For years women have viewed martial arts such as Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo as an all-boys club. We at Scranton MMA are proud to say, “Not anymore!” Since instituting our women’s self-defense program, Untouchable!, many of the woman have crossed over into the regularly daily scheduled classes. Over the years many women have risen to greatness within the ranks of bjj and judo and so can you, IF you follow in their path and learn from their experiences. Read on to find out how to maximize your enjoyment and learning while training at Scranton MMA.
Make certain you choose not to train with people who will injure you. Stop a roll if you are uncomfortable or need to redefine the “rules of engagement”. It’s YOUR bjj work out so take control of it. You are in charge of your experience at Scranton MMA therefore don’t be fearful to stand up for yourself. Your safety and wellbeing are imperative. You can be the toughest fighter on the mat but the laws of physics still apply to you. Be intelligent. You’re here to learn. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone.
Clearly outline your expectations to your training partners. Many guys just don’t understand how strong they are in relation to you. If you require them to use less strength or less weight just say so. Help them help you by being forthright and open about what you need to best learn. If the guy is going to be a yank don’t train with him! Some men can’t bear the ego threat of a woman “out-techniquing” them and so will use his strength and weight in order to “win” the sparring round. Stay clear of a guy like this ~ you WILL get hurt if you work with these kinds of guys. The injury isn’t worth the risk. Seek support from instructors on this problem and safeguard that you are paired up with safe and fitting training partner.
Don’t roll with white belt guys who outweigh you by more than 10 pounds unless you know with 100% certainty that you can trust them. White belts lack control and may inadvertently hurt you. If you can’t avoid being paired with a white belt that is larger, set some conditions such as only drilling a predetermined sequence of moves or only sparring at 50% resistance instead of a full-on roll. The best advice is to seek out higher rank males. They make better training partners because they have more control and have gotten past ego.
Ladies, follow these strategies and rest assured that you CAN train safely at Scranton MMA. There are plenty of helpful, cooperative, and fitting training partners on the mats every day at Scranton MMA!
See you on the mats!