Women in combat sports
By Judobird
@Judobird (88)
December 4, 2006 2:06pm CST
I am a black belt in judo, however I am increasingly finding that there are decreasing amount of young women doing sports like judo etc, and considering the figures of membership to associations connected to judo see a decline at around the age of 14 I am beginning to wonder why girls suddenly lose the appeal to become dedicated to such sports and go off to find men and alcohol. In general a lot of young women my age seem to have just stopped doing any sport as they seem to just lose interest, or is it just I am one of the few that wants to stay in sport through enjoyment rather then having to do sport in order to just stay fit?
3 responses
@temujin3031 (12)
• Philippines
16 Jan 07
i think they are afraid to be injured so they tend to choose other sports that are less risky. but for me, judo is a safe sport, there are less injury there that other combat sport. it will also teach you to maximize efficiency with minimum effort.
@rhirtler (3)
• United States
22 Feb 07
I am not sure if it is the safety factor. Since Judo is one of the safest sports to particpate in, cheerleading/gymnastics is much more dangers with a much higher percentage of injury.
Part of it might be females become uncomfortable with their bodies and thus grappling with other people as they continue into puberty. I can't say not being female myself though.
Or as another poster pointed out it could be that they are being pushed by their peers or family members to do a more 'feminine' activities.
@Judobird (88)
•
22 Feb 07
Judo is hardly a particularly safe sport, yes the throwing is safe...but being armlocked and strangled is not exactly safe...people I know have been knocked out unconsious from throws, turned blue and passed out from strangles, had their arms snapped in half, however i do a lot of competitions so I probably see more then what anybody who just does the sport at club level does.
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
4 Dec 06
I think girls feel pressured to do things that are more feminine. My fiance participates in Brazilian Ju Jitsu and there are alot of young females that compete on a high level in the sport. I was very surprised. At both schools he attened more than half of the classes were female and the females usually took home more awards and were higher ranking than the males. I use to kickbox and I loved it. I got out of it because I had to and now where I live it isn't availble anymore - cut out since professional fighting isn't profitable anymore. I have thought about getting back into martial arts and decided not to. I can risk the injuries anymore.
@Judobird (88)
•
5 Dec 06
Yes you are right, the injuries that I pick up can be nasty sometimes, although I have only ever been to hospital once and I started judo when i was about 4 so I think I have had a pretty good run so far. However the bruises suck, when people kick your legs and when you get hit in the face, I think a lot of men feel threatened by how independant I am and how I don't feel I need a man to protect me. I find that my judo classes are mostly men, there is 4 females at my current judo club (at university) and back home there was only about 6 and 3 of those were on the olympic squad.
@spike12_ph (254)
• Philippines
1 Dec 07
i'm still a white belt in judo. in our dojo, there are 3 female judoka who are above 20 years old. and the other female players are teenagers. we've been inviting our friends to play judo but most of them just don't wanna get tired or don't want to get hurt or have mat burns. for me and my friends who are currently playing judo, we really enjoy the game and we just can't get enough of it.
