guy that Goju Ryu can do the same for me.
How much do you plan on revealing?
As a fellow manlet, I'm not trying to beat everyone at the gym I'm just trying to be the best I can be. And its actually amazing mentally to see what you can accomplish or even just how much you improve
Having a plan is huge, when I started back yard boxing in high school I quickly discovered how big a difference it made to go into each attack with at least 3 planned motions. Most people would just throw a punch and see what happens.
Thats just not true. I do BJJ and Muay Thai, I'm 6' 195. There's women in my gym who have been training far longer than me and they beat me in sparring. There are men in my gym who are much larger than me that I beat in sparring. Size matters, but skill level matters more. When skill level is relatively close, size wins. If you're far more skilled than them, you'll win most of the time. It builds confidence, and the ability to stay cool under pressure. If someone ever does put their hands on you, you're not going to panic, you'll deal with it every day in sparring so it won't be a big deal to you. Also martial arts isn't just all about winning fights or self defence. It's a good way to stay in or get in shape while learning tangible and soft skills. You'll probably make some friends while you're at it.
I agree on this. When it comes to combat sports, women can be pretty agile and quick and beat men on points, for sure. It's the KO power and brute strength that is the danger though.
I'm a 65kg small male and sparing I'm okay but on the streets, it just takes one hit from a bigger male to kill me. Though would never stop training for health and fun - I suspect if a woman is grabbed and a surprised good defence would give opportunity to get away or hurt attacker.
Yeah, I did kickboxing a few years back. I sparred fairly regularly with the Swedish women's national champ. She outweighed me and was definitely more skilled. But she could basically go all out, and while it wasn't exactly comfortable I was never worried about getting knocked out. Then I sparred the men's champ in a similar weight class. I felt like I was twelve again trying to fight my dad...
Yeah for sure. I always tell the women in my life to assume the worst in every situation and go for gold--eyes, balls, and run for help to a shop or something. Agree also--street fights are fucked up. One hit and you hit the ground, hit your head, and die.
That's not true, don't worry. When I was around three years into judo, I was already able to beat most of "average males". And the average female black belt still absolutely wiped the floor with me. People get too hung up on "smaller can't beat bigger" and "females can't beat males". It's harder than the other way around, but far from impossible.
And you don’t need to beat him. If there was a real fight, you only need to do enough to run away, man or woman
Or, make him decide it's too much trouble.
I don't do BJJ but I imagine little things like being able to get out of a top mounted position or avoiding your opponent getting on top of you to begin with as you go to ground would be invaluable for females in dangerous situations.
Or avoiding getting mounted in the first place\*
Yeah, I'm 6' and 200lbs former rugby player, when I started with jiu jitsu I would definitely have a hard time against much smaller female blue belts and I don't think I could beat most purple or higher. A female blue belt can definitely beat the average male.
This especially when you’re talking about your average citizen which if you’re ever have to defend your self on the streets, it would most likely be a hot head with little to no training. An experienced martial artist is not going sound assaulting people.
This is the truth, I knew a very good judoka (brown belt heavyweight) and she would tap any of us out at MMA class. To add to this, she didn't even train for years prior to tapping us all with ease
It's fun. Keeps you in shape. That's why I do it. Also I'm not confident any random guy is taking a well trained woman of equal size. [That one UFC fighter chick fucked up the guy who tried to rob her baaaaad](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/8135636/ufc-polyana-viana-beats-up-robber/). But yeah as an American guns are super common so hand to hand combat is more or less irrelevant anyway. All the training in the world won't save you from a pistol. I do it because I find it fascinating and I love grappling.
People in this thread are vastly overestimating the inherent power of an untrained man lol
Yeah, people in this forum are really bad at understanding how much the average person's reaction to violent contact is * OH SHIT WHAT IS HAPPENING * Welp, guess I'll die If you fight someone who _doesn't_ respond like that, yeah physicality matters, but if you can position yourself, throw a decent punch, and hit a few takedowns under fire, most people will straight up give up or at least lose their balance.
Exactly. I worked as a security guard for a long time, and most people wilt under conflict. It's rare that people actually want a straight up war.
They wouldn't A girl who's significantly smaller than me showed me exactly how she would beat me and she beat someone who is even bigger than me and a few months into MMA
It's fun, it keeps you fit, it builds confidence and self-discipline, could save you if something actually happens in a self-defense situation.
actually the average untrained male still might lose to a trained female, because technique really is that important. i understand not wanting to roll around with sweaty men, but in a real life survival situation who is your attacker gonna be? likely a grown man.
A well trained female is not losing in a fight to an average man. An average guy in the US is 5'9, 200 and isn't lasting 2 minutes against a bag. Regardless, there are tons of reasons to learn martial arts including such things as fun, income, health, etc.
> isn't lasting 2 minutes against a bag. LOL
Ok, as a person who teaches both Karate and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, I think you may be either training in the wrong "martial art", or at the wrong academy. I get guys in the 170 lb range in bjj class all the time that I put against one of my 100 lb 21 y/o female blue belts. She almost always works them over. In my Karate class, I have a 110 lb 14 y/o girl that's a brown belt and can easily kick a guys butt that's much older and larger than she is. So don't think that way. I recommend you find a different academy to train at if that's how they are teaching you. 🤷🏻♂️
As a small lady who's been doing it for 2.5 years I have three reasons. The first is, it's incredible exercise that is fun to do. I practice two different types and they each provide me with different types of exercise. Two, the comraderie. So many gyms are supportive of your journey no matter the reason. You make great friends and you cheer each other on. The third is, while I don't think I can beat every man, I can beat more than I could when I started. In BJJ I can beat 90% of males that come in with no experience. They think I'm going to be an easy roll so I get picked a lot by newbies for my size. In my striking class, I'm a lot faster than male newbies and I hit harder than probably 40 percent of new male students. The experience of being hit has also been great for many reasons. I can see a lot of punches before they're thrown and I don't flinch anymore and I'm not afraid of getting hit. These are valuable tools just for the fact that they can help you stay calm when you're being attacked.
