Walk into almost any BJJ academy today and you’ll likely see promotional materials featuring women. “Women’s classes welcome!” “Family-friendly environment!” “Everyone welcome here!” But according to groundbreaking phenomenological research from the University of São Paulo (Giancristoforo, 2025), there’s often a massive gap between marketing and reality. The study, which interviewed six experienced female black and brown belts with 10+ years of continuous training, reveals what actually makes the difference between academies where women thrive and those where they quietly disappear. The findings should concern every academy owner, instructor and male practitioner who genuinely wants to see women succeed in BJJ.
Before diving into what works, let’s establish what we’re working against. Only 17% of BJJ practitioners in Brazil are women, according to the Ministério do Esporte’s 2015 diagnostic study. Male participation is five times higher than female participation. UNESCO research from 2024 shows that 49% of girls abandon sports during adolescence, a rate six times higher than boys. Perhaps most troubling, 61.6% of women have experienced harassment in BJJ training according to a 2017 ESPNW study by journalist Maria Munhos. And while we lack comprehensive data on why women leave BJJ, the research participants described watching countless women start training only to vanish within months.
One black belt instructor noted:
“I’ve been training for over a decade, and I can’t count how many women came for a trial class and never returned. When I was a white belt, there were three other women. All were white belts. None of them stayed.”
This pattern repeats itself in academies across the country and around the world. Women arrive excited to learn BJJ, attend a few classes and then disappear without explanation. Most academy owners assume these women simply weren’t serious or didn’t like the sport. The research suggests something far more troubling is happening.
Many academy owners believe that treating everyone “the same” creates equality. The research reveals this as a dangerous misconception. One participant, CF, described her early experience:
“I would come one day and then not return for a month. And repeat that pattern. There were only men, it was weird. It was a difficult time to be there. Dirty kimonos. Nothing attracted me. But I kept stopping, three months, one month. I’d come back and get beat up, get injured, or experience prejudice, like… I saw a lot. ‘Sit in the corner, there’s no training for you.’ ‘Sit there, it’s better if you just watch today.’ Because everyone was really focused on competition. The girl, unranked, chubby, with glasses, over thirty. So, like, it wasn’t the profile of the time, right. Very different.”
This “neutral” approach, where women are simply thrown into male-dominated training environments without consideration for their different experiences, is exactly what drives women away. The research identifies several critical factors that distinguish truly women-friendly academies from those that merely tolerate female presence. Understanding these factors requires looking beyond surface-level inclusion to examine the deeper cultural dynamics that either support or undermine female participation.
The single most important factor identified across all interviews was female representation at all belt levels. Every participant emphasized that seeing other women training, especially higher-ranked women, was crucial to their persistence. MA, a black belt and professional referee, explained:
“I don’t know if I would have had the initiative to start training jiu-jitsu if there hadn’t been any girls at the academy, because I thought it wasn’t for me. The fact that there were girls there excited me. I saw the girls going hard with the boys, so that motivated me because I imagined myself at some point doing that too. Having references helps a lot!”
The presence of women at various belt levels serves multiple critical functions. Women need to see that progression to black belt is possible for them, not just theoretically but actually embodied in women they can observe and interact with. Female role models provide technical guidance that accounts for different body types, strengths and the specific challenges women face in a male-dominated environment. Seeing women succeed challenges the deeply internalized assumption that BJJ is fundamentally a “male sport” that women can participate in but never truly master. Female training partners create opportunities for specific technical development that mixed training, while valuable, cannot fully provide.
When evaluating an academy, look for multiple women at various belt levels, not just white belts. The presence of at least one female black or brown belt actively training is particularly significant. Female instructors or assistant instructors indicate an academy that has supported women long enough for them to reach teaching levels. Women in leadership or administrative roles suggest broader institutional commitment to female inclusion. Photos and promotional materials should feature actual female members who train there, not stock photos of models in gis. Be wary of academies where you’d be the first female student, where there’s an all-male instructional team, where the only women visible are girlfriends or wives of male members, where female members only attend a segregated “women’s class” or where no women have progressed beyond blue belt. These are strong indicators that something in the culture prevents women from staying and advancing.
