Originally published on Female Fighters Africa, 31 October 2017. Republished here as part of the SAGIG story.
Have you ever thought about starting your own organisation in support of women in your martial arts community? Kerry-Anne Mathieson, founder of South African Girls in Gi, did. In five short years the organisation grew to two-hundred women strong and continues to support its members through workshops, sponsorships and solidarity. This is Kerry-Anne's personal story of how it all began.
I started South African Girls in Gi in 2012. When it started, it had very little vision other than to simply grow the sport for women in South Africa.
In 2011, I was a single female grappler in my gym. I had just got back from Abu Dhabi World Championships with a silver medal, having only trained with men. The first time I really rolled with another woman was in Abu Dhabi. We were altogether about five women (that I knew of) actively training Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) in South Africa at the time.
My realisation after travelling to Worlds was that we needed to gang together to make gyms a friendlier environment for women. Simple things like encouraging the guys to go change in the bathrooms rather than out in the open, and to keep mats clean, were things I started to implement at my small gym where I was at, at the time. This didn't help too much, because women were somehow threatened by the all-male environments.
There were a number of girls-only movements overseas that I saw growing really well, and I put together a website, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages to start collecting names. I Facebook-stalked a lot of you, but for good reason — I wanted to connect with as many women as I could find in South Africa. The most awesome part of being the head of this organisation has been seeing the growth from day one. In the beginning, I could count the ladies on one hand, and I always said I could not wait for the day when I no longer recognised the names of ladies on social media pages wearing gis. That day came not too long ago, and we are at almost two hundred members in our private South African Girls in Gi group on Facebook!
I'm proud of where we have come as SA Girls in Gi. We are years behind any other international movement, but we are a force to be reckoned with. We are producing world champions, and more and more, we will be bringing back medals from ADCC, IBJJF Worlds and Abu Dhabi Pro events.
Penny Thomas has always been my source of inspiration and I am so thankful that she takes the time to come out to South Africa almost every year to teach us and give back to her community here. She was the only woman in South Africa to be doing BJJ and naturally was the first to reach black belt. She remains our only South African black belt, which shows how far ahead of us all she really is.
In 2015, I organised with Penny our first women-only weekend BJJ camp. It was the first time we had more than twenty-five women on the mat together all at once, and it was incredible to see and feel the energy in the room. Women travelled in from all over South Africa to spend a weekend at Renzo Gracie Academy in Cape Town, which sponsors our venue each time we have an event. We followed up with another event in 2016 and hosted a Women's Winter Workshop earlier this year. We now conclude 2017 with our annual camp, this time with Nika Schwinden. Penny was not able to make it out to South Africa this year, but we were lucky that Nika has a keen interest in women's only Jiu Jitsu back in Brazil. It is a cause close to her heart.
I often sit back and wonder how this all came together but I can honestly say that it was a lot of hard work, and a lot of luck. I had some troubles along the way, but stuck to the brand and pushed through. I know that we as a community of powerful women, identify with South African Girls in Gi in some way or form, and we have new girls often asking questions on our WhatsApp groups and getting really good feedback on our forums.
With me no longer being able to personally identify every girl in gi, 2017 meant a need for ambassadors! What a great thing to be able to hand over some responsibility to grow BJJ in each ambassador's province. It's still in the teething phase, but 2018 will be a massive year for us — an online shop with women's only BJJ apparel and merchandise, three women's only events, women's only competitions and more!
The purpose for South African Girls in Gi is now defined as supporting and growing women in BJJ at both the academy and competition level, supporting those around us and being an example of strength, empowerment and love. To encourage those who feel shame around being on the mats and away from their families/jobs, to comfort those who feel shy and unsure, to empower those who have been physically hurt, to show each woman that they don''t know yet of what their bodies are capable, to teach young girls how to protect themselves and to keep them in BJJ as they mature, and to empower one another because empowered women build empowered women.
We promise to bring consistency. We will always aim to unite all women in BJJ, not only country-wide, but worldwide. South African Girls in Gi is a banner under which all women in South Africa can have a sense of unity and a safe space to grow and develop themselves and others through BJJ.
#sheisourfuture #southafricangirlsingi
Looking for a female-friendly gym near you?
Browse the BJJ gym directory →