FAQ: What is the advantage of a class with a padded attacker?

The results of a powerful knee to the groin delivered by Instructor-in-Training Katie Skibbe

Photo: Daniel Teafoe

In Real Knockouts, Martha McCaughey writes, "Padded attacker courses offer women a chance to experience full-force fighting, as these self-defense instructors believe that most successful assaults occur not because women aren't strong enough to fight men but because women facing an assailant often freeze up rather than fight. Because the 'muggers' attack the students at full force...women...learn their defense techniques while their adrenaline level is high and their fine motor skills low, thus committing the skills to 'bodily memory,' which will automatically be triggered in the course of an attack."


We have a new FAQ page on our website with answers to this question and others, such as why is self-defense necessary, is self-defense effective, is IMPACT effective, would these techniques really work on someone bigger and stronger than me? Check out the new FAQs at http://www.impactchicago.org/faq.html#faq2.