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I have been training in KM for four years in Japan. The KM studios there segregate trainees by gender – females line up to the left and males to the right. They bow in then pair up with a partner of the same gender. More often then not, when there is an odd number of both females and males, the extra female will be told to train with another female pair – so three work together, and a KM “trainer” (all males) will work with the lone male. As about 80% of the trainees are males they usually are able to work in pairs. Due to the low percentage of females, they usually work in threes. This arrangement lessens the practice time of the females which results in lower quality of training. I feel that this arrangement does a disservice to its female membership, particularly as Japanese females are almost exclusively sparring with other Japanese females which simply doesn’t replicate real-world threats.
Any thoughts on how a non-Japanese female with very little Japanese language ability can help to desegregate this KM studio? btw – gender segregation is not practiced in all dojos in Japan. I trained in aikijujitsu
and aikido in Japan and worked with both males and females.Re: Gender segregation in the studio
hmmm Kokushi speaks fluent English, have you tried speaking directly to him about this issue?
Re: Gender segregation in the studio
I did ask to speak with Matsumoto but was told that he is “busy”
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Re: Gender segregation in the studio
I’ll pass on to Kokushi about this issue.
He’ll be in studio starting next month.Re: Gender segregation in the studio
Many thanks. He’s built up an impressive organization in the Tokyo area. The senior instructors are awesome – they train the females as rigorously as the males. It is mostly the newer instructors that don’t seem to “get it.”
A case in point – Just last week I was the only female in a class of about 20 males. I was partnered with two males and was told that during the groundwork techniques I could only take the defensive role. When I told the instructor that I was okay doing both offensive and defensive, he told me to only do the defensive and that this “wasn’t America.” I found this quite ironic because I had just been to Hawaii a week or two prior and two drunk guys were harassing me on the 17th floor balcony of my hotel. It was a real tight spot with no place to run. Could have easily escalated. How is KM Japan adequately training me for such situations if I am not allowed to 1) train with males and 2) practice the full range of techniques.
Lastly, I observed an aikido class at the Aikikai honbu in Tokyo to see how a traditional Japanese dojo handles the pairing of partners with regard to gender. Females and males worked with each other seamlessly. There was no segregation, no difference at all in how the genders were treated.
Re: Gender segregation in the studio
I don’t really know what you can do to fix this. But, I can point out that I try to partner with people bigger and stronger than me and then do my turn partnering with people smaller and weaker than me (this often includes the female students at my school). For the purposes of realistic training you really need to work the techniques against people that you can’t just muscle around.
Re: Gender segregation in the studio
Sometimes different cultures…different rules…what from our perspective is totally acceptable isn’t from theirs…are you right…yes ….almost all the girls in my bjj class can probably kick my ass…many in muay thai….and from our perspective IN RECENT YEARS coed training is okay here…..in another country you can bring up your concerns but its not the same rules…their house…hell we got places in the world wear the stone ya if ya don’t cover your head and walk behind men
Re: Gender segregation in the studio
We are co-ed as well, yet by the same token I can see why in different cultures or for personal preference segregation would be practiced or offered. Accidental touching could very easily occur in Krav more so than other systems because of the nature of what we do. I would put it to you that some males would be very wary and very embarrassed if that happened and would likely go much easier and probably not do the technique to the full 100% out of fear of that happening if they had to train with a member of the opposite sex.
The only suggestion that I could maybe offer is to suggest you do the occasional private one on one session with a male instructor letting them know that this is why and hopefully that might well lead to the club quietly organizing for someone to spar with you on a regular basis? Good luck and all the best with your training anyway.
Re: Gender segregation in the studio
Ftgf, I’ll be part of training team starting Thursday.
Definitely will raise this issue.Re: Gender segregation in the studio
I can appreciate your viewpoint. You mention that some men might be “wary” about accidental touching. I’m sure that this is the case in Japan. But instead of segregating by gender, I think the modest women and wary men can simply choose same-gender sparring partners. Segregation shouldn’t be the studio’s policy though. I would even wear a thicker dogi if that would help. Frankly speaking, I’ve trained with 100s of men over the years and never once had a problem – although my buddies would have had my back had there ever been one.
Re: Gender segregation in the studio
Thanks. I look forward to meeting you. fyi Out of immense loyalty to a bunch of awesome instructors who I have come to deeply respect, I will be following their example very soon. I wish you the very best, though. Ftgf (Fight the good fight) Lori
Re: Gender segregation in the studio
Sorry Taikei…I didn’t recognize your given name and the fact that you were posting from Tokyo. Good luck as one of the new trainers, and thanks for taking up the gender issue with Matsumoto-san. I will be gone in a few weeks, but I feel better knowing that my gal pals will be better looked after. Thanks so much.
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