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Every so often when a major competition comes up, there is a training session to help women in jiu jitsu.
Ashley Bendle from Chris Rees academy hosted an event on Sunday 3rd January in Swansea. Being from Essex, it was a bit of a trek and a lot of money to make the trip, but being part of the women’s commission of the UKBJJA, I felt that it was important to be part of it, and support women’s jiu jitsu in the UK.
Swansea isn’t exactly easy to get to, so the numbers on the mats weren’t high. But those who made the effort made the most of the three hours of training and games.
We played netball to warm up in the painfully cold gym and it didn’t take us long, so we went straight in to sparring after. There were a few girls on the mats including champions Dali Hopkins and Nia & Zuri Blackman, so the training had to take a break and become fun. I wasn’t complaining and introduced a Rugby / wrestling game for us to play that we use at our gym as a warm up. The game went down so well and we had a lot of fun playing it. Gum shields were a must!
The training session was coming to a close and everyone looked pretty beat, apart from the younger girls, who I’m sure, had enough energy to carry on for 3 more hours.
We had our traditional photo, and mixed it up with a fun one.
It was a great day and great to hang out with Ashley and her parents for coffee afterwards and be made to feel so welcome as a guest.
This is what I love about jiu jitsu, the bond that everyone has and friendly attitude. The trip to Swansea was more than worth it.
