Last week we talked about self defense, martial arts and boobs so I thought, while we’re on the subject, let’s talk about periods too. So, what is it like for women training self defense and martial arts during menstruation? And what is it like to train during perimenopause and menopause? 

This episode talks about:

1. How menopause makes you move differently
2. How self defense and martial arts can help reconnect to your body during perimenopause
3. The physical "symptoms" of menstruation that can cause surprising challenges during training, such as:

• Heightened sense of smell
• Heavy legs
• Sensitivity to pain

And some insight as to why your female students might not show up for training sometimes, especially if you're training in white Ki for Karate, Aikido and Judo.

*****

You have been listening to the Pretty Deadly Podcast. You can learn more about who we are and what we do and how to find a Pretty Deadly course near you by visiting our website at prettydeadlyselfdefense.com. And if you’re a fitness or martial arts pro and you’d like enhance your instructor skills, our summer certification programs are open for enrollment, and you can find them on our website at Pretty deadly self defense.con forward slash selfdfensetrainer – all one word.

This podcast is produced by Singe Network for Pretty Deadly, recorded in Berlin,and our original music is the track Icarus Wish by Berlin band Dead Sentries, used with permission by the artists. 

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Training in martial arts and self defense (and a lot of other sports) rarely takes into consideration women's physiology, specifically: breasts. This episode talks about how to train -- and how to adapt training for -- people with breasts, and people without.

Topics covered in this episode are:

• Training in sports bras
• Training without a bra
• People who are new to boobs
• Working with people with masectomies
• How to manage students who sexualize breasts
• How to work with your students to ensure safe and adaptive training

Avoiding training with women because of their breasts, never talking about it, doesn’t resolve the situation; in fact, it not only makes it worse for the person aroused, but it also denies the person with breasts balanced training opportunities and a safe space to train in… and sometimes even blames them for it. 

If you’ve been listening to this podcast through all seven seasons, you’ll know that we have talked to women all over the world and learned some great every day self defense tips from all over. So we created a database where people can share their favorite tips and tricks, and learn from others. If you want access or you wan to contributem, we’d love to hear from you!

Send an email to [email protected] with “Database” in the subject line, and we’ll send you an access link. It’s free, we’re not upselling you anything or trying to barrage you with emails. We just want to share information, but your information will remain private and anonymous, and we’ll never sell it. You’re safe with us.

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If you’re a martial artist listening to this, you probably know this scenario: you advertise a self defense class, women in your community are enthusiastic, sign ups, no shows, drop offs, you’re lucky if you’ve still got two who finish out the course. You ask them what they think they smile and nod and say it was great and then you never see them again. 

Why is that?

Let’s look at this from another perspective: you just spent 4-6-8 weeks teaching them powerful self defense techniques, but also showing them exactly how effectively you can hurt them. So of course when you ask their opinion they’re going to say it was great–this is called fawning, and most women do it pretty much all the time, because we know that criticism, standing up for ourselves, speaking out often incurs punishment. Yes, they respect you,. But they’re also afraid fo you. 

This episode looks at some of the fears and very legitimate concerns women have about self defense courses, and how we can change that.

And if you're interested in reading Susie's thoughts on Andrew Tate, here's the friends link to our Medium article, normally behind a paywall:

https://susiekahlich.medium.com/andrew-tate-and-the-stats-1722b088cb1c?sk=ceb834c717546c800830c99bfc524adc

#selfdefenseforwomen

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Do you have to know martial arts to teach self defense? The short answer is no, but here's why:

• Self defense as domain of martial arts
• Brief history of self defense & martial arts: it’s about art – skill, training, technique, creativity, you have to learn the rules in order to break them, you can build, etc. It takes a long time to become a good martial artist. But it doesn’t take a long time to learn some basic self defense. 
• And here’s why: you’re already defending yourself, every day. 
• Let’s de-couple self defense from martial arts.
• Fitness world & martial arts world
• Really good fitness trainers vs trainers who simply push you hard

The measure of a teacher is the ability to teach students. But can you teach people how to teach? Now that’s the real question…  

If we can successfully teach self defense to over 3,000 women, we can absolutely teach fitness pros to teach it!

This episode references the previous episode 104. You can listen to it here: Interview with Coach Skella

And here's the link to 10 Things I Loved About the Barbie Movie on Medium.com (friends link)

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In this episode, Susie interviews the first US personal trainer, boxing coach and roller derby skater Cristi Johnson. Cristi lives and works in Alpena, Michigan, and is the first fitness trainer to be certified by Pretty Deadly to teach self defense in the US.

This episode talks about:

• Cristi's history with fitness as @untraditionalathlete
• How Cristi found roller derby
• How roller derby changed Cristi's views on fitness
• Cristi's path to becoming a personal trainer
• How finding fitness that is enjoyable and a safe space for women lets us forget about gender for a little while
• What motivated Cristi to get certified to teach self defense
• Simliarities and differences between self defense and roller derby

Follow Cristi on Instagram at @untraditionathlete

Check out her studio at skellafit.com

And find her on Facebook at SkellaFitNation

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What Not to Wear: This episode was recorded before Jonah Hill's texts to his ex were made public, but women have been blamed for causing sexual assault due to their clothes of thousands of years, from too much make up to high heels to everything in between. In today's world, that extends to our digital devices as well: ear buds, smart phones, head phones -- no matter what we carry, wear or how we look, it all goes against the common sense of self defense. But is that realistic?

In this episode we talk about:

• Ponytails & where that myth comes from
• The Pink Tax
• Using your smart phone as self defense
• SOS buttons and networking apps
• Wearables: noise and alarm devices for self defense
• Being culturally sensitive when you travel vs. the stupid shit humans do (and it's ok)

We also invite you to join our self defense database, where you can anonymously share tips and techniques that you use to keep safe with other women across the world. Just send us an email to [email protected] with DATABASE in the subject line and we'll connect you to the file!

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Welcome to Season 7! In this episode, we're talking about the Feminine Voice in Self Defense. This episode touches on the following topics:

Women's "hysteria" and the female voice

The history of "hysteria" as a medical diagnosis

Upcoming immersive performance in Berlin about Hysteria and the Female Voice

Traditional self defense thinking about using the voice, e.g., shouting no, speaking with confidence & why Pretty Deadly doesn't teach that

Pretty Deadly's "F*CK YEAH!" game

The Kiai in martial arts and daily life

The Kiai to short-circuit an attack

Mom Voice to shut down a threat

The Ivanka Trump Voice for de-escalation

Little Girl Voice for protection

Authority Voice for confidence

Angry Black Woman Voice: how black women's voices are weaponized against them

Hysteria as a tool of control

Hysteria and madness as a form of self defense

What we can do about it now

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Our 101st episode brings a special surprise! Andrew Juarez, owner of Rise Above Self Defense in California reached out to us to chat about the ins and outs of teaching self defense, and self defense as a business. Andrew is a U.S. Navy Veteran who worked as a Gunner's-mate on the Ammunition Ship (USS Mt. Hood AE-29) for 3 years during Operation Desert Storm. Being part of the ships security force and a firearm instructor was also a big part of his evolution into teaching self defense. His current focus is Krav Maga, but he also has experience in Karate, Boxing, Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, and BJJ. 

Find out more about Andrew and his program at

https://www.riseaboveselfdefense.com/

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The commonalities between comedy and self-defense, how we have used humour to diffuse a threatening situation or to talk about something awkward or painful through the art of mimicry or sarcasm to establish a boundary. How I've de-escalated volatile situations using well timed humour. 

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