Girl Power

Why supporting girls in martial arts and self defense matters more than ever.

A physical therapist recently asked me what it is like being a girl in contact sports that are typically less common for girls to be a part of. I told her that it has been a very empowering experience for me to train in the sports I love and that teaching self defense to young girls specifically is really important to me. Growing up in karate it never occurred to me that fewer girls than boys were participating in activities like martial arts—because we have so many awesome girls at MEKA! As I got older, I started to notice my tournament divisions shrinking smaller than the boys divisions. I also remember being told by strangers at a few competitions that I would be more successful if I could be more boy-like in my kata or sparring. Then, when I got involved with boxing in college, I was usually the only girl in a workout of 30 guys, some of which started out ignoring me or assuming I didn’t know much.  

This all made me more sad than frustrated. How could I encourage more girls to get involved or keep going? I raised my level of performance and found my own strength and style in order to be a competitor, even to the boys. I made friends with the guys who overlooked me, and trained hard with them. I created opportunities to grow a larger community of girls and share some self defense skills with them through workouts at school. Encouraging young girls in this arena is hugely beneficial for their confidence and if need be, their safety. It’s something all of us can give a little special attention to. I am so glad for our amazing MEKA girls—keep rocking it, encouraging each other, and know how cool you are.

Know a girl who could benefit from the confidence and strength karate builds? Sign up for a free trial class and let her experience it for herself.