51吃瓜

In the Middle East, a female jiu-jitsu fighter works to eliminate bias against women in combat sports.

No historian can say for certain whether the . Some say they lived in a matriarchal society, where little girls were raised as warriors and men took care of the babies. Some say they were a figment of the Athenian imagination, a way to frighten the men into cooperating during times of聽鈥�.鈥�

In 1861, Johann Jakob Bachofen鈥檚聽Das Mutterrecht, or聽Mother Right,聽presented a theoretical ancient world: polyamorous, communistic and with a religion recognizing a matriarchal rather than a patriarchal line. Some interpreted this to mean that the dark ages of humanity ended with the enlightened advent of patriarchal rule and monogamous marriage. More recently, feminists use the theory to hypothesize about a utopia聽.

To be fair, however, the idea of harmonious women living in villages and engaged in peaceful goddess worship is less threatening than the idea of an Amazon who fights 鈥渓ike a man.鈥� A vicious, skilled, aggressive woman scandalized and titillated the Greeks. Only when the tale expanded to include a macho Heracles defeating and subjugating Hippolyta, the Amazonian queen, could the men relax鈥攖he feral woman was under control.

In the modern world, the entrance of women into traditionally male combat sports, including boxing, (MMA) and Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ), stir the same sense of horrified fascination. Ronda Rousey is perhaps the most recent example of this: A hugely successful, hugely talented, disciplined fighter still paradoxically criticized both for her 鈥溾�� body and traditional聽.

Rousey is a mixed martial artist, combining techniques from other disciplines such as boxing, judo, muay thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.聽, in particular, appears very much the man鈥檚 sport, with on-the-ground grappling and twists designed to 鈥渟ubmit鈥� the opponent, or get them to tap out. The gripping of clothing, the claustrophobia and the odd intimacy of BJJ make it seem like an odd sport for a woman to take up, especially considering that often both genders 鈥渞oll,鈥� or compete, with each other.

Defeating Stereotypes

Enter Farah al-Zahrani, a 21-year-old Saudi university student living in Jordan and now a female BJJ competitor. Zahrani is the first Saudi woman to聽聽in BJJ and, perhaps more importantly, one of the first Saudi women to compete in sports, full stop. Although the 2012 Olympics in London saw聽鈥�16-year-old Wojdan Shaherkani in judo and 19-year-old Sarah Attar in track鈥攂oth of them lost by significant margins to opponents and brought the lack of facilities and training for Saudi women into the limelight.

Farah al-Zahrani (right) 漏 Elena Koshevaya

Zahrani has the same frustration while visiting relatives in Saudi Arabia. 鈥淭here are no places to train in Saudi,鈥� she says in an international school accent. 鈥淚鈥檝e been here in Saudi for three weeks and I鈥檓 going crazy.鈥�

When asked how she began BJJ, she says it was an accident. 鈥淚鈥檝e always been involved in sports. I did taekwondo, swimming, gymnastics and started BJJ a year and a half ago. One of my friends was doing a Kickfit class at an MMA place, and it was a combination between a cardio workout and kickboxing. So I did Kickfit to stay fit, and there was Kickfit on one side and BJJ on the other side. I would always watch them and I couldn鈥檛 understand what they were doing. I was astonished by how graceful and smooth their movements were but, at the same time, it was weird, too intimate. I was like, I鈥檓 never going over there!鈥�

Shaking out her mane of hair, she says ruefully, 鈥淚 asked, 鈥楢re there any girls training?鈥欌��

Zahrani placed fourth in the World BJJ Championships in Abu Dhabi in her weight and in the open division, where all weight classes compete together. Although she has only trained for a year and a half, she is earnest in her love of jiu-jitsu and her desire to compete.

