Does anyone know any girls who can 'kick ass'?

In My Humble Opinion
61

I personally don’t have any illusions about what would happen if a guy were in a knock-down drag-out fight with me. (Or, well, frankly, anyone. Not just guys.) I’m legally blind without my glasses, so anyone with any brains would take those away from me first-- knock them off, whatever. When my glasses are unavailable, I can’t see to get away at any speed, so it becomes a fight to the finish. Anyone interested in starting a fight of that sort with me isn’t likely to let me win out of some sort of chivalry, or even give up, so the foregone conclusion in a weaponless fight is that they win.

The best I can hope for in that situation is to make them REALLY freaking sorry afterward. I’m going down, I might as well take their eyes with me. (I’m not sure if that’s what other women mean by “I’d go psycho,” but it might be a thought. Are they in a condition where they know they wouldn’t win?)

Of course, the more cheerful alternative to that situation is never to find myself alone and weaponless. I’d like to have the luxury of disabling someone and escaping, but given no choice, I’ll defend my life as best I can.

Geez, how depressing.
Corr

62

But, by the rules of that “Code of Honor,” as soon as I am attacked, I know that the person who has attacked me has already broken that code, and is therefore honorless. In that case, all bets are off, and if forced to fight, I intend to fight to escape with the least possible damage.

I walk solo quite a lot (hence the name), which I know can potentially be a hazardous activity for a woman. I enjoy it so much, however, that I refuse to give up the activity out of fear of a few misplaced perverts who may be out there. I always make sure that I am aware of my surroundings, however, (no headphones), and give serious consideration to planning how to escape an unarmed attacker if attacked. My basic strategy involves taking out one or both of my opponent’s kneecaps, thus making it impossible for him to catch me while I make my escape. (I have bad knees, and am definitely not a runner, so I need to make sure a pissed off guy can’t chase me down for a second attack.) I have no qualms about getting his attention first with a forceful knee to the groin or fingers to the eyes in order to allow me time to get in the kicks I need to take out the kneecaps. When I get far enough away, I’ll get out my cell phone (which I always carry), and call first 911, and then my husband (to find a lawyer.)

Sound like dirty fighting? The opponent has already set up a lack of rules by attacking. I would be an idiot to then try to be “honorable.”

63

I think it is more likely that they type of man who goes around attacking women does so because he is a cowardly bully. He picks on women because he thinks they are easy targets who will either not fight back at all or who can be easily defeated by any man. Sadly, in many cases he would be right. Women are so conditioned against violence that some find themselves incapable of putting up resistance even when their lives are in danger. Many others simply don’t have the knowledge or experience to put up a good fight. A woman who does, however, is going to be a big and nasty surprise for that type of man.

What your friends may really mean by their “psycho” line is that they wouldn’t enter into a fight lightly – not unless they were extremely angry or frightened. Unlike men, most women do not have experience with casual brawling. Women rarely tussle with their friends. Most women consider physical force to be by far a last resort, and will only use it if they feel that they (or someone they want to protect) are in serious danger. So if a woman is fighting, she’s probably not messing around. If her opponent isn’t really serious then he’ll be at a disadvantage against a woman who is willing to maim or kill him.

Finally, I would like to address the issue of upper body strength. In general men do have greater upper body strength than women. However, this is not purely do to inherent differences between the sexes. Women, even women who work out seriously, rarely spend very much time focusing on strengthening their upper body. Some find large upper body muscles unfeminine and unattractive and deliberately don’t exercise them much, and others have heard the old saw about women being weak in the upper body that they don’t even bother to try to get strong there. A woman who does really want to increase her upper body strength can do it though, and if she works at it she can become as strong as (or stronger than) many men.

64

okay, just referencing a few things I’ve seen here and there…

As a trained martial artist, this is a hell of a tough thing to call.

Women on the ground can be just as dangerous as men, because no groundfighting technique relies on strength. A lot of groundfighting technique relies on weight, but this can be overcome.

