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I just saw a fight on youtube.com from the Dutch TV program, ” Try Before You Die,” where this average guy (not a fighter but a fan I think) got to fight a female Muy Tai (I’m guessing) fighter! This fight went as I thought but it would have been better if the guy had some fighting skills. He moved around a bit but could not really put an attack together. Trained fighters of either sex are a force to be reckoned with for anyone. By the way this video is in Dutch (I think) but you can get the gist of it. You can wait until the buffer loads and then just move the video about half way to see the fight.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/oquY26PUQUE" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Ilonka Elmont vs Philemon
I had a female student that came up though the ranks and was having martial difficulties (I surmised) because her husband took me aside and tood me that when thay had fights… he had to pick up a baseball bat to defend himself. 
I guess that sounds kind of weird but my money was on my student even though her husband towered over her.
I think the woman in this video was taking it real easy on the guy. Any woman can learn to fight like this, as any man can, but it takes lots dedication and training. Now the idea to take away from this video I think is that martial arts can help equalize oppoentents in the ring or on the street!
Self defense is not like karate. Self defense for women has different goals such as doing whatever is necessary to break off an attack and then get away. Most people if attacked should not have the mind set of beating the guy to a pulp, rather they should try to stay safe by using one’s wits.
I think the more examples of women excelling in fights – the better for the rest of women that just want enough knowledge to be confident in their daily lives.
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Thank you for the kind comments on my blog. I wish I spoke Dutch so I could understand more of what was being said
Like you said, I tend to agree that the woman was taking it easy on the guy as well and it is beneficial for other women seeing that physical size does not always determine the outcome of a fight or a dangerous scenario; skill does.
January 17th, 2009 at 1:25 am
The girl has more skills but as usual the guy is not really fighting back…come on guys.
January 17th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Agreed Rod but that was not the point… This woman CAN fight and would beat most untrained (and lesser trained) fighting men. I’m not trying to say pound for pound that she can beat a similarly skilled man – just that she is a great fighter and a good role model for women.
January 18th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
point well noted, I too agree that she is a good roll model ,but I still have to look at this for what it really is, and that is a guy that looks to be totally out of shape and has never thrown a punch in his life. But in a true life or death situation if the woman encountered a male on the street there is a good chance of her losing unless the attacker was similar in size or smaller. If she could strike fast and hard then run I would say that she would have a good chance of surviving an attack. Also in a toe to toe fight the man can endure more punishment…I believe so anyway, but however it depends on the masculinity of the male too.
January 18th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Hi Rod, You make good arguments and I generally agree too. Toe to toe the better conditioned, stronger, more skilled fighter will always win in the ring and on the street all things being even. But therein lays the rub. If women are truly employing self-defense, they will use all tools at their disposal including, as Eric Kondo’s website states (not-me.org), “Decide, Deter, Disrupt, Disengage” TM. Most women’s self-defense schools teach this type of strategy in various forms.
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The point I am trying to make is multi-dimensional… for one if a women fights a man with kick-boxing or MMA rules and she is of equal skill as the man but not as strong… I would agree she would probably lose. But if the woman first notes the probable attack and does not approach it – she wins. If she is unable to leave the scene, and she warns the guys off successively assertively, she wins. If the woman is unable to leave and her warning goes unheeded, she can pull out her stun/pepper spray or pretend to be scared (throw her purse the other direction) and if the guy comes at her (he really is not robbing her but means her harm) she can run and if she cannot get away/decide her plan/s of attack.
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At that point she must not go with the attackers and can initially pretend to do so and then when he is close attack with eye gouges, knee/shin kicks, throat half-fists on so on when she things she has the advantage.
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The only advantage she has at this point (before she attacks) is the guy thinks he is going to get his way. Unfortunately if the guy is queued – he will probably strike the woman to get her to comply… she should try to plan her surprise before she is too hurt to counter.
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As you see if this guy is a rapist – she has a chance because the attacker will not see her as a worthwhile opponent but rather as prey. Prey generally cannot fight back so he can be caught unaware more easily than if the guy was out to murder her (she can still employ self-defense but may have less time to do so).
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So again I tend to agree with your point if you are speaking of a mixed kick-boxing or MMA match but I think a well trained woman has a decent chance against the average macho Joe rapist. (At least that has been one of my life’s works to help women even up the odds in self-defense).
