Pink jiu jitsu

Several thoughts went through my head as I watched and rewatched this video:

1) I want one of these gis.

2) I think all women should learn jiu jitsu. It's the best way to defend yourself against a stronger male attacker, outside of carrying a handgun or learning to run really, really fast

3) If this is what gets women into the sport, I'm glad this program exists. Not all women are comfortable training with men off the bat. It's understandable. We don't want to get hurt and, let's face it, boys can be gross.

4) In my jiu jitsu utopia, I would have no shortage of men or women to train with. As it is now, I place a very high value on the few female training partners I have. See my previous post, lady grapplers, as I wax on about how nice it is to train with other women. It can be a competitive advantage and a source of camaraderie. But if I had to choose between only training with women or only training with men, there is no  doubt I would choose the latter.

My thought is this - If you are training to defend yourself against bigger, stronger attackers, it makes no sense to avoid training with men.

My favorite training partners are those that roll calmly and respectfully with me. They help me learn and they help me get better. I appreciate it when guys of my skill level don't try to over power me with strength, but instead try to beat me with technical jiu jitsu. These are the people I want to roll with 90% of the time. It took me a while to learn this lesson, but when I train with smaller girls, I try my best to tone down my hulk smash. In practice, I want to be technical, rather than bulldozing people with size and strength.

However.....this isn't entirely realistic. A drunk jack ass who grabs me in a bar is not going to be calm and technical about it.

I'll admit, sometimes I go home and bitch. "New guy so and so came at me like he was trying to kill me!" As I have talked about before, it can be hard to roll with brand new people (although now that I have put some time in, I'm secretly starting to like it). All they have is strength, adrenaline, and speed. I try to match it with technical (for a lowly blue belt) jiu jitsu.

And when jiu jitsu wins out, that's how I know that what I've been doing actually works. It's the big, strong new guys who try to kill you who keep it real.