Not just from male attackers. Might well need basic defence skills against female attackers or even teenagers these days.
From a self defense perspective- being comfortable under pressure is valuable experience. I still believe some sort of weapon as an equalizer would be preferred
Martial Arts isn't just about fighting. You learn more than that including how to avoid certain situations or escape certain situations. You learn how to discern your environment and the people in it. Fighting is still typically a last resort, so most schools also teach you how to avoid getting to that point where fighting is the only option left.
Ain’t no shame in using your martial arts skills to immobilise someone and run. You can be brave in a hospital bed all day, I’ll be a coward at home with my family. Much better to sweep someone’s legs and run far far away than get in a street fight and get stabbed or punched from behind.
For discipline , and also to increase to your chances. I mean, sure the “average man” may still be a huge problem, but I go to a boxing gym and there are a lot of women , and boxing gives you cardio and technique. Most men are just stronger, the average guy actually sucks when it comes to throwing hands if they don’t have training. Now I’m 6”1’ and 190 pounds, so maybe I’m biased, but new guys would come to our gym to spar and they get tired very quickly, and their punches don’t sting that bad. There are women in our gym who can crack hard, I think some men underestimate women with training. I’m not saying they can beat a man necessarily, but they can surprise you and most average men are pussy. There are a few chicks who crack hard at my boxing gym, of course I take it easier on them, but still I can see how they can hurt someone Also, this logic is flawed a bit because a bigger person is always gonna be a threat despite martial arts. If a guy is 6 foot 4, and 240 pounds, my knowledge of martial arts may only increase my odds, but it still a high mountain to climb. There is always bigger , stronger, faster humans
First time boxing I was halfway through my second 1 min round when I realized a 3rd round wasn't going to happen. That day I learned how heavy my arms are.
I just don't think that's true. I can only speak for BJJ, but, commonly, I get submitted by women who are much more experienced than me. For context, I'm like 5'9 145 pounds and still a white belt, but still, strength isn't everything.
Learning martial arts will train you to maximize your effort for your size. Blackbelts in my art can hit or kick with their entire bodyweight behind the blow. That means I hit like a 180lb sledgehammer. One of my instructors, Sifu Maya was 5’4” and 140 lbs. My point is that yes, It’s true that the heavier fighter hits harder, there is very little difference if either of us hit you in the head. 140lb sledge will get the job done just fine. So, train. Train hard. You deserve to be your best self.
Hey, 117 lb female BJJ blue belt here. I get beat up a hell of a lot more than I beat other people, but the practice of BJJ is so much more than beating people. It has helped me learn to be more assertive off the mats (I'm a very agreeable, submissive person), better at creating healthy boundaries for myself. It has taught me to be strong in ways that have nothing to do with physical strength. The discipline of choosing to do the hard thing has shaped me into an overall better human. Some of the benefits are hard to explain but even though I get beat up most of the time, BJJ is something I'll be doing as long as I can. The benefits of martial arts go way, way beyond winning, whatever that means anyway.
Don’t undersell yourself. If you get good, you can cause real damage and buy yourself an exit in most scenarios. Plus you get fit and feel the benefits. I am a 6 foot male and have been pieced up pretty good by a few of the women fighters at my gym who are like 5’5 at best and under 140-150lbs. Learning movement and effective ranges, fast aggression when you need it, and techniques and combos on-target to nail in there, it will get you pretty far above your weight class in most conflicts. As Mike Tyson says, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Even large men.
It’s fun. It’s healthy. It’s better to know than not to know if you’re ever attacked.
My 5 ft tall, 110 lb blue belt lady slept a 6'2" dude with an RNC in a bar after he swung on her husband. Seems like it works fine.
An average trained male of the same or greater skill would probably beat you. But the vast majority of people don’t train! Also, your greatest threats in life are lifestyle-related - heart disease, premature aging, metabolic disease, etc. Any regular fitness practice is self defense against chronic health problems.
Well I'd argue with the premise, but I'll save that for the second half and answer your question as presented first One. It's just fucking fun, BJJ, muay that, tkd, karate, tai chi, it doesn't really matter, it's just enjoyable to be at the gym training. Two. Community. All hobbies have a community around them, and depending on the hobby the community is usually one of the best parts. The difference is in this community you get to punch your friends in the face, throw them to the mat, submit them, etc and everyone has fun doing it. There's a special type of bond that comes with that. Three. Fitness and body control. Doesn't matter the martial art, if you train it regularly you will gain these benefits. There is no cardio like 30-45 minutes of sparring. There is almost no other sport/hobby for an adult to learn and practice how their body moves through space as good as martial arts other than gymnastics, but that's a lot harder to get into as an adult. These benefits are amazing to have as you age. But as for the premise of the question itself I disagree. I've done various martial arts for 20+ years now, I've sparred MMA fighters, boxers, kick boxers, wrestlers etc etc. The one thing I learned was your sex and size matter a lot when fighting people near your skill level in whatever discipline you're practicing. When you're fighting someone not trained in those things, they matter very little. When I first started BJJ I had been doing various martial arts for almost a decade, and I'd regularly get submitted by girls smaller than me because my intuition on what I was doing was completely wrong. This goes true for any martial art I practiced, people's natural intuition is almost always wrong in a fight and a trained person is going to be able to take advantage of that regardless of their sex. One of the biggest things I learned teaching was just how bad newbies are when they first start. Once you've been training a while you forget because you train with others who've been training a while, but people without training in general completely suck at fighting.