The second critical factor is intentional onboarding for women. The most successful academies don’t just accept female students, they actively think about their specific needs during the vulnerable beginner phase. The research revealed that beginners, especially women, often can’t distinguish between necessary technical contact and harassment. One participant described:
“A situation of s*xual harassment happened to me during sparring when I was a white belt, and at the time I couldn’t identify it because I thought it was part of training, even though it bothered me… But after I graduated and started training with less experienced students, I saw that there was no need for a guy much bigger than me and stronger to rub against me the way it was done.”
This confusion is particularly dangerous because it means women may endure harassment without even recognizing it as such, or may recognize that something feels wrong but dismiss their own discomfort as oversensitivity or misunderstanding the sport. Many women have also internalized cultural messages that they don’t belong in combat sports, making them more likely to blame themselves when experiences feel wrong rather than questioning the behavior of others. The first three to six months are critical for retention and early negative experiences often lead to permanent departure, even if the woman never explicitly identifies what drove her away.
Women-friendly academies provide clear explanation of what to expect during training, including body contact, before a woman ever steps on the mat. They assign designated training partners for first-time visitors, ideally female practitioners or male practitioners who have been specifically prepared to work with beginners sensitively. There’s direct communication about boundaries and what’s appropriate, removing the guesswork that leaves beginners vulnerable. Instructors check in after the first few classes, asking specifically about comfort level, not just whether the person enjoyed the workout. Introduction to sparring is gradual with careful partner selection, not throwing new students into the deep end. Women’s-only or beginner-friendly class options are available for those who want them, without any stigma attached to choosing those options.
Contrast this with academies that tell new female students to “just jump in with everyone else,” immediately pair them with large aggressive males, never discuss boundaries or appropriate contact, dismiss discomfort with “that’s just how BJJ is” or make women feel they need to “prove themselves” immediately by surviving rough treatment. These approaches virtually guarantee high female attrition, even if the academy doesn’t explicitly mean to be unwelcoming.
The third factor is active intervention against harassment. Every single participant had either personally experienced harassment or knew close friends who had. The difference between academies where women stay versus leave often came down not to whether harassment occurred, because statistically it occurs everywhere, but how instructors responded when it did. CF described a disturbing pattern:
“When women start attending mixed classes, it’s very difficult because many are mistreated by men due to the enormous differences in size and strength. Women rarely receive that positive vibe that guys get when they roll.”
Another participant, ACT, described being expelled from an academy after refusing her instructor’s advances, then being prevented from training elsewhere when her instructor threatened other black belts who tried to teach her privately. Her story is intense but not unique. The research documented cases of instructors making unwanted advances, training partners deliberately harassing women during sparring and women being blamed or ostracized for speaking up about their experiences.
Harassment happens in the majority of BJJ schools. This is not an opinion but a statistical fact based on the available data. Participants often don’t report due to fear, shame or uncertainty about whether what happened “counts” as harassment. Instructor response determines whether harassment is normalized or stopped. Other students take cues from how instructors handle problems, learning either that such behavior will be tolerated or that it will result in consequences. One protected harasser can drive out dozens of women over time as word spreads through the female community that a particular academy or instructor is unsafe.
Women-friendly academies have written harassment and code of conduct policies visibly posted where students can see them. Clear reporting mechanisms are explained to all students, not just mentioned once and forgotten. Instructors actively monitor sparring dynamics, watching for warning signs rather than assuming everything is fine until someone complains. Swift, decisive response to reported problems shows women that their concerns are taken seriously. Consequences for harassers, up to and including expulsion for serious violations, demonstrate that no one’s competition record or belt rank makes them untouchable. Private check-ins with female students about their experience create opportunities for concerns to surface. Instructors interrupt problematic behavior in real-time rather than waiting for formal complaints. The overall culture supports speaking up rather than punishing women for “causing drama” or “not being able to handle it.”
Academies that claim “we’ve never had any problems” are revealing their ignorance, not their success, given that harassment statistics make clear problems exist everywhere. Dismissing concerns as “oversensitivity,” protecting high-ranking students or competition athletes over participants, maintaining “boys will be boys” attitudes, blaming participants for “misunderstanding” or “not speaking up sooner,” having no clear policy on harassment or treating romantic relationships between instructors and students as normal are all massive red flags that should send women running in the opposite direction.
