Permission to Try Hard

Brit Conner

on The Evolution of Competition.

I started our Women's Competition Class because I wanted women to have a space where they had permission to try hard. Really try hard.

To be competitive. To be audacious. To chase big goals. To push themselves when it's uncomfortable and find out what happens when they stop worrying about whether they're taking up too much space. Yes, it's a competition class. Yes, we want to get better at jiu jitsu and prepare for competition. And yes, we want to win. But I think what we're doing in that room is about so much more than podiums and medals.

For me, competition has never been easy. I've been training jiu jitsu for five and a half years now, and I've competed at both white belt and blue belt. For a lot of that time, I dealt with pretty extreme performance anxiety. There were competitions where I was so overwhelmed that even though I could still perform to some degree, I couldn't really process what was happening around me. My coaches could be giving me exactly the information I needed, and I couldn't hear them. I couldn't take it in.

I've been submitted in under twenty seconds. I've ended matches sobbing. I've walked away wondering why the hell I kept doing this to myself. I've also won. I've had matches I'm incredibly proud of and moments where something I've worked on showed up exactly when I needed it.

But for a long time, competing was still really fucking hard for me. And something about that made me want to keep doing it. Like there was something on the other side of that discomfort that I hadn't found yet.

So I kept signing up. I kept trying. And now, five and a half years into this sport, I can finally say something I genuinely wasn't sure I'd ever be able to say: I'm starting to really enjoy competing.

I can stay present. I can hear my coaches. I can think and make decisions while I'm out there. And I'm having fun. I'm still nervous. I don't expect that to completely disappear. But it doesn't own the experience anymore.

And honestly, I don't know that I would've gotten here without starting this class either. Because while I started it to create something for other women, it has pushed me too. There is something really powerful about being surrounded by women who are also choosing to do hard things.

Ghoul Gang Grapplers

Shark Pit Jiu Jitsu

Someone signs up for her first competition. Someone else is preparing for a big tournament. Someone is working on wrestling even though she hates wrestling. Someone gets smashed in a round, gets back up, and goes again. We're all at different places. We have different goals, different games, different bodies and different strengths. And that's exactly the point.

None of us gets better at jiu jitsu alone. We need training partners, and we need a variety of them. We need people who move differently than we do. People who make us uncomfortable. People who expose holes in our games. People who are good at the things we're bad at.

That's also why this class is open to women from all affiliations. I truly believe that if we want women's jiu jitsu to grow, we have to be willing to grow together. I don't care what patch is on your gi or rash guard. Come train.

"A rising tide raises all ships."

"Iron sharpens iron."

Maybe they're clichés, but they're true.

When you come train with us and get better, you take that back to your home academy. You push the women there. They push you. Then someone else gets better. We all rise.

That's what I want this class to be. I want it to be a room where it's okay to want more for yourself. Where women don't have to make themselves small. Where trying really hard isn't something you have to be embarrassed about.

You can want to win. You can have big goals. You can fail spectacularly. You can get submitted in twenty seconds. You can cry about it. And then you can come back and try again. Because maybe that's the part of competition I've come to love the most. It keeps asking you who you're willing to become.

The medals are cool. I'm not going to pretend I don't care about winning, because I absolutely do. But that's not the whole thing. It's what happens to you while you're pursuing it. It's becoming a little harder to break. It's trusting yourself a little more. It's doing something that once scared the shit out of you and realizing one day that you're actually having fun. That's what I want women to find in this class.

Come Train With Us

Our Women's Competition Class is open to women from any affiliation. We ask that you have at least six months of jiu jitsu experience and are actively training somewhere.

We try to hold class on the second and fourth Sunday of each month from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. at Shark Pit BJJ. Because competition schedules and life sometimes require us to move dates around, please check our social media pages for the most current schedule.

Our upcoming 2026 classes are:

August 23
September 13
September 27
October 11

You can find us on Facebook at Women's Competition Class at Shark Pit BJJ or follow us on Instagram at @GhoulGangGrapplers.

I'm also really grateful to partner with Submission Snax and have the opportunity to use that partnership to bring quality products and more opportunities to the BJJ community. Supporting women's jiu jitsu and creating more opportunities for people to train and connect is a huge part of what I want to do with this class.

If you'd like to check out Submission Snax, you can use code BRIT10 for a discount.

You don't have to be fearless. You don't have to be the best woman in the room. You don't even have to know exactly where you want competition to take you. Just be willing to show up and try.

Try hard. Take up space. Be audacious enough to find out what you're capable of.

We'll get better together.

Thanks,
Brit