I'd say it depends on the situation, however for me, It's safer and quicker to attempt to diffuse the situation..... as an EMT responding to calls in South Buffalo... aka "a not so nice place"..... I've been unarmed dealing with people holding guns, knives, glass bottles, anything they can use as a weapon.... just because they don't like seeing flashing lights and two people in uniform walk up...... and I haven't gotten hurt because I use a professional and courteous approach.
Now does that mean I haven't had to tackle both men and women? NO!! but TACKLE is different than HIT, in my opinion, there's always a better solution than hitting a patient/suspect/attacker, what have you...