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The Amazon Way---An Introduction
The Amazon Way grew out of my Hoplite research (1998-2006) and combines both Eastern and Western Approaches. It is chiefly concerned with the most efficient way to teach women to fight without them being intimidated by the teacher (whether they are male or female). Because it is geared directly to women it's teaching methods (pedagogy) are different than a typical "Marital Arts School" but the focus in the training is purely on how quickly to give the women actual fighting skills without anyone being hurt. There is little to no emphasis on form and a strong emphasis on contact dance which is then intensified into actual martial techniques. When I researched possible Rites of Passage for Women I talked with PhD Pam Chubbuck, who enlightened me as to the fact one out of three women have been sexually abused in the U.S. I initially doubted this. She told me she did too. But then she interviewed 1000 women for her PhD Thesis and found it -to her amazement (and mine) to be correct. This was a further influence in my field of "teaching women to fight". How can I help women get their courage? I asked myself. "How can they be shown they CAN defend themselves?? So when the dust settled and I finished all my stewing I had a new very articulate pedagogy and a handful of extremely lethal techniques mainly centered around the toe-hold of wrestling...a maneuver nearly any woman can be taught. And it can work on very large men---even if executed by small women--- if done properly. So I took the central choreography from a fencers position of engagement-like a handshake- and a wrestler ducking maneuver and created a rhythmic dance done to a drum or literally "with bells on their ankles"...the rhythmic sound allows much faster learning; in fact it may cut the learning time in half. I worked on this system with high school girls-and their mothers--- then with a troop of young women---and it does work. The idea is women work with women until they are comfortable and then you bring men in to participate. And the men learn a lot from this too! Now if I can just find women who want to teach it to other women---that is my objective-to train teachers. The need is great. The following "booklet" is my handout for orientation to the women who are interested in the "Amazon Way."
Click Here For The Amazon Way Booklet
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