The Importance of Women's-Only Jiu-Jitsu Events
Disclaimer: In order to write this blog post, I had to make more generalizations than I'm typically comfortable with. Please read this knowing that people come in all shapes and sizes, have different skills, and that yes, men can have long hair too. Additionally, I could have just as easily written a post about why women should train with men, and I likely will do so in the future. But with the next "Girls with Grips" event being hosted here at Relson Gracie CT, this topic is especially relevant.
I'd like to start this off with a confession: Prior to enrolling in Jiu-Jitsu classes, I didn't see the point of women's-only...anything. I had been "one of the guys" since my freshman year of high school, which was a role into which I fell comfortably. I started my electrical engineering career in early 2011, which also marked the beginning of a five-year, 439-jump obsession with skydiving. The percentage of women in either of these activities is only in the teens, so I was surrounded by a lot of men and few women, and I didn't have an issue with that.
Fast-forward to September of 2015 when I took my first Gracie Jiu-Jitsu class. I was the only woman at the time and have continued to be one of just a small handful in the years since then. No big deal, right? I thought that if I could roll well against big, strong men, then I should have no problem racking up wins against women in my own weight class. I earned my blue belt, started competing, and collected a bunch of medals, but it quickly became obvious to me that my previous assumption was wrong; rolling with men was not the best preparation for competing against women. And I was also missing out on all the other benefits enjoyed by women who train together.
Below are just a few of the reasons that women’s-only Jiu-Jitsu events are important.
Women Move Differently than Men
More accurately, different body types have different movement patterns. People come in all shapes and sizes, and we should strive to celebrate and gain experience with as many of them as possible. But the average woman is shorter and lighter than the average man, and most would agree that women in this sport tend to be faster, more flexible, and better able to slip out of precarious positions, compared to their male teammates. We also have different centers of gravity, with a woman's located near the center of the pelvis and the man's in the center of his chest; if nothing else, this has implications for take-downs.
How does all this affect the way we roll? Because of our size, many of us ladies need to work harder to make ourselves feel "heavy" when in a dominant position. If rolling with another woman, we need to close up any and all space so our opponent or training partner cannot sneak a limb through an opening that a larger or less-flexible man would be less likely to take advantage of. And, while I love and appreciate my male teammates, most of them have a size and strength advantage over us women, so we're left to rely on speed and technique. I often feel that sparring with men is like rearranging boulders, whereas rolling with women is like being trapped inside a tornado. This doesn't make us better or worse, just different.
Women have unique challenges
Whether it's returning to the academy after a pregnancy, preventing long hair from getting ripped out, finding the best gear to fit our various body types, or - yes, I'm going to say it - training while on our periods, women face unique challenges that most cisgender men do not. For these scenarios, even the most supportive of male jiujiteiros cannot replace a same-sex teammate who has worked through the same challenges, understands them, and can offer advice.
Some women are not comfortable training with men
We all have our own reasons for being involved with this sport, and they are as unique as they are numerous. For some, learning a martial art isn't just about having fun, staying fit, or enjoying the competitive aspect; it's a response to one or more abusive incidences. For reasons that should be obvious, women who have suffered abuse by men might have a difficult time practicing a close-contact sport like Jiu-Jitsu with anyone, but particularly with people of the opposite sex. Even for those who haven't experienced this type of trauma, being able to train with other women could make all the difference when it comes to walking through that door. Starting something new is intimidating, especially for survivors of abuse, but being able to train with same-sex teammates can help.
You may be wondering why women's-ONLY events are needed to accomplish all this, and that's simply because those types of training sessions are the more effective way to get many female Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in the same place. Our last "Girls and Grips" event led to 39 women sharing the same mats. Doing this again is much more likely than getting 39 women - or even 10 - to sign up for a membership at any one academy. Women's-only Jiu-Jitsu events aren't about excluding men; they're about bringing women together so we can help each other reach our greatest potential.