Tasmanian-based Esther Tavares Tutida has been training for almost a decade and now has two kids with husband and coach Minol.
I thought that I'd ask Esther a few questions to get her insight into training and girls in BJJ:
Esther, according to the AFBJJ you are Australia's sole registered female black belt. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your BJJ journey?
At the end of 2003 I started training with Minol Tavares Tutida. My brother was one of his first students. As many know BJJ is an addictive sport- well, my brother was hooked! I went along with him to check it out and loved it. At the beginning there weren't really any other girls training, luckily Minol was an inspiring instructor and we had some great guys to train with. Plus I guess growing up with brothers made it easy for me to roll with the guys and not feel awkward or uncomfortable!
After training for about a year and success at the Pan Pacific Championships I received my blue belt. The following year I had more success competing as a blue belt in both the Pan Pacs and the first Aussie Cup held in Brisbane. In 2007 I trained in Japan for 6 months and while I was there received my purple belt. I also married Minol that year! Oh and I also got pregnant that year! I actually kept training right up until the end of my pregnancy but altered my training a lot, focusing more on techniques rather than rolling.
My son (Minol Jr) was born in 2008. I entered the Champions Cup which was held in Tasmania and in between breast feeding my 6 month old had 4 fights. I finished up with two gold and two silver medals that day. We also went to Brazil in 2008 and I received my brown belt on the podium after winning the Rio de Janeiro State Championship. After my daughter Estella was born in January 2010 I thought it was about time to start a girls only BJJ class. Best thing I ever did!
In March 2011 we took our family back to Brazil (Minol is Brazilian and has family in Rio) and big surprise- I received my black belt from Master Wilson (Minol's Master in Brazil). As amazing as it feels to be a black belt I love that fact that I still know nothing. Training for 3 months in Brazil with a Grand Master really puts things into perspective! It has certainly been a BJJ journey and a journey that is still continuing!
Many women find it difficult to train (in fitness or BJJ) due to their family commitments. What are your tips for balancing motherhood, training and coaching?
Routine. When I first started BJJ I would attend as many classes as I could. It became a part of my routine. I was committed. Then as children came into my life I found it easy to continue training by keeping it a part of my routine, becoming "our" routine. My children will always come first but they know Daddy and Mummy go to train some evenings, we take the kids along to my husbands kids BJJ class each week, and Saturday is a big training day too where we take the kids along.
I also have an amazingly supportive family and husband which makes balancing motherhood, training and coaching a whole lot easier! We are also lucky to have such a supportive club- our BJJ family. When there's training or a competition in which we have to take the kids along there are always willing volunteers to help out. But yeah, I definitely believe women can achieve great things whether it be in fitness training or training BJJ no matter what their family commitments are.
One of my first female students is a mother of four (ha, I only have two kiddies!) Amazingly she fits our girls class into her busy routine each week. At the start of the year she was awarded her blue belt. Just shows that a bit of commitment and dedication can go far- and that is IS possible to fit training into your family commitments.
You run a class exclusively for girls, can you elaborate on the reasons why you think its important to have female-only training?
I think the most important reason for female only training is for building confidence. Before I started running female only classes there was only one other female training at our academy. We now have five women training regularly at our female only class, four of which also train at our mixed classes now.
To begin with most of these women felt very intimidated by wrestling with men. Female only classes provide a comfortable environment where women feel like they don't have to always compete with strength. Female only training puts women on a more even ground to train. More than once I have left a training session feeling frustrated because I've had guys throwing all their strength at me! Some guys are great and try to use their technique rather than strength but then there are some guys that don't even realise how much strength they are using with the females which makes it really hard for the girls.
I've found with my girls class, women are definitely more confident to train with each other where they can use both technique and strength. Even when the girls go to the mixed classes they will still prefer to train/wrestle with each other over training with the guys!
The First Australian Female Only BJJ Day Camp will be the first of its kind in the country - how do you think the Australian girls are going in BJJ?
It's so great to see the growth of females training BJJ in Australia. From what I've seen and heard the standard over the country is rocketing. I think it's fantastic holding a female only BJJ day and think it would be great to have more days where just the girls can get together on the mats - I think this will be an awesome way to really determine how the girls are going! The next thing would be to get more Aussie girls competing internationally to show the world that even though we are only just growing in quantity, that we definitely have the quality.
I should clarify - Sophia McDermott Drysdale is recognised as Australia's first female black belt, but she has lived and trained in the US for some time now, and received her belt while over there.
ReplyDeleteEsther lives and trains in Australia, and was the first Australian female to receive her black belt whilst doing so!