Brazilian jiujitsu for women

While at each competition I go to I see more and more female competitors they are still a pretty small group in comparison to the number of guys there. When I think back to my first experience of Brazilian jujitsu I guess it was a bit daunting soo i thought I would write a little guide for any girls thinking about or new to the sport.

1) Attire: Brazilian jiujitsui (BJJ) is a martial art that involves allot of grappling or wrestling (rolling in bjj terms). When you arrive to your first class you may not have a gi handy or want to commit to buying one as they can be quite expensive. Its important to wear big pants (underwear knickers lol) or cycling shorts 1)because less substantial pants are most likely going to get pretty uncomfortable and 2) you don't want any one to see your butt if your gi pants or shorts fall down! The same goes for your top half try and wear a decent sports bra and a rash guard style top.

The best place to buy rash guards is online, ebay have loads if your on a budget with prices starting from about 8 quid, while websites such as caged steel do some more expensive ones specifically for grappling and mixed martial arts. I really like the look of some of the stuff on http://shop.fightergirls.com/ and might order some if i ever have money again! Primark and sports world are great stockists of pants and cheap leggings to wear under your gi or shorts. For anyone looking to buy a gi for the first time I've heard that feral gi (search for it on ebay) are good quality and relativly cheap (38 quid)



2) Health and hygiene: Theres no denying it after a training session of brazilian jiujitsu be it your first class or just a particularly intense one, you are bound to feel short term muscle fatigue over the next few days. I find that the best way to combat this is with proper nutrition, some good supplements and a nice muscle rub cream. A couple of hours before training I try to eat a meal with a good amount of complex carbohydrates to give me plenty of energy for training. While some people like to cut carbs I find i always need a little immediately after training to replenish glycogen stores, maybe half a carb drink or some wholewheat toast with peanut butter and either a protein shake or a salad with chicken or fish. this is just what works for me atm as I'm not cutting weight. For anyone interested in learning more about nutrition watch this space will post a more detailed ramble about it soon. I get loads of bruises training, taking vitamin C supplement and using Arnica cream can reduce the look of bruises although this isn't something that really bothers me 2 much.

When considering long term health, the addition of supplements including gluscosamine sulphate or fish oils containing omega 3 and 6 to keep your joints healthy is important, as chronic over-use injuries can sometimes occur through excessive training. Your hair will probably start to suffer after a while so invest in some good conditioner and snag free hairbands to avoid it getting damaged, a multivitamin can also help to combat damage. (this is probably the most girly thing i will ever admit to being concerned about but hey I like my hair)
Its a good idea to have a stock of tiger balm, deep heat, pain killers, plasters, bandages, ice packs-in essence a first aid box- just in case.

Hygiene: try and ensure yourself and your gi are clean when training as this helps to prevent build up and spreading of germs and bacteria! I would recommend using an antibacterial body wash or wipes immediatley after training. I recently got an infected fingernail from not taking enough care so now will be stocking up on that dry antibacterial handwash stuff as it is probablly one of the lesser gross things you can get and it killed, when I was training in thailand some people were getting ringworm and other nasties so make sure and keep clean!!!

On that note, theres no such thing as nice nails after you've been training for a while (i still paint mine from time to time but they always get trashed in training) the best thing to do is keep the short otherwise they will break or even more painful get bent back, theres also the risk of scratching people.

These are all things that I've learnt while training bjj for the last year, as there is often a lack of girls training there is hardly ever anyone to offer advice to girls just starting out. While i guess that it maybe a bit embarrassing for some guys to point out, In the worlds of ray elbe my first grappling coach - yeah you can wear your thai shorts to train but make sure your not wearing no granny panties! -

Bjj is a great way to get fit, loose weight, and in my opinion the best martial art for females to learn. I have only been training about a year and met so many great people, and still get as excited about learning a new technique or pulling off a submission as I did in my first class, in fact i probably get more obsessed with the sport each class. So despite the some what scary first impression you may get of a room full of men grunting and rolling around on the floor, give it a go and stick with it and you'll be glad you did!

