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Combat seems to be a form of human activity where differences between women and men manifest itself. Despite the predictions of some optimistic feminists, widespread of coed combative sports wouldn’t be anticipated. The female combatants who gave interviews for our club adhered to the same opinion. At the same time, there are no doubts that a well-trained female combatant won’t have any problems to give an untrained strong man no peace.
The most of female combatants prefer sparring with men in order to have tougher lessons rather than compete against them. In some combative sports (especially in freestyle wrestling), real coed contests are often held where women even sometimes win (mostly in matches among kids and teenagers). Nevertheless, some problems arise in the area of mixed wrestling contests (see the discussion in the section "Pro and Contra").
While an adult female combatant has little chances on the mat or on the ring against a man of about equal physique and talent, for girls the situation is quite different - young girls are capable to successfully compete with boys in some contact combative sports. The best example - freestyle wrestling where boy vs. girl matches are not a rarity at all, especially in American schools where freestyle (and similar "folkstyle") wrestling is widely popular. When girls just began practicing wrestling, it was a shortage of girls in American high school wrestling teams, so girls-wrestlers trained and competed with boys. The number of young female wrestlers has been dramatically increased since that time in high schools and colleges but coed training and competitions are still practiced. The reason is simple: girls proved that they are able to be equal to boys on the mat.
Many girls confidently defeat boys in wrestling competitions. For instance, Joey Miller, the prominent young wrestling enthusiast defeated the most of her male opponents in freestyle and Greek-Roman wrestling matches. That's how she explains this phenomenon: "Women's strengths are in their hips and legs. That is why so many girls are able to compete with the boys in folkstyle and freestyle wrestling using leg/hip strength and good balance. It is hard to turn girls where boys use their upper body to get their turns. That is why I am able to beat some guys that are stronger than me." Even some young male wrestlers admit that girls have some advantages over boys in wrestling. The school wrestling team member, Max T., says in his letter to the Yahoo message board "Girl pins boy": "Guys always try very hard to beat girls because of fear of be laughed at by their peers and even parents! In my opinion, girls have a better body build for wrestling, just by the way they are shaped. They have weight in their hip area (helps with a wide base of support for throws), they are usually shorter than males which helps with a wide base of support also, a girls legs tend to be stronger than a males as well. They also have a mental advantage because the guy is scared he will lose. Guys don't always win! If you don't believe me join my group and see how hard boys struggle against girls at wrestling!"
However, boys sometimes have psychological problems with that. First, they often experience psychological awkwardness; second, they are usually upset being defeated by girls. "I like it when boys cry," bragged Marcie Van Duser, a
14-year-old wrestler girl from Lake Arrowhead who beat 40 in freestyle.
In early and middle childhood, the difference in strength of boys and girls is not substantial and mixed wrestling is widespread in these age groups. Besides, young kids have fewer problems with body contacts than adults do during wrestling matches. (See also the article "Freestyle wrestling"). As boys and girls grow up and get mature adults, the physical differences between them get greater and coed matched make less sense.
There are quite many videos in the world web with man-vs-woman fights in different combative sports including "no-holds barred" fights in cages (see the clips below). However, in the most of them there is no real competition (including in the two cage fights represented below). Jiu-jitsu master and submission wrestler Shannon Logan stated in her interview for our club that she had wrestling matches with men and the men were grappling to their full potential because after the matches she felt like she had gotten hit by a truck (see the picture).
As to combative forms where punches or kicks are allowed (like boxing and kickboxing), abilities of women to withstand experienced male fighters in the ring are even more limited. Besides, athletic associations are very reluctant about giving permissions for mixed fights for reasonable apprehensions that such bouts would be dangerous for women. For instance, in an official letter Tim Lueckenhoff, President of the Association of Boxing Commissions, asked to withdraw approval of the announced Ann Wolfe versus a male fight. That's the Tim Lueckenhoff's arguments: "A boxing contest between a male and a female raises inherent safety concerns, as the potential for serious injury in such a boxing contest is far greater than in a male v. male or female v. female boxing contest. Such concerns are premised upon the significant differences in strength, speed and ability to take a punch. Moreover, the bones in a female are thinner and have less calcium, especially the skull and nose; and a female's brain is not as well equipped as a male's to endure the same force of a punch to the head." However, the history of men vs. women fightson the ring does exists, albeit it's not full of real events. Very often matches become very publicized which are not really competitive. For example, in the widely publicized boxing match in which Margaret McGregor met an untrained lighter man he didn’t deliver any punches (neither did she really hit him), so the match couldn’t be considered as truly competitive. In much more real competitive bout, the unbeatable female fighter Lucia Rijkerfought a Muay Thai boxer in the kickboxing match but the man didn’t feel uneasy to compete with the women in full strength and sent her in a deep knockout in the second round (see the section Boxing). To annoyance of some feminists and in defiance of their expectations, according to Lucia Rijker, women would never be on an equal footing with men in the ring.