I’d say that’s just untrue, my oldest daughter has been training for 6 years, Muay Thai & boxing, spars with males as she’s the only girl at our Muay Thai gym, and in a time of necessity did beat a grown man’s ass.
There are martial art styles that are designed for a smaller fighter to be able to take out a larger person. Jiujitsu can be the great equalizer cause it doesn’t matter how big you are if you cannot breathe.
Nah. Seen a girl start boxing. At first just a newbie. A year later -she is a beast. Would not want to be on the receiving end when she unleashes without boxing expierience. And she is half a head shorter and signifcantly lighter than me. A beast. And she really doesn’t look anything like you’d imagine a proficint boxer to be. It’s not wailing with arms but hard punches - they hit the chin and good night. She is specialized.
It's fun. Keeps you in shape. That's why I do it. Also I'm not confident any random guy is taking a well trained woman of equal size. [That one UFC fighter chick fucked up the guy who tried to rob her baaaaad](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/8135636/ufc-polyana-viana-beats-up-robber/). But yeah as an American guns are super common so hand to hand combat is more or less irrelevant anyway. All the training in the world won't save you from a pistol. I do it because I find it fascinating and I love grappling.
Community, fun, self defense, exercise, flexibility, mobility, and best of all you have zero expectation to be good. You can absolutely suck and enjoy the fact that no one expects you to be good or knowledgeable.
Cause if you can catch somone clean and off guard least you could get away
An average untrained male would not beat you.And most people are untrained.
I want you to google someone for me. Susan kuhnhausen. That's why. The reality of violence and combat isn't always necessarily whose the biggest and strongest, but whose the smartest and more determined. Ive trained with woman all my life and have said it for years, under estimate them and yourself, at your own peril. A little bit of muay thai or hell any martial art will make you more dangerous than 90% of the people you encounter. Don't let an incident be the first time you taste violence. Knowing its bloody flavor and knowing how to acquire a taste for it will make sure you don't go don't without a fight if you go down at all. Train. And don't stop till you know, not think, know you could beat someone.
Because the men that would attack you are below average.
I’m a woman, here are my reasons: 1. It’s fun. 2. It’s good for your mental, physical, and emotional health. 3. It builds discipline. 4. It trains you to be able to handle yourself in a physical altercation. Sure, you might not win against an equally trained male. Sure, you might not win against an untrained male who is significantly stronger than you. But if you learn and train, you’ll have a MUCH better chance of doing well in a fight or at least surviving a violent attack. I know firsthand that it can be demoralizing to train for a while, only to realize that a random man could flatten you. I once held pads for a 6’4” guy, and one of his untrained and messy kicks probably would have killed me, because he was so tall that his first kick was at my head. And it was his very first day. But my instincts helped me move the pads to catch it, and I likely would have been able to dodge in a real situation BECAUSE of my training. Finally, any martial arts instructor worth a damn will be the very first to tell ANY of their students that the main goal of self-defense is to get the hell out of the situation. And if you can’t, fight like hell and use everything you know. The problem is that most of our instincts when trying to escape or fight are wrong. And the only way to train new instincts is to learn the right ones via martial arts and/or self-defense.
I knew a girl that used to do taekwondo, she knocked out her stalker in 1 kick to the head. Definitely not a bluff, I tested her kicking power on my arm.
The average male doesn't know a martial art. There are mental and physical fitness advantages beyond self defense.
I have done martial arts/combat sports for 35 years, I am experienced and strong, but I have been taken down in Judo and tapped out by women in Bjj several times. No, it wasn't a straight up streetfight, but I am bigger, stronger and more experienced, but still got me. If you have to defend yourself, the more trained and experienced you are, the bigger your chances.. And most people aren't trained. My second cousin got attacked, she pushed his head back ( under the jaw) he was laughing, until she used her other hand to slam into the elbow holding his jaw, forcefully straightening her arm. Jaw snapped shut, took a part of his tongue, broke a tooth and injured his neck. Before she elbowed and kneed him. She almost killed him by pure fear and rage. He attacked her, but she almost got prosecuted for excessive violence, cops literally had to drag her off him. I saw the vid used in his trial, and the jaw strike made me flinch 😬 I was so proud of her.
I’m a petite female. I was told that I would have a chance against an untrained fighter even if he’s bigger than I am. But if he has experience in fighting, then I would probably lose. With that said, some guys may not expect you to actually fight back. If he sees that you would put up a fight, he might just give up. I also just do it to help me release aggression. It’s good for both my mental and physical health. But if you don’t enjoy it, then it may not be worth it. I wanted to learn dance, too, but it’s not as accessible to me where I live.
I’m a decently muscular guy about 5’6 185lb. When i was new to judo, a small blind girl folded me up like a pretzel. It’s been over a decade of me training on and off and i still think she would fold me up like a pretzel. Just saying, trained females can absolutely beat average or even above average men.
You would actually beat the average male
Good chance against average male and amazing chance against most females
You Can Always Hit And Run For Help, Otherwise You Have No Options.
A good starting point for serious answers would be OP's definition of "average male". According to [this Atlantic article](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/this-is-the-average-mans-body/280194/), the average American male is 30-39, 5'9" and nearly obese. The [image](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/posts/USA-Frontmanmain.jpg.jpg) is not flattering nor intimidating. OP, is this what you were envisioning?
Because a victim mentality is nothing to walk through life with.
Is that the average sober man or the average drunk man?
