women do not stay in bjj programs, and i think we all know why: perverts like me. but seriously, it is very difficult to retain that fifty percent of the market. i know that much of it has to do with the nature of the contact and the intensity of our sport. however, i believe there must be a way to keep women on the mats.
so women, i put it on you.
what are some of the things that you are looking for out of a bjj program?
The only bjj class I've observed with a high female attendance had a female instructor. It was at Warrior Way in Michigan. Had about 10-15 women being taught in a seperate class by a female purple belt.
Are you sure it's a retention issue? What percent of incoming students are women? Compare this percent with the male/female mix of 1-year students, 2-yr students, etc.
Do you attempt to exit interview the folks that leave?
i know, but that is not that much of a possibility at first. once a class builds it is, but until you have about ten girls, then a classs is kind of a bad idea.
maybe making a women only class will help. put it in once a week and see if it works, once it builds you can add more. even as an expense once a week is not bad and it will help you test the idea
Women are best retained if you have a group of them. I found that we kept a high level of interest from them as long as there were at least 6 women in class working together.
When they just have to work with the guys, it quickly becomes hard to hold on to them.
So you have to achieve some critical mass of female students :-)
I have a womens BJJ class. They love it, but I am a female as well. They always comment on how they wouldnt be comfortable training with guys.
So if you don't have a female who can teach, I would recommend finding one to be an assistant, Even if she doesnt know much it would make the women taking class more comfortable.
You can achieve a lot of the benefits of a separate class by simply having the women pair up and roll with each other during your regular classes. What the instructor should do is proactively ask each student if she prefers to roll with gals only. This way, they don't feel intimidated to make a specific request to do so.
To start off the class, mention to the guys currently training that you'd like to start a female only class and ask if they'd be willing to talk to thier girlfriends/spouses about coming in for the initial free class. Couples are always looking for something they can do as a tandem, something that will allow her to gain further entry into his world and participate in something he enjoys.
For me it's not about preferring to roll with women over men, but preferring to roll with people roughly my size. It's more applicable to competing at tournaments, and it also helps me avoid injury. Getting squashed by big people, specifically is they're big spazzy people with fragile egos, gets old really fast.
And the whole guys and girls not wanting to roll together goes both ways. I've never expressed that I would only roll with women, it's never occurred to me since frequently I'm the only woman in the room. But there are plenty of guys who refuse to roll with women. And I have no problem with that - if a guy doesn't feel comfortable rolling with a girl, then I don't want to roll with him anyway. But please don't put it as "girls don't want to roll with sweaty guys" and that's why it limits their options, 'cause plenty of guys don't want to roll with girls either.
"...once a class builds it is, but until you have about ten girls, then a classs is kind of a bad idea."
Perhaps make it a 10-week program. And I'm just brainstorming here so I'm sure there are flaws in this...
Advertise for a woman's seminar (you can put something in the newspaper for free, hang flyers and coffee shops, police stations, post offices, etc - just to keep costs low) in self-defense/jiu jitsu.
Sell a 10-week program for very cheap(2 sessions per week for 10-weeks) so that they get committed for a set period of time. Try to retain them through a woman's only class.
It seems that less women are interested. I have a few that have expressed interest, but haven't come in yet. We do have a few Women regulars already, hopefully it will grow.
Any guy who doesn't think they can roll with a girl and get any benefit from it are just talking crap. Women tend to have really tough guards to pass.
They also seem to be sleaky and sneaky with escapes and such, so a scrawny little chick that escapes positions and subs continually can help you refine your own technique.
If you do not feel like smashing girls then pull them to guard and let them work and you can work on sweeps and subs from guard.
Everyone goes to bjj to improve, higher belts and more experienced guys(and gals) should allow smaller, less experienced people to get better, not just smash them.
If your just beating the hell out of lower belts and smaller women than you have a problem.
I think alof of women get thrown to the wolves, everyone is bigger, most are probably more experienced and ego probably keeps these guys from not trying to steamroll the woman.
We are all there to get better, not just one individual.