Wikipedia
Yvaine
I study one of the prettiest (read: wussiest, according to many) martial arts, and there are plenty of groin strikes, even in the forms. They try to call it something else, but eventually they do have to explain what you're supposedly doing to the invisible man.
However, in sparring sessions there do need to be limits. I take no issue with leg sweeps, etc. Trying to kick out someone's knee, however, must be left for "real" fights, as should throat strikes - at least any with follow-through (in which case it's easiest to just keep them out altogether - sometimes your opponent moves unpredictably, and accidents are better if they don't leave anyone crippled/dead). Limits must always be set to correspond to the level of threat involved. Permanent damage has no place among friends and fellow students.
On the street, now, the first thing I'd be aiming for is a knee. Being a girl, most guys would expect me to aim for the crotch first - it's a typical girly reaction - so they'd either be blocking it or braced for the blow. Therefore, I opt for Target of Choice #2: Knee. As the good book (Kabuki: Circle of Blood) says, "If your opponent cannot stand, he cannot fight." Nor can he chase your arse as you haul tuchus to a safe place and call the police. And, if he's armed (god forbid), it's also more difficult to aim while clutching a ruined knee and sobbing. Remember kids, most aggressors don't actually expect to be hurt in an encounter - they look for an easy victim. Therefore, any real injury really throws them.
As corollary to this, if you're actually ever involved in a street fight, chances are you did something wrong. The two most valuable things a martial artist learns are: 1) How not to act like a potential victim, and 2) How not to act like an irritating a** in need of a beatdown.
However, in sparring sessions there do need to be limits. I take no issue with leg sweeps, etc. Trying to kick out someone's knee, however, must be left for "real" fights, as should throat strikes - at least any with follow-through (in which case it's easiest to just keep them out altogether - sometimes your opponent moves unpredictably, and accidents are better if they don't leave anyone crippled/dead). Limits must always be set to correspond to the level of threat involved. Permanent damage has no place among friends and fellow students.
On the street, now, the first thing I'd be aiming for is a knee. Being a girl, most guys would expect me to aim for the crotch first - it's a typical girly reaction - so they'd either be blocking it or braced for the blow. Therefore, I opt for Target of Choice #2: Knee. As the good book (Kabuki: Circle of Blood) says, "If your opponent cannot stand, he cannot fight." Nor can he chase your arse as you haul tuchus to a safe place and call the police. And, if he's armed (god forbid), it's also more difficult to aim while clutching a ruined knee and sobbing. Remember kids, most aggressors don't actually expect to be hurt in an encounter - they look for an easy victim. Therefore, any real injury really throws them.
As corollary to this, if you're actually ever involved in a street fight, chances are you did something wrong. The two most valuable things a martial artist learns are: 1) How not to act like a potential victim, and 2) How not to act like an irritating a** in need of a beatdown.
I wear steel toeed boots all the time when I was in high school a cop got on me for wearing them he said it was a weapon I just smiled and said I had no idea what he was talking about.
