“Wrestling and fighting – isn’t that a boys thing? Why would girls want to do that? As if they could fight the guys anyway. Do many girls do it?”

These are questions that we often hear from newcomers at The Dojo. It’s a common misconception that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA are sports exclusively designed, and enjoyed by males, but it’s simply not true, and here’s some of the reasons why:

1. Girls are usually better at learning the technical aspects of the sport

Forget what you’ve been told, size does not matter. Jiu Jitsu is a sport of leverage and angles, using your opponent’s weight and balance (or lack thereof) against them. Sure, brute strength and sheer size help you to control someone that is not trained, but what about someone that is? Whether you’re a girl or guy, you’re going to have a hard time using your strength to control someone that knows how to change the angle to get you off balance, out of position and into a submission.

So why do girls do better at learning technique? Put simply, they are usually the smallest in the class – strength and force gets them nowhere, so they learn sooner than guys to rely on and refine their technique.

2. Girls can be calmer and centred under pressure

Ever heard the saying “if you need something done, ask a busy woman”? Heard about those women in high-flying executive positions with  kids, doing charity work, travelling the world and sticking to intense training programs? It’s no different with training martial arts. Girls are usually structured and pragmatic in their approach to training – they just get on with it.

3. Girls don’t run into the ego problems guys encounter

“My biceps are bigger than your biceps, I can bench 3 times my bodyweight, I’m tougher than that guy”. Some guys walk into training with something to prove. It’s just not the same for girls.

4. Girls make great training partners for everyone else

There’s usually at least one guy in every gym that no one wants to train with. He’s the guy suffering from the ego problem (see point #3) that will do whatever it takes, including injuring you, to satisfy his ego. The thing is, no-one benefits from training with someone from no technique.

So, given that girls are usually more technical (see point #1) they make great training partners for other guys and girls. Both fighters get to try and refine their techniques when sparring to see what works and what doesn’t. The funniest thing to watch is a higher-level girl go up against ego-boy, because he usually gets bashed – by a girl.