The fourth factor is technical accommodation without condescension. Women appreciate training partners who calibrate intensity appropriately, neither going overly easy in a patronizing way nor using excessive force to “teach a lesson.” MA described the problem:
“There was a guy from the military who trained with me and I got him in an armlock. He didn’t tap and ended up getting hurt. I didn’t mean any harm. I just didn’t let go because my instructor was watching and told me to hold it because he needed to learn to tap. It was fair and he got injured. From that day on, when that guy rolled with me, he used all his strength because he couldn’t accept being submitted by a woman.”
Another participant recalled instructors saying “go with Luciana to rest,” as if rolling with a woman was a break from real training. This is deeply insulting and reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of what BJJ is supposed to be about. The research participants emphasized that they fell in love with jiu-jitsu precisely because technique could overcome strength, because a smaller weaker person could defeat a larger stronger opponent through superior knowledge and application of mechanical principles. This is the founding philosophy of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as adapted by Helio Gracie, who was himself small and physically weak.
Women-friendly academies understand that good training partners adjust their approach based on the context and their partner’s signals, regardless of gender. They recognize that training with women can actually improve technical precision because it forces practitioners to rely on technique rather than muscular force. They value the different perspectives and approaches that women bring to their training. They understand that control, the ability to apply just enough pressure or force to achieve the objective without excess, is the mark of true mastery in the gentle art.
The research participants, all experienced practitioners, had developed sophisticated understanding of these dynamics. They could distinguish between partners who were truly training with them versus those who were either going too easy out of condescension or too hard out of ego. They valued partners who met them where they were, challenged them appropriately and helped them grow. They had learned to recognize and appreciate the “flow” state that becomes possible when both partners are focused on learning rather than winning.
The fifth factor identified in the research relates to how academies handle the intersection of BJJ with women’s broader life circumstances. Several participants described making enormous sacrifices to continue training, including CF who trained through multiple hernias, torn meniscus, fractures and shoulder injuries because her love for the sport outweighed her physical pain. ACT reorganized her entire life around training after leaving an abusive relationship, saying:
“I literally am hooked on jiu-jitsu.”
Women-friendly academies recognize that women often face different barriers to consistent training than men do. Research shows that women spend an average of 20.5 hours per week on domestic care work compared to 10 hours for men, according to the UN Women’s 2023 report. They may face opposition from partners or family members who don’t understand why they want to do a “men’s sport.” They may have childcare responsibilities that limit their training schedule. They may face economic barriers if they’re paid less than male counterparts. They may experience harassment or safety concerns traveling to and from training.
Understanding these realities means offering class times that work for different schedules, being flexible about attendance requirements for belt promotion, creating family-friendly environments where children are welcome, keeping costs as accessible as possible and thinking about safety in parking areas and how students get home after evening classes. It means not penalizing women for the very real structural barriers they face while still maintaining high standards for technique and knowledge.
The sixth factor is perhaps the most subtle but potentially most important: whether an academy actively works to change BJJ culture or simply reflects existing problematic norms. Several research participants spoke about the negative image BJJ had when they first encountered it. MA explained:
“The image I had of jiu-jitsu, in fact, was bad, from what appeared on television about the pitboys in Rio de Janeiro. This reached a national level, it was what I knew about jiu-jitsu, Gabriel Pensador’s music. So, I had that bad impression.”
The “pitboy” phenomenon of the 1980s and 1990s, where wealthy young jiu-jitsu practitioners in Rio de Janeiro became known for violent behavior in nightclubs, created an association between BJJ and toxic masculinity that persists today. CD, who came from a judo background, said:
“I think judo people have a bad image of Jiu-Jitsu, so I had a bit of prejudice because I didn’t know. Judo people spoke badly about Jiu-Jitsu people: ‘Jiu-Jitsu people are dirty, don’t wash their clothes, don’t wash their kimono. Oh, because the Jiu-Jitsu fight is messy. Because judo has all that formality.’ So, if you look at Jiu-Jitsu in the 80s, it really was a messy thing, almost like wild animals. So, I had a terrible image of Jiu-Jitsu.”
Women-friendly academies actively work to counter these stereotypes and create a different culture. They emphasize the philosophical and ethical dimensions of martial arts training, not just the physical techniques. They teach respect, humility and care for training partners as fundamental to the art. They maintain clean facilities and enforce hygiene standards. They create rituals and practices that honor the Japanese origins of the art, like the Ōsōji no jikan (cleaning time) where everyone, regardless of rank, cleans the mats together as an act of humility and mutual care.
