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Female Fighter Foundation: Developing BJJ for Women

Female Fighter Foundation: Developing BJJ for Women

 

 

The Female Fighter Foundation (Facebook page) was started by Laura Hondorp en Marjolein Groenen, who are both dedicated martial artists. Goal of the foundation is to make martial arts more accessible to females. Practicing a martial arts has many benefits. Not only does it stimulate physical wellbeing and defensibility for women but it also facilitates tremendous mental growth. However, taking part in a martial arts class which is predominantly filled with men can be a huge obstacle for females making them reluctant to take up a martial art.

One of the pillars of the Female Fighter Foundation is to make martial arts more accessible to females through organizing ‘girls only’ martial arts activities. These activities are only accessible to females and focus primarily on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). BJJ is an art which focuses on ground fighting and is world-renowned for its technical ability. Despite the fact that this martial art has proven that technique can overcome strength, and its relatively active community of practitioners in the Netherlands, the art is still somewhat withdrawn from the broad public in the Neterlands, especially when it comes to women. However, BJJ is the perfect martial art for women because of the ability of women to overcome much larger and stronger opponents.

 

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Besides the practical applicability of the sport in conflict situations, its principals are just as easily adopted away from the mat. Especially leading a balanced life is one of the most positive effects of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Learning to deal with apparent setbacks and coming through a stronger person leads to a positive mental development for many practitioners which helps them to flourish in all aspects of their life.

 

 

Both Laura and Marjolein have been active in martial artists as long as they live. They started taking judo classes when they were 5 years old and have enthousiastically practiced the art for many years resulting in a black belt for both women at a young age. However, the moment they came in contact with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu they were hooked and they can often be found in one of the Gracie Barra Netherlands locations ever since.

 

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Female fighter Open mat

 

 

Their mutual passion for the art led to the fact that they wanted to show more females the beauty of BJJ. Not in the last place because they found it fun to train with females on a more regular basis instead of always being a minority in a class full of men. The fact that Laura and Marjolein often trained and competed together made it easy for them to take the step to collaborate and create the Female Fighter Foundation. The foundation helps them to put all their energy in organizing BJJ events for females only throughout the Netherlands.