Swiss Army Knife

[mr beer]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

They didn't WANT to hit you and that took a lot of the confidence from behind the blows. I don't think I could credibly try to hit someone I really wasn't trying to hit either.

I would have no problem unloading on an instructor if they explicitly told me too...that said I wouldn't be trying to gouge their eyes out either so there's that.

[safisher]

Originally Posted by Bruno

One was very indoctrinated that the appropriate response to being grabbed was to squeal delicately and flap her hands a little.

This is very common, IME. Lack of situational awareness is also very common. I didn't get many biters, but that's because we didn't give them a chance to experiment. The passive response to violence is a socially learned behavior, and like any attitude or skill can be changed. It's a good thing, in many ways, that these young women were not war-hardened women who could handle themselves against all comers.[1] They had come from a privileged life, safe from all danger and hardship. Isn't that what modern societies aim for, after all? A two or three day course can't overcome that level of indoctrination. What it can do is start by teaching you smart moves to practice on your own. Car keys between your fingers is not one of them.

1. Increasingly, I see this among young men, too.

[sir_pudding]

The single worst fight I've ever been in was against my sister (counting the time I was stabbed even), in our teens and neither of us were in great shape after (I was puking blood and she had a mild concussion). This was before either of us enlisted or went to combat; I am glad we aren't young and dumb enough to ever do that again.

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by safisher

This is very common, IME. Lack of situational awareness is also very common. I didn't get many biters, but that's because we didn't give them a chance to experiment. The passive response to violence is a socially learned behavior, and like any attitude or skill can be changed.

Of course there's the additional problem that sometimes the passive response is more likely to survive than the active, and sometimes the active is the only chance you have...and recognizing which is which is hard and often impossible to be sure about.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by mr beer

I take a weekly exercise-style boxing class, there's a girl who is usually there as well who is technically superior to me - she has better cardio, punches considerably more rapidly and probably more accurately. I'm confident I'd beat her 90% of the time in an actual boxing match though because I could shake off her punches (short of a lucky hit) whereas mine would put her on the ground.

Focusing on technique over strength is one of those personal choice things that GURPS reflects pretty well - put your points in ST, or in DX/Boxing skill.

Sexual dimorphism gives women "less upper body strength", not "linguine arms". If there's that wide a disparity there's more than gender differences going on - and we're into the wonderful world of "anecdote is not data, here's why". Is she even in your weight class? (don't forget to account for the ~30 lbs of non-weight-class-contributing body fat penalty she has)

Decisions on how to spend your between-class training time (or whether she and you are doing it at all) is important; if you're doing weight training and she's playing squash, you'll get totally different results. If you're doing 2h/day weight training, and she does 2h/every two days, you'll get different results.

And some people are just cursed with linguine arms, sex chromosomes be damned.

I wouldn't compare any random two people and use that as an example of how sexual dimorphism works. There's too much variation in what people do every day, what they eat, etc.

[Pposer]

During the summer my brother and I are the landscapers for the section 8 apartment complexes in Tulsa. Also known as the worst parts of town people get shot, stabbed, and generally just murdered at these places every day over nothing but being white or because they have the wrong rims it really is that ridiculous. Housing authority rules say that because we are a contractor we cannot carry firearms with or without permit on the property. I started carrying my 6" buck knife with me, in OK it's legal as long as it's only single sided and 6" or less. Although if it's being used as a work tool it can be any length. Technically I used mine as a work tool as I used it to cut trimmer string and such.

I only had to pull the knife twice, both times the assailant fled after realizing I was ready for him, but neither one had a gun if they had I'd have been screwed either way, whether I had the knife or not I'd have been shot. If you can't conceal and carry a firearm the knife is your last option I suppose. I don't know how quick you can get a balisong out of your pocket but it only took me a blink of an eye to pull out a big buck knife.

The balisong they have more than likely will be legal for you to carry based on length and the single sided blade. But as it's already been stated NEVER claim self defense say you use it to cut boxes or whatever.

All the best, MechanicGuides