The research revealed fascinating insights about how these cultural practices shape experience. Participants spoke reverently about the dojo as a sacred space separate from ordinary life, where different rules apply and different aspects of self emerge. They described the ritual of bowing before entering the mat as a moment of transition, leaving outside concerns behind and entering a space of focused presence and learning. They talked about the kimono as more than just workout clothing, but as a kind of armor that transforms them into warriors and about the belt as carrying deep symbolic weight beyond just indicating rank.
These ritualistic elements, when practiced authentically rather than as empty gestures, help create the kind of transformative environment that keeps women engaged despite obstacles. The research participants spoke about how jiu-jitsu had “changed their lives,” “organized their lives” and “become their lives.” MA said:
“Jiu-Jitsu changed my life.”
JB said:
“What fascinates me about jiu-jitsu is that you’re always a learner because it always puts me in the same place as everyone else. No one is above anyone else. I’m not better than anyone for being a black belt and professional athlete. It doesn’t matter, I will always learn from someone in jiu-jitsu. This fascinates me.”
This kind of deep engagement happens when academies successfully create what the research calls a “magic,” a quality of experience that makes the sport compelling enough to outweigh all the pain, frustration and barriers. Women-friendly academies understand that for women, this magic must be strong enough to overcome not just the normal challenges of learning a difficult martial art, but also the additional burdens of sexism, harassment, lack of representation and cultural messages that they don’t belong.
The seventh and final factor identified in the research is perhaps the most forward-looking: whether an academy sees promoting women’s participation as part of its mission. Several research participants had moved beyond just training for themselves to actively working to create better conditions for other women. The author of the study, Luciana Neder, founded the Commission for Women’s Rights in Jiu-Jitsu (CDMJJ) and created the Women Friendly protocol to help academies become more welcoming. She conducts women’s-only seminars and works to increase female representation and safety in the sport.
CF spoke about the importance of representation from the other side, describing young women asking to take photos with her:
“When I went to a jiu-jitsu school and the girls were asking to take pictures with me, that’s when I became aware that it’s still difficult for a woman to be a black belt, and the admiration you cause in those girls there… I myself didn’t have that. I had two or three black belts that I looked at and said: ‘Wow! You can reach black belt!’ But there are 40 men here and 2 women.”
Women-friendly academies recognize that increasing female participation isn’t just about fairness or political correctness, but about the survival and growth of the sport. They understand that excluding or tolerating the exclusion of half the potential practitioner population is both ethically wrong and strategically foolish. They see women not as a special interest group requiring accommodation but as essential members of the BJJ community whose perspectives and participation enrich everyone’s training.
These academies actively recruit female students, showcase female achievements, create leadership opportunities for women, address barriers to female participation, hold themselves accountable for female retention rates and work to change broader BJJ culture. They recognize that having one or two token women doesn’t constitute inclusion and that real change requires sustained commitment over time.
The research makes clear that creating truly women-friendly BJJ academies isn’t simple or easy. It requires acknowledging uncomfortable truths about harassment and discrimination, examining one’s own biases and blind spots, making concrete policy and cultural changes, holding people accountable even when it’s difficult and maintaining long-term commitment despite resistance. It requires men, who hold most of the power and leadership positions in BJJ, to care enough about women’s experiences to do the hard work of change.
But the research also makes clear that this work is possible and worthwhile. The six women interviewed had all persisted despite enormous obstacles because their love for jiu-jitsu outweighed everything else. They had found in this martial art something profound and transformative, something worth reorganizing their entire lives around. They had become not just skilled practitioners but thoughtful analysts of their own experience, able to articulate both what had harmed them and what had helped them along their journeys.
Their stories reveal that when academies get it right, when they create genuinely welcoming and supportive environments, women don’t just participate in BJJ, they thrive. They become black belts and instructors and competitors and advocates. They bring friends and daughters and students. They contribute to technical innovation and philosophical depth. They make the entire BJJ community richer and stronger.
The question for every academy owner, instructor and male practitioner is whether they’re willing to do what it takes to create that kind of environment. The answer will determine not just whether women can succeed in BJJ, but what kind of martial art BJJ will be in the decades to come.
Refrences
Giancristoforo, L. N. (2020) A mulher na “Arte Suave”: uma análise fenomenológica da participação feminina no jiu-jitsu brasileiro. Versão corrigida. Dissertação (Mestrado em Ciências) — Escola de Educação Física e Esporte, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo.