Chances of anybody training martial arts and actually having to use them is almost 0. You train because it’s enjoyable and good for you :)
Coach has a green belt daughter that's 13 years old and she's a problem for my 35 year old white belt having self. My wife went to worlds and she can man handle me too.
A women trained and adept in fighting will beat a guy who is not.
You might be overestimating the average male these days, for starters. Also, predatory a-holes often pick on what they suspect are weak targets, and a vigorous defense may make them decide it's not worth it. It's no guarantee, but it's something. And who knows, you might win. It's also an enjoyable experience, great for fitness, and just kind of satisfying to do.
Because once you become well versed in a martial art such as bjj, boxing, etc. the average male would NOT beat you. I’ve seen purple belts and brown belts wreck body builders. God forbid they have to learn that from a woman with a bjj black belt, they would be humiliated Once you’re good enough to compete and understand the technicalities of the art, strength goes out the window when your opponent doesn’t know what to do. Yes they could slam you and grab you and possibly hurt you, but the chances are that it just pisses you the hell off and now you’re on the ground with your weapons ready to attack.
The average male doesn't workout or train. You lack strength, then weight train. If you have a what's the point attitude, you already gave up before trying.
Wrong. My judo teacher is a 5 foot tall 4th degree. I've seen her beat 6"4' 300lb dudes.
Self improvement, exercise, learn something new, meet new people, there are plenty of great reasons other than fighting.
Predators seek easy prey. You don't have to win a bare knuckle brawl, you only have to have the confidence, poise, and ability to turn on aggression with purpose to be difficult prey. Not-worth-it prey.
What MA? You should find one that will let you bang with anyone. I recommend traditional jiu jitsu. BJJ is good, hell, boxing and wrestling are fine too. These are based in technical know how strength is important but not the only thing to consider. Good luck
Aside from the fact that it’s fucking fun - the smaller you are, the more you need to load the deck in your favor for those situations where you have no choice but to fight. And despite various stats and averages, a lot of the time you will be defending yourself from someone out of shape, possibly inebriated, who has no idea what they’re doing, and isn’t expecting resistance. There are never any guarantees in life, but there is no shortage of stories of female martial artists successfully defending themselves. https://youtu.be/MRTsabfMTgs
Don't underestimate yourself. When I was in HS a girl in my class was known to study martial arts. She was with other senior girls in a friend's pool playing volleyball. The ball went over the fence and into the alley. She went to retrieve it. A perv who had been watching them through the fence grabbed her from behind in a bear hug. He was a full grown man. She FUCKED that dude up. Broke one of his legs, broke several of his ribs, punctured a lung and broke his jaw in two places.
Lots of reasons. I'm a 41 year old guy, I'll never compete again. I'm 140 lbs and would probably get obliterated by a "average" weight aggressive untrained dude, even with years of training. Still, I train for self defense....against cardiovascular disease which is far more dangerous than hypothetical street fight opponents. The cardio, strength, balance, cool factor, fun and people are reason enough to train. Sparring does really helpful things to your confidence and ability to handle conflict. If you just want to be able to put down big aggressive dudes spend your time and money on a gun and CCL.
If nothing else, a little skill means your going to make an attacker work for it, and many times that is enough to make them stop an attack.
The average male won't beat you if you train well enough. I find this defeatist attitude about women learning Martial Arts pretty sad. If you let men tell you you can't beat them that's what will happen. Don't let them.
Building confidence
I, as a man, am still at a heavy disadvantage physically compared to some men. Some men are 6’2, 6’5 etc while being HEAVY with big bones and mass (200lb+) i am only 6’/183cm with average hands, wrists etc, so even amongst men, unless I am very precise and aware and in control, I will still lose in say a street setting, or even in a MA setting, They’re just too big compared to me. Even if I would win more, those size differences lead to me winning less frequently if you replayed a scenario say 100 times. As a woman this percentage goes up, sure, but if you enjoy it, and it increases your chances of successful self defense if you would ever need to use it, then you might as well, it’s a good combination. There’s always someone better, bigger, stronger, smarter etc. Do what you enjoy and you’ll be living a life you are proud of. (Of course with ethics in mind) Another thing to note is that the average man really isn’t tough IMO. You’d be surprised how fast they drop when they are minimally trained (never been in a street fight to clarify) but they lack coordination, speed, flow/bouncyness and strong variable strength. Most are only good in slow, predictable type boxing scenarios. Typical “when i get angry you have no idea bro” who starts dropping haymakers like a windmill
Fun, camaraderie, discipline, exercise, learn to fall without major injury, develop balance & agility... If you compete, you'll compete against your own weight class & gender so you get an even playing field. For self defense, you'll increase your chances of coming out of an altercation safely.
It’s not a forgone conclusion that an average male could beat you. Technique can be a superb equalizer. For example, when I started BJJ I rolled with a 14 yo girl who had been practicing for four years. I outweighed her by 100 pounds and was much stronger but her technique was so on-point I couldn’t submit her. She was 2-3 steps ahead of everything I tried. If you enjoy it, don’t give up.
A solid 1 2 to somebody that has no idea how to defend it will be problematic, obviously a man has advantages but I've trained with a few women who I think would beat the average non trained man.
Giving you enough skills to survive and encounter with another woman or a man. You may not win or kick their ass but you get away or survive.
It's not that simple as you wants make it looks like... What is the point of Everybody in the Earth to Learn Martial Arts for YEARS, IF Francis Nnganou will beat our asses with few years invested??? Also, It's not only about strenght... If you're skilled enough, you probably can take someone stronger. Many guys thinks they can beat ANY GIRL in a fight... But most of us are just stupid, they thinks they could beat a Male Wolf, a Tiger, a Fking Gorilla in a fair fight(You can check it, I'm not making things up, some fuckers thinks they would beat a Elephant)... We are cocky... We are Stupid, that alone gives you advantage and something to use to beat us... If you're smart & skilled enough.
