LIBERATING THE AMAZON - FEMINISM AND THE MARTIAL ARTS

In this paper, I challenge the Cartesian emphasis on mind that charact erizes much of feminist theory and propose instead a feminist ''care o f the self'' ethics that revolutionizes both mind and body. Qualitativ e research involving participant-observation and 30 indepth interviews with women who practice seido karate at Thousand Waves, a feminist ma rtial art dojo in Chicago, provide empirical support for such a propos ition. Data indicated that women's self concept is profoundly altered when physically empowering activities such as the martial arts are pra cticed in gynocentric spaces infused with feminist spirit, ethics, and pedagogy. They also indicated that healing from incest, rape and othe r forms of violence is facilitated by martial arts/self defense traini ng in ways that are qualitatively different from traditional psycholog ical therapy. Ultimately, this work suggests that approaches that empo wer women physically, as well as mentally and spiritually, may be more effective in producing personal and social change than cognitive stra tegies alone.