Yes I’ve heard of it, my dad taught me that and even my oldest brother does it when we hang out. The thinking was around the following: if a car splashes a puddle, you shield her, if a car jumps the curb, you shield her, if some shyt is going down - fight shooting etc - you can shield her against a building or push her into the door of one.
I’m not super stringent about making men do this, but the ones who have done it with me, especially when I know they do it purposely, get props. I know they had some old school men/teachings/chilvary in their lives. No offense, but it definitely is something I saw as a difference between dudes who grew up with a father and those who didn’t.