Recently, Tech Insider’s self-defense “expert” Gabrielle Rubin has been receiving a lot of heat from the martial arts community. Rubin has posted many controversial “self-defense” videos which have been met with heavy criticism from martial artists from various disciplines.
Gabrielle, however, recently responded to these critics in an interview with Middle Easy. She claimed that she does not want to interfere with mixed martial arts or Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and said the moves she teaches are not the only moves women need in order to defend themselves:
“I just want to get back to teaching women how to be smarter and safer on the streets of New York. My goal is not to interfere with those teaching MMA and Brazilian jujitsu. Nor do I ever profess that this is all they would need to do,” Rubin told Middle Easy.
Gabrielle also said that she refers women to “formal” martial arts training after their first class.
I then show some basic moves women can do so they do at least something. I refer women to formal training after my initial class. (Krav Maga seems to be where most go).
My goal is not to interfere with those teaching MMA and Brazilian jujitsu. Nor do I ever profess that this is all they would need to do.
Of course, this should make people wonder why she never said any of this in her videos? Why not say, “This isn’t all you need to know in order to defense yourself from an attack”?
It also doesn’t address the fact that her techniques were simply incorrect. Even a new BJJ student knows that if an attacker chokes her from behind, the first thing she has to do is grab his arm in order to take pressure off of her neck. As the interview correctly points out:
But the truth is the technique she is advocating is not only incorrect, it is dangerous. In many of her videos (some of which she sells for $1.99-$7.99), she advocates for the escalation of violence and seems to hint that the moves she teaches will end an altercation entirely.
For this reason, like most people reading this, I’m a bit skeptical of her “defense.”
Source: Middle Easy
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