The early years of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu were dominated by stereotypical alpha males, and very few women trained. Thanks to a handful of pioneering female jiu-jiteiros, that is changing, and more and more women are joining them on the mat every day. They teach all women’s classes. They run all women’s seminars. And they host all women’s grappling camps. The mat has become a much more welcoming place for women, and that’s a very good thing. The more minds on the mat, the better.
That said, it would be a disservice for us to not address an unfortunate truth: there are assholes everywhere, and some of them train jiu-jitsu. As much as we love jiu-jitsu and its potential for good, the mat is not always a paradise. If you are a woman or know a woman looking to train, the best thing to do is to find gyms where women already train. If there is not a gym like that near you, try one and get a feel for the instructors, the quality of the culture, and the nature of the students. Any culture that is less than welcoming, accommodating, or respectful is to be avoided.
My studio has about 10 women who roll and we keep tabs on which guys to avoid training with and share that information with each other. Our instructors are also pretty good at not putting us with the meatheads.
It’s definitely a counter-intuitive sport for a woman (i.e., having someone in closed guard), however, once I made it over that (and a few other) speed bumps, I’ve found that BJJ is very empowering from a self-defense perspective, and that makes it more than worth it to get on the mat, harness your fears and go for it. It’s also the best workout I’ve ever had – sore from head to toe! “Pain is simply weakness leaving the body” as my daughter likes to say.
The early years of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu were dominated by stereotypical alpha males, and very few women trained. Thanks to a handful of pioneering female jiu-jiteiros, that is changing, and more and more women are joining them on the mat every day. They teach all women’s classes. They run all women’s seminars. And they host all women’s grappling camps. The mat has become a much more welcoming place for women, and that’s a very good thing. The more minds on the mat, the better.
That said, it would be a disservice for us to not address an unfortunate truth: there are assholes everywhere, and some of them train jiu-jitsu. As much as we love jiu-jitsu and its potential for good, the mat is not always a paradise. If you are a woman or know a woman looking to train, the best thing to do is to find gyms where women already train. If there is not a gym like that near you, try one and get a feel for the instructors, the quality of the culture, and the nature of the students. Any culture that is less than welcoming, accommodating, or respectful is to be avoided.
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My studio has about 10 women who roll and we keep tabs on which guys to avoid training with and share that information with each other. Our instructors are also pretty good at not putting us with the meatheads.
It’s definitely a counter-intuitive sport for a woman (i.e., having someone in closed guard), however, once I made it over that (and a few other) speed bumps, I’ve found that BJJ is very empowering from a self-defense perspective, and that makes it more than worth it to get on the mat, harness your fears and go for it. It’s also the best workout I’ve ever had – sore from head to toe! “Pain is simply weakness leaving the body” as my daughter likes to say.
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