On August 30, 2015 one hundred and fifty females of all ages, skill levels and from over 30 different academies came together for the largest female grappling event in history. The event was held at Gracie Arizona in Phoenix Arizona and let by legendary black belt Sarah Black. There has never been an experience of its kind in the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The love that was felt by all was unimaginable. Never before has one room housed so many strong and supportive likeminded females that who share a powerful love for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It truly was a magical experience like no other. The turnout was a testament to how much the art has grown among females and how united we are.
There where so many girls on the mats there had to be two groups of females moving in circles as they jogging, slide, karioki, high knees, high ankle to make enough room for everyone. After the cardio warm up Sarah had the girls do solo movements down the mats followed by partner drills. In order to warm the girls up for the technique portion of the event Sarah had the girls do spider guard drills which included changing sides and guard recovery to spider guard. After the drills where over the 30 young girls were separated into their own group led by coach Brenda and Melissa.
After the warm up and drills it was time to get down to business. Sarah’s experience as an instructor shined through as she shared some of her favorite technique with the group. The lesson began with passing spider no lasso and focused on the circle grips. The next lesson was similar but the little details set it apart. This one had to do with passing spider breaking the lasso (or circle lasso grip) and passing spider toward the lasso. The last move gave yet another amazing variation of passing spider toward the lasso but instead this time one would jump back when the open lasso. Jiu-Jitsu is all about variations and Sarah provided ample options for escaping the spider guard. It was a perfect lesson for girls of all skill levels.
Next up it was time for prizes, physical challenges and giveaways!! Thank to our sponsors Wartribe, OSS Physical Therapy, Phalanx, Ground Fighters, Detales and Neocell. Thirty-five luck girls walked away with giveaways from our sponsors. Star won the wall sit challenge and Wartribe gi. Katrian, Jody, Samantha and Fabiana,on winning the Oss Physical Therapy shirt and patch raffle, Lucinda, Jakkie and Hailee on winning the Oss Physical Therapy free massage raffle, Izzy and Melissa won the Phalanx rash guards raffle, Zaria won the Neocell basket raffle, Milani, Gerina, Gwen, Sabrina and Elizabeth on winning the Detales tank tops, Kylie won the Detales shorts, Claire and Nina won the rash Detales rash guard raffle and Ahuitzilian, Ryann, Michelle, Desiree, Shanna, Emily, Kimberly, Kelly, Jessica and Kimberly on winning the Ground Fighter gear raffle. Big thanks to our sponsors for all these amazing prizes and congratulations to our winners.
In the spirit of giving we collected $588 in in-kind donations for the My Sisters Place Women and Children’s shelter for Domestic Violence charity. Your donations made a huge impact to those that need it most. Thank you all for your generosity and kindness.
Females traveled from all across Arizona to be a part of this monumental occasion. Thank you to Gracie Arizona, our sponsors Wartribe, OSS Physical Therapy, Phalanx, Ground Fighters, Detales and Neocell, Lisa Pages, Milly Malloy and all of our amazing volunteers for making this event possible. Most of all thank you to each and every person that came out to support this event.
It’s hard to put an event like this into words. Empowering. United. Strong. Phenomenal. Those are some words that come to mind. The times are a changing. The sport is growing faster and faster. This is just the beginning and this is a record of 150 is meant to be broken. The more girls we bring to the mats the more lives are touched. The stronger and united we are the more we can make a difference. It’s never about how many girls participate, but about the individual experiences and love that we share. We look forward to the many more events in Arizona. Keep an eye out for our next one!
Check out these photos from the event: www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1021166331248522.1073741896.223743377657492&type=3