This started as a blog about training together as a family, in part to inspire other women & families to get involved. As female participation in jiu jitsu has increased, as we have grown as athletes and as we learned that families training together aren’t such an anomaly, the blog has evolved. Jen gets personal with posts on ambition, challenges & achievements in BJJ, CrossFit & with nutrition, while Tom's posts are more educational, informative and analytical in regards to training. On occasion you may hear from the kids.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

A Girl on the Wrestling Team?

by jen
Logan, Hunter and I ran the Miami Merrell Down & Dirty Mud Run last Sunday. What a blast! Logan and I ran the 5k and Hunter ran the 1 mile Adventure Kids race. I was so proud of my kids. We ran with some friends which made the experience even more fun. If this or a similar event comes to your town you should definitely check it out.

Last night we attended the freshman kick off at Logan's future high school. We stopped by to meet the wrestling coach to discuss her potential participation on the team. She is interested as long as it would not conflict with her current bjj training. Jiu jitsu is first in her life!

The coach was talking to a young man and encouraging him to try the team when we approached his table. Wow, the tone changed when we introduced him to Logan! A recap of the coversation is below. The italicized part represents what I was thinking but refrained from saying.

  • "I don't go easier on the girls just because of a pretty face." Grrrr. Did you really just say that? Do you believe that a pretty face means you can't be a bad ass? Because I can introduce you to some really beautiful bad ass women that I train with.


  • "We've had a few bjj guys come out before. They always say wrestling is too hard." He referenced some kid who did karate. Do you understand BJJ?


  • "You know wrestling involves intimate contact, right?" Seriously, do you understand bjj?


  • "We work them out really hard. I make them run 3 miles two times per week." Can I share with you some of the work outs her coach puts her through?


    • Okay, so I am an overly proud mom. I understand the need to give a reality check to future team members. I get it. I also know that the guys can be tough competitors. I've seen the teen boys compete in tournaments - they are aggressive. I do realize that she is not perfect in all that she does, that wrestling is different, and that wrestling would require hard work and shifts in her training. All I ask is that you give a girl a chance before you discourage, discourage, discourage seemingly based on gender.

    Do you have any insight into girls' participation in high school wrestling or combining bjj and wrestling training? I would love to hear from you and learn from your experiences.

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    3 comments:

    1. GinaMay 4, 2011 at 3:36 PM

      I don't know her personally, but a girl from our dojo made the transition from jiu-jitsu to high school wrestling, and she has been very successful, as you can see from this video.

      It's sad that girls still have to fight such stereotypes, but the more of them that get out there and do it, the better it will be in the future. I wish Logan the very best in her wrestling endeavors!

      ReplyDelete
    2. BJJ JudoMay 5, 2011 at 12:38 PM

      "We've had a few bjj guys come out before. They always say wrestling is too hard." - Yeah right, I am so sure that is what they say. "wrestling is to hard for me coach, I am too big of a wimp for your sport so I am going to crawl back to BJJ where it is easy". Give me a break. It sounds like the wrestling coach is a real jack@$$. Reguardless of my opinion on women in high school wrestling I would not let this guy coach my kid. A good high school coach should give guidance and advise that will hopefull stick with your child long after high school. I would not want this ignorant jack@$$ giving my kid any advise.

      ReplyDelete
    3. LianeMay 16, 2011 at 9:04 AM

      My BF's little sister wrestled in high school and continues to do so at the University of Guelph in Ontario. She dabbled in BJJ a bit during her last few years in HS and even competed.

      When she came down to visit us during her reading week, we brought her to all of our classes. Her wrestling background def came in handy. Her weight distribution and control was wicked. She smeared me all over the ground and had no problem handling some of the newer guys. I think having your daughter do both will be absolutely awesome and kick butt!!

      ReplyDelete

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