Century Old Book Details Martial Arts Moves for Women

A translation of a martial-arts book published in 1914, which was written by a woman for women, describes a group of Japanese women who banded together to form the Women’s Self-Defense League in order to fight off attacks from men. Nobatake Taeko wrote the book – the title translates as Self Defense for Women – under the pen name Nohata Showa. The book was published in May of 1914. In the book, Showa describes and illustrates a number of martial arts techniques that women can use to fight off attackers. These techniques include throws, ways to break an attacker’s arm and a technique that strangles the abdomen of an attacker