2014 Miss Nevada, Nia Sanchez, recently found a new meaning for “self-defense”. This 4th-degree TaeKwonDo Black Belt came under attack herself after recently remarking, “But I think more awareness is very important so women can learn how to protect themselves. Myself, as a fourth-degree black belt, I learned from a young age that you need to be confident and be able to defend yourself. And I think that’s something that we should start to really implement for a lot of women.”

Well, that did not set well with a number of women out there that feel that you can simply do away with rape if you teach men (young men in particular) that it is “wrong”. I do not believe (and certainly HOPE) that NO ONE would think that rape is either OK or justified in ANY instance. Rape is WRONG! But there are a myriad of other instances where women still might need to defend themselves — even from other WOMEN!

YouTube is filled with women fighting women, women attacking women, and men attacking women for reasons other than rape. Also what if a mother (obviously female) is forced into a position of protecting her children? Is she to assume that there is always going to be someone (typically a man) around to come to her rescue? That is a very BIG assumption!

I have advocated for years that young women AND young men alike BOTH need at some point to learn some basic self-defense. That by no means “black belt”, but some basic principles by which to defend themselves in a street (versus sport) scenario. Thus, I am not opposed to boxing, wrestling or other fighting type systems in addition to, or in lieu of, traditional martial arts training. I have enjoyed many years of training myself, as well as teaching, but this was always a fascination of mine personally (just ask my parents). For the average person, this may be two, four, six or twelve months of instruction, depending mostly on the instructor, frequency of training, and desired level of competence at the outcome. But at least “some” proficiency is suggested, and again, regardless of gender.

I applaud Miss Nevada for voicing her opinion. In fact she echoed the sentiment of one of the first notable women in our nation’s history, Susan B. Anthony, who once famously said herself, “No woman should rely on a ‘man’ for her defense. She should learn how to defend herself.” Miss Nevada obviously does not want to “gamble” with her personal safety, neither should you.

Jeff McKissack, Founder
Trouble Spotters

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