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BJJ For Women

~ Women's BJJ Blog: Interviews, Jiu- Jitsu Events and All Things Fenom

BJJ For Women

Tag Archives: emily kwok

Women’s Grappling Camp

15 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by fenomkimonos in Women's BJJ

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Tags

BJJ black belt, BJJ for girls and women, emily kwok, fenom gi raffle, fenom kimonos, rachel casias, support women's bjj, women's grappling camp

AJ Clingerman along with her husband James run Indiana Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu/Fight Hub HQ in Greenwood, Indiana. This jiu-jitsu power couple will be running their 6th Women’s Grappling Camp May 3rd-5th. The event has become so popular that the initial limit of 60 sign ups was reached in a record time. Due to overwhelming demand the organizers had to rent a larger venue and extend the max capacity several times. The camp is expected to have 150 participants and this year’s guest instructor is Emily Kwok who is a third degree black belt, a world champion and the founder/master instructor of Princeton BJJ.


AJ spoke to us about how it all started and what to expect this year, “I attended a training camp that Rachel Casias of Zenith Team in Tennessee organized a few years ago. It was such a great event that I knew I wanted to do something similar. Rachel is the only instructor who has taught in all of my events. Women love her teaching style and energy and she really knows how to get ladies fired up at the end of a long weekend. 

I run a competition and rolling session during the camp but I bring in the big guns do the actual teaching. Besides Rachel, I usually invite another guest instructor. In the past we have had Michelle Nicolini, Nikki Sullivan, Angelica Galvao, Angela Marino, Julie Kedzie and Vanessa Wexler. To be honest, I mostly choose instructors who I want to train with and learn from. If I am excited about it, other ladies are probably too. 

We always work with a charity for all our events. I am on the board of My Bruises Are From, a charity benefiting domestic violence victims and I think it is important for strong women to help other women in their time of need. We have donated to the Julian Center, a domestic violence shelter for women and children, at each of our previous camps and will continue doing so this time around.

I want to make sure that the ladies have the absolute best time possible, so I do everything I can to make it happen. I have an amazing husband and a women’s team who help me with it all. I could not do it without them!”


Fenom Kimonos is donating one gi to the camp raffle and the lucky winner can pick a gi of her choice from the product line of 19 different women’s gi designs. Good luck and happy training!

Pregnancy and BJJ Part 1

11 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by fenomkimonos in Training, Women's BJJ

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

bjj and pregnancy, emily kwok, megjitsu, sophia drysdale

Stretchy pants, mood swings, and insane food cravings are what most people think about when they hear the word pregnancy. Some women view pregnancy as the nine-month-eat-all-you-can vacation, some continue strenuous work-outs to the motto “no pain, no gain”. When you mention pregnancy and BJJ in the same sentence, emotions flare, and discussions get heated. Some support pregnant women in jiu-jitsu, and some are completely against it. Sophia Drysdale, and bloggers Meg and Ana have written extensively about training during, and after pregnancy. Black belt Emily Kwok also had a positive experience training, and teaching while pregnant with her first child. To train or not to train is a personal choice which should be respected.

When Melanie from Vancouver, BC, sent us a picture of her growing baby bump in the gi, we asked her to share her story. She is 31 weeks pregnant with her fourth child, and writes a two-part article about how training has been possible for her*.


pregnant

I must admit, when I first saw the double line on my pregnancy test that I had just taken in the bathroom at Starbucks, I nearly fainted. Selfishly, my first thought was, but I just got back to jiu-jitsu! Seriously, after three kids in four years, and five and a half years away from BJJ, I was just beginning to get my groove back. I thought I was going to have to quit cold turkey again, and that was going to be the end of it. No more jiu-jitsu for Mel ever, ever again. During my first pregnancy I had no idea that pregnant women could do anything other than swim, walk, and go to special mommy-to-be yoga classes.

My second thought was, FOUR KIDS! What the heck was I thinking! Hey, big families totally rock. Just think of the little jiu-jitsu clan I will have on my hands in the next few years. I just never pictured myself as a mom of so many. Not long after I met with my awesome midwives, and I was fully prepared for them to shoot me down, and tell me that I was crazy for even wanting to continue with jiu-jitsu. I tried to prepare my thoughts, how I would try to argue my thinking, my rationalizing.

