RE: The perks and downsides of being a woman in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

This is a great read and such an important part of jiu-jitsu. I personally love rolling with women. I think that if you play your sensitivity right, you can give them just the right amount of pressure to make it realistic and challenging, without being an asshole about it.

I have definitely rolled with the guys who outweigh me, and it changes my jiu jitsu, and definitely makes it a lot more difficult if they are skilled. About the only time weight/strength doesn't seem to come into play as much, is about 3-5 minutes into a role with someone who has not trained at all. Eventually the size and strength advantage fades away, and they are now fish in shark infested waters with any blue belt and above.

On the flip side, I also have been lucky to train with some very talented women, of all belt ranges, of all sizes, many who can straight up kick my ass in grappling. Some who could honestly probably even kick my ass if you added striking. It definitely proves that technique is king, and it works. It also puts your ego into check.

Hopefully more women will join the ranks of rolling around with some sweaty dudes. Like in life, yes there are always going to be assholes. But, for the most part, I feel like the jiu jitsu community is very well rounded with males who can give women some realistic energy, without killing them, and hopefully helping them get better every time they are on the mat!

Thanks for sharing @irime!

Thanks once again for such a thoughtful comment! I like that you always add to the topic :-)

About the only time weight/strength doesn't seem to come into play as much, is about 3-5 minutes into a role with someone who has not trained at all. Eventually the size and strength advantage fades away, and they are now fish in shark infested waters with any blue belt and above.

Even I have experienced this with some new spazzy blue belts, once they get tired you can dominate them simply because they are so short of breath they can no longer move let alone think clearly, hehe...

I believe a clear proof that BJJ works is that women who have higher ranks are definitely capable of handling people who might be bigger and stronger, but are certainly much less skilled/knowledgeable. There is a newly minted brown belt girl in our team that even bigger guys who have been training for 3-4 years have a lot of trouble dealing with; they say that sometimes even if they make use of sheer strength to try and overpower her, they just cannot dominate her and often end up bow-and-arrowed, haha!