What martial art is best for women’s self defense?
It’s a universal concept. If you’re a woman in Balmain or Berlin, Rozelle or Romania, at one point or another you’ve probably felt the need to learn self defense. But there are a lot of martial arts options in Sydney, so where to start?
This is a hard question to answer, since debate about which martial art offers the best self defense has raged on for as long as anyone can remember. Complicating things more is the fact that very few popular martial arts are without merit. You’ll certainly learn some helpful defense in Krav Maga or Taekwondo, for instance.
But we believe Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) outstrips all the competition, especially for women. After all, if we did think there was a better martial art for self defense we’d be doing that instead!
Why women should learn ‘The Gentle Art’
Since its conception 100 years ago, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is designed with assumption that your opponent is bigger, stronger and faster than you. Practitioners are taught to use technique, timing and leverage instead of power and athleticism. As such, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is almost tailor made for women looking to defend themselves against bigger and stronger opponents.
This may sound confusing if you don’t know what Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is. When people think of martial arts, they often think of Kung Fu or karate, of Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan taking down rooms of people with spin kicks and palm strikes.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is not that.
Broadly, it’s a grappling art similar to wrestling or judo. You’ll learn how to defend against striking, but you won’t learn any kicks or punches yourself. Trust us though, flying armbars are way cooler than roundhouse kicks anyway.
Grappling is actually an important skill for everyone to learn — men and women. It’s rare that a bad guy will try to randomly strike a woman, as usually they’ll instead try to snatch a purse or grab them. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will teach you how to defend yourself (and attack) in close-quarters combat.
Don’t get us wrong — strength and power are still assets when you’re sparring with another trained Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner. But solid technique will be more than enough to overcome an untrained schmuck who only sees you as a weak target.
Example self defense moves you will learn
You’ll be taught defense for all manner of situations. There are simple but important techniques, like how to break the unwanted grip of someone grabbing your arm or hair.
On the other end of the spectrum are submission attacks for more serious situations — like learning how to use someone’s strength and momentum against them and lock in chokes, armlocks and more.
In the middle of these two options is control: Learn how to control a larger person until they come to their senses or until someone can come to your aid.
One problem with some striking martial arts is that they can lack this flexibility. It’s either do nothing or try to gouge an attacker’s eyes out (or cause similarly grievous harm). Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gives you options.
Learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is much, much more than self defense
Self defense is a terrific reason to do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but it’s not the only reason.
For starters, it’s an excellent way to get in cardiovascular shape. Most people try to boost their cardio by going on the treadmill - but many people stop because running can be so boring. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a two for one: It’s a fun way to improve your health and you’ll be learning a valuable skill.
Then there’s the social aspect. Many friendships are forged on the mats - it’s amazing how chokes and armbars can really bring people together.
This is especially true for women at Gracie Humaita. (Gracie Humaita is Gracie Balmain’s parent association - we also have sister academies in Alexandria, Parramatta, Miranda, Castle Hill, Bankstown and more). A common worry many women have is that they’ll be the only female in a room full of hyper aggressive men, but at Gracie Balmain we’ve worked hard to create a welcoming environment for women.
This includes Gracie Girls Australia, a monthly meetup with women who train across all of Gracie Humaita’s academies. You can read some testimonials about Gracie Balmain here.
