Big BIG props to Camilla Hansen of Checkmat BJJ and Steven Burton of Alliance UK who faced each other at the UK Premier BJJ Open on 26 February. Camilla was the only female purple belt to register and the guys in the men’s division welcomed her into their own division. Huge respect to the men’s purple division for agreeing to compete with Camilla and for taking her seriously as a player; check out Combat BJJ’s video of the fight. To me, this match has a particular significance for two reasons. Firstly, mixed competition is rare in the UK. Secondly, as noted in my reflections on the status of women in BJJ, Camilla, herself, posted on EFN in 2009 regarding competition between men and women:
As Camilla Hansen’s excellent posting on EFN demonstrates, women are barred from competing against men at most UK tournaments. While Hansen notes that the Nordic Open allows mixed competition with a 5 kilo advantage, it remains aberrant in Anglo-North American grappling tournaments to offer mixed competition.
I think it is tremendous that the guys in the men’s purple division were brave enough to invite Camilla on to the mats. Not an easy choice. Posts on mixed competition on EFN and elsewhere provide evidence of some rather unfriendly views that suggest if the male competitor either wins or loses it is a hollow victory for the champ; it’s easy to beat a girl, right? I am feeling the love, big time, to see competitors with a more advanced mentality; very heartening.
3 Mar 2011 @ 3:14 pm
Very cool! Hopefully this mentality will spread! 🙂
3 Mar 2011 @ 3:16 pm
So impressed with those guys. I appreciate the potential awkwardness for the guys but pretty darn cool they were more interested in giving Camilla a chance to compete than anything else. Respect!
3 Mar 2011 @ 7:07 pm
The BJJ scene here is maturing. Scenes like this will still be rare because hopefully more women will compete. But Camilla’s experience will serve as an example for other promoters to offer the same, if requested. I for one would have no problem competing against a lady grappler with a weight advantage and I would feel proud win or lose. The most skilled person wins, that’s the way I see it.
3 Mar 2011 @ 7:14 pm
Indeed, while the community is still growing it is a nice option for those that would like it (on either side of the equation) where there aren’t other competitors in one’s category. In terms of weights, I like the idea of a 5 kilo ‘handicap’ – though where, for instance, a woman is very light this wouldn’t be do-able anyhow – to compensate for the differing proportion of muscle to fat between men and women. Even very fit women are unlikely to be like-for-like vis-a-vis a man of her same weight as women, by their nature will average 10% more fat than a man. Or, where there are mixed categories, perhaps dispensing with the time-limit to give less of an advantage to the larger/stronger player. At any rate, as more and more generations of BJJ women come through in the UK, this’ll be less and less of an issue as more female competitors take to the mats 🙂
Thanks for your comment!
9 Apr 2011 @ 7:50 pm
Maybe I’m naive, but I’d like to see a few mixed divisions remain in the future, even when there are lots of females doing BJJ. I wonder if there’s a handicap sweetspot that could put fights on a similar level? Perhaps rather than an absolute weight advantage, have it scale with the weight category?
I don’t know, it just seems like a shame to have such a progressive thing stop unless it’s more hassle than it’s worth.
9 Apr 2011 @ 7:55 pm
Hi Hywel,
Agreed, I think it is a cool and fun thing! At present we are quite far from having full women’s divisions in UK comps – though we are getting there! – and it would be nice to see this sort of thing expand. As mentioned above the Scandinavians use a 5 kilo handicap, or so I’ve been led to believe, but how close to a ‘sweet spot’ this may be, I couldn’t say. Likewise, as above, where women are very light, this wouldn’t work anyhow – there are very few men in BJJ under 60 or 50 kilos. I think it is great the guys welcomed her in; such a bummer not to get a fight when you’ve prepared.
Thanks for commenting!
3 Mar 2011 @ 8:56 pm
Brilliant! Kudoes to the guys and yay for Camilla… thank you for posting this Meg!!!
4 Mar 2011 @ 9:05 am
Yay! Goodness all around 😀 Thanks for reading, Georgette!
4 Mar 2011 @ 1:04 am
It’s interesting that at local tournaments kids and teenagers have mixed brackets all the time. When the girl turns 18 and competes in adult division, the mixed brackets are not available any more. Some tournaments have very few girls and they are all put together in one bracket and the weight difference can be 30-40 or more pounds. One of my friends who is little over 110 pounds went against a 265 pound lady. Which is worse? Competing against guys your weight or girls way bigger than you?
4 Mar 2011 @ 9:08 am
Indeed, Triin, that is exactly the point Camilla makes in her EFN posting. If an argument against mixed competition is to prevent injury, then surely allowing folk to compete closer to their weight is wiser than clumping smaller divisions into an absolute. At least allowing the possibility where the men and women concerned are up for it; after weeks of prep, it stinks to not get a fight. Cheers for your thoughts!
4 Mar 2011 @ 9:09 am
PS Teenage boys are a nightmare! Strong, flexible, low on ego and quick to learn. Very challenging training partners 🙂
23 Nov 2011 @ 1:21 am
hi meg,
great article on mixed bjj.here in the states and in some other countries for that matter,women going against men in bjj tournaments is no big deal.to see some examples of what i mean go to you tube and type in the following 3 headings into the search engine:
hillary williams
82carly
megan gracie barra nl 65.
all 3 of the above are clips of mixed fights in various bjj tournaments.
bill in the u.s.a.
23 Nov 2011 @ 8:57 am
Hi Bill, thanks for your comment! It remains a pretty controversial thing in the UK and while it does occur I’m not sure it is particularly common and suspect it does stir strong emotions in some on either side of the Atlantic. Though there are signs of change and some European countries, notably Scandinavia, make formal provision for this, e.g. a 5kilo handicap for women in mixed division (many women would struggle to find able competitors 5kgs lighter, but hey it is the thought that counts!). It is a real problem for female competitors to get match ups, especially at smaller tournies, and mixed divisions could be a nice way to deal with that.