Check out my interview on Fightworks Podcast!
If you don't know about the Fightworks Podcast, you should. The show has featured interviews with members of the grappling and MMA community for over 2 years now and making the broadcasts available online at http://thefightworkspodcast.com/. I was honored in December to have won their Best BJJ Blog of 2007 contest, and I was honored this week to be invited by them to speak about my experiences being a woman who trains. Here is the link to our conversation!
http://thefightworkspodcast.com/2008/02/10/103-brazilian-jiu-jitsu-and-women/
I'm glad the show does what it does, not only because I got to blab about myself, but because I'm increasingly coming to believe that it is the important for intelligent, articulate people to spread the word about grappling. In my experience, the majority of people who train are incredibly capable and could be doing anything they wanted to. But they choose grappling. They are amazing people and they make this art we study into the amazing sport/culture/lifestyle is. So thanks to The Fightworks Podcast for helping to paint a picture of the world of grappling and MMA that is more accurate, in my opinion, than the assumptions people make about who does this stuff and why (which usually run to the violent).
Oy vey. I guess I have become an evangelist.
Well, regardless, check them out--ALL their podcasts, not just the one featuring me. Thanks again!
posted by Valerie @ 12:01 PM
5 Comments:
Val -
Excellent interview. You're comments are extremely insightful and thought-provoking. I'm glad Caleb and Dan took the time to broadcast your perspective on women in BJJ.
From what I heard in your interview, your experiences seem similar to mine as far as respect within the academy and relationships outside of it. I wonder if those are unique to American women in BJJ, or if Brazilian women find themselves in a completely different situation.
While in the US (at the 8 or so schools where I've trained), once I've earned the respect of the instructor, all others follow. In Europe, however, my gender kept resurfacing throughout my training in various and weird ways. I trained in Geneva, Switzerland with BTT Geneve for four months while studying abroad. The experience was amazing and I wouldn't trade it for anything. The Swiss guys were generally very respectful, although COMPLETELY baffled by the idea that a woman would want to train with them. The women they are generally familiar with are very reserved, and extremely girly to out-do the effeminate qualities of their men. To them I was an anomaly and a curiosity--someone gender blind on the mat but sexually confident, sometimes dressed in clothes considered too manly even for men (sweatshirts were unacceptable to them) and sometimes dolled-up in dresses and female work clothes. They'd take me out and question my sexual orientation, or refer to me as "gringa" (feminine form of "gringo") when talking amongst themselves, although it was said to be in a "loving manner". In any case it was a strange roller coaster of culture shock for all of us, and in the end I made some of the best friends of my life.
Also, I fill a similar role to your "den mother" status at my BJJ club. Although I'm just 21, I'm one of the most senior ranking members in Boston University Submission Grappling Club. I coach my team members at competitions and find myself becoming very protective of them on and off the mats :).
Finally, with regards to the "non-dramatic love life," I too have found it easiest to date a man who out-ranks me :). That said, I've only had two serious relationships in my life -- the first with someone completely distanced from BJJ. The biggest trouble in my first relationship was not the trust issue, but rather that which many guys experience: my boy friend did not understand why I HAD to train at least three, and preferably six times a week. He did not understand the addiction. He was not jealous of the other men in my academy, but rather jealous of the sport itself. Previous even to that relationship I swore to myself that I would NEVER date anyone I trained with in order to avoid some of the problems discussed in your interview. After I met my current boy friend I vowed to keep training and my personal life completely separate. However, you know how gossip goes... it turned out impossible to keep it a secret.
Thanks again for your interview :)
Elyse
"Can I have your autograph?"
--Chuong
Val,
Great interview on Fightworks!
Kon
Best interview thay've had in a long time. (and they're all darn good!)
Very interesting interview! We have many women who train at our school, and your articulation of the challenges they all face was enlightening.
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