If you’ve ever been to New Orleans you know it’s a magical place. A place filled with rich history, amazing food and you’ll learn what southern hospitality really means. It is also a place where you are encouraged to cut loose and forget all your troubles. A place where you learn what community means. On April 2nd 2016 Girls in Gis hosted it’s first event in Louisiana at Triumph Krav Maga in New Orleans. Louisiana’s first and only female black belt Caroline Vanek hosted this groundbreaking event. Girls from all over Louisiana and Mississippi came together for their first Girls in Gis event! An experience that they will never forget.
The event began with a welcoming reception led by our Girls in Gis representatives Shama Ko, Lana Hunter and Kristine Felts, all of whom are long time Girls in Gis participants and ambassadors. None of the participants had ever been in a room with that many BJJ girls before. No one had an idea what to expect. The event began with an icebreaker warm up, something to get the girls comfortable and let down their guards. It wasn’t long till the room was filled with much laughter and any nerves girls may have had were soon forgotten.
Each community is different. No two are alike. Some communities are vast but yet divided. Some are growing and building a foundation. In both cases Girls in Gis a tool in which can help to bridge those gaps. In Louisiana we found the community to be as warm as it’s summers and as strong as it’s oldest buildings. It is not as big as some, but it is growing fast. It seemed rather fitting that for such a historical place we have a historical hosts like Caroline. Caroline is no stranger to teaching and has been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu over half her life. She shared an arm bar from the guard, a guard escape and a pass to side mount. The handful of purple belts broken off for their own one on one Q& A with Caroline to discuss further submission for the side mount.
What is a celebration without prizes?! Thanks to our sponsors War Tribe, Girls Bring it BJJ, Phalanx, Pressure Grappling, Kozamurai, Neocell and American Grappling Federation we didn’t have a shortage of those. Among the most amusing challenge yet, we had a belt tie off, a challenge that had everyone in hysterics. Congratulations to Jessica on winning the challenge. These events are made possible because of our valued sponsors that believe in our mission and support the cause. Thank you for believing and for making this event even more special.
Thank you to everyone at Triumph Krav Maga, Caroline, Shama, Kristine, Lana and everyone for helping to making this event possible. It takes a great team to make a great event and this event was proof of how strong that team work was. There is nothing more uplifting than seeing an already tight knit community become even more tight. We were glad to be a part of that.
There is a movement going on right now. Women are stepping out into the spotlight. It is our unity, our strength, our love and our ability to support each other that makes the movement even stronger. There was nothing like Girls in Gis before Girls in Gis, now you see many of groups have popped up to help the movement gain momentum around the globe. We need as many opportunities as possible to come together. The Girls in Gis motto is Strength in Solidarity which means that together we can accomplish anything. We can find strength in each other to do more and reach further. That is exactly what happened at the Girls in Gis Louisiana Special Event. We came together and found strength that was limitless.
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