Keep the Jiu Jitsu Community Respectful

Through social media, people have an easier time staying connected with each other and every day news that goes on throughout the world. For the jiu jitsu community, there are many Facebook associations and pages that help us all to stay connected, some more well-known than others. However, I recently discovered that a lot of my tournament photos, as well as some other women competitors i know, were being posted by a sketchy, unknown jiu jitsu Facebook page called Jiu Jitsu Girls. 

At first I thought it was kind of cool that my pictures were being shared by other jiu jitsu pages, but then I started to feel uncomfortable when I looked deeper into the site. This Facebook page consists strictly of pictures of women training jiu jitsu or sporting jiu jitsu gear. I started to see more provocative photos of women wearing gis or sports bras, along with men leaving comments like "thats hot" or "she can triangle me any day." I thought to myself, "I don't want my photos being posted on this page next to all of these other pictures." 

I think I speak for all girls who train jiu jitsu when I say that we do everything we can to be taken seriously in this sport. I work so hard every day to be a high level competitor at tournaments and to be seen as a role model, but when my tournament pictures are being displayed on a website where photos present women as sex symbols rather than hard working, that is not okay with me. 

Blue belt, Jess Papi, of Scranton MMA comments on the situation by saying, "i think it is unfair to not ask for somebodys permission to use their photos. A lot of these pages are places for men to gawk at women, and a lot of women don't want that." 

Small Facebook organizations looking to repost and share photos should ask permission from the competitor(s) in the picture, as well as the photographer who takes credit. Ju jitsu facebook pages should be used to promote the sport and the competitors in a positive, mature manner. If this is too much to ask from these unreliable Facebook pages, then they should be banned. All of the jiu jitsu women, who put all of the time and effort into the sport, should be respected in every way, and not taken advantage of in situations like this. 

Christmas Surprises!

This week has been amazing as everybody is getting into the Holiday spirits with such positive vibes. One day this week, my teammates and I at Zicro BJJ were completely surprised when our teammate, Rachel Nelson, showed up unexpectedly after being deployed overseas for months. I am extremely happy that she finally made it back home safely, just in time for Christmas, after being gone for what seemed like forever. Rachel has always been such an amazing training partner for me, and she still gives me the same trouble, maybe even more, than she did from the day she left. Even though she was deployed for many months, by rolling with her in No Gi this morning, I can see that her jiu jitsu game hasn't changed a bit. I am so excited to finally have my teammate back on the mats in Tallahassee, safe and sound.

After a long day of training today, I was also surprised by an awesome package from the DoOrDie Hyperfly family at my doorstep. I am always so satisfied and in love with the products that they send. The new competition jacket is perfect for the cold weather, as well as the competition floor before matches. From the gis to their clothing lines, Hyperfly never disappoints through their products and service.

If you're still looking for a Christmas gift for your special someone, click the link below and check out their products! ---> www.doordie.com

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY! OUSS!

Real Women Train Jiu Jitsu

A lot of people don't view jiu jitsu as a sport that was made for women, as it is for men. Although the sport has an evident, growing number of women every year, it is still hard to attract women to the gym to try out a class. At my jiu jitsu school, Zicro BJJ, we have about seven women that train jiu jitsu compared to the numerous amount of guys that train with us. My teammate Jasmine and I are always talking about how we want more experience training with other women with different styles of jiu jitsu in order to prepare us for competition. We decided, along with another group of girls, to start a women's open mat where we could get together about once every two months and train. 

Today, Jasmine and I made a three hour trip down to Jacksonville, Florida for our second women's open mat at Luiz Palhare's jiu jitsu school. As soon as we walked into the school, everybody was so kind and welcoming. We had a great turnout of about 15 girls from all over Florida. Rolling and training with people of all different ranks and sizes was definitely an amazing experience. Because we were all from different schools with different teachers, everybody had their own unique game. Some girls were guard players, while others were mainly trying to pass and play top the whole time. I feel like I learned so much today just from sparring with different women. It wasn't as much of, "I'm going to see how many people I can beat today," but instead, we all just shared techniques and different ideas to benefit each other. 

After we trained for about two and a half hours, we all made our way next door to the Brazilian Cafe to get some lunch after a long training session. We were able to socialize even more over some delicious Brazilian food and, of course, some acai bowls. Even though I just came to Jacksonville to train jiu jitsu, I met some great people today that I hope to continue to see at every women's open mat that we organize. 

If any women are interested in coming to a potential women's open mat, please feel free to email me for more information!

 Email: BeverlyBJJ@gmail.com

Flashback of an Eventful Year: 2013

Now that the year 2013 is finally coming to an end, I think I can honestly say that my perspective on jiu jitsu has drastically changed this year in a positive way. Instead of just a hobby or a workout, jiu jitsu has become a passion of mine that has allowed me to travel the world, meet the most genuine people, and achieve goals for myself on a daily basis. 

At the beginning of this year, I was promoted to blue belt. I had a rocky start competing for the first couple of months, but I am slowly learning how to advance my game to the next level in order to be successful. Overall, I was able to end the year with 5 IBJJF medals and 2 Abu Dhabi medals. 

Although I feel like most of my wins and losses are results from my own personal actions, I feel blessed to be surrounded by such an amazing support group: my coach, Felipe Neto, my ZicroBJJ teammates, my family, and my boyfriend, Kyle Huang. They have all helped me so much throughout the year and have always pushed me towards my dreams and goals. I can't thank them enough for all that they have done and still do for me on a daily basis. 

I've only been training jiu jitsu for two and a half years, but the passion I have for training, competing, and helping others is so grand. This is something that I want to do for the rest of my life, to constantly pursue this dream I have. As soon as the new year rolls around, I am going to start training and hitting it hard to get ready for PanAms and Worlds in the Spring. I am hoping to medal and make more of a name for myself at the bigger, well-known tournaments with all of the much-appreciated support that I have. It's been a great year, but I'm more than ready to take on the year 2014 and all it has to offer.

Here's a short clip of some of my matches at the Abu Dhabi trials in October!

Special Thanks to:

Zicro Academy/Alliance Tallahassee: http://www.zicrobjj.com/

Mike Calimbas Photography: http://www.mikecalimbas.com/

Hyperfly Do or Die: http://www.doordie.com