鈥淥ne of the concepts of BJJ is the smaller and weaker person can submit the bigger and tougher guy. Size doesn鈥檛 really matter鈥攖echnique matters, how you use the technique to submit your opponent. I鈥檓 about 55 kilos and I鈥檓 one of the smallest girls. The fact that I can use BJJ to submit larger girls and guys is mind blowing to me,鈥� she says.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu traces its lineage from judo and Japanese jiu-jitsu. The word jiu-jitsu comes from the Japanese 鈥渏u jutsu鈥� or 鈥済entle/supple/yielding art.鈥� This is perhaps the essence of jiu-jitsu, which to the untrained eye looks like two people squirming and rolling around with each other. BJJ鈥檚 grappling and rolling involves being on top of, beneath, across and behind the opponent鈥攊n positions that those who prefer traditional gender roles might find scandalous. Except, of course, during a roll the point is to defeat the other person.

Although the formal combat techniques in a BJJ roll cannot translate directly from gym mat to street fights, BJJ does purposefully work to give the advantage to the smaller, weaker opponent and is considered by some to be a . For women, this could mean a moment鈥檚 advantage and the ability to get away when facing physical聽聽or assault.

Of course, this still doesn鈥檛 mean that walking into a gym full of men rolling around on the floor is any less intimidating.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really understand anything at first or get anything,鈥� says Zahrani when asked about her first days doing BJJ. 鈥淭hey said OK, there鈥檚 this move called the arm bar and I couldn鈥檛 connect the moves and technique with like, how you do it in a real life match. I thought I would just try. I liked it.鈥�

鈥淚 train with the guys in class,鈥� she continues, 鈥渂ut some of the guys prefer not to train with girls. They might be religious or they just don鈥檛 like training with girls. You get to choose sometimes鈥攜ou do what you’re comfortable with.鈥�

When asked about her coach and his openness toward women in a male-dominated sport, she says, 鈥淢y coach is Jordanian,聽but he was born and raised in Brazil. His name is Samy al-Jamal. He鈥檚 a fourth degree black belt and he鈥檚 very supportive of what we do. He鈥檚 very, very supportive of the girls. Our school has a lot of girls, that鈥檚 what makes it special鈥攚e鈥檙e eleven girls now. None of the schools have that amount of girls.鈥�

Faced With Harassment聽

Zahrani then comments on whether living in Jordan is difficult, or if she has faced harassment from others because of her competition in the sports, especially聽蝉补苍蝉听the hijab worn by both Shaherkani and Attar.

鈥淚n Jordan, people are more open-minded than in the Gulf,鈥� she responds, sighing. 鈥淲e have female boxers, and soccer players and basketball players, so sports are something common here. But BJJ is different because they think it鈥檚 violent, and because they think it鈥檚 all about breaking other people鈥檚 hands and legs or something like that. But in general they鈥檙e more open-minded than people in KSA鈥攖hey think I just punch people and get hurt.鈥�

鈥淢y relatives in Saudi, they are supportive, but they don鈥檛 know exactly what I鈥檓 doing and they don鈥檛 really ask. They knew I was competing in Abu Dhabi, so they were like, we saw you on TV, but they have nothing to say about this. Some of the Saudi people are very negative. I [received] very negative criticism when my pictures were online on social media because I was the first Saudi to ever compete in BJJ and people said I was a sinner. Like, 鈥楽he鈥檚 going to hell.鈥欌��

She pauses for a moment and continues: 鈥淥n Twitter and Instagram, there鈥檚 this page called 鈥楩irst Saudi鈥� and they put pictures up of the first Saudi to do anything, so they had my picture up, and I was reading through the comments鈥攕ome of them were hurtful. 鈥楴o one wishes her well鈥� or, like, 鈥楽he has no father. Where is her father?鈥欌��

鈥淚 was questioning myself: I thought maybe I鈥檓 doing something wrong, like I wasn鈥檛 raised 鈥榬ight.鈥� But there鈥檚 nothing wrong with what I do. There鈥檚 this image of Saudi girls that they should be wearing a niqab or hijab, but I don鈥檛 wear that when I鈥檓 in Jordan. When my pictures were on social media, there was nothing showing鈥攎y body was covered in BJJ clothes but I didn鈥檛 have anything on my hair. So they were like, she鈥檚 a sinner.鈥�

