Why jiu jitsu

I have started training Brazilian jiu jitsu..... And I am a girl dun dun duuunnnnnnnn. I consider myself to be pretty feminine. I like shoes and accessories. I keep up with hair and makeup trends. And sometimes, I feel the need to just take someone out. I actually started training tae kwon do when I was very young. My mother and her sister trained and it was something my mother always pushed. If you knew her background you would understand why. She needed to be able to defend herself. All women do.So back to jiu jitsu. My darling husband was never interested in tae kwon do AT ALL so when this local guy started offering lessons in Jeet Kune Do he was quick to sign up. Unfortunately, in my third trimester of my second pregnancy it became increasingly difficult for him to make it to class and by the time our daughter was born, his jeet kune do career was over. As someone who enjoys martial arts and understands the necessity of an outlet, I never forgave myself for being the cause of it. Well fast forward about four years and another child and we get a new childrens pastor at our church who happens to be a purple belt under Relson Gracie and as an ex-Navy S.E.A.L/ air martial/ swat team guy, he needed an outlet as well. So he began meeting once a week up at the church with a group of men who not only trained together but had weekly devotions, prayed together and were encouraged to hold leadership positions in the church. And while people have come and gone in the last two years, the mission remains the same. The fatal flaw in this scenario for me is that as a group that is headed by one of our ministers and meets at the church, it would be somewhat inappropriate to have females training there. Now I will argue in a future post why it is incredibly important for women to train in jiu jitsu but we will get to that. For now, my husband was really enjoying his training and had even begun training our three children in Gracie games from the bullyproof program put out by Ryron and Rener Gracie. And I was very excited to support all of them in their training but as someone who loves martial arts, I was feeling a bit left out. Now I had two options. I could join another school which would take time away from my family, or I could be trained at home. Thankfully the Gracie's also put out a program for adults called Gracie combatives. My husband can now help me learn the basics at home and this gives the added benefit of more training time for him. So instead of having family game night crowded around a monopoly board, we gather on our living room floor and train. It takes family bonding to a whole new level!