Should gay people know how to defend themselves?

Everyone should learn to defend themselves. You never know when you may need it, and it often strikes at the most unexpected moments.

 

Well, it's generally a good skill to have, even for non-gay people.

It does bear mentioning that defending oneself isn't just about throwing punches, cracking ribs, or handling weapons. I was always taught there's several levels:

- It starts with good situational awareness: recognising when you're in a potentially risky area or situation and making sure you're making moves not to be cornered and extricate yourself ASAP.

- Secondly, in case of confrontation, getting away is your best bet. Running and self-defense aren't opposites, they're the same thing.

- Then, there's actual physical conflict. Which should be as efficient as possible, and only be pursued as long as running and getting away isn't an option, at which point one should bolt for the nearest exit.

I do judo in my spare time, which might not have been specifically designed for self-defense, but it can be pretty effective at it anyway. There's even katas dealing with defense against knives and swords and guns. Can't say I ever had to use it, though. Belgium is one of the safer places in the world and while gaybashing happens, it's not so common I ever came into contact with it.

 

Get a weapon.
That ought to even out the playing field a bit.
Check the weapon laws in New York before you end up doing something stupid and/or illegal.

Not so fun fact: Most murder victims are male.
I don't even need to cite this one- a Google search turns up FBI stats and scholarly papers.

 

Everyone should definitely know how to defend themselves.

Being a pacifist, I won't fight back unless I am 100% sure that my life is in danger. I'd defend myself, and I'd defend my friends to the death if I had to.

 

Same here!

But there are always un-conventional means of defending oneself like this spray-thing to the eye just to give time to run away >.>

Also one of the reasons im not out.. :lol:

 

I am petite and skinny. I train BJJ and Muay Thai, and yes, I train for the discipline and the physical fitness aspects of it. But my primary focus with it has always been self defense no matter how much I'm enjoying training for and entering competitions.

Like most people have said, it's good for everyone to learn some form of self-defense (except for those committing the crimes of course...haha!). You might be surprised at how effective some maneuvers can be, even against a trained opponent.

 

Yup and I am planning on taking self defence classes after getting gay bashed last year, and hey it may be fun, I need to meet new people and it would probably make me fitter

In the US there is this gay gun club called the Pink Pistols who have a motto which somewhat scares me "armed gays don't get bashed" while I am in a rifle club in Ireland that is kinda going too far.

 

not just gay people everyone should learn .I have had fights in the past I have won most of the fights .

 

How is that going too far?

 

I haven't had to defend myself, but since I'd been getting homophobic slurs scrawled all over my door and veiled threats, I've had to start putting my keys in between my fingers when I walked by that guy's room. Thankfully we're moving on Saturday.

 

Don't do that with your keys it's stupid and ineffective as s self-defense instructor I can tell
you that easily. Instead carry pepper spray or a kubaton

 

Carrying a weapon on campus would get me arrested/expelled. I read that instead of putting keys between all of your fingers, you should only use two, and put them between your index, middle, and ring fingers, and if you have to attack, go for the throat.

 

I think learning martial arts is a good idea for everyone and even more so for LGBT people. You just need to find the right martial art and instructor/sensei for you.
As long as it is self defense-related and the use of violence is considered as a last resort I think it is positive. In an ideal world you will never have to fight but having some kind of training will help you to react adequately if it is necessary instead of being unable to defend yourself. My sensei used to say that talking or scaping should be the first options; and that, failing that, the next best thing to do is to show them why it was a bad idea to bully/bother you, so they won't feel like trying again anymore.

I am against allowing people to carry weapons (pepper sprays and that kind of things are fine though) since it is very easy to be too harsh and end up hurting someone seriously (or killing someone)

 

I don't really know any defense techniques, but I have heard that if you're being attacked, car keys can be pretty effective.

 

Now, just for a car...

I learnt enough of a martial art a couple of years ago to defend myself against someone untrained. I intend to go back to that sometime. The problem with, literally anything that could be used to defend myself, is that it's illegal here, as carrying it supposedly shows premeditated violence. Even pepper spray is illegal.

---------- Post added 17th Jan 2014 at 10:55 PM ----------

Because in europe, gun carriers are

a) non-existent and,
b) considered extreme and insane

 

I guess it's a culture thing, but that isn't what I meant.
Maybe I misunderstood; I thought they were referring to the motto.

 

Anyone should know how to defend themselves, but try to avoid unnecessary confrontations. Some of us are not built to cope with large aggressive adversaries. Training can help level the playing field in some situations, but not one which is tilted against you by the size or number of your adversaries. I level the playing field by relying upon the "stand your ground" law in our state, which protects people who use force only when necessary, to protect themselves.

 

You bring up a good point. When my boyfriend was in the army, he noticed a fellow soldier in town getting beat up by three guys in an alley. The reason the soldier was in the alley was because he met a local who pretended to want to hook up with him outside a bar, not realizing he was being set up for a robbery. They went out a back door instead of the front, and the robber had 2 accomplices waiting to mug him. Fortunitely for the soldier the robbers didn't count on having to deal with a Jiu Jistu instructor also.

 

I'm skilled in Chinese martial arts (swords even) and krav maga, so don't even mess with me.