Why don't more women do BJJ ?

O'Leprosy

Been around a few BJJ clubs in Dublin and there is very few women who train at BJJ. Now I know a woman ( and many blokes ! ) might be put off at the thought of a 18 stone mullah sitting on top of her, but still, women are common enough at Judo aren't they ? Why so few at BJJ ?

( No smart sexist comments. If there is I'll mail admin and ask them to delete them. )

dlofnep

I would say most people become interested in BJJ through MMA. MMA is mostly watched by guys. There's the non-politically correct answer for ya.

King.Penguin

Judo is more popular than BJJ so more people and therefore women have heard of it or are interested in it. A lot of people involved in BJJ heard about through the UFC or the internet where men are more prevalent then females.

One of many possible reasons.

(i'm male).

uberpixie

Im sure a lot of women feel uncomfortable with rolling around on the ground with strange hairy sweaty men:D.

It is a very close contact sport and I am sure that would be enough to put a lot of women off.

Roper has an interesting answer he got off one of his female students who tried it once and decided she didn't like,I am sure he will elaborate;).

Fozzy

dlofnep wrote:

I would say most people become interested in BJJ through MMA. MMA is mostly watched by guys. There's the non-politically correct answer for ya.

I'd agree with that. Any of my friends who've taken up BJJ seem to have done it because of an interest in MMA, and I don't have any female friends who are MMA fans. When I started doing BJJ a good few years ago there were maybe 4 girls there, but when I last did it there were none. I'm not sure if there's any big reason for that

Amz

I do BJJ, I started it this year because I'm hoping it will help me with my rugby. I suppose I was influence by my boyfriend, who was the one who pointed out how it would help with rugby etc. Also it might come in useful should I ever need to defend myself.

It was quite intimidating at first, mostly because I was the only female in the class, but after a few minutes that feeling was gone. I was worried the guys would go easy on me too, which I don't think would help me to learn, as most likely should I be attacked etc. it would be by a man.

I do watch UFC and PrideFC etc. and have been doing so for over two years and it's interesting to see the experts practice it, I'm by no means good yet, but I'm enjoying it and I'll hopefully get better at it with time.

I think because some people perceive it to be quite like wrestling and because of the very close physical contact it would put a lot of women off. It's not really as "graceful" or "stylish" as some of the other martial arts out there and I suppose it's not as well known as, say TKD or Kung Fu etc.

buck65

maybe it is a common enough thing across the martial arts spectrum? (more so in BJJ)
In my TKD class when I started it was about 40% female after 2 years its probably 20% at most.

Subbway

Yeah but in BJJ it's pretty muich 99% men.

judas101

there were a few women in the class i used to train in.

one was very good. submitted me many a time. had a size advantage tho ; )

Subbway

Back when i trained in finland for 10 months ... Hmm is it 3 or 4 years in my whole time we only had 1 woman. Atleast for beyond the basic course. I think there were couple of women on basic courses but 70% of men dropped out after basic courses and usually all the women. I guess the ego thing is pretty big for men when they have to go to roll with the purple etc belts. And they get submitted lots (Oh boy i know i did).

Now i have read and my friends have told me that lately BJJ has come one of biggest MA:s in finland and there is even good amount of women in competitions.

So i guess i am trying to say that in few years i think in ireland the better looking sex will find their way to BJJ also.

Also you might not have so many women competing here but quality makes really up for it. Really enjoyed watching The women match and Ais competing against men. Great stuff.

paddyc

..... if ROPER was rolling all over anyone let it be a man woman or evern alley cat... I am sure they wouldnt like it



paddy

Khannie

uberpixie wrote:

Roper has an interesting answer he got off one of his female students who tried it once and decided she didn't like,I am sure he will elaborate;).

Ah here! Spill the beans please!

wasabi

uberpixie wrote:

Roper has an interesting answer he got off one of his female students who tried it once and decided she didn't like,I am sure he will elaborate;).

Interestingly enough Roper repeated what is probably that very same comment to me last week, was nearly enough to put me off the whole thing

Apart from the close contact and all the psychological aspects of being the only woman in a group, it is brutally tough physically rolling with people who are all a good bit larger and stronger than you (as well as better in my case , I'm still the n00b of the club). I've had mornings after classes where I could hardly walk, and I would probably be a good bit fitter than an average beginner.

MaeveD

I'm just back to BJJ after a nasty injury: 2 ribs disclocated, 4 vertebrae and my collarbone all out of place... wasn't painful when it happened just a series of clunks and all just because of weight difference when working with a guy Painful getting it all put right though.... ouch and taking a long time to heal!!

For me the
Number 1 turn off is stinky guys who don't wash themselves or their gear... us girls have sensitive noses, no point having a shower before the class if your gi has been in the boot of the car since your last class.
Number 2... you guys are much stronger than us lb for lb so go easy, put your egos away, use technique not brute force!!
Number 3... A groin guard is a dangerous weapon, if I want my lower back adjusted and muscles stripped I'll go to a physio!

