‘Girls on the mats! Gracie Humaita Sydney’. This article goes especially to ‘Gracie Girls‘ and all the women that are uncertain about starting Jiu-Jitsu.
On the list of reasons that your friends use to push you to the mats the first one is very likely to be self-defense!
Not unfairly pointed out, that comes from the essence of the gentle martial art. Jiu-Jitsu was developed as a methodology for a smaller and weaker person to be able to defeat a bigger opponent using technique rather than strength. However, other reasons make Jiu-Jitsu a brilliant and pleasant sport for girls too.
Here are some of them:
You don’t need strength to be good at it.
It’s understandable that a class full of big dudes becomes frightening, but the weight doesn’t define their technique! To be honest, it is not unusual to see high graded girls smoking some huge guys. Also, it is very likely that the coaches will match the rolls considering the weight.
Friendship on the mats is like no other.
Your training partners are bound to be your second family! With all the time spent together, it becomes pretty hard not to get closer to one another. Jiu-Jitsu is getting more and more popular what increases the chances to have more girls on the mats to train together.
We are in 2020, there’s no sports for girls or boys anymore!
There is no such thing anymore, right? Your gender doesn’t define what you can or cannot do.
Practicing Jiu-Jitsu won’t make you masculine or less feminine. You have many examples of “Jiujiteiras” that are warriors on the mats and keep their femininity at the same time.
On the mats, everyone is equal regardless of gender and you will be treated the same way as the boys. Some new guys might feel weird about rolling with women but those who have been around for a while will generally be good about treating you just as they would treat a man your size and being very respectful about it.
That being said don’t get scared about the sport, just give it a go and see if you feel comfortable.