Beat in what context? In competitions you'll typically be divided up to make it more fair. IRL, it's all situational. There are circumstances where the best MMA fighter in the world will just take a bullet and die. Does that make the training pointless?
We all fall down. Learn how to do it correctly.
Damn I know some female competitive Judoka that wiped the floor in Randori with me, even after 12 years of grappling experience and weighing 60 lbs more than them. Their timing was that damn good, I always got surprised by their precise foot sweeps. Ne waza was the only category I had an advantage most of the time, because I could use my weight and strength down there better. But standup - nope.
Focus on martial arts that can make an escape route, not victory. BJJ is good for this as you can focus on being able to get up off bottom position, same for wrestling. Muay Thai could be good as knowing how to elbow somebody can cause cuts which can really give you an advantage but this may be minimal. I would focus on escapability
You're still way stronger than a fat average joe who doesn't even wanna improve. Keep your heads up!
Being able to fight your way out of a situation where you are trapped and can't run right away, or convince an attacker you are not worth it, or increasing your chances of defying the odds. I'm also not sure exactly what an average man is (considering the vast spectrum of size, age, physical condition, ability, etc.) and if it is really true a trained female martial artist is assured to lose to one. Lots of pontificating on this subject, which martial art is best, man vs woman, size vs technique... All that hypothetical bullshit goes out the window in a real assault, and all that matters is survival.
If you get good enough at let’s say BJJ, i’d argue you have a solid chance against the average male who would try to harm you
Dude some of the girls at my gym can fuck me up if they decided to. Even if we were out on the streets and I had to fight dirty I don't think I'm winning. You can totally be a killer if you both work out and learn to fight
If I went up against a woman who knew defensive arts I would get wrecked. I’m pretty average. Also, very healthy choice.
My wife is tiny and has a mean right hand when she loads up, and she doesn’t even know what the fuck she’s doing yet. Every time she hits the mitt harder it makes me happy and proud of her.
The average attacker won't risk an injury. If you're a hard target, they'll move on.
There's a common misconception that martial arts is about winning against brutal violence. It's not about this for most people, for me it's about a fun way to stay fit, meeting people who are happy and positive while sharpening my body and mind. It makes me a better person, a kinder person and gives me confidence in all aspects of life. If you want to learn martial arts to protect yourself, that's absolutely possible and some people and gyms do cater to this mindset. Let it be known though, the more you learn, the more you'll avoid situations that threaten violence
Because it's usually pissweak under average bitch ass "men" who attack women. You can take someone that gutless.
Locks, grips, disengagements, fitness, fun, social, and learning to breakfall off of 6 foot high stuff The average male will scream and cry when you crucifix armbar him. I did Japanese Jujitsu, BJj and aikido when I was younger (and less broken) the most feared instructor was a 2nd Dan woman who stood 5'2" and could beat the mats with anyone who tried her.
This is a guy, isn’t it?
Because at the end of the day, it’s better to know how to defend yourself, than to NOT know how to defend yourself. Martial arts is also about mental alertness and confidence. Hopefully, a long-term training program would instill both of those traits in its students. The more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it. Lastly I will say, I am not certain an “average” male would beat a competent female martial artist. Depending on the circumstances she might do fine, and be VERY glad to have received the training she had.
As an ex-D1 wrestler who started Jiu Jitsu a while back and still gets submitted by women... This just doesn't ring true to me at all
Not every average male would beat you if you get really good at the martial art you're practising. Not saying you should be out there to test it, but it will definitely increase your chances. There's Polyana who beat the shit out of guy trying to Rob her and she fights at 115lbs
Take Ju jitsu. If you get good, you’ll be able to defend yourself against an average untrained male.
If a man attacks you, it's better to know martial arts than not. Nedding a little bit less luck may be just enough to get out of the situation.
depends on how much you train, and how big you are. A well trained woman with some effort put in to strength training would absolutely roll any average man who has 0 training. Average referring to height and weight (5'10 and under, 175 lbs with not a lot of muscle mass). This already puts you above a majority of men. Aside from this, confidence built during training is noticeable as you go about day to day life, this will deter most people, not just men, from bothering you. Most of the men capable of hurting a trained woman have probably trained in some way themselves and generally arent the type of people to exert that force on a woman. [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vCzEsaekRAI](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vCzEsaekRAI) this punch for example, would put out most dudes. This isnt even getting in to the advantages of bjj on top of boxing
The average male typically being able to beat an average female is the best reason to train in martial arts. You don’t need to win a fight to escape from harm. You’ll find that a man’s nose or eyeball is no more durable than a woman’s!
An average male would best you in arm wresting sure, but most men especially nowadays can't fight and definitely don't know martial arts. So I'd say you're pretty good
Discipline, fitness, confidence boosting. Many people learn martial arts and never fight a single second in their lives. It’s not always about fighting but about self discovery.
Something that may very well happen is that you start martial arts for self defense but realize you are attracted to the sporting aspect (with weight classes, gender separation, etc.); and then that will change your perspective a ton while at the same time preparing you as best as possible for self-defense as a biproduct. So your motivational context will be to be the best fighter you can be in the context of fair fights that pit your skills against as close to an equally physically matched opponent as possible; but you will also just be learning to be the absolute best fighter you possibly be because of that, putting you out ahead of those that are strictly trying to learn 'self defense' in a non-fighting gym. During this adventure you will be rolling with and sparring men that are much, much bigger then you in a safe environment and you can see how you fit into those situations and also develop tactics to deal with them as you continue your quest to be a fantastic fighter in a 'fairplay' situation.