Girls are bright, most don't like getting beaten up, battered, bruised and broken... if they do, they don't come back. You guys seem to like getting battered, the more you get battered the more you train Also girls much prefer shopping, tv and chocolate!!

Subbway

MaeveD wrote:

Girls are bright, most don't like getting beaten up, battered, bruised and broken... if they do, they don't come back. You guys seem to like getting battered, the more you get battered the more you train Also girls much prefer shopping, tv and chocolate!!

Yes... Bruises = honor and motivation. :rolleyes:

wasabi

Subbway wrote:

Yes... Bruises = honor and motivation. :rolleyes:

Excellent, I have much more honour and motivation than you then

Black Swan

buck65 wrote:

maybe it is a common enough thing across the martial arts spectrum? (more so in BJJ)

Agree. The same thing could be said for this MA forum? Not many women participate relative to the number of men?

Roper

paddyc wrote:

..... if ROPER was rolling all over anyone let it be a man woman or evern alley cat... I am sure they wouldnt like it


paddy

Leave me alone Clint, just cos I owe you more money!:D

More girls should do BJJ, but I think the reason lots don't is because:

1) It's sweaty, and not just sweaty sweaty, it's man sweaty.
2) Not a lot of girls do it already, it'd be intimidating for me to walk into a class full of girls and expect to go so I totally understand why a girl would be uncomfortable. If the balance was better I think more women would do it. This is borne out in my stand-up class where theres a lot of girls already so new girls fit in fine - thats pretty sweaty too

I think girls should do it because
1) Its technical, ees bootiful, especially the gi. I've been outclassed many a time by skillful girls when I started out and it was one of the things that made me sit up and say "wow!" about BJJ. If a tiny girl can tap a brute like me I want to know how to do it too.
2) It's practical. I think if you ask a lot of girls what their greatest fear would be in a self defence situation it would be that they were forced to the ground.
3) The more girls that do it, the more will join.

And no, I am not telling you what that girl said to me, I will elaborate on that story only when I am imbibed with copious amounts of alchohol.:D

scottydog

eh Roper...just slip in to ur pink lycra and u would b right at home:D

Maeve pretty much covered the reasons. The man-sweat isn't restricted to BJJ though
I imagine a lot of women also fear being made fun of by more experienced guys.
Let's face it, BJJ isn't short on testosterone in comparison to, say judo, so it's obviously going to be particularly intimidating for a girl.

MA

Girls arent as strong as men, upper body strength of the average women is alot weaker than the average man (as in being able to lift your own body weight) dont know alot about BJJ but isnt alot of it about strength and tactics ...?
I wouldnt have a problem rolling around with guys but find they have an advantage over pinning ya down. Also alot of girls like to use forms of Martial arts to keep in shape aswell as for the sport, girls like to be slim - a slim girl wouldnt get far in BJJ! i know BJJ is one of the toughest sports fitness wise and to grapple takes more out of you than sparring in TKD and KB, i can spar round after round but even 1 round grappling and your bolaxd - but its a different form of fitness.
I do MMA and know alot of other girls that do it to, i enjoy that because its a mixture - not constant ground work

Subbway

Well for me stand-up sparring is much more taxing than grappling. Also ground grappling is really technique based. Ofc strength plays big part but you can compensate it with technique. I have rolled with really good purple belts women from brazil and... let's say i have gotten my ego checked And to other note that purple belt wasn't like bodybuilder type. She was really good looking.

Roper

Any female grappler I know is quitre feminine actually. Sure Aisling Daly is only a slip of a thing to look at and look what she did on Saturday!

MA

Yeah im not talking body builder, im talking more skinny with minimal muscle- girls just seem to want to be as small as possible. when your that small no matter what techinque you use it isnt hard for someone to break the hold.
Obviously this isnt ALL girls, girls in general -i dont know any that want to be bigger or stronger so they stay out of the weights room and on the cardio eqpt.
im used to training with guys so that part wouldnt intimidate me, in heinsight your right i think girls in general dont like sweating around guys or sweaty guys!
You find grappling easier fitness wise... i guess its what your used to eh.
I cant say why i dont do it, i just enjoy running round a ring more also id be worried of injury-alot of pple get shrot term injuries where i train

MA

is grappling about how you use your body weight as well as technique? and is the injury rate higher than other MA sports? in training this is

Mark Hamill

MaeveD wrote:

Number 3... A groin guard is a dangerous weapon, if I want my lower back adjusted and muscles stripped I'll go to a physio!

Guys may have groin guards, but girls have sports bras, thats like two groin guards!

MA wrote:

Girls arent as strong as men, upper body strength of the average women is alot weaker than the average man (as in being able to lift your own body weight) dont know alot about BJJ but isnt alot of it about strength and tactics ...?