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Just a quick aside – when I had first gotten my black belt my old girlfriend (a brown-belt at the time) went to an R.E.A.L. self-defense course. She raved about it but I was not so convinced that one self-defense course would help women. She said to come at her lying on the ground.
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I laughed and told her I could pin her and pull her pants off (that was as far as I needed to prove my point).
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She said come-on! I tried to approach from her feet and she tried to kick me on the way in. I easily slapped the kicks away but as I was coming into hand distance to grab her – she (circled her hands) hooked my arms out of the way and eye gouged my forehead and clapped my side of the head (the real targets would have been my eyes and ears)!
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I would have been blinded and disoriented by my ruptured ear-drums!!!
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I became a believer that there were some basic defenses against rape that women could use against most men if the woman employed some common sense. Firstly she should not try to beat the man at his game, but rather let the man think he was winning somehow (even fake screaming and scared expressions). And then the woman should pounce and then “disengage” TM!
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Thanks Rod but I believe most men have a mother, sister, wife or girlfriend that they want to protect and I think men should proactively help them to come up with a strategy that may keep them safe someday.
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And again – I agree with your points in a toe to toe fight with an equal skill set. But that is not really my goal for this blog. Rather I try to let people know that they can be empowered and do something to increase their chances in a life and death situation (I take some poetic license).
Thanks,
John
October 19th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
I speak Dutch and the show was about whether or not an average, untrained man (being physically stronger) could win against a trained woman. They chose a female world-champion Thai boxing (Holland has allows been good at this sport): 28 wins (15 by knock-out), 3 losses and 5 time world-champion in her weight-class. The guy is a reporter and had no previous training. Never fought in the ring either, he used to be a local judo-champion though but I guess that must have been when he was way younger. His physique is obviously very poor (I honestly don’t think he’s much stronger than she is), the very same guy also appeared in a show on Dutch TV where he tried almost any kind of drug (except heroin) and reported on it live. Gives you an idea of the serieux of this program, obviously the fight was set-up or else he would have gotten clobbered pretty badly. Any trained fighter (especially with competition-experience), male or female, will almost always win against an untrained individual (unless he’s some kind of street fighter or extremely large or strong) and I’m guessing there are not a lot of people on this earth that could actually defeat this girl, not under Thai boxing-rules anyway. Would you be up for it, John?
Look at the guy’s face when she’s entering the ring: priceless. If he had clinched right away and used his judo-skills he might have stood a chance but then again in reality she would have knocked him out cold long before he could actually get a hold of her, throws don’t win Thai boxing-fights anyway. The hook that nailed him the first time must have been at half her normal force, if that. The kick she threw after the clinch and push was obviously not aimed at his head, otherwise he would have been in serious trouble. Interesting detail: in the locker-room he asked one of the coaches (at least that‘s what I think he is) what he thought his chances were and the guy replied: ‘on a scale of 1 to 100, I’d give you 2’.
Zara
PS: Rod, if you couldn’t see (even without the extra info) this girl is a genuine fighter that could beat the snot out of most men then you need to have your eyes checked. Obviously she was holding back because she didn’t want to hurt the guy, she could have knocked him out anytime she wanted to and every technique she threw was retracted almost immidiately on impact instead of travelling through the target as is the normal practice.
October 25th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Hi Zara, Thanks for the story line. Yep she is at the top of her game and no way would I be up for a match with her on her own turf/rules!!! I’m more of a coach these days but one thing one full contact fighter taught me a long time ago is any world contender or top fighter at any reputable puglisim game can beat any average fighter of any persuation! One does not get to the top without exceling at their game. I thought this fight was legit just by watching how she moved. Thanks for your insight Zara.
October 25th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
I still say this was a setup, yes the guy really had no skill and you can tell the woman has. I commend anyone for taking up martial arts which do give people a better edge in the streets. Obviously this lady would fare out better than most untrained people in a attach on the streets, but I’ve seen it first hand where a black belt had his ass handed to him by someone that had NO martial arts training.
Trust me it has and does happen!!!
A big mouth + A black belt + A cocky attitude= ASS KICKED!!
No disrespect to true martial artist though!!