Asking Men to Roll in Jiu Jitsu 

Im usually the only woman at my gym & I’m the oldest (47) so the comfort level varies regarding each… I just watch them roll with others first and then go up and ask if they want to roll yes or no, it’s ok, everyone has that choice…don’t take it personal….it is awkward sometimes, but I try to ignore it & roll so don’t get hurt… do what your comfortable with, so your mind is on learning & technique ❤

I've never had to roll with a woman or had the opportunity to. When I started BJJ there was one blue belt and she eventually moved which put the gym back to mainly guys (there's two middle school girls but unless you're a coach you're not supposed to roll with them)w. Not wanting to be considered a creep is definitely a thing and we can only build rapport by sharing the same space with vulnerability and honesty. It would be great to have gyms host ways to roll with each other so the awkward aspect is shouldered by the gym or coach and we're seeing live examples and having a community agreement or something! Just a thought.

I love these Q&A type videos you've been putting out.❤️ Very helpful and informative. Keep it up!

Oh my goodness. I am just running a bath and wanting to de stress and was shining man I wish there was a new jiujitsu blog from Kim I could watch and bam ! Wish come true. Thanks for the video gonna watch now!!

This is a very fair and balanced response and I completely agree! When I first started at my gym, none of the men took the initiative to ask me to roll, so I would have to ask every time. It was awkward as hell sometimes and a couple of them didn’t roll with women and it was not easy to put myself out there time after time. But it’s hard for them too and I get why most don’t ask women to roll. But in my experience very few men have minded rolling with me, they just didn’t want to initiate it. just had to find my courage and keep asking and it really didn’t take long to figure out who I was comfortable with, who I liked rolling with, make friends, etc. Now I have lots of men I roll with regularly who ask me to roll and even new guys will occasionally since they see me being comfortable with and a good roll with the other guys too. I agree there’s lots of reasons, from them not knowing how to roll with you, not being certain how hard to go, not wanting to look like a creep, etc. For women who are very new I definitely think asking higher ranking men to roll is the way to go at first, they’ll be able to match your pace, not just smash or muscle things, and teach you stuff hopefully. And it will help get you more comfortable rolling with men if it’s something that makes you nervous.

i have a few people i flock to but i would like to roll with other people there. maybe i'll work up the courage one day but for now i'll just stick to my people or stand there until i'm chosen lol

I'm new and my go to is ask my coach it's like the best because I tell him "coach I don't want to get murdered" and he knows how everyone rolls so I have had great partners. (I am super new so I really like asking my coach for help he's awesome) I don't know whats happening so this is such a great method.

I do think it gets easier the higher belt you are. I used to feel like it was inappropriate to ask the guys to roll because they were all higher ranked than me. Now I'm a purple belt and I'll ask no problem. That higher belt can give a lot of confidence!

I don’t know if you will see this comment as it is four days after this video but I am hoping you do. It is about recovering from hamstring surgery. I go in today to talk to orthopedic and I’m hoping I can get surgery soon as I talk tendons completely. my question was after surgery using the brace how do use the bathroom??