Someone said, his upper body strength was superior and he’d be able to pull out of any technique he was pulled into. Any good grappler will not pull you into a technique. An experienced grappler will know a technique to submit you from the position you are already in, no matter how safe you feel. Once a move is locked in, it’s over. There is no time for you to pull out. Four seconds to choke someone unconscious, half a second to break a limb or joint. And this is referencing a tournament, where there are rules. Never mind what a woman can do should she choose to use her nails.

By the same token, however, women are also more vulnerable to dirty fighting. Despite what you hear, it is not easy to hit a lucid man in the groin. It’s instinctive for us to cover it up. Woman usually have long hair and earings, both of which can be painfully grasped and used to control her, if not torn directly off.

Women in a stand-up fight, I believe, are always in a disadvantage, no matter what their training is. A woman has to be really strong… anyone does, really… to injure someone bigger than them with a blow. If they are better than their opponent and can overcome the size/strength disadvantage, they have a chance.

The main determinant is…

… instinct.

Killer instinct always plays a big role and is usually the main factor in the outcome in streetfights. (The same can be said for a guy versus a guy, so don’t think this is exclusive to one gender). Should the woman have an equal or weaker killer instinct than the guy, she will probably lose.

And while I’m speaking as a martial artist, you really need to be a martial artist or an experienced brawler to understand this question. It’s like rock paper scissors. A can beat B, B can beat C, but C can beat A? Doesn’t that mean B should beat A? No. Similarly, this question is too subjective to difinitively discuss, because it all depends on the mettle of the woman and her opponent.

65

As I’ve stated before, I was a military policeman in the US Army and I’ve known a lot of tough women who had no trouble holding their own in a brawl. Most of the women I worked with had no illusions about what was required of them when things got hairy; a couple of them were sometimes too quick to get physical even when the situation could still be handled verbally. Those women were quite defensive about any questions of their authority and ability to kick ass and take names. By the end of the 1980’s, most American GIs knew that while you could get away with a little blustering with male MPs, the females were usually not to be taken lightly unless you were looking to have your ass kicked by a girl. There were, of course, exceptions to this, but most of the women I served with could take care of themselves pretty well. Granted, the baton, brassard, and .45 change the equation a little bit.

You want to know if I know a specific woman who can kick an average guy’s ass? Yeah, I can think of three incidients that I witnessed that put these average guys in the infirmary: One broken leg, one broken wrist, and one ruptured testicle (that aforementioned guarding reflex is a little slow in drunks), each cased by a different MP.

66

I’ve been trained in Management of Aggressive Behavior as part of my preparation for my job in psychiatric mobile assessment; I’ve also had some martial arts training. Back when I was doing MA and inpatient, lockdown care, I weighed 130 lbs (5’6"). I can (and have) take down and restrain a violent, psychotic patient, regardless of size, by myself. I practiced on Mr. Bobkitty- 6’4" and 215lbs- who is also trained in these procedures and felt holding back wouldn’t do me any favors (he plays the part of a psychopath well).

In high school I was frequently in fights, mostly with other girls but I sometimes bridged the gender gap. When I was a sophmore, six senior boys had to pull me off of a seventh who had made a derogatory comment about some friends of mine. They weren’t football players, but they were a good bit bigger than I was (110 pounds at the time). I broke his hand in several places, broke two of his ribs, and knocked out one of his teeth.

I haven’t worked inpatient for a while, and it’s been even longer since I’ve been in high school, but I could probably still hold my own in a fight.

-BK

67

Then you don’t know about Tai Chi Chuan, MGibson. It is well-known for an adept practitioner’s ability to knockback an unaware assailant a pretty far distance, while using unbalancing tecniques. And I tell you, she was pretty adept at it, and taught me a few moves. In the classroom incident, I asked what she can do with her Tai Ch’i. I stood still, not resisting her push. I became a believer.
As for me, after a few months, I can push someone back about ten feet, without using my strength, just technique. Also, I am very hard to take dowm by pushing or by tackling (took five football players two minutes to tackle me to the ground).

