Recovering from a super Women’s Open Mat this afternoon. This is the third event we’ve organised at Dartford BJJ and unlike previous events, most of the eight participants were more seasoned players; big props to new white belt Rebekka Francis for getting stuck in with the blues and purples (check her review here)! Two of the grrlz, fresh and super pumped from Saturday’s Ana Maria India seminar, were keen to share with us/reinforce for themselves some of the half-guard techniques they worked at the seminar, and we drilled a progression of techniques from the half guard. The second half of the session was spent sparring. We warmed up with a ten minute roll and followed this with one of the participant’s suggestion of ‘King of the Hill’ (or should that be ‘Queen’) sparring. This entailed two women getting into the middle of the mats, while the rest of us rotated between them for two minute rounds. We topped off the afternoon with two five minutes rounds of sparring.
As our visitor from Leicester commented, the calibre of the women’s games was high and it was an excellent opportunity to discuss different approaches to common BJJ problems, in particular getting hooks in for taking the back.
We are looking forward to organising more opportunities for women to roll with one another, and while other participants are hoping to host events at their clubs, Dartford BJJ is pleased to announce a Women’s Open Mat on 6 June. In response to recent inquiries, this event will be split between gi and no gi training. More on this to follow. Lastly, I broke in my new Fenom Kimono. First impressions are very good on this nicely cut, exceedingly soft gi and a review is forthcoming. Thanks again, ladies, for making the Open Mat all that it is and I look forward to seeing you all on the mats again soon.
8 Feb 2010 @ 12:59 am
Good work!
8 Feb 2010 @ 9:36 am
Thanks, Meerkatsu. Was spar-a-licious and feelin' it today. Ladies worked hard and were looking great on the mats. Excellent vibe as always and we discussed ways forward for more and different meet ups. I love the grassroots, and the BJJ community can be so amazing! 😀
9 Feb 2010 @ 3:20 pm
Sounds like fun! Especially the "Queen of the Hill"!
9 Feb 2010 @ 3:24 pm
It was great fun, A.D.! Was a cold, miserable day and I am so grateful to the women who turned out for it. An incredibly sisterly group; never ceases to amaze me how these folk that meet each other at competition put it all aside and just want to learn to be better players. Is inspiring!
9 Feb 2010 @ 11:30 pm
I've not trained with Indra or Dom for ages: as so often with these women's open mats, makes me regret being the wrong gender, or I could have popped down to this. ;p
10 Feb 2010 @ 7:38 am
Hey there, it was good to be there and meet you all…keep up the good work! x
10 Feb 2010 @ 9:41 am
Hi slideyfoot,
Dom's game improves all the time and I get a huge amount out of rolling with her; great to get a chance to roll with Indra too, never before hand the pleasure. I am a bit conflicted about the whole 'women only' thing as I hate to exclude, but in an effort to nurture and seek to actively introduce women to BJJ, I think it is appropriate at this point in the community's development. I am aware of the irony, however, and know that some would label it sexist (though I am not accusing you of anything – just remarking!). Thanks for reading 🙂
10 Feb 2010 @ 9:42 am
Hi Mirian B,
Appreciate you making the journey when you weren't well. As you know there'll be lots of other opportunities, both at my club and around London, so is best to rest when ill and save you strength for the long game. 🙂
10 Feb 2010 @ 9:47 am
When something hasn't yet reached a critical mass (like women in BJJ), I don't think it's discriminatory for an event to focus on solely that group until it has.
I guess you could sort of make a comparison to all-women shortlists in politics, as part of an effort to bolster the still distressingly low numbers of female MPs. Obviously lots of other issues involved in that particular example, but same goal: increase representation.
10 Feb 2010 @ 9:49 am
That's exactly where I'm coming from, slideyfoot, and concisely articulated (as ever!), but you know how reason can sometimes fall on deaf ears 😉 Is heartening to know how much support we do have from the BJJ community 😀
28 Jul 2010 @ 4:20 pm
I agree with @slideyfoot It's support, not sexist, precisely because without that support the default is men only.
Slideyfoot wrote so much on women in BJJ that at first I thought he was a woman. *grin*
28 Jul 2010 @ 9:21 pm
Thanks for reading, juliajohansen, is great to have your input 🙂
29 Jul 2010 @ 11:44 am
Slideyfoot wrote so much on women in BJJ that at first I thought he was a woman.
I think that ranks right up there as one of the nicest compliments I've ever had. 😉
Fenom Kimono women’s BJJ gi review | MegJitsu: A Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Blog by Meg Smitley | Women in BJJ | Women in Martial Arts | BJJ Gi Reviews
4 Feb 2011 @ 1:59 pm
[…] and I are proud to be the first two women in the UK to own these gi, which we modelled at a recent Women’s Open Mat. Since beginning BJJ-training in 2005, I’ve been a committed Koral wearer, gi which I find […]
Fenom Kimono women’s BJJ gi review | Women in BJJ | BJJ Women | BJJ Gi Reviews
21 Aug 2011 @ 12:07 pm
[…] and I are proud to be the first two women in the UK to own these gi, which we modelled at a recent Women’s Open Mat. Since beginning BJJ-training in 2005, I’ve been a committed Koral wearer, gi which I find […]