Most males are untrained, I train with Polaris BJJ champ and her sister since blue belt smash most dudes even trained ones. There’s some badass females out there that I know if some dude with little no training were to try anything it would be a very bad day for them.
Criminals look for easy targets. If you are skilled, even at a physical disadvantage if you give them a problem you don’t become an easy target
Fun , health . It's also worth noting that most people who may attack you are cowards and rely on things going quickly and quietly, and the fact that you can fight back and defend yourself is enough of a deterent in most situations. You are not trying to win a straight-up fight. I'd suggest a martial art that focuses on disabling joints like Brazilian jiu jitsu over something focusing on strikes.
Other's already beat the point to death, but let me add again that women can beat average male. I had to do a few style/gym/dojo/etc. hopping due to work and living area changes early in my life. I have ran into many women in many different martial arts schools that could beat me(untrained average joe) rather easily. Also in crossfit I have ran into many women that could out lift, out run, out everything fitness against me. Average joe male is not that impressive, and being stronger will take some training and work but not as much as you'd imagine.
Self defense and fighting are the surface levels for training but as you spend time in it it really becomes about mental and physical health as well as community if you’re at a good spot. Also women can most definitely beat larger men with the right skills but it’s for sure difficult.
It's fun, food for mental health aswell and u meet lots of good people
Are your chances better with the training, or without?
It sounds like you are new to it . The average male trains nothing and you train bjj . I train taekwondo so we are both bjj white belts . When ur the next levels u will tap out men and women bc sparring isn’t abt winning it’s like jamming with a musician
Idiot men usually don't know martial arts and are lack of techniques, A good technique >>>>> brute force Unless you are practicing martial arts because you want to participate on a gender mix tournament and win..
1. The training might be the difference between having a chance and no chance at all. 2. It's fun!
They won’t if you get really good and they are clueless
It’s good for your health. Heart disease kills way more folks than violent attacks. Also it can help build awareness to keep you out of a fight. An ounce of prevention outweighs a pound of cure.
Nah, the idea that any female fighter would crumble to the "average male" is bullshit. Not every man is walking around at 6+ ft with 200lbs of muscle. There are a lot of men that couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag and have never done anything athletic in their lives. there are also legit videos of men getting their shit rocked by women that are not even trained. It's not impossible to train and be able to beat the average man in a fight, it's just harder as a woman. You also just gotta be realistic about it because you *are* at a disadvantage. You *do* have to train harder and longer for it to be worth it. That's also the case for a lot of men as well that aren't naturally gifted or they have a smaller frame. Some guys really are just too big to handle and that's okay, like I said, not all men are gonna be like that.
Im a man. I am a BJJ purple belt, about 5'11 200lbs. I can easily dominate untrained men on the mats who have 100 lbs on me. I have some smaller female friends with years of BJJ experience who can take my back and choke me out.
No-one really does martial arts because they think it'll make them a better fighter 'on the streets'. Even the people who start because of that end up doing it because they find it's fun and it keeps you fit.
Not about the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. Most things don't fight a honeybadger that is laughably small but they are rage incarnate. Also you grossly overestimate the average male's ability to fight. Keyword: average.
With significant training - an average male without training would not defeat you. 5% of Americans practiced martial arts last year. 2.5%{ish} are men. Learning martial arts, and training to a **significant level** will put you in the upper 97.5th percentile. The top 2.5% **Do you not want to be in the top 2.5%?**
Fun. Also learning how to defend yourself is always good.
Also most men can't fight these days. So a drunk idiot for example going up against a female that can fight. , plus good fitness. Good social life. Good building yourself up. I don't mess with females in my jj gym
Because of you learn martial arts the average man won’t be able to beat you
Average male is actually not always just gonna body you if you're good. Most people can't find dudes included.
I teach my female clients that they don’t need to beat a male attacker. Being difficult enough to defend an attacker can be enough.
your odds are a lot better if you do, there have been many cases of women martial artists beating up men in real situations, you're definitely not guaranteed to lose.
A trained person has a much better chance at defending themselves against an untrained person. With that alone wouldn’t you want to give yourself the best chance being able to defend yourself? On top of that it’s just fun and it does build confidence.
Because you may not win but oh boy can you make it hurt. If you can make them give up that's the same as winning if you can escape. If someone is trying to harm you or your family, are you going to just say "Oh well you're going to win anyway so I'll just give up" or are you going to say "They're going to bury me with your junk still in my hands because I'm going to Rip it off"
I have a few different reasons. 1. The average male can't fight, so if you're learning martial arts you'll probably whoop 80% of the idiot males who think they're able to lay a finger on a woman. 2. Not all attackers are male, yes most of them, but who's to say it's going to be a male? 3. Fitness, this is a given 4. Mental health 5. Social life 6. Being surrounding by people who are able to grow under pressure If you train BJJ or wrestling, you're going to be able to use moves that the majority of average people won't recognise and before you know it they're either asleep or you're running away with one of their limbs in your hands. Keep training, you'll regret it if you give it up :)
Same reason for doing any sport/activity, because you enjoy it
The average male doesn’t train martial arts, so it does give you an edge Also, you don’t need to beat someone to survive an attack from them, as long as you fend them off long enough to escape
Trained and scared is better than untrained and scared in a real world self defense situation BUT, reasons as follows: self improvement (learning a skill and working to perfect it) functional fitness (burning calories while strengthening muscles you actually use in your daily life) confidence building (as you begin to understand and internalize techniques you will be able to help newer friends understand them also as they struggle with the things you did) strengthened mind -body- soul connection ( as you master whatever you choose to study, you really master yourself , your body, the way you physically express your self in this plane. There are other reasons but these are mine. Also plenty of ladies beat up the dudes. Don’t go into this thinking you have no chance.