Its supposed to be all about the skill, but lesser experienced people will always resort to strength to do anything. Fortunately, most guys, even with only a bit of experience, will realise if you are a lot weaker than them and so ease up, unfortunately for those that don't "know" how to ease up, you just have to get better than them.

MA wrote:

is grappling about how you use your body weight as well as technique? and is the injury rate higher than other MA sports? in training this is

Your body weight does come into it, but its a lot more about technique. I'm a lot smaller than most of the people I roll with, but the only people I ever have problems with are the ones who are actually better than me.
If by MA sports you mean martial arts that train by sparring and regularly compete, than I don't think there is that much of a difference in the injury rate.

I'm curious, how do you train MMA without training the individual aspects seperately?(ie do seperate stand up, clinch and bjj classes)

MA

Good Q,sorry about the crap answer im about to give..

They call it MMA but it aint no UFC- its more Mixed Martial arts as in cover alot of different arts such as TKD, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, grappling etc. The focus is more on KB, TKD and MT- grappling is a part of it but the trainings minimal - we do a fair bit if clinching and no rules fighting but its more standing up and the ground work is very amature! thats why i i know nothing about BJJ. Because so much is covered its hard to put the right amount of training into each aspect so focus is more on KB.
Good to give you a taste of everything but ive realised i prefer to focus on one thing, more results

Amz

Mark Hamill wrote:

Guys may have groin guards, but girls have sports bras, thats like two groin guards!

Have to pull you up on that, any sports bras I've ever owned are just fabric designed to support better while you're running around or whatever. There's no padding or solid component to them. Groin guards tend to be hard structures so comparing the two isn't really possible.

Its supposed to be all about the skill, but lesser experienced people will always resort to strength to do anything. Fortunately, most guys, even with only a bit of experience, will realise if you are a lot weaker than them and so ease up, unfortunately for those that don't "know" how to ease up, you just have to get better than them.

The one week I did roll with a girl she was shorter than me, but she was really quite heavy, so she basically squashed me, I ended up with bruised ribs because of her. Her weight was a problem for me, but that was mostly because I was still very new to it and didn't have the technique to deal with it.

I would rather the guys I roll with don't go too easy on me because I'm not going to learn as much, particularly if I think they're going in easy on me.

Roper

Amz wrote:

Have to pull you up on that, any sports bras I've ever owned are just fabric designed to support better while you're running around or whatever. There's no padding or solid component to them. Groin guards tend to be hard structures so comparing the two isn't really possible.

I think Mark is probably referring to the hard cup type of protective bra, which are pretty frickin solid!

I would rather the guys I roll with don't go too easy on me because I'm not going to learn as much, particularly if I think they're going in easy on me.

Nice attitude, but anyone who's serious about getting good shouldn't be using his strength on anyone smaller or less strong than he, that goes for men and women. That would be my opinion anyway.

Amz I think you were on to me about classes before. Where did you go to train in the end?

Amz

I can't imagine a solid bra being very comfortable, or practical during BJJ. I can understand for kickboxing etc. but not something where there's going to be a lot of body weight put on it.

Roper there were classes in college. They're finished for the summer, so I'm dossing for the next few months.

Not sure if I'll go back next year as they're on a bad day for me (Monday).

Roper

Was that with Owen in DCU?

Nothingcompares

Judo is also very complementing to rugby, a lot of all-blacks take judo classes.

Amz

Roper it was yeah. I wasn't very good but I enjoyed it.

Nothingcompares, so I'm told, I just found BJJ more interesting as I was watching MMA etc. and liked the idea of learning chokes etc. as was said above one of the most frightening prospects for a girl can be to be taken to the ground in an attack, so learning how to deal with that quickly and effectively is something I think could be useful should such a situation arise.

Nothingcompares

Fair enough, don't forget that judo is 50% ground, 50% standing.

arybvtcw0eolkf

AMZ Re. BJJ and Judo.

I think John Kavanagh put it best here when he said that their both opposite sides of the same coin.

Btw, we practice the same chokes in Judo as the lads in BJJ.

Amz

Oh I'm not saying I wouldn't do Judo! I just found the idea of BJJ more interesting I was due to take Judo classes last year, but they fell through so I just didn't bother after that. The classes in college didn't suit as I was playing rugby and they clashed.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Amz wrote:

Oh I'm not saying I wouldn't do Judo! I just found the idea of BJJ more interesting I was due to take Judo classes last year, but they fell through so I just didn't bother after that. The classes in college didn't suit as I was playing rugby and they clashed.

No problem.

I wasn't suggesting not training in BJJ but if you can't find a club you might find you'll enjoy Judo just as much.

And if you go to some clubs, Portmarnock and Coolmine come to mind, you'll find there's an excellent mix of both ground work and take down's.

You'd be more than welcome out in Portmarnock where there's a few ladies training.

Oh, and the after training debrief in the bar is a nice way to wind down and talk over your technique's with fellow Judoka