Ratio Up and Down

Do I think that women belong in Jiu-Jitsu? Yes I do. They belong everywhere that they want to. So do men, but that isn't a problem in martial arts.

Typically, less women give Jiu-Jitsu a try. It might be that it is of less interest to women, I don't know. It also might be that it is more intimidating, which is a shame.

In any case, less women than men try it out; far less. Maybe a quarter or a third of people that walk in the door are female. A lot of those disappear after the first class or two. A higher percentage of men return.

Of those that settle in, very few stick around until they have completed the beginner program, which takes vaguely a year.

Only 6 females students here have ever earned as high as a Blue Belt, compared with about four times that number of men. That's only 20%.

As low as that ratio is, it is better than any other Jiu-Jitsu school I've visited. The Victoria school I dropped in on had no female students of any level present on the night I was there. The only woman was an employee at the front desk. The Scottsdale Gracie school had no women either, and while the Phoenix school had two, they were both beginners.

The only exception is the Gracie Academy in Los Angeles, that has a similar ratio to ours.

There seems to be number of factors that discourage women from participating.

If a class is running and a new student shows up, we try and welcome them without being overwhelming. Likely they are feeling a little apprehensive, and wonder if they are going to fit in. If it's a guy, he'll look over at the other White Belts and see a lot of people very much like himself. If she's a woman, she'll look over, and if nobody else is female, it has to make a negative impression.

Sometimes we have no female White Belts at all, but have been very lucky in having a number of Blue Belt women. It is an incredibly rare occurrence that none of them are present for the White Belt class.

Not only do new female students see that women belong, but that they have attained the higher levels.

If other women are around it also means that they won't have to be partnered with guys every single time. I don't know if that matters, but it certainly might.

Sadly, things are changing a bit. Of our three active female Blue Belts, one has just headed off back to university, and another is planning on moving to the city in another month or so. They are the two that attend the White Belt classes. Soon we will only have one female Blue Belt left.

That means that to a new student, all of the instructors and assistants in the beginner class will soon be male.

The good news is that we currently have a larger number of female White Belt than ever. There have been seven either regularly training, or who've tried it out in the last few weeks. I suspect one has decided not to return, and two more have only attended a single class, but the other other four have been coming for quite a while.

One of these has attended for about 3 weeks, two for several months, and the has reached the halfway point in completion of the course.

With so many around, I'm pretty sure that the women who've dropped in recently to give things a try certainly felt that their gender clearly belongs in our school.

I think the same effect works to keep female membership high in the Los Angeles Gracie Academy. Their White Belt classes are routinely attended by about 40 students. Even if only a small percentage are female, there are always several present. They also get lots of crossover from their self-defence for women program, that has even larger classes, all female.

They also get so see lots of female role models present to help them. Lots of Blue Belts, Purple Belts, and even a Brown Belt or two. The main instructors for the self-defence classes are Rener Gracie and his wife Eve.

Not only do participants work with other women, with lots of high-ranked women there to help, one of the main leaders is a woman as well.

Now if we can just hang onto our current White Belts until they can morph into the next generation of high-ranking female role models.

Or is that roll models....?