In a recent Whatever podcast episode discussing self-defense and martial arts training for women, one of the male hosts made a controversial claim that even an accomplished female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner with a purple belt ranking would be “helpless” against a single untrained male attacker.
Whatever podcast typically deals with dating and gender roles. It typically features an interesting dynamic in which the male host berates his female guests who are usually attractive females and tries to school them on gender dynamics.
The conversation began with one guest, a woman, explaining that she took up jiu-jitsu because “men are stronger and bigger than us. If we have a weapon, they can always wrestle it out of us and use it against us.”
Another male host then chimed in with skepticism.
The woman went on to make the contentious claim that a friend, a female purple belt, who was allegedly attacked by two people and “broke all of their legs” in self-defense. The male host questioned the story and claimed it was made up.
His implication was that even a highly skilled female martial artist would be ineffectual and “helpless” against the supposed natural physical superiority of an average untrained male, negating the potential impact of her years of training.
The comments have drawn criticism from many in the martial arts community who argue that high-level jiu-jitsu skills can neutralize strength discrepancies and that the host’s opinion displays a dismissive attitude towards the self-defense capabilities of women.
That being said, it’s much better to never test your martial arts skills and to defuse or get away from the situation that can pose any harm.