However, they totally surprised me, and told me that I should just listen to my body, and continue within reason for as long as I was able to. Um. What? Mind blown. Listen to my body? They reassured me that my body was used to the intense training, the drills, and the movements. It would be entirely different if all of a sudden at four weeks pregnant I decided to start running marathons or something completely brand new. My body was used to jiu-jitsu, it was part of me. They reassured me that I was low risk since I had no previous injuries, and that the baby was fully protected inside my body. I could continue for the time being, and we could always re-evaluate as needed at my regular midwifery visits.

image (1)

Next I talked to my main coach. He laughed at me at first, but then told me he supported me 100%, and would help me continue training for as long as I could. Another score! I was so afraid that he would tell me I was a hazard to the club. You know how your mind just always jumps to the worst conclusions first. With a big sigh of relief began googling pregnant jiu-jitsu girls, and started to feel less nervous, and upset about being pregnant. I know this makes me sound completely selfish.

However, if you are like me, jiu-jitsu is your outlet. Especially after becoming a mother, and feeling like you have to re-discover who you are all over again. It is your time to re-charge, to feel human again, to be a better human again, and to de-stress.  It is your time to think about the moves, and where your body should be next. There is no drama on the mats. Jiu-jitsu doesn’t care if you have one baby or four. Turns out a lot of women train during their pregnancies, so I wasn’t so awful for wanting to continue. Here is an article about an awesome running mom, and here’s one about Alysia Montano competing at 34 weeks pregnant.

My first trimester was rocky but not awful. I actually found that I felt better when I went to class. I could go from being dead tired, and feeling nauseous to energetic, and happy within minutes of my feet touching the mats. Brazilian jiu-jitsu is magic, I tell you, magic! I found that my body was just as capable as before. Pregnancy actually has relaxed my muscles, and increased my flexibility! The only thing that I found especially challenging in the first trimester, and into the second one was the shortness of breath. When I was rolling, and my training partner’s gi was covering my face, I could not breathe, and I felt panicky. I had to tap or just stop.

Breathing during pregnancy is affected due to the increase of progesterone, which may make it feel as if you are working harder than usual to get air. In my case, I found this to be the case times 1000. It is important to remember that even though your baby bump may not be showing yet, your uterus is becoming bigger. It takes up more space, and creates pressure against your diaphragm. I tried to keep calm, wear looser fitting tanks, and sports bras under the gi, and breathe deeply.

Part II of the article can be found here.


*Training jiu-jitsu while pregnant is not for everyone, please contact your doctor to discuss your work-out plan.

Women’s Grappling Camp in Chicago

13 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by fenomkimonos in News and Events

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

brazil 021, emily kwok, hannette staack, valerie worthington, women's bjj, women's grappling camp

Women’s Grappling Camp is headed to Chicago in a few weeks! For the first time, Hannette Staack and Andre Terencio, are hosting the five-day women’s jiu-jitsu camp at their gym, Brazil-021.

WGC has been around since 2009, helping women to become the best jiu-jitsu practitioners they can be. It’s a place to train with many different training partners, exchange ideas, share techniques, and life experiences. It is more than just a jiu-jitsu camp, it is an opportunity to gain tools to improve all areas of your life.

WGC2

To see what the instructors Valerie Worthington, Emily Kwok, and Hannette Staack had to say about the camp, click here, here and here.

Women’s Grappling Camp in Arlington, Virginia

31 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by fenomkimonos in News and Events, Training

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Tags

emily kwok, hannette staack, michelle nicolini, sayaka shioda, sofia amarante, valerie worthington, women's brazilian jiu jitsu, women's grappling camp

Groundswell Grappling Concepts presents Women’s Grappling Camp at Fifty/50 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Arlington, VA, over the Veteran’s Day weekend! The featured instructors are multiple time world champions Hannette Staack and Michelle Nicolini.

There will be a total of 5 female black belts from 4 different countries represented at the camp. This is the first time WGC is bringing such a talented group of instructors from Brazil, USA, Canada and Japan together. Ladies have a chance to learn from Hannette Staack, Michelle Nicolini, Emily Kwok, Valerie Worthington, and Sayaka Shioda.

All of the above-mentioned black belts are highly decorated competitors, respected instructors and dedicate a lot of their time to women’s jiu-jitsu by teaching women only classes, seminars and training camps.

Camp is fully booked and registration is now closed, but there are still spots available for a co-ed seminar, conducted by Hannette and Michelle on Monday, November 12th, from 1-3 PM.

More details about the camp can be found on WGC website and on the event FB page.

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