British open 2009

This weekend me, alex, lee, pete and Sophie travelled up to Birmingham from ebo to compete in the British open. We were part of the BTT/pedro bessa team and have been training from about September. I didn't really feel ready for this competition but as its the biggest competition in the UK i decided to man up so to speak and go for it. At 3.30 my alarm started blaring girls aloud waking me from my 3 hours of sleep, there was just about enough time to scoff some cereal, throw on my juicy tracky and walk round to lee's. The drive up wasn't too bad i managed to nap for about an hour and listen to my jujitsu play list on my ipod which consists of a lot of loud pumped up music and then we were there- half an hour before the place actually opened but better early than late! (Tolly would have been horrified at our tres uncool early arrival time)

I'm starting to recognise most of the girls on the competition scene. My first fight was against Emma leavy she pulled guard and i passed and went to side control don't remember much from it but i won on points. My second fight was against lauren reed who i had fought before at the Bristol open. I really enjoyed this match, i think we are pretty well matched strength wise, she got me with a kul sweep but I won in the end with a rear naked choke. Just saw on efn that they have the results wrong grrrr I'm listed as joint bronze as Raquel what cheek haha. We also discovered some of the medals were spelt wrong (not mine luckily but Alex's was). Sophie did really well beating her first opponent Camilla parker, her next fight against Megan mcgreggor started off really well with soph getting an awesome take down but unfortunately got caught out with a guillotine choke.

The rest of the guys did well with alex winning gold in white belt light weight and pete coming second in white belt heavy category. Lee did well too for his first competition but unfortunatly got arm bared with like 2 seconds to go! Despite not feeling 100% i'm glad I went to this competition, I think that its the best way to test out the moves you remember and see what you need to work on. Theres about a month before the next grab and pull tournament and I'm looking forward to getting back to training properlly. Think me alex tolly and lee are going up to slough to train at btt which will be good.

Saving for thailand is going slooowly temping agency is coming up with minimum wage job after job but fingers crossed!

Beach work out and the week before British Open

Well I have to say that the last few weeks havn't involved much training. First of all I had the last of my university deadlines to get in and then I got this mole on my arm which had to be removed so,,, while I was waiting for my surgery I wasn't allowed to train and now I have stitches so it will still be another week until I can get back to training properly which sucks! I was stuck in a bit of a self pity rut until last night when me and alex watched legacy, the film about renzo gracie (pic of me at RGA new york), and I made a promise to my self that I would drag my lazy ass down to the beach to do some cardio and strength work to keep myself motivated.





Beach work out! Brighton is a pebbly beach and 2 minutes away from where we live its generally quiet. I was in a good mood when I woke up to see that the sun had disappeared and it was a grey overcast day haha I'm not really a sun lover as i get burnt within 20 minutes of being outside! started off my jogging to the beach and doing a few laps weaving between the wooden posts. I decided I would sprint a length, run round the posts and then chose 4 exercises to do when I got back round sprint run 50 crunches " "50 sit ups " "50 leg raises " "50 V sit ups 2 minutes break " "50 squats " "50 side kicks " "lunges (just along the same length i sprinted) 2 minutes break




After this my legs were kinda dead so I just did 30 triceps dips and push ups on this wooden log and some shadow boxing but I'm going to try and buid it up so I can keep running more. It did prove to be a good workout though The British open is only a week away, I think I'm registered to fight in the under 64 cater gory which should be fine I weighed 61.4 in the morning yesterday so as long as i eat well this week and keep up with cardio should be fine. I'm kinda nervous about this just becasue I havnt been able to train properly with these stitches in, ah well I love competitions so will just have to hope I remember everything and havnt lost too much strength!

