My End-of-the-Year Experience in Brazilian Ju-Jitsu

Hi, dear Hivers
I am still getting used to my new routines and place. The apartment is still unfurnished and we are waiting for some furniture my grandmother and I ordered.
In the meantime, I had my end-of-the-year Ju-Jitsu ceremony where some of my fellow students were promoted to their respective belts and degrees. I have been training for only 3 months, so was not promoted yet. But I have acquired a lot of knowledge and experience on the discipline and feel very motivated to keep working on it.

Here I put together some images of part of my training. It has been very demanding physically because I am about the only girl in the dojo and most guys are way bigger and heavier than I.

Here I am with Emily, the only other girl training now with us. We become very good friends.

Here with Andre,featured in the video, who got promoted to Brown Belt. In Brazilian Ju-Jitsu for adults you go from white to blue, purple, brown, and black belts (to name the main ones, there are so superior ones) and every belt requires the passing of certain evaluations to get the respective degree. There are at least 4 degrees for every belt.

So far, I have loved the experience. I think that everybody should practice some form of martial art or personal defense discipline. I have made good friends in this community of athletes. They all have their lives and it’s kind of curious when I run into them in the streets. There are lawyers, bank tellers, teachers, security guards, but in the dojo we are all a family and help one another. If someone sees you making a wrong move, they are always willing to correct you and help you out. There is not a sense of competition to see who’s better. We share the euphoria and excitement of everyone’s achievements, and I have felt so good being part of it.

I feel more confident and emotionally, mentally, and physically stronger. We should not be afraid of being in the streets, but unfortunately there will always be some danger, especially for women and we should be able to know how to use our bodies to defend ourselves in case of danger.