Self defense skills of African girls

During my time at the university I befriended Faizah. She was an Ethiopian girl who came to Europe to study medicine. We used to chat about different things, especially about the life in Africa and once we also touched upon the topic of women’s safety. I told her about the self defense course I have been just taking and asked her whether she would also like to attend. She just smiled and told me: You know I have not taken any self defense courses but do not think women of our country are defenseless. Even in our society a woman has a right to defend herself. Our mothers take care to convey some essential skills to their daughters which are needed when a man is about to disrespect them and tarnish their honor. My mother explained me very early that men are as strong as they are vulnerable in some parts of their body. Once I had to use what she taught me on my classmate behaving indecently. I hope the painful lesson he learned will last for long….

Beautiful Nomadic girls from the
Horn of Africa know how to deal with
both the animal and human predators. 

When I was preparing one of my assignments, I stumbled across an interesting book from Ayaan Hirsi Ali called Infidel. Ayaan fled Somalia in the early 90’s to avoid forced marriage and she got asylum in Netherlands. She became soon one of the most prominent activist and female rights supporters. 

 In the book she recalls the time she spent with her mother and grandmother. They belonged to a Nomadic tribe living a traditional life in the Somalian desert lands. The mothers passed the knowledge and skills to survive in these harsh conditions to next generations. The Nomadic life often meant the girls were left alone in the bush to take care about the herds. And there were predators praying on the goats such as lions and hyenas but also men predators praying on the young girls. When the worst was inevitable, they were told by their mothers what to do. Here is what Ayaan wrote in her book:  

 …my grandmother taught her daughters to run around the man, squat down, reach between his legs under his sarong, and yank his testicles hard. They were not to let go. He might hit or kick, but they were to tug in their heads and take the blows on their back and hope to hang on long enough to cause the attacker to faint. This move is called Qworegoys and the women of my grandmother’s family taught it to their daughters just as they taught them to make thorn-bush fences to protect the huts from hyenas… 

Sarong is a traditional dress of Somali men,
comfortable for a hot climate but also makes the
bad guys highly vulnerable to qworegoys move

   

 After thinking about it, I realized how ingenious this move is. The sarong is a skirt-like men’s clothing and is worn without any underwear. The hot African weather makes the testicles hang loose, which also makes them a great ‘handle’ to grasp and hang on. His possibilities for any counter action against a girl squatting behind him is limited. His sarong partially pulled up in the back makes any movement with his legs almost impossible. He might be able to deliver some blows on her back but that is it. If the girl pulls down using her weight and twists for at least a couple of seconds, he is for sure going to black out. He would be then found unconscious on the ground by his pals wondering what happened. Without present-day medical intervention, a ruptured testicle or both could be a fatal injury. Even if not, he is for sure not going to ride a camel soon. I really like to read about these ethnological and historical accounts of women’s self defense. If you have any tips about some please write them in the comments.  I would be very grateful.