Women's Self-Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Women’s Self-Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Classes

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the ideal form of self-defense for women. Using technique and leverage, women can learn how to defend themselves against larger, stronger assailants. At Fabio Novaes Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, we can equip you to defend yourself in situations most commonly faced by women in a class taught by women and geared toward women.

Improves Cardio and Strength

Improves Coordination

Improves Self Confidence

Enables You to Defend Yourself Against Bigger, Stronger Assailants

Is for people of ALL fitness levels

Does NOT require previous martial arts experience

One Week Free Trial!

Classes are on Tuesdays/Thursdays from 6:30-8:00 pm. Contact Fabio Novaes at (863) 944-3386 or Allie McClish at (813)-391-5199 for more info. All classes are held at 3705 Century Blvd. Unit #4. Lakeland, FL.33811 (close to Drane Field Rd, in front of the airport).

If you couldn't tell by the flyer, I am very happy to announce that we will be starting a women's class at Fabio's and that I am going to have the honor of teaching it. I am very excited!

One of the reasons why I think a lot of women are put off by bjj is the fact that they have to wrestle around with strange, sweaty, scary, hairy men. I think that if they were given the opportunity to try bjj out in a class of only women, they would feel less self conscious and be more willing to give it a shot. We'll see if the theory holds up!

I do think that grappling bigger, stronger men is very helpful. You have to have the techniques right to make them work on someone larger and stronger. Being outmatched by weight and strength is exactly what bjj is designed to equip you for. But for some women, that idea is a deal breaker.

We are going to start classes in July 5th. I will keep you updated on the progress!! :)

Women's Classes

Do you or have you ever attended a women's only self defense/bjj class? Or do you have an opinion about women's only classes? If so, I haz questions for you! :)

1. (For women) Would you be more likely to try bjj for the first time if you could go to a women's only class?

2. In your opinion, what would be advantageous about attending a women's only self defense/bjj class? What would be the disadvantages?

3. What time of day would be the best for you a women's class?

And, since this blog entry is a little sparse, here is a lovely example of how men and women are so different:

A man sees a fly in the toilet, he tries to pee on it. A woman sees a fly in the toilet, she decides to go to another stall or hold it until she gets home! :)

I'm Lucky

I'm lucky to go train BJJ at a gym with an understanding instructor. Most of the time, I am pretty easy to deal with (I think). But there are certain times when I'm not. Very specific certain times.

Boys, you may want to stop reading now. I'm just sayin'...

Anyway, I cried in class on Tuesday. I was crying because I was frustrated with my inability to do anything remotely correctly. I was just getting flat-out owned. After three grapples, I was almost in tears. By the time I got to the wall, the almost disappeared and the guys had a full fledged crying mess on their hands. I tried to keep it quiet, putting my head down on my arms. But everyone knew I was crying.

Sucks.

What is funny is that I also got owned the night before and it didn't bother me at all. In fact, I was laughing while one of my grappling partners knee-barred me for the umpteenth time in a row. So why couldn't I keep it together on Tuesday?

Come on, do I really have to say it? Aunt Flow came to visit. Or, her visit was pending, I should say. Whatever. I was an emotional basket case.

The hard part is that, I knew rationally that I was crying for no reason. I knew that I was only crying because of Aunt Flow. But even knowing that, I still couldn't stop.

Fabio came over and sat down and asked me what was wrong. I told him I was just being stupid and that I was frustrated. He encouraged me. I went home. The whole thing was really embarrassing. I mean, come on. Crying?!?! There's no crying in Jiu-jitsu!

I hate it when my emotions get away from me like that. I feel like I'm "that girl", you know? The wimpy girl who cries when she gets frustrated. I don't want to be annoying or make everyone feel uncomfortable because I can't handle a couple of crappy grapples. I was even considering not coming to class on those days when I know I am an unstable time bomb waiting to burst into a weepy puddle of fail.

