Onna Bugeisha, the Female Martial Artist

Gentle like cotton, sharp as a sword Being a martial artist that happens to be female, I have always marveled at the stories of historical warriors that happened to be female, such as the Onna-Bugeisha (女武芸者) or Female Martial Artists in Japan. As a little girl I wore princess dresses but was concealing at least a few plastic or wooden weapons such as katanas and daggers (I mean, you never know what or who you meet during...

BJJ after sexual abuse

Recently, Jiu Jitsu Times revealed the results of their survey regarding sexual abuse in BJJ gyms. At the same time, in the wake of Harvey Weinstein’s exposing, we read countless of accounts of women and men who are survivors of sexual abuse. #MeToo and #IHave movements show how real this problem is and that it not only “can” happen to anyone but unfortunately most likely already has. The first step to solving anything is to acknowledge that there is a...

Rose El Sharouni on creating a platform by and for BJJ Women

In the beginning of September 2017, active competitor Rose El Sharouni received her brown belt from head coach Luiz “Maixinha” Ribeiro (London Fight Factory) at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy Amsterdam affiliated with Checkmat. Off the mats she studies full-time medicine and holds already a Master of Science degree in Sports Sciences. On top of that she makes herself strong for her fellow BJJ ladies by striving with Johanna Tavares to create an online platform as well as organize events by...

Young Empowered Women Speak

Buzz. Buzz. WhatsApp message. I open the app and see that I received a message from one of the young ladies of my BJJ class, Sarah. It is Monday and 20 minutes to 7 O'Clock. Normally her training would start in 20 minutes on that very day if it had not been summer holiday. Two weeks ago the holiday started. “I am bored”, she writes, “We are somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I wish that I had to go...

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