1st grappling class

[flor]

hii, im pretty new at the forum, so hello everyone! (= i apologise in advance if my english is not perfect, im from a spanish speaking country...
so, im a girl and yesterday i had my first grappling training...ive been training muay thai for about 3 months.
the thing is, i didnt feel quite comfortable...i was the only female and there were about 7 boys. at first, we had to do some exercises on our own, but then, we had to work in partners.
i felt quite good with the boy i was working with as he seemed to know what he was doing and wasnt thaaaat awkward. what really bothered me were the others who couldnt stop watching...i felt really observed and sometimes the coach had to call their attention...
at the end of the class, we had to do some free style or something like that, i really dont remember how he called it. so, i thought i wasnt going to do that until the coach told me to do it with him and the entire class started laughing because i said i didnt want to...finally, i did it and turned out i enjoyed it and according to my trainer i am skilfull...when looking up, they were aaaaaaaaall watching and not doing what they were supposed to...
so, what i wanted to ask was if this is something common in your training when a girl shows up.

 

[bluewaveschool]

Not my style of art, but the cause might be several things. 1 - You said they were 'boys'. I'm guessing teenagers. Even if they are college age, the are going to be staring at the girl rolling around on the ground because they just aren't that mature yet. 2 - Not knowning where you are from, this may or may not be a factor - culture. I'm in the US, a woman walking into my class is nothing. In some countries a female walking into a 'male' sport is cause for attention.

If you are grappling and training Muay Thai, I doubt it's the second... If the instructor is good, keep going. The 'new' factor of having a female in the class will wear off shortly.

 

[flor]

Not my style of art, but the cause might be several things. 1 - You said they were 'boys'. I'm guessing teenagers. Even if they are college age, the are going to be staring at the girl rolling around on the ground because they just aren't that mature yet. 2 - Not knowning where you are from, this may or may not be a factor - culture. I'm in the US, a woman walking into my class is nothing. In some countries a female walking into a 'male' sport is cause for attention.

i really dont know if it is or not odd for a woman to show up in male MA classes...ive never practised this kind of sports, ive been doing athletics since i was 12 years old.
most of them were in their 20's or so...

If you are grappling and training Muay Thai, I doubt it's the second... If the instructor is good, keep going. The 'new' factor of having a female in the class will wear off shortly.

ive got to say that during my 1st month of training, men didnt talk to me and they gave me some strange looks...after those 4 first weeks of training every single day with the same enthusiasm, they started talking to me and asking questions...now, i get along with most of them and they seem glad to be helping me improve...
yesterday, i had my muay thai training, then i had to stay for the grappling class...in the meantime, the coach asked me if i wanted to try the kick boxing class and so i did...when finished, i realised i had spent 5 hours training, and when leaving the coach told me he was shocked about how much energy and passion i had for sports...so, im guessing i called his attention...hopefully, he will start looking at me not as a common girl who just wants to be fit for summer season but as one who aims high...

 

[Steve]

Training in BJJ is tough, and even tougher for women. But with that said, lots of women train in grappling and enjoy it. Where are you training?

I'd recommend finding a school that you're comfortable with, and make sure that the coach knows when you're not feeling comfortable. The guys in the school shouldn't do anything weird. There will be close contact, but you'll know if it's creepy or not.

Just to be clear, I'm not sure what the situation was. It was your first class.

Mainly, though, as I'm not a woman, I think you should talk to women who train in BJJ. This is a great place to start: http://bjjgrrl.wordpress.com/women/

There is a very strong network of women who grapple. They're awesome and very supportive. They'll help you if you contact them.

Good luck.

 

[flor]

thank u! ill try there! (=

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Flor I really hope you enjoy it if you continue! There are some great women grapplers out there and it is a very useful skill set! Typically you will not run into to many people gawking. (never had that happen when women train with us) However it may just be that they have not had a girl there before and they may be more immature boy's. Still if you continue on this is a very fun activity and you may be surprised after awhile how easy and fun it is to reverse ie. sweep or submit someone! Take care and good luck!