When I came into class today, I decided I was going to try to explain myself to Fabio. But before I could even really begin to explain, he stopped me. He told me he already knew. He has a wife and a mother. It's no secret to him how women get when Aunt Flow comes around. He said it was good for me to be in class and learn to keep going, keep fighting through my emotions and frustrations. It would make me stronger. He said it didn't bother him because he understands that it's just one of those things that happens.

I breathed a sigh of relief and had a great day of class. Just knowing that my instructor understands and doesn't hate me and my teary face makes me feel free to learn to deal with those emotions without the added pressure of worrying that I'm a burden.

I DO want to be able to handle my emotions without crying. Maybe I can just count to ten. Or maybe I can turn my tears into rage juice and own anything that touches me. Ok, that last one is unlikely. But, hey, I'll give it my best go.

I know you don't read my blog, Fabio. But thanks anyway for being awesome.

Fabio

I got to roll with Fabio tonight for the first time since I've started coming to his school. There is only one word to describe how he grapples: effortless. Everything he does is smooth, nothing is forced. He just goes with whatever I do and reacts.

Ben always says Jiu-jitsu is like a chess match and with Fabio I can really see it. Every move I make, he gets the most advantageous position, moving me into a more disadvantaged position until I am in a submission. It was really cool.

We worked on more half guard sweeps, focusing mainly on making space in order to get in position to do the sweeps. But after class, he took aside me, Steph, Jen and a younger girl named Haleigh and taught us a sweep to get out of mount when a guy is holding down both of our wrists. The sweep also leads conveniently into a heel hook. Very helpful.

Rolling tonight wasn't that eventful. I went with all smaller or newer girls (we've had a lot showing up lately). I did get to roll with Jen, which is always a good, solid learning experience. But I've noticed the last few classes, I keep getting put with the small girls and I basically let them work submissions while I work defense.
I know that is what all the higher belts do for me and I actually enjoy helping the new girls learn what little I have to show them, but I left wishing I had gotten one or two good, challenging rolls, you know? I also wonder if Fabio is putting me with them because he thinks I can't handle the guys. Don't know the answer to that one.

Anyway, good class. Now I'm tired and disgusting. Shower then bed. :)

Since When Did I Start Wanting to be Heavy?

We only worked one technique tonight: a half-guard pass to side control tonight. A lot of it hinges on driving your weigh forward and keeping it on the person while you perform the pass. This whole keeping-my-weight on people has been a challenge for me.

I guess it's my instinct not to want to keep my body plastered onto someone or to put my full weight onto them, but that is exactly what I have to do. I've been striving to learn to keep all my holds tight and to keep my body weight driving into the other person the whole time. Still, my instructors are constantly having to tell me, "Keep you hips low," or "Don't rest on your elbows," etc, etc.

Still, tonight I got a compliment after a grapple that made me laugh. "Hey, you were really heavy on me that time." If anyone said that to me outside of Jiu-jitsu, I'd probably cry. But I was really happy to hear that I made someone uncomfortable with my body weight. Haha! It's funny to me how Jiu-jitsu is changing the way I think about my body. I no longer want to be stick thin. I want to be strong and in shape. No, I don't want to be mannish. But I want to be lean and strong.

After working on the guard pass, we spent the entire rest of class grappling. Fabio had us going for 7 minutes each grapple and I was happy to find that I wasn't terribly winded at the end of each one. Of course, I went with several high belts who were trying to help me, so I wasn't going all out. They were trying to help me learn to transition between submissions. "You lost the arm bar, go for the triangle. Now transition to the uma plata." I'm still really slow at seeing the transitions. I think I broadcast what I'm about to do hours before I actually do it. ;)

One small victory tonight was that I did see a transition during a grapple that I usually miss. I was going to an arm bar they did a gable grip and so I tried to do a wrist lock. I was surprised that it actually worked!

Overall, good night tonight. Can't wait to do it again tomorrow morning!