FEMALES ONLY! Hypocritical?
I was asked “ As a woman don't you find it hypocritical in a way to run a female ONLY bjj class? Can you imagine if females couldn't attend class because they are for ONLY men???” My response was “Absolutely! 100% hypocritical”. Let me reiterate that I’m the first to say I’m FULL of double standards....some I recognize and acknowledge and some I don’t even realize I have until someone calls me on it...(which I’m glad people do. It keeps me thinking. I enjoy questioning my own logic). Like this friend said to me “ Society thinks we are weird for grappling at all.... and then automatically assigns a sexual element as soon as a female gets involved. I think ultimately it’s that prudish view on human sexuality that causes females to think that bjj is not for them”....and he is spot on.
So despite the drastic growth of BJJ and MMA due to the popularity of UFC events and publicized ‘fights’ we the ‘females’ are still the minority. In most schools we are but a few....and unfortunately in this male dominated sport a female only class right now is essential for gender growth at our academy....I’ve been training about 13 years and during that time I haven’t had one consistent female training partner for more then a couple of years consecutively. Not one. So ‘male only’ classes were pretty much every night....unless I showed up!
Reality is....Getting females in the door is TOUGH. Females by nature are initially intimidated by the physicality of the sport- the close contact (body to body pressure positions, that invasion of any personal space, sharing someone else’s body sweat/smells, and the grand idea that ‘it appears real’).....and remember- to the untrained eye this can have an illusion of a ‘sexual element’ which can be mentally unsettling....but when all is said and done Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is like any co-ed sport. It’s competitive, technical, physically/cognitively challenging and there is nothing sexual about it....(unless you are looking for there to be!!!....bc you can make ping pong sexual if that’s what you are seeking). So having a FEMALE ONLY class is just a once a week attempt to lure in anyone with a vagina to come out and try something ‘outside the box’. No pun intended. This is an opportunity to have a female instructor with a ‘like mind’ (or somewhat like!) who’s been there....I have kids, a husband and lots of responsibilities but I’ve persevered. I know how uncomfortable you’ll be and we’ll work through it and you’ll be amazed how quickly the awkwardness goes away.... B/c this will change the way the average person thinks about ‘working out’. People who don’t train have no understanding of how challenging, technical, and exhausting training/live rolling can be....and they make assumptions that b/c of the physicality ‘they can’t do it’....Which can’t be further from the truth. Unless you have some limiting medical condition that prevents you from training....there is no reason you shouldn’t be training. Like I said in my posts advertising the class there are a number of reasons to try jiu-jitsu: physical fitness, confidence, self discipline, functional strength and learning to defend yourself....b/c self defense isn’t one class or a handful of classes....it’s a lifestyle. It’s a mentality.
Is this sexy? I didn’t think so. Any questions. Sign up at www.bjjunderdog.com