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Interesting point.
I've argued elsewhere that martial arts gyms/dojos are pretty much the last bastion of healthy male masculinity that hasn't been invaded by woke culture. Because end of the day, there is simply no amount of social maneuvering that will make up for the strength differential between men and women, and you can't 'fake' martial arts skills without willing participants, which makes entryism nigh-impossible.
But yeah, despite pressure from both sides of the political spectrum, strip clubs and various other sex-adjacent spaces where men can pay to skip the formalities and just get to the T&A do a pretty good job filtering as well.
Implicitly, the females in these spaces are there to look pretty and be quiet (unless it is part of the tease) and this is 'enforced' when they rely on earning tips.
Lefties have given some cover to these places too, by being 'sex-positive,' 'pro-slut,' and 'anti-christian' to the extent they like that dens of vice piss off a certain segment of the right, and (probably) provide a wedge to bring in LGBT matters.
But yeah, the fact that guys can use these places to form reliable partnerships and create networks that aren't so legible while filtering out guys who have hangups that might turn into liabilities later makes them useful.
I would definitely say I prefer the Dojo as the healthy alternative, but if it works and persists across decades, hard to say its doing something 'wrong.'
The sex clubs have certain protections against the segment of the left most eager to ban them that the dojo does not share- specifically, that the left can't both continue to use the concept of sex-positivity as a skin suit and be seen shutting down places that "empowers women" [by that definition] at the same time.
I wouldn't bet on that.
If they can play the "exploiting vulnerable minorities" and "objectification of women" angles they can attack from that side if they want.
Or they can start pushing the "healthy at any size" and "trans women are women!" angle to force said clubs to accept... less enticing employees.
Now, prostitution will continue to exist in spite of any and all attempts to thwart it, but I do think they can make it impossible for such 'third spaces' to exist easily.
The Dojo has the unavoidable barrier to entry of physical fitness, and I've yet to see anyone who can undermine any martial arts/combat system other than by producing a better system (i.e. how BJJ took over MMA for a long time).
Probably I'm not badass enough, or partake in a budo that will be scoffed at, but the head of my Aikido ryu/dojo 's big boss is a (Japanese) woman, and although she's no spring chicken any more, she could throw the hell out of you. My point is that it's toing to depend on the martial art. BJJ is probably going to be more man-centric. You'll find girls at kickboxing and aikido.
You'll find girls doing the kickboxing workouts for cardio. You'll find far fewer that do the version where they're actually getting kicked and punched.
My gym also holds special females-only BJJ classes, which doesn't get ANY pushback from any parties whatsoever about lack of inclusivity because it is better for everyone involved.
As for Akido, I have particular feelings about it as anything other than fun techniques to train.
Is that your video? If so I'll watch it. Otherwise could you give me a quick summary?
Not me.
A guy who became an Akido master and taught akido professionally ultimately shut down his Dojo when he realized that the actual techniques he was teaching would not be effective for his students if they ever had to use it against an aggressive opponent and that the philosophical elements of it were mostly used to distract from this problem.
This was a big deal in that he was a well-known personality in the Akido scene at the time, and he (intentionally) got his ass kicked by an MMA fighter to test his over a decade of experience in Akido. Learns quickly that going for wrist control against a striking opponent doesn't work well, most throws won't work if the opponent resists, and his defense is thwarted easily.
He's gone on to makes a TON of videos where he examines different styles and really tries to test them for their efficacy and see if he can make them work under stress, and honestly assess whether there's any useful knowledge there. Akido really does not measure up, in his estimation.
My general opinion is that Akido is pretty much ballroom dancing with malicious intent. Beautiful to watch, but depends on a willing, coordinated partner to perform as intended.
The lack of strikes, lack of ground game, and general lack of any techniques that damage an opponent suggest, to me, that nobody should use this as their preferred self-defense method.
Although I could be convinced otherwise.
*Aikido
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You can shove any number of ugly 'women' there as you want, you can't force men to select them and a joint that does so simply ceases to make money. The selecting entity in this case is the mamasan curating her stable, not some admin forcing a DEI hire in.
And that is his point isn't it? The place shuts down.
There is no DEI admin forcing fuggos in. Hell I've seen plenty of weirdo looking buck toothed women in a stable. They just don't ever get selected and go home without earning anything. In a pure commission environment its entirely their own volition to stay or go, with of course significant encouragement from a mamasan. If a place shuts down (normally a visa raid) the joint reopens with a new stable about a month later. Like a dozen places shut down three months ago when the mall owner managed to sell off the property and some of my girls happily announced they were going on a 2 month cruise to China as a break, with loyal patrons encouraged to join the fun on the high seas. I am also certain that the cruise bookings were directed to a company set up by a retired mamasan, so its really a full circle of money extraction going on.
I think those are usually called mares.
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