as the students attentively listen … just like we did before, but in a
much tighter ball, half-guard here, control the distance…
Sitting on the mat, the class observes Stewart. Between the men are
two familiar faces at the dojo, Courtney Smith and Lea Lopez. Young in
age, but not to the sport, the girls are getting ready for another
tournament where they have been bracketed against the opposite sex.
In the past decade a handful of women have made mixed martial arts a
possibility, but the barriers are still there. Debi Purcell, founding
mother of fightergirls.com, has spent the past decade educating both
sexes that women can fight and are here to stay. As Purcell states on
the website,
…. Female fighting has been slow to start and findingIn Nebraska, SIMS Martial Arts Academy, is the only fully certified
our place amongst the male warriors has sometimes been a struggle. In
2001, when there was little interest in women's MMA, FighterGirls.com
was born as a way to help grow and evolve this sport and other
fighting sports for the women. Since then, our beloved sport has
exploded and female MMA, right along with it.
10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu location directed by Eddie Bravo that teaches
the same system used by fighters such as Chuck Liddell, Dan Hardy, and
George Sotiropoulos. Students Lea and Courtney are in good hands to
progress in their training. At SIMS the focus is on education and
character.
Lea and Courtney, ages 15 and 16, have been involved with jiu-jitsu
for several years. Both of Lea’s parents, Orlando and Michelle are
part of the dojo family, training at SIMS. Her brother Anthony “Ant”,
is a familiar face to the sport. In September, Ant won gold in the
IBJJF American Nationals Jiu-Jitsu competition in L.A. and silver at
NOGI Worlds in November. Lea remembers first competing at eight years
old. Back then, she was still nervous to compete. Now the intimidation
of being one of the only girls at a tournament doesn’t bother her.
When Courtney was five, her dad gave her a choice between dance or
When I was little I was always nervous and now it isn’t even there.
karate, she chose karate because it intrigued her and it looked cool.
She bounced around schools for the next several years, until the she
was twelve when she began at SIMS Academy. That same year she entered
her first tournament and has been at the Academy since. Even though
Courtney’s competing can sometimes make her mother nervous, both her
parents support her training and involvement in jiu-jitsu.
But being involved in mixed martial arts has not been without
challenges. When asked if either would consider wrestling at school,
Courtney states,
Wrestling is an all guy sport at school, but that is
not the main reason why I wouldn’t do it. Jiu-jitsu is different than
wrestling. If I’d been trained younger [in wrestling] I would have
adjusted to it – and I would be at the level with the guys. But there
is also a social stigma with being involved as a girl -- people
thinking it is weird. You don’t want to be the kid that gets made fun
of, but if given the opportunity I would have.
Lea states,
At school, I am a girly girl, and when I tell kids I do jiu-jitsu and kickboxing, some people don’t believe me, or they looked surprised I can do that…. If given the chance to compete against girls we would, but we just like the sport, we don’t care who we compete against. The guys generally think they can beat us easily – and sometimes have a rude awakening.
Courtney said as she chuckled.
I have made a guy cry at a tournament – it is the best
feeling.
It is a character-building program at SIMS Academy, based around the
discipline of martial arts training and education. Not every female
who enters the gym has to become involved with MMA at the level of Lea
or Courtney.
Courtney went on to say,
Girls don’t know enough about jiu-jitsu – the outside world in a
sense, sees it as a guys sport, but it is beneficial to girls more
than just self defense. … self-defense is mainly standing, but
jiu-jitsu is on the ground. In an attack, if you are put on the ground
and you know both self-defense and jiu-jitsu you could take them from
the top to the bottom. Let’s say someone grabbed you from the head,
you would know something to take them to the ground. And if they
continued to fight you on the ground, you could continue to defend
yourself on the ground – and walk away.
This past Saturday, both Lea and Courtney competed at the tournament
held by SIMS. There was one other girl in a younger age division who
was in the tournament. In the end, the males came out ahead, but not
without a strong showing from the ladies. The tournament was focused
more on the learning experience for the students – they can see what
their strengths are, where they need to focus their training on, and
how to become better athletes in competition.
Michelle Lopez, loves that her daughter embraces jiu-jitsu.
Lea’s confidence has been built and the reassurance in themselves,
especially in females is important. Just think about it, imagine if in
our teenage years -- wouldn’t it have been great to have a sport that
we could be just as good at, if not better than men…. I would love for
her [Lea] to get into it they way our son has. But I think that will
naturally come with maturity.
From the support at SIMS and their dojo family, to a family of
fighters in the Lopez’s, to the support Courtney’s family has given
her throughout the years – it’s a family affair to make these young
women MMA world fighters of tomorrow.