Carmen jenke seminar, irish shenangins and catfight gear gi

Well, i certainly can't complain of boredom these last few weeks! Last weekend I went up to London to attend the first woman's only bjj seminar in the Uk. My fear of Sunday trains was eased a bit as I sped from surbiton to London Victoria, then on the underground to st pancreas (hugest train station ever!!!) then to mill hill Broadway. Despite my best attempts to get there on time,,, I was as usual running a bit late so decided to nip into the toilet on the train and change into my gi which did cause a few people to do a double take as I emerged from the loo wearing my blue koral gi tucked into my uggs hehe. This turned out to be a good move, as I was getting off the train I felt someone tap on my shoulder and ask weather I was going to a Brazilian jiu jiutsu seminar! what are the odds haha this resulted in getting a lift to RGA mill hill meaning I wasn't too late. The seminar its self was very interesting it started with lots of drills, a few of which I hadn't seen before and found quite hard to get the hang of! We then paired up and drilled a few things

1) collar choke from guard- this involved breaking our partners posture and waiting for them to pull up allowing the choke to be put on really easily before the person realised what was going on I liked this move as it was quite simple and effective and i found that a bit of extra hip movement using your opponents movement to swing round made it come on even quicker



2) A couple of guard passes - start by holding partners hips or their gi lapel and pushing into their sternum, then contrary to what I usually do which is placing my knee into my opponents tailbone Carmen recommended that to keep your base it was better to keep your knee more to the side which i think worked just as well, to pass we either under hooked the leg or stepped over with our knee, which i usually prefer. After we passed we drilled a kimora from side control which I usually find hard to get but Carmen showed us that it was easier to wait for you opponent to make the move and set up the grip in preparation for when they eventually try to push you off of them, I like to use my face sometimes to help pin the arm down lol

3) A sweep from half guard which worked by reaching round and holding your opponents foot and knee and another one I had learnt a few weeks ago with Ze which I will need to research more as I'm not sure on how best to describe it

4) an open guard sweep that I learned ages ago in New york which starts by holding the collar and the sleeve with your foot on their hip then switching grip to the sleeve and the ankle to sweep them you then pull the ankle and push their hip with your foot


we then rolled for about 30 mins, I was pleased at how I rolled, what I lack in strength and size in comparison with a couple of the girls I managed to keep my cool and pull of a couple of submissions including the gi choke we had learned that day, later this reminded me of Ray in Thailand yelling move of the day!!! whenever anyone managed to pull of the technique we had been working on. All in all the day was really good it was great to see so many girls on the mat at once! I left feeling extra motivated which paid off in training on Monday as I felt my game was just that more redefined.

training that week involved...
BJJ on Monday: I went over the moves we had learned in the seminar with Sophie and the new girl then we rolled most of the class
mma on Tuesday: brought my friend Anna down to train as shes a black belt in taikwondo and i wanted to work on some stand up and no gi stuff despite I kick to the ribs that made me think I was going to be sick sparing involved me taking Anna down and avoiding being punched to much.
Wednesday: went boxing with the girls at uni while not the most hard core class it is a good work out and only 2 quid a class. after boxing went to bjj but really wasn't in the mood for it haha Richard made me n soph roll no gi because we might be doing the European competition in grapple and strike, I was feeling pretty crappy after but it was still a fun day of training.

Then another weekend rolled around, as my mum was over from the Uk visiting she decided me her and my brother would spend the weekend in ireland seeing some friends which was a really nice break even though there was no training involved! we did however watch some motor cross, have some nice dinners and watch our friend wilsons band down at the pub which made for a really good break. Note to self that cinimon glod flecked goldshlager stuff is dam tasty but = god awful hangover see picture below for the extent of my hungover trek back home







Got a couple more essays to be getting on with unfortunatley and am also broke as a joke as i ordered a new gi from catfightgear.com Ah well a kul new gi is worth eating soup the rest of the month and after all the fried breakfasts and chocolate of late im sure my tummy will be thanking me. Ebayed loads of old crap so should be all good.

