A Review of Bowling Green BJJ’s first Women’s Class…Yippee!!
Class tonight was awesome. We had 8 girls on the mat…the most i’ve ever trained with at one time (3 is my record, and thats including myself). Not only did we have a good number of girls but the girls all had great attitudes. I was so nervous pulling up to the gym because at first I wasn’t sure if anyone would even bother to show up but once I turned the corner and saw several women of all shapes and ages I was so excited. Inside I muttered a “Yessssssss” and did a silent fist pump.
mount escape (trap an arm & bridge)
I got off of work just in time to make it for warm ups. Shannon was showing shrimps and bridges. She did a really great job of tailoring the warm ups with the drills she showed. It was much easier to reference, “remember that warmup we did earlier..” rather then trying to start from scratch with many of the motions in the middle of class.
Since it was all of their first times on the mat we did the basics. Mount escapes and recovering guard were on the menu. To offbalance the continous drills we switched the girls frequently to get them used to doing the techniques on different body types and had them switch every 2 minutes to work to escape using one of three techniques tha we showed. I knew everyone was having a good time when we’d go around to help and they were getting the escapes and laughing in between. THEY WERE HAVING FUN.
I really enjoyed the class. It was a different perspective that’s for sure. I”m used to helping someone new here and there. But in this “all eyes on us” setting we really had to think back to what it was like our first day and start from scratch, show the technique in order, and stress the details that made the differences. I think a lot of the women realized how important it was to bridge, get on the side, and shrimp within mount and hell I think it will make me pay
mount escape->inside guard
more attention to my own escapes. No more half-assing. Can’t teach it if you don’t know it…or at least you shouldn’t.
As the end of the class grew near we opened the floor for questions and the general consensus was that they were satisfied with the techniques shown and prefered to not see too much more for fear of forgetting the ones they learned earlier, which i totally relate to. Afterward one of the women asked to see shannon and I roll to get an idea of what this whole thing is about and we rolled for a 3 minute round. It was strange to roll for an audience lol I’ve competed in a few tournaments but this was different. Shannon and I joked that we felt like we were on stage but looking back on it I think it was entertaining for them.
I’m so excited not only for next friday’s class but for next week in general. At this point I just want to get better, learn more techniques so I can beter teach the other women. Man this is like christmas. It’s so hard to explain to other people because for me jiu jitsu is what’s saved me this past year and a half and it brings me so much joy to be able to share it with others…now watch i’ll say all this and get my pinky toe caught in the mat and will be cursing the world lol
shrimp->make space->bring in a knee->recover half or full guard
Tis life.
I Wonder As I Wander 
Congrats! I’ve found that teaching has helped refine my own game, as it gives me a very clear focus (as naturally I want to test what I’m going to teach, by trying it in sparring as much as possible beforehand).
thanks slidey!! it felt great to provide someone with a rewarding experience.
Congrats on the great class and awesome turnout! We just started our own women’s class a few weeks ago, but haven’t had more than four women a class. Please keep us updated on how this goes! I love hearing about successful women’s programs.