At the same time, like in wrestling, facing each other on the ring (in boxing, kickboxing and other contact combative sports) young girls and boys experience fewer problems than adult combatants do. For instance, in October 1999, ten-year-old coming female junior star Amber Francis (Orlando, FL, USA, 1-0/1, 84 lbs) stepped into the ring to face a boy and she didn't let the crowd down. Fighting with true determination and passion, Francis edged out a split decision win over a tough fighting Richard Allen, (Orlando, FL, USA, 0-1/0, 80 lbs., 10). This was a great fight, that could have seen either fighter get the win. (See the article "Only two on the ring - He and She"
Many discussions have held regarding whether or not women and men should compete together in wrestling and other combative sports. Opinions about youth wrestling split approximately in equal parts. (See, for instance, the discussion "Is wrestling a co-ed sport?" As to boxing and other punch/kick sports, vast majority of people is against coed competitions.
These are a few the most typical opinions of the discussion participants in California (from both camps).
- Women should be and will be "allowed" to participate in everything men get to do. It's called equality. Wrestling is just another activity women have to fight to have the right to engage in.
- I think wrestling should be able to be co-ed just as any other sport they should have men and women teams and their co-eds and if he/she feels confident to go co-ed then why not.
- If the school does not offer them their own separate teams, there should be no excuse to exclude them from making it a coed team.
- What difference does it make who beats who? This is your time to shine!
- People are created equally and every one should be treated equal. If a girl or woman is not permitted to do the same as a male or boy is to then that sport and/or activity should not take place. Period!
- The minute a male touches her private areas during a match, there will be a sexual assault charge. What is this world thinking?
- If it is allowed to continue, then we will see more sex related lawsuits because the women are touched in places that they should realize that they will be touched in.
- Sure if the women want to get beat and have their bodies handled by men, let them.
- I see no reason for the co-ed because the first time a woman complains being injured by a man they will make a dramatic issue of it and a law suit.
Besides freestyle contests, coed matches in submission wrestling are also popular among kids and teenagers, for instance, in regular tournaments held by one of the biggest promoters of submission wrestling, the North American Grappling Association (NAGA). In its tournaments girls between 11 and 16 year-old age participate. According to the terms of the association, "boys may be paired with girls if there are insufficient entrants to justify a separate division". Moreover, in some competitions, older female wrestlers also compete. "Exceptional female fighters can petition the Commissioner to compete in the male division. This may be granted in limited circumstances." Of course, such women exist, like Shannon Logan who is definitely qualified.
Coed training and sparring with men are very useful for formation of a woman fighter. Working out together wirh male fighters, women can learn a lot: techniques, speed, aggression, dexterity, boldness, toughness and many more. The female combatants interviewed in our club confirm that.
Videoclips
Click on the image in order to watch the clip
Somchai Jaidee knocks out Lucia Rijker in the Muay bout
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Mixed Sumo match on the sand ring
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Cage fight between Irma Verhoef and Marc Jefferie
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Cage fight between a female fighter named Melissa and a man
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Fourteen-year-old Joey Miller pins a boy on a tournament in 2003. Freestyle wrestling
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Sixteen-year-old Joey Miller pins a younger boy on a tournament in 2003. Freestyle wrestling
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Michaela Hutchison from Alaska became the first American girl winning a state High School tournament championship in freestyle wrestling. In the final match of the 2006 competition in 103lbs category she defeated Aaron Boss. (Fragment of the TV report with a piece of a commercial)
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In this case a guy managed to pin a girl, even though hardly. (TV Report)
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Mixed wrestling in DWW
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Amateur outdoor mixed wrestling
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A man defeats a woman in a boxing match
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A woman "defeats" a man in a boxing match
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Photos from the site AmateurWrestlingPhotos.com.
Freestyle Wrestling
Photos from the site AC-Uckerath.
Freestyle Wrestling
Photos from the site FighterGirls.com.
Shannon Logan struggling against a man in the extreme bout
Coed grappling in NAGA
Photos from the site "Grapplers.com"
Judo
Boxing in the club DWW
Coed Training
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