Empowering Women With BJJ
WHAT IS BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is one of the most popular combat sports not only for men but also for women worldwide. A lot of people take up this martial art I order to protect themselves and entering in competitions.
This style of martial arts has been designed to focus more on skill, technique, and leverage rather than brute strength in ground fighting. This is the main reason why there is a growth in women practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
SMALLER WOMEN CAN DEFEND AGAINST LARGER OPPONENTS
For a lot of women who think about joining a martial arts. The thoughts of sparring or grappling with men, can be extremely intimidating in the beginning. But just imagine how empowering is it to discover a martial art where you’ll able submit an attacker who is literally twice your size.
How is this possible you may ask? Jiu Jitsu is a combat sport that can be done by anyone of any age, weight, or sex. It is built around the principles of technical application of your physical attributes against a resisting opponent. BJJ takes what you have and allows you to make that a power arsenal in your self defence.
As women it is constantly pushed onto us that we have to achieve the “perfect” body. This starts at an early age and comes from magazines, social media and society. Whatever size you are remember you are beautiful, you can achieve your fitness goals and can be healthy.
Jiu jitsu helps you remove these types of insecurities, by showing you just what your body is capable of doing. When I was younger and training I was always insecure about my body even though I was skinny. But coming back into martial arts in my 40’s and my knowing that my body had changed after having kids. I now feel more confident and stronger in my body’s capabilities.
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION
The world will always be filled with judgemental people, but there is no greater feeling than knowing someone is watching, thinking something negative and you come out and smashing the competition. Their jaw has now hit the floor and you walk away with a smile.
Martial arts is a great way of getting fit and increasing your endurance. As you go through belt ranks, you will find you are way more invested in your abilities than your appearance. Bjj practitioners train to fight on the ground, using techniques to evade their opponent and gain the upper hand. Techniques like armbars, closed guard and rear-naked choke are not about strength or size, but correct technique. With dedicated practice, students can learn to defeat a larger opponent in real life.
EMPOWERING WOMEN WITH BJJ
BJJ helps women understand they are capable of submitting people who are literally twice their weight. This is because this style is all about technique overcoming the physical strength of your opponent. Anyone who has trained in a martial arts will tell you that even though technique is important. But it is also a mental battle of who can outsmart and outmanoeuvre your attacker.
Women will learn how to leverage body weight and momentum to escape. Being a martial artist is about combination of problem-solving, mental toughness and technique. Contrary to popular belief it doesn’t require someone to be strong and athletic to apply the techniques. As BJJ can be used regardless of much you weigh or even how tall you are. This is the main reason why a lot of women can practice the grappling arts and excel at it.
This type of training all you need is superior leverage, fluid movements, and body positioning, you can use BJJ to control and even defeat an aggressive attacker.
BJJ training helps you understand the importance of technique over force. While most practitioners may struggle to nail these techniques early on in their training. If you never give up on making the techniques work, you will find you can develop an impressive level of skill which can be used to neutralise the strength as an advantage over a larger untrained attacker.
YOUR DOJO BECOMES LIKE A FAMILY
The people you train with in jiu jitsu or any style of martial art becomes your 2nd family. When you start training you will find how easy it is to become close with other practitioners. Grappling , sweating and pushing each other to get better takes a great deal of trust.
Women who train in bjj or other martial arts form a special closeness to build each other up and always have each other’s backs. There is something about the struggles of being female in such a male dominated sport that brings us together. You will find you get almost an instant connection with female BJJ practitioners from other dojos and even in tournaments. This is such a beautiful thing in empowering women with bjj.
IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING HOW TO GROUND FIGHT
As women I feel as though this skill is vital to add into your martial arts training. When guys attack female their whole objective will be to take you to the ground, in order to continue with their attack. Learning how to remain in control of your breathing and not panic on your back. You will develop the necessary skills you need to turn the tables on any would be attacker’s.
I actually started my martial journey with grappling, but am also now on my 2nd brown belt in karate, so adding the striking elements to my training has made me feel ready to take on any situation. I am a strong believer that in this day and age we need to become more well rounded fighters.
LEARN SELF DEFENCE
Most women start training in martial arts because they want to protect themselves. One things I have stated in other posts, they in order to become a well rounded martial artist. You need to a combination of striking and the grappling arts.
This principle has clear benefits where the female practitioner is concerned. BJJ training emphasizes the importance of technique over force. While smaller practitioners may struggle for success early on in their training, because smaller individuals must also make the technique work to progress, they can often develop an impressive level of technique. In turn, this technical ability can be used to neutralise the strength advantage of a larger untrained attacker.
BREAKING DOWN STEREOTYPES
Even-though the world has progressed with women participating in martial arts and showing just how capable we really are. There is is still a mindset out there that women are too weak or it is not ladylike to train how to fight.
Bjj and other styles shows that everyone is treated as equals. There is no room for an ego on the mats. Most guys are very supportive and will love to help you out if you struggle with a newer technique. However, some new guys might be weird about rolling with women.
Learning mental resilience that will reap benefits out of the dojo. It is important to know how to keeping a calm and a collected mindset in a physical confrontation.
Empower Yourself, And Other Women
As we navigate childhood as a young girl, we will encounter people who we may look up to. When you train in martial arts you help provide newer female students with a role model who can teach them to practice healthy, be disciplined, and can defend herself.
If you have a daughter, a niece, or any other young lady who wants to be you when she grows up, you pass on a lot of those values to her just by showing her what you do. You can give that little girl a head start on loving herself and making friends who genuinely care about her well-being. She may even decide to start training for herself.
WHY WOMEN NEED TO KNOW
As violence against women is a global crisis. Women need to know that they can say “no” at any time for any reason, and not feel ashamed for it. There needs to be acknowledgment around the world where the word “no” is respected and taken seriously. Let this guide help with empowering women with bjj.
In the case a woman is attacked, we have to be able to read the warning signs of potential threats before they happen and have the essential techniques to avoid them. Should a situation become physically dangerous, women need to have the knowledge and will to protect themselves in body and mind.
Calm Under Duress
While confidence and resilience an important skill you’ll gain by training Bjj. But you also need to learn how to stay calm and present even under difficult or dangerous scenarios. Bjj techniques rely on fluidity and technique, this will help you not to panic, freeze or become tense.
Practicing grappling techniques over and over, teaches you to move as naturally as possible. Training this way teaches you how to protect yourself without feeling a strong emotion, such as frustration, anger or panic. When you let your emotions take over, like starting to doubt yourself all your training techniques will be gone in the moment.
LET GO AFTER STRESSFUL WEEK
The benefits go beyond that. Scientific researchers have even found that moderate-to-intense exercises, especially when lead by your sensei. Martial arts has many mental benefits, including reducing or even protecting against depression. Many individually have used BJJ to help themselves deal with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health problems.
So after a tough day at the office there’s nothing better releasing your tensions with a tough training session You’ll soon forget that arrogant boss or that desk full of paperwork tormenting everyday. Just focus on your training partner and get into ultimate stress reliever.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Brazilian jiu-jitsu will teach you how to fight. Builds consistency and repetition by not giving up and showing up at every single session. Empowering women with bjj teaches you how to feel strong, regardless of your size. You’ll practice facing danger and overcoming your fear.
I strongly feel by training in bjj you will begin to explore a powerful side of yourself that you may have never had the opportunity to explore. Women who train in martial arts helps give younger girls a role model: someone to admire and aspire to be.