8 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 26-FEBRUARY 1, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com 831 It is hard to believe that a compact studio, well hidden between other small businesses on Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey, is able to contain so much energy. It’s 10:45am on a Saturday morning when I open its door to attend the 11am free trial for Women Empowered at Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Monterey. A mixed-gender combat class is still in progress on the floor, bodies in white dress drop heavily on a bouncy platform the color of seaweed, and students, mostly male, work in pairs mimicking as closely as possible real combat, according to traditions developed by the Gracie family over the last 80 years. Ceiling fans spin, fanning portraits of venerable founders of the martial arts being practiced below. Each Saturday, someone new shows up for the all-female class and Sam Chapa gives a quick introduction. She talks about “stages of the attack,” one of many important and often-invoked phrases throughout the course, emphasizing on the fact that fighting should be considered the last resort, and reminding participants that no possessions are worth losing one’s life for. The Women Empowered course consists of 15 classes and explores 20 essential jiu-jitsu-based defense techniques that can be used regardless of age or physical ability. It was designed by Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in cooperation with law enforcement officers and other experts—even former predators. On this day we cover step-by-step, move-by-move what to do when dealing with a much stronger attacker, with different techniques for somebody wielding a knife or a gun. Instructors demonstrate first