The reasons why they are not competing against men in boxing/wrestling are:
  1. Women in general, until fairly recently, weren’t as thoroughly and formally trained in the techniques of barehanded combat as men are in the two sports and in the other martial arts. Oh, it is well known that women who do participate have the enthusiam, and are very onery. And some women can box/wrestle better than many, many men. But then there is
  2. Size differential, as well as muscle mass. Legs and endurance are pretty much equal, but upper body muscle mass gives men the explosive power that all but the most elite of women cannot hope to match. In men’s sports, the ones that have the most focus in terms of coverage are the upper weight divisions, divisions of which there are very few women participating. Women’s techniques concerning fighting larger men generally consist of moves which are illegal in the square circle. There are women who are very good at fighting straight up against men of equal size. When the victory occurs, howwever, it leads to
  3. Stigma, on part of the man defeated. It takes a very humble man to accept defeat to a woman as losing to a better opponent. However, most men, being of high ego, won’t take it that way, and neither generally do the ones witnessing the fight. There were many men who hung up the tights right after losing to Mildred Burke.
68

I used to be 5’1", probably 100-110lbs. At that time, my boyfriend was a guy that stood 6’2" and weighed probably 240lbs. We got in fights all the time, but I never really fought back. One day I lost my mind beat the fuck out him. That was five years ago. His eye will never look the same. It’s like permanently swelled and red because the lense in his glasses folded and stabbed him right in the eye. He’s lucky he isn’t blind. Asshole.

69

There’s Bunny (yes, that was her given name), who at 5’ 11.75’’ is damn near as big as me, and was part of the correctional staff at the Navy CCU (Correctional Custody Unit) in Memphis. Even big, burly malcontents were meek as mice around her. No chance of me ever beating her. We were out one night and she decided we were changing bars. I didn’t think so, but she just grabbed ahold of me and out the door we went. My feet never touched ground. She wasn’t conventional, but she was a good drinking buddy.

Then there’s Liz, my former supervisor on board my last ship. At 135lbs dripping wet, 5’4", she could dead lift 385lbs. No, that’s not a typo: I used to spot for her. We’ve proven that she can take me 3 falls out of 5.

Then there’s Mrs. Tranq. She can take me 2 falls out of 5 in hand-to-hand, and while not a better shot than me, is probably more deadly and skilled in close-quarters firearms use. She’s sudden, merciless death on two crooked feet with a shotgun or truncheon indoors or in close confines (you gotta be, if you want to guard the big bombs). With a pistol, I might have an edge on her. Bare hands, I’ve got a definite edge on her, but that’s due to leverage as much as anything else. At 5’7", and 200lbs, she’s not small, but seeing that much of her mass is slabs of hard muscle hidden under her curves, people tend to underestimate her. Bad idea.

The two that I know that are most like what the OP was asking were both boatswains mates. One, whose name I can’t remember, decided that we were going to have sex. I wasn’t particularly interested (I was seeing someone else), but she kicked my feet out from underneath me and held me down until she decided I was serious. Very cute, but the eyes of a killer, and muscles like marble: They only looked soft. The other, Madona R., was a 2nd Class Bos’un, and looked like a 5’5" china doll (except for being jet black). She was lead rigger for a long time, and while I could easily wrap my hand around her biceps when they were slack, when she tensed, I couldn’t get both hands around her bicep. She regularly kicked ass on upity new bos’uns, who though just because she looked skinny, they could intimidate her. I never tried: I knew better from having watched her at work.

70

Oh, and I almost forgot about Chris and Dawn. I’ve seen both of them take big men down. It was like watching the Tasmanian Devil: Whirlwinds of fists, elbows, feet, knees, and fingers. Both guys went to the hospital. Chris is 5’6" and about 115lbs, while Dawn is 4’11 and about 90lbs. Dawn is actually the scarier of the two: Her victim wound up with a dislocated shoulder and a busted jaw. He shoulda known better that to mess around with dynamite.