I normally don't write much in the way of politically oriented posts, but an entry in a blog Lorelai and I read caught in my mind:
http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2008/03/she-was-doing-everything-she-was.html

Now, the original article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2008/03/22/hilton_0323.html

While I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments of Lawdog, there is something I feel I must add here. It is true that in a sane and just world, Meredith Emerson WOULD have been able to own, train in the use of, and defend herself with, a firearm without fear of being ostracized by society as a whole. She WOULD have been capable of drawing said firearm and gunning down her (what would then be) would-be attacker. But it does not stop there. She had a green belt in Judo and a blue in another martial art, not mentioned by name in the article. During her struggle, she disarmed her attacker multiple times. But she did one thing wrong: Instead of fighting to SURVIVE, she fought to WIN. The martial arts in this country, as a whole, do not teach self-defense so much as how to win a tournament. Not much in the way of full-contact sparring is ever done anymore, and as a result, the martial arts have become pussified, to use the vernacular. Had she fought to survive instead of win, her attacker would have been laying dead on the ground, his own blade protruding from pick-your-vital-organ. He would have been dead on the ground, his skull fractured by his own club. He would have been crippled, with a smashed knee, spine, ankle, ANYTHING she could have broken, cut, or stabbed to ensure her safe escape. But the martial arts in this country teach you the moves, but not the wherewithal and judgement to use them. They teach you that it's not okay to destroy your attacker, but rather to meet them on an even playing field. The attack techniques they instruct the Uke (attacker in a training scenario) to use have little to no base in reality compared to the movements of a real life aggressor. Why? Our government as a whole frowns on the concept of self-defense. They want you to believe that the only people who should carry and use firearms and other weapons are the Police and the Military. They want you to believe that you are not supposed to kill those who would try to kill you. They want you to believe that grabbing a man's head by the chin and base of the hair at the back of the head, and jerking the base of his skull forward toward his belt buckle and heaving his chin at the sky behind him-- causing the cervical vertibrae to dislocate violently and subsequently causing either death or paralysis-- is not the way to keep someone from kidnapping, raping, and murdering you. They want you to believe that it's not okay to defend yourself in this type of situation. Their answer? Run. And if you can't? Call for help, or get to a phone and call the police. And wait. By the time they get there, there may still be some forensic trace evidence that can place your killer at the scene. Nice one. And this is why the martial arts in the good ol' US of A teach you unrealistic techniques and train you to show restraint. Because far as our legislation has taught them, this is the best way-- to let the Police-- who can never get there in time-- solve your problems for you.

Now, I have practiced the martial arts for TWENTY-THREE YEARS. I do not have a belt. I had only one Sifu. I did not train with him the whole time I studied. How did I learn? By observing the various martial arts I encountered, and sparring the practitioners thereof. I learned many techniques from many different styles. I had opportunities to put them into practical application in the real world, against real attackers. What worked, I kept. What didn't, I dropped. I have torn second- and third- degree black belts new assholes, and I'm almost entirely self-taught. And my daughter is going to learn all of it. She will learn disarming maneuvers, limb dislocation, killing techniques, the whole nine motherfucking yards. And she will learn the most important thing of all: When the situation is real, there is NO SUCH THING as a FAIR FIGHT. Oregon has no self-defense laws, this is true. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Hopefully by then, wisdom and enlightenment will prevail, but at the rate our government is laying down new and ridiculous laws, I doubt it.