. There’s not one person that will tell you they had an easy journey to black belt
It’s rumored that Wing Chun, a very popular Chinese martial art that Bruce Lee was known for practicing, was created and developed by a woman. Whether or not this is able to be proved certain isn’t really the point, the idea to be considered from this is that there’s no gender that excels over martial arts than the other.
Training in any martial art is hard overall for everybody. There’s not one person that will tell you they had an easy journey to black belt; most have stories of days of soreness after certain classes, bloodied knuckles and bruised forearms from conditioning, sparring losses, even just the mental frustration you experience as you progress through the ranks and reach more difficult skill sets.
There’s no special variations of techniques tailored to men vs women, everyone has to go through the same training and learn the same material. We all experience the same struggles throughout our journey, and are held to the same expectations for belt rank and testing. All students have to get used to executing techniques on one another, it’s essential to the versatility of your skill to practice on all different body types.
This might seem a little strange, but one of the most empowering moments in my martial arts journey was realizing our instructor hits everyone the same. It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or woman, he would ask for a volunteer and pick anyone who raised their hand fast enough. I felt really seen and equal, he took me seriously and didn’t feel the need to hold back any more than he would with his other students. Overall, it would be a disservice to me and my learning if he didn’t properly teach the technique and the dangers that accompany it when someone is after your life.
The answer is very simple when it comes to how women train: the same as everyone else!