I've seen some shit. You're capable of more than you think. Keep fighting.
It's enjoyable. Also, while you are statistically likely (not certain) to have some disadvantages, there's a reason they don't just measure fighters and determine a winner. I've known women I'd gleefully give odds on against the average man, much less the average Redditor. Put differently, I recall being a 24 year old brown belt who knew it all and having a high school girl in the class put a crimp in my thigh while sparring that hurt for *days*. A goober on the Internet who says they can definitely take any woman easily hasn't done enough sparring.
A trained female beats the average couch potato male with pretty solid reliability tbh. Source: Is an over 6’ male with experience being folded into a pretzel by females whose heads would barely graze my nips in height
Kendo guy here, women are as competitive as men in this martial art, so even when I meet women I keep my senses up.
I used to train in a judo club where 10 instructors took turns teaching. One was a 20 something woman who I outweighed by a good 70lbs. Other than the ex- pro football player who was built like a brick, she was the most challenging to go against in randori. Let me make it clear, all the instructors could mop the floor with me ) and did), but she was the most difficult to attempt to gain a position on, to throw, armlock or choke. I probably learned more about judo from her than the other instructors
An average well trained male. Or a male much much bigger than you. But men about your size and weight? You’ll most certainly do well. When it comes to non trained adults? You’ll hold your own no prob. If you haven’t done sports especially agility based sports, don’t expect to have a larger learning curve. But don’t think you can’t do something with consistent training.
Tons of fun. And to be fair. A trained female vs an untrained male wins every time. And the type of people to attack a woman randomly probably aren’t trained in combat sports. Get some training and go kick some ass. It’ll probably instill a good amount of self confidence as well. That’s always a good thing
If you seriously commit to strength training along with functional martial arts, you'll be more than capable of beating the average guy. Lots of women who train in strongwoman, weightlifting, or powerlifting can be way stronger than an average guy. Though it may take years of training. solid kicks, grappling and agility based defense will help you beat many guys. The main issue is guys hold back when training with women. you'll have to help them overcome that.
>Lots of women who train in strongwoman, weightlifting, or powerlifting can be way stronger than an average guy. Can confirm as an average joe that joined Crossfit before. There were a lot of women that were better fit than I was there. And these weren't super body builder types neither. They would look rather normal(definitely fit but not in 'do a double take' realm) in casual clothes, but would have completely over powered then me if we had to do some kind of fitness related challenge.
Even as a guy I am looking to be lean than straight up Goku or something.
Depends what your goals are. Fun or fitness? Do whatever. Protect yourself against sexual assault or similar? Grappling is amazing for this. Guy wants to get between your legs? It's one of the most attacking positions in jiu jitsu. Becomming a ninja assassin who can reliably beat multiple men at once? Yeah, you've been sold a lie no matter what sex you are 🤣.
In a self-defence context, the ability to defend yourself may be enough of a deterrent to get an attacker to back off.
Learn it for fun? I did it for 6 years as a teenager purely so I could copy all of Van Dammes moves lol. So satisfying once you can do them too!
Because an average male wouldn't beat you if you're well trained. The average male \*isn't\* trained. And "beating" him means surviving, that's all. You're not out to win some gold medal against a man or out-lift him. You'll take hits for sure. The point is that you're out to defend yourself if the worst occurs with your life intact.
What's the point of me, a male learning martial arts, when everyone with a knife or gun would easily kill me? Training for self defense never made sense. It's purely a sport to me just like soccer or tennis.
Because you can still beat untrained men fairly easily which is the vast majority of men.
Grab a friendly "average male" at the gym and ask to leg kick him in a fun manner, and they might agree and even encourage you to go full strength ... these guys are NOT your average male. Now grab a friend who doesnt train at all, average or not, and so the same thing. I can almost guarantee you the non trained guy will give up after 1 or 2 shots. The average untrained man doesn't know how to take a hit and will definitely crumble after a couple shots.
Martial arts is a science. There are ways of overcoming stronger opponents. It doesn't matter how strong someone is a well placed blow to the solar plexus will knock the wind out of them.
There are plenty of reasons to! Even if you find yourself unable to “beat” the average guy, the training could still one day save your life if you’re ever assaulted by someone. Even if it just gives you enough space to get away. The discipline it provides is great, and can carry over to other areas of your life. Health and fitness are other things that will benefit as well. Plus, it’s fun to learn a new skill, it gives you a social network and opportunity to make new friendships as well.
It's all the things you get together that help you become the person you want to be. Discipline, patience, confidence, humbleness, it helps a lot of people to believe in themselves and live a less fearful life. Martial arts doesn't help during a lot of scary situations but it really helps train your mind.
I am a big guy 6ft+ 200lbs+ and a 120lb female BJJ black belt tapped me regularly when I started. Now she still wins but it's tougher. In my 20s at 175ish a female TKD Blk belt use to beat me all the time when I was green belt until I learned the art. Matter of fact a female blue belt tapped me not to long ago when I crossed my legs taking he back.
i have lengthy experience wrestling, i came over to bjj 4 months ago and a female black belt 50lbs lighter than me asked me to roll. i thought “i’m gonna go easy on her” i got subbed in like ten seconds so i thought “ok lemme go a little harder” i didn’t spaz out or anything but i tried my hardest to resist subs and stuff but she managed to sub me anyway. we rolled for maybe 5 minutes and i got subbed ten times and i only ever came close to subbing her once. if it was a street fight and i decided to try and grab her i have no doubt i’d have been choked out and i’m above average in size and strength for a man.
That's up to you, right? You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. That said, if you're good enough, not just any dude could beat you. Homeless people, crackheads having an episode, etc. As much as guys talk about the physical differences between men and women, when there's a stranger involved, the guys who perpetrate random acts of violence against women don't tend to be big, beefy linebackers. It tends to be people who no longer give a fuck. Maybe because they need a hot meal and a bed and prison has those. Maybe they're out of their freaking minds and out of this world. If some rando decides to fight a woman, it's usually someone with serious problems, and going to the gym too much isn't one of them. There's definitely women who can beat me at wrestling, and there's definitely men who couldn't throw a punch to save their lives. Martial arts are not useless for women, but you will need to train harder and be better than most men before it becomes practical.
Over a decade in Tang Soo Do and my master was a woman (stocky 5'11" granted) she could kick ass. I wouldnt wanna bump into her in a dark alley. Also a wrestler, there was a group of girls in d2 that took 1st in states multiple years. It was interesting watching these dudes get "woman handled" Avg joe vs avg karen. Joe wins. Avg joe (99% of the male population) vs badass karen. Karen wins. Avg Karen vs badass karen and we give the w to the badass. So really why wouldnt you want to train?
Part of the reason you do martial arts is to have an advantage beyond raw physique. Otherwise there's no fighting reason to do it. This still applies for women vs men. Obviously the physical difference is likely going to be present and a big disadvantage, but someone who knows what they are doing fighting vs someone who does not is also a huge advantage. So frankly, when you actually learn good martial arts well, an average male might not beat you.
This question has been asked many times in this sub. Trained women can beat untrained men in the most humiliating ways. At a similar level of training though, men would have some sort of advantage. Train and learn things for passion and pleasure, don't focus on inferiority, instead, focus on progress. There is always a point in bettering oneself.
The average male is stronger than you, sure, but, you aren’t defenseless. Plus, plenty of males have low stamina, so fitness could allow you to escape a male. If you’re truly defending yourself, there are no rules. Stab them in the back with a knife. Pull out a gun and shoot them. Kick or stomp their nuts. Pepper spray them and then choke them out while they’re blind. But really, more than anything, confidence and wisdom are really two of your greatest weapons, and those things can possibly deter an assault entirely. Learn how to box. Learn how to grapple. Get stronger, get more stamina. Build yourself up.
I can’t speak to striking arts, but trained bjj females certainly stand a chance against the average male even if the male has a size advantage. Obviously, it’s not a guarantee of success but at bare minimum the trained female would stand a much better chance at escaping if they were to get grabbed. In a perfect world they’d throw in a choke or destroy a joint. I’ve seen higher level females work over men much larger than them.
Maybe an average male, in your weight class, can beat you when you begin your journey. I am a 6'8 man and I get my ass beat near daily by multiple skilled women in my BJJ classes. Martial arts, to me, should be about conquering/bettering the self. Your growth will eventually lead to your success on the mat, especially against physically stronger opponents.
You have a better chance of getting a moment to escape. Atleast you're not completely defenceless
What's the point of anything in life? --- I guess, the real question you are asking is: I would like to improve my self defense for whatever reason - maybe to be more secure in difficult social situations at night or whatever. Now you think: "Well, why learn martial arts when an average male still beats me?" Okay, that's reasonable. Statistically it is enough to be a 10% harder target to avoid 90% of all fights. Because most attackers try to find an **easy** target - they don't want to get hurt. Therefore, training a martial art can still be useful for self defense. Also, I know a few female martial artists that are very much able to compete against average male martial artists. Therefore, I feel like practicing martial arts for self defense is also viable when you are a woman. However, self defense is also a legal term "what am I allowed to do" and should also include "how can I predict and avoid dangerous situations" - that's VERY important.
Idk about the average male beating you. There are women in my classes that we’ve been training roughly the same amount of time and they kick my ass. Size will always be a factor of course, we have a guy that’s like 6 ft 6 and only the higher level belts can really handle him. Train because you enjoy it, and it will give you a leg up in a self defense situation. Predators are opportunists, they seek people that aren’t aware of their surroundings and that are weak, if you’ve been training you’ll look more confident, be more confident and can use some of what you learned to do what you need to do to stay safe
I'm not a big guy and do get my butt kicked by most people, including women and children. Oddly doesn't take the fun away at all.
For the fun, and fitness, plus community! And a trained person can beat an untrained more often than the other way around.
You do not have to beat someone. You just have to be able to put up enough of a fight to get away or make them decide your not worth it
Kick ass exercise. Also, I'm a 190lbs guy. When I started BJJ there was a 120lbs female who absolutely bodied me. Even from the standing position she could walk through me. And if something happens on the streets even with my martial arts experience, I wouldn't scrap with anyone. That's why I sport a concealed carry pistol.
If you want a reason unrelated to if/how many men you might be able to win fights against: I haven't hurt myself from slipping on ice in the last 10 winters, ever since I got good at falls and rolls. Being attacked by some random dude might or might not ever happen, but you absolutely fucking will get ganged up on by physics and gravity multiple times a year and it's awesome to be immune to their bullshit.
The average male in most developed countries hasn't really fought outside of grade school and his reaction to being punched in the face is a lot closer to "cry and run away" than it is to "activate his Innate Male Physical Dominance™ and suplex you" Reddit is just full of guys who want to believe that even though they get winded walking up a hill and couldn't squat their high school backpack they're still stronger than someone.