The Women of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

I grew up with four brothers.  All of my early life they told me over and over that I couldn't do various things with them because I was a girl.  Girls don't play sports.  Girls can't play manhunt.  Girls aren't allowed.  Not because they were jerks, but because they were young boys.  So early on, it was ingrained me me that, girls can't.  

I never played sports, I never went camping, never got dirty.  Girls didn't do those things.  That is until I stumbled into Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

I went to my first class thinking it was going to be something like karate.  I expected to be punching and kicking the air, and of course the second I saw what it actually was, I thought, 'I can't do this!'.  But as it turned out, I  could do it.  Not only could I do it, but I could do it just as well as the boys, and even more than that... I loved it!  I wish I discovered it years ago.

Jiu-jitsu has taught me so much.  It has given me more confidence and drive, and it has completely changed the way I feel about being a woman.  I can be both, strong and beautiful.  Fierce and feminine.  And as a mother to a young girl, I am most grateful for these lessons.  No one will ever tell my daughter that she can't do something because she is a girl, not that she would believe them anyway.  =)

I have also discovered the wonderful women in the sport.  Almost every one I have come across has been sportive, encouraging and inspiring.  Either through direct contact, or over the internet via blogs, Facebook or email. (And some of the guys too!)  It seems as though there is almost an unspoken sisterhood among the women who train.  Black belts to white.  All weight classes and body types.  We are all women who train, and that alone is enough.  I feel bless to count myself among them.

Anyway, I made a little video tribute to the women who train because I do nerdy things like that.