Sunday trains grrrr

Why is it that every time I need to go somewhere its on a Sunday meaning that there will be bus replacement services,, diversions,, and general chaos mehhh I can either leave from eastbourne on Sunday to get to the seminar which will take 2 and a half hours orrr i can go up to Hampton with my mum on Saturday dump all my stuff off for Ireland (visiting some friends over there next weekend) and then go from Hampton to mill hill on Sunday which will also take about 2 hours and involves the dreaded underground. Either way I will most likely be in a hella bad mood by the time I get there, at least a meeting with fellow bjj peeps and learning some kul moves from Carmen will cheer me up!

Green gym in Eastbourne

Finally got my lazy ass back to training! It was really fun tonight we had a little club tournament which involved me refusing to tap to an arm bar by Paul rolling out of it and then Tolly stopping the match, I suppose sensing I was in a particularly stubborn mood.

Its funny I remember Alex telling me about a match with helio gracie where even after he had broken his arm he didn't tap, at the time I remember saying how stupid, and that they should tap if they knew their arm was going to break after all that would mean sitting out of training while waiting to recover blah blah. A few months later after competing in my first competition and alot more training sessions and i completely get it,,, although usually in training I wouldn't be so tenacious, but tonight I really did not want to tap (also i was pretty sure Paul wouldn't break my arm lol)

Also, there was a girl who came to check out the class and is going to come on Monday which means for a small club we will hopefully have 3 girls training bjj, I would like to organise some sort of event maybe a free taster class for girls only, will have to see what Tolly thinks.

watching cage gladiators on TV at the moment and our friend David lee is fighting haha so funny seeing people i know on tv, I wana be on tv!!! watching the girls mma fight and its making me wanna train harder, even when i look in the mirror when we're all lined up at training i look so scrawny, need to get to the gym i think.

There is something to be said though for increasing strength through training bjj since i started I have lost a lot of body fat and gained much more upper body strength, I can do about 25 push ups compared to half of a push when i started 8 months ago.

To my excitement they have a green gym in our park now I was walking to the shops the other day and saw someone on this metal cross trainer haha seeing as I am too broke for the gym at the minute this looked like a fun way to do some extra training now I have more free time.

some pics of alex anmd my mum messing around in the outside gym

competitions I would go to if I wasnt a broke student and some I will be doing anyways

While I am happy doing all the competitions I can get to in the united kingdom (well the more southern parts of the uk) I keep seeing loads of competitions that I would want to do if i had, say my own privet jet or at least a bank account with more than 100 quid in it.

1) Grapple Girls Women’s Open 2009: they have a tournament on the 22nd of august followed by a grappeling camp fromm the 23-29th august and I really want to gooooo! being that august is quite far away i may potentially have the disapline to save up for plane tickets and could possibly find someone to say with lol watch this space

2)Alliance BJJ Mundial Championships Training Camp May 26 - June 2 in Georgia: Romero “Jacare” Cavalcanti is the head coach, this is basically a camp to prepare for the world bjj tournament and involves 2 classes a day for a week allong with conditioning classes, is it lame that this sounds better than a boring beach holiday somewhere to me?!

3) 2009 BJJ World Championships June 4-7 in California: Need I say more,,, I would love to go to this tournament perhaps if I do well in all the Uk tournaments I would have the guts to go lol

Some competitions I will be more likley to make it to!!!

1) may 23rd an 24rth U.M.A. International Open Groundfighting & Grappling Championships not stricktly a bjj comp but i would like to get more experiance in no gi

1) June 21 BJJ British Open Cocks Moor Woods Leisure Centre
Alcester Rd South
Birmingham, West Midlands, B14 6ER



I also think there will be summer devisions of the Bristol and grab and pull tournaments and,,, if anyone knows of any good comps in the uk or close by feel free to let me know want to compeate as much as possible over this summer while I have the free time :-)