鈥淢y father is very protective of me from people, especially on social media, and he would be annoyed if he saw such comments. I have to keep in mind how to dress and how to post pictures, like I shouldn鈥檛 put stuff up that is too weird. I can鈥檛 just tweet whatever is on my mind. I have to be careful what I put out there.鈥�

Notably, both Shaherkani and Attar were heavily criticized for participating in the Olympics, with some even calling the teenage Shaherkani a 鈥�.鈥� While this is a distinct reaction from Saudi Arabia, where women only recently began competing, even in the United States, with Title IX sports legislation for women, doing something 鈥溾�� means doing it weakly. Our global obsession with women being weaker and, if they demonstrate strength, somehow 鈥溾�� recalls an ancient attitude that the modern world has still not shaken.

漏 Elena Koshevaya

Zahrani, luckily, has a good head on her shoulders and growing support from a small niche of women, including聽, taking up聽聽and combat sports. The Tumblr聽Muslim Female Fighters posts daily photos of women in combat sports from Turkey to Malaysia and Canada. As for Zahrani, herself, she has bigger dreams for her future.

鈥淪ome of my friends don鈥檛 really understand; they find it intimidating or 鈥榥ot feminine.鈥� They say, 鈥楧o you think you鈥檙e going to be a world champion? You鈥檙e wasting your time.鈥欌��

鈥淚 keep doing it because I like it. I keep doing it for myself; it affects me mentally and physically in a very tremendous way. I鈥檓 usually not a very patient person, but after doing BJJ I became the most patient person ever. I have a very short temper, but when I started doing BJJ I got this negative energy out of me because of punching the bags and training and fighting my teammates. You can鈥檛 just train twice a day and then just quit, you know? You have to do the whole thing.鈥�

鈥淚n BJJ, I want to be a world champion, to be honest. I want to compete every opportunity there is, every tournament. I just want to go and compete,鈥� she says, running her hands through long, wavy hair. 鈥淚 want to train all the time. When I get my black belt or my brown belt, I want to open up a school in Saudi for girls to train in martial arts. I鈥檓 kind of working on that.鈥�

When asked about her thoughts beyond competition, she shrugs, smiling, and says, 鈥淚 think more Saudi girls should be involved in sports because they should be able to be healthier, not only their bodies, but their minds should be healthier鈥攖hey should be able to stand up for themselves. Sports should be in every school in Saudi. Not sports as in training and competing, but just going to the gym and having a workout or keeping healthier, it affects a lot of things. Not only your body, but your mind as well. It plays a big, big role in people鈥檚 lives in general.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 also looking for a sponsor,鈥� she says, grinning again. 鈥淚 want to keep competing but, you know, BJJ competitions are kind of expensive and I鈥檓 still in school. But I want to try; I want to keep trying to compete. I鈥檇 love for my for my country to support me, my country鈥檚 recognitions and support is more important to me than whatever medals I might get at tournaments. I know I can offer a lot to the female Saudi community.鈥�

Fight Like An Amazon

Zahrani is, perhaps, one of a new generation of young women across the world learning to blend the traditionally 鈥渕asculine鈥� characteristics of competitiveness and ambition with what it means to be female. 鈥淚鈥檓 not a tomboy,鈥� she says, 鈥淭here鈥檚 not just one kind of being feminine!鈥�

It is a shame that, even while we have created the spaces for these young women to be celebrated and pushed, we still see in the backlash and comments a fear hearkening all the way back to times when women were considered to be property.

It is a fear of the woman who cannot be controlled, who cannot be subjugated and who cannot be pressed into docile, obedient silence. Women who can punch a man and control the situation if a man attempts to, in BJJ terms, submit her. Fear of the woman who is too feral, too wild and too outside the limits of what we consider to be appropriate, weak feminine behavior. Behaving 鈥渓ike a girl鈥� is perhaps our way of making sure that women remain in the comfortable box, defeated by muscled, macho heroes, appropriately scantily clad and helpless.

Yet if it is up to the Zahranis and Rouseys of the world, we will have to begin rethinking our gendered definitions and our fear of women who might fight not like a man, but like an Amazon.

The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.

Photo Credit: Elena Koshevaya

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