Martial Arts and #MeToo

I was one of the main instructors for Jan de Jong and did many, many private lessons with female students. They were conducted in private and with me being the 'attacker' where I would execute a 'bear hug' from behind that would come into contact with their breasts. I would sit on top of them holding their arms down. I would put my hand between their legs to demonstrate a 'scooping throw' and have them do likewise to me when learning the technique. A push on the chest often involved contact with their breasts. A bear hug from the front ... no more needs to be said.

The simplistic (ignorant) anti-PC crew would say that they knew what they signed up for. That it is just a part of training and they shouldn't make a fuss. I can guarantee you that those same people would be the first to object if a man put his hand between their legs, touching their 'package' ostensibly to teach/learn a technique. The simplistic, ignorant anti-PC crew are all 'you can't take a joke' until the joke is on them.

In the late 90s I came to appreciate that women might feel uncomfortable with this physical contact when engaging in lessons. Long before #MeToo, I changed my teaching such that I informed the female student about what physical contact was involved in the technique to be taught and training, and gave them the opportunity of say no. I asked their permission (legally consent).There was no judgment involved ... but it also provided the opportunity to discuss many other issues other than physical defence against a violent attack.

This was not a policy of the Jan de Jong Self Defence School. This was a policy that I developed and adopted on a unilateral basis. It was based on reflection and also because I listened to my female private lesson students.

Three of my female private lessons students were engaging in private lessons because they felt 'uncomfortable' in another male instructor's classes because of the 'attention' that he paid to them. It's so easy for the physical contact to be misconstrued, particularly with the passage of time, however the culture of the times also emboldened those who took advantage of their position of dominance. You only have to read the experiences of those who were abused in an power-imbalanced relationship to see that this is true. However, in these cases, the instructor in question had a reputation. A reputation that was ignored by management.

We had the whole Catholic thing going on in the school because when I reported this 'situation' to management (not Jan de Jong), I was attacked. How could I say such horrible things about the male instructor? Not once did the management person ask after the welfare of the three women involved. And of course the instructor in question continued teaching and still continues to teach today.

What is the lesson to be learned. Most martial arts teachers are amateurs. They have very little concept of occupational health and safety issues. They need to think about the physical contact between students, and between students and instructors. They need to develop, implicitly or explicitly, sexual harassment policies. Think about the student's feelings, from their perspective, and act accordingly.

For those martial arts schools that are attempting to go it alone. This is a marketing strategy that establishes a point of differentiation between your school and others. That you explicitly consider the welfare of students when teaching and training.