Zen and I got to help out at a self-defense seminar for sorority girls. I haven't gotten to do one of these for a while and thus somehow managed to completely forget how wildly, mind-breakingly, willfully incompetent these girls can be.
It's not even the usual "But what if you're on your stomach, and your hands are tied behind your back, and someone's got a gun to your head?" type of questions, or the "Oh! This is so you can break their nose and put it in their brain, right?" type. Those at least demonstrate some sort of interest in what's being done and some sort of mental activity. Unfortunately, we didn't see too much mental activity there. There's really only so many times you can say "Okay, hit the bag. No, hit the bag, don't push it. No, hit the bag, don't push it. No, damn it--" before you start to give up hope a little. Zen gave it a good try and then fled his group. Others of us got creative. One of the guys couldn't get a girl to understand "Hold your wrist straight when you punch"--she was too busy being silly and outright refused to do it correctly--so he gave up and told her to punch him in the stomach. She rolled her wrist and only possibly learned a lesson. As for me: When faced with a Chatty Cathy type who wanted to talk more than pay attention, I waited until her back was turned and practiced my choke applications. A believer in hands-on learning, I am. :D
The car ride away from the place fostered a discussion on the kind of person who would be so cheerful uncaring about their own incompetence. The world is full of any number of people who are bigger, stronger, meaner, and crazier than the average person; why wouldn't someone want to pick up even the most basic knowledge of how to defend yourself against them? We couldn't come up with any sort of rational answer.
(But on the bright side, I got to choke sorority girls. You take what you can get.)
It's not even the usual "But what if you're on your stomach, and your hands are tied behind your back, and someone's got a gun to your head?" type of questions, or the "Oh! This is so you can break their nose and put it in their brain, right?" type. Those at least demonstrate some sort of interest in what's being done and some sort of mental activity. Unfortunately, we didn't see too much mental activity there. There's really only so many times you can say "Okay, hit the bag. No, hit the bag, don't push it. No, hit the bag, don't push it. No, damn it--" before you start to give up hope a little. Zen gave it a good try and then fled his group. Others of us got creative. One of the guys couldn't get a girl to understand "Hold your wrist straight when you punch"--she was too busy being silly and outright refused to do it correctly--so he gave up and told her to punch him in the stomach. She rolled her wrist and only possibly learned a lesson. As for me: When faced with a Chatty Cathy type who wanted to talk more than pay attention, I waited until her back was turned and practiced my choke applications. A believer in hands-on learning, I am. :D
The car ride away from the place fostered a discussion on the kind of person who would be so cheerful uncaring about their own incompetence. The world is full of any number of people who are bigger, stronger, meaner, and crazier than the average person; why wouldn't someone want to pick up even the most basic knowledge of how to defend yourself against them? We couldn't come up with any sort of rational answer.
(But on the bright side, I got to choke sorority girls. You take what you can get.)