Empowering Girls Through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: A Girl Scout Self Defense Seminar at Underworld BJJ

Self defense starts long before a dangerous situation ever happens: it starts with knowing what your body can do.

That’s why we were excited to host a Girl Scout self defense seminar in Washington DC this past weekend for 25 local elementary and middle school aged Girl Scouts.

The girls spent the day learning age-appropriate self defense skills, practicing how to respond to uncomfortable situations, and building confidence by learning to take up space and develop comfort with being physically challenged. And, of course, they all left with something pretty cool: their Girl Scout self defense patch!

Our goal was for every girl to leave the seminar feeling a little more confident in her ability to recognize a difficult situation, use her voice, create space, and advocate for herself.

For us, it was also a pretty perfect reflection of what we're trying to build at Underworld.

A BJJ Gym Built With Girls in Mind

Underworld BJJ is the only Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym in Washington, DC owned by a woman.

And our Head Coach, Danielle, isn't just a woman who happens to own a martial arts gym. She's also a lifelong Girl Scout! So when we say we're excited to see more girls in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, it's personal.

"My Girl Scout troop gave me my first experience of girlhood and community growing up," says Coach Danielle. "It was a really precious full-circle moment for me to be able to meet the next generation of Girl Scouts at my gym. And my mom, who was my childhood troop leader, was over the moon!"

Martial arts spaces haven't always felt like they were built for girls. Girls can be a small minority in many combat sports environments, and that can make the first step onto the mat intimidating. In fact, recent studies have shown that around 89% of BJJ practitioners are men, and female coaches are even rarer, making up only 3% of the sport’s black belts.

We wanted to build something different.

At Underworld, girls aren't an afterthought in our kids program. More than 50% of our current kids program is made up of girls, which is unusually high for a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu program. We're proud of our rapidly growing Girl Army, but we're even more proud of what it represents: girls choosing to come back to the mat week after week because they feel like they belong here.

Why Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Is So Valuable for Girls

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was built on the idea that by using leverage, timing, and strategy, a smaller and weaker opponent can overcome a larger, stronger opponent. It teaches kids to stay calm when they're uncomfortable, think through a physical problem, breathe through difficult positions, and use technique and leverage rather than relying entirely on size or strength.

We emphasized during the seminar that you can't always be stronger than an opponent, but you can be smarter. And that's exactly what our seminar sough to encourage: solving physical problems like they're puzzles, rather than being intimidated by the inherent aggression of the sport.

Those lessons can be particularly valuable for young girls. Girls are often socialized to be smaller, quieter, more accommodating, or less physically assertive. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gives them a completely different experience.

On the mat, they're encouraged to:

• Take up space

• Use their voice

• Trust their instincts

• Solve problems under pressure

• Get comfortable with physical contact

• Keep trying when something doesn't work

A big part of what we do for our young girls is re-socializing them to believe that being strong and smart is cool. Girls in our program brag about how many pull ups they can do AND how many books they read this year. Strength, cleverness, competitiveness, and passion becomes a part of their feminity, not antithetical to it.

The practical self defense skills that come with the sport are just a helpful side effect to giving them the confidence to know they aren’t powerless.

A Self Defense Seminar Designed for Real Life

The way we teach self defense at Underworld isn’t necessarily traditional.

We don’t try to scare girls into thinking the world is dangerous or making them feel responsible for preventing someone else from hurting them.

Instead, we game-ify the skills and techniques that build a strong foundation for self defense, turning learning into something active and engaging rather than fear-based. Our lessons are developmentally appropriate, practical, confidence-building, and, most importantly, fun!

We want girls to leave the mat feeling more capable, more comfortable in their bodies, and more confident in their ability to handle challenges, without ever losing sight of the fact that learning self defense should be empowering, not frightening.

And while a seminar can introduce kids to important concepts, we don't believe anyone becomes “self defense ready” after learning a handful of moves once. Real confidence and competence come from consistent Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training, where kids can build a broader base of knowledge, practice responding to different situations, and gradually develop the physical and problem-solving skills that make those techniques useful. 

Self Defense Classes for Girls in Washington DC

If your Girl Scout troop, school, youth organization, or community group is interested in a custom-built, private self defense seminar for girls, Underworld BJJ is the right gym to contact.

Our kids Brazilian Jiu Jitsu program in Washington, DC combines martial arts instruction with age-appropriate lessons in confidence, discipline, resilience, sportsmanship, and problem-solving.

We work with kids at different ages and experience levels, so students don't need to have any previous martial arts experience to participate.

Bring Your Girl Scout Troop to Underworld BJJ

We're proud to welcome Girl Scouts and other youth groups to Underworld BJJ for educational, active programming that gets kids moving while teaching them skills they can carry with them outside the gym.

Whether you're looking for a Girl Scout self defense workshop, a kids self defense seminar, or an introduction to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, we'd love to work with your group.

And to the 25 Girl Scouts who joined us: congratulations on earning your patches. You were a great group to have on the mats.

We hope we'll see some of you back at Underworld soon!