Training at Evolve Far East Square last night was awesome - there were five world class black belts on the mats - but even cooler for me, I had several girls to train with, all of similar stature, all super technical, and one I haven't seen for six months since we competed against eachother.
Looking around the class today, I tried to work out how these girls had all advanced in such a young gym in an art that struggles for female participation in Australia. Some of my observations:
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| Evolve MMA ladies |
- The curriculum is sorted. Everything is organised, the instructor knows what they are teaching, plans the lesson and the students know what to expect. This means that the classes account for everyone's size and ability - girls are usually the first to stop training if they feel the class is too challenging or can't see the method in all this madness.
- Self defence is a healthy part of the curriculum. Not just competition grappling, actual street-wise self defence. For girls this means learning something that applies to them. Not everyone wants to compete.
- The average size of the guys is much smaller than Australia, maybe around 75kg, some over, but more under. This means training partners closer in weight for girls at all levels.
- Similarly, the instructors at Evolve are all under 80kg. It's a stereotype I know, but there's a reason why small guys are often seen as the more technical. Combined with the curriculum, girls learn to be technical fast, along with evryone else in the class because of the example set for them.
- Lastly, but I think most importantly, Evolve has cultivated a no-ego environment. I'm not sure whether this is the result of the Singaporean culture, or the fact that you are constantly surrounded by world class athletes, it makes it hard to be ignorant or arrogant. I can't begin to tell you the number of girls in Australia that I've heard complain about the general attitude of guys in jiu jitsu.
I'll certainly be heading home with these pointers in mind, and I hope that some other readers that teach in Australia will also take heed and help encourage female participation.
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| Far East Square after promotions...too many people to fit |
At the end of class, Gordinho promoted some students, including some new well deserved female blue belts. All these girls look like they'll snap if you put too much pressure on them, and feel really light when you're practicing technique, but come specific training, it's a whole different story. Had a good roll last night, and again this morning at Evolve PoMo, where more students, and more girls were promoted!
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| PoMo the next day after promotions - well done guys! |
Thanks for the lovely article and it was really nice rolling with you! The funniest thing was that some of the girls have been reading your blog for a while and one of the girls leaned over to say "I think she's the girl who writes 'I Heart BJJ!"
ReplyDeleteAny chance you could write something on competitions? I did my first one earlier this year and nearly shit my pants from the nerves. How do you manage to do so many of them and do great in them?
Take care and hope to see you soon! Sharon
Hey Sharon, thanks for commenting! It was awesome meeting you all and rolling :-)
ReplyDeleteOf course I'll write something about comps, just for you! Let me think of something, and I'll post to you on facebook when it's done!
Alright, I'm definitely not one of those girls who have been reading this blog but I must say "what awesome penning!" :) Thanks for the article.
ReplyDeleteI'm really envious of the competition opportunities you have in Aussie. We don't get that in South East Asia; probably once or twice a year. And sometimes its disappointing to travel all the way to a competition to get notified that you do not have an opponent.
It's nice meeting you. Hope you'll come by SG again, for a longer stay!
Hey Tobbie! Thanks for your kind words.
ReplyDeletePlease come to Australia for a competition or three, we have some in Sydney, but usually go to the big ones in Melbourne too. Welcome to stay at mine and train at our gym!
You will love fighting the blue belt girls in Australia, you will always have opponents, not so much in Sydney, but mainly in Melbourne.
Thanks for having me, I do hope I can come again soon.
Good article!!
ReplyDeleteWow that's amazing that Evolve has that many girls. There's only 2 girls at my gym! Next time I go to Singapore I should seriously consider taking a class.
ReplyDeleteDefinately train at Evolve, I couldn't recommend it more!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! I train in Townsville, Qld and there's very few females up here who train. Only myself and one other that I know of, who train seriously.
ReplyDeleteWould love to compete in some comps, just to see how I would go and to increase my ground game as I am having a few mma fights too.
Do you hear of many up in north queensland? I figure I'm probably going to have to save up and travel south if I want a shot.
Thanks for the great blog :)
Hey Jessy,
ReplyDeleteThe comps run by the QLD Federation are pretty good, and the girls of the Women's Brazilian Jiu Jitsu League also run their comps out of QLD, but mainly on the Gold Coast. If you can, get to some of the bigger comps in Melbourne - well worth the trip and heaps of fun!