Can a Woman Beat a Man in a Fight?
I get asked this all the time, so I’m going to make a post on it.
Yes. A woman who trains properly can probably beat up most men in a fight.
The technique now exists where a typical woman could train for 2 or 3 years and probably beat up most men in a fight.
Who is this average guy?
Who are you imagining this average guy to be? Are you imagining a fight with Brock Lesner? She’s going to lose. Are you imagining a guy like me, who has many years of grappling and striking training, and advanced belts in Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu? Then she’s going to lose there, too. But that’s not most guys, much less an average guy.
The CDC reports that 42.4% of American adults are obese. According to the Physical Activity Council, approximately 25% of American adults are considered "inactive." According to the CDC, about 53.3% of American adults meet the Physical Activity Guidelines for aerobic physical activity. This means nearly half do not engage in sufficient aerobic exercise, which could include running. Approximately 88 million American adults—more than 1 in 3—have prediabetes. ChatGPT calculated for me that approximately 9.6% of American men under 40 could be both obese and prediabetic. Another ChatGPT estimate is that 25-30% of teenage boys may have a physical condition that would preclude them from military service.
Most men are in crap for shape. I watch security camera and private videos of street fights. I must have watched more than a thousand of them by now. Most fights are awful. They make me cringe. I’m not saying I’m an especially good fighter, but I watch video after video where guys hit each other and nothing happens. It’s just awful watching these things. A typical American man will gas if the fight goes over 20 seconds. If it’s not over by then, they’ll be so tired that my 12-year-old daughter could beat on them. You see guys throwing one punch, then collapsing in exhaustion. Who are you kidding about who this typical American man is? Sure, typical American woman are in worse shape, but a typical American man is not fit to do anything that’s physically difficult. The idea that American men are physically up to anything is laughable to me. They might be great guys and great fathers and all sorts of great things, but they are just in terrible shape. They’re big and fat and unhealthy.
Who is this woman he’s fighting?
I’m probably not talking about you or your sister. Most American women are in just as bad shape, or worse, than the men I’m talking about. But that’s not the point. My point is about the ability to fight against this guy who is average or even below average - because that’s 50% of men. How can a woman beat on a guy like this?
My point is that with 2 or 3 or even 5 years of serious training in what’s available on the street now to anyone with money will put you in the ballpark to beat up most of these guys. You don’t need to be an NCAA athlete or pump yourself on enough testosterone to drug test like a man. You just need to join a combat sport club, train as much as you can, and fight a lot with the people in the club.
The reality is that most people, man or woman, who join these clubs don’t do that. It’s a hard-core groups that’s left in a gym still training after 3 or 5 years. So the reality is that women (or men) joining a gym with this goal in mind won’t reach it. But that’s not because they can’t. It’s because they decided not to.
Some more thoughts on this
ChatGPT estimated for me that perhaps as many as 70% of men are novice or untrained weightlifters able to bench press around 90-130 pounds. What does this mean for women? At a recent powerlifting event in Canada called Banger at the Hanger, 61kg (134.5lb) Wendy Yamazaki maxed out on an unequipped bench at 57.5kgs (126.8lb). Drue Nooyen at 78.8kg (173.7lbs) maxed out at 85kgs (187.4lbs). Her squat max at the BC Privincial Championships is 336 and her deadlift is 385. Sure, there are men benching half a ton…but that’s not you. It’s not your neighbor or the guy down the street. It’s Jimmy Kolb. And you don’t know him. Most men, including you, are lifting much less that Drue Mooyen. And my guess is that you and most of those other guys would have a lot of trouble handling her if she got a hold of you. That’s a place you don’t want to be.
Another ChatGPT calculation is that 0.0226% of American women have a purple of black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. That’s only 37,500 women in the whole country and most of them would live in major urban centers. But get a grip on what this kind of person can do to you. In fact, 10th Planet BJJ Purple Belt once offered anyone $1000 if they could tap her out. The Internet is full of videos of BJJ purple and black belts beating up on sometimes very large men. And I can assure you, you aren’t these guys, either. But why believe me? Go find one of these women and see what I mean.
You aren’t a competitive fighter or a powerful athlete. You won’t be able to beat on these women. And they’re just random women who like to workout. But they’ve been doing it for years. They have great systems of training and they compete. They are much stronger and better prepared for battle than most guys. I’m not sure that’s saying a lot, but it does answer the question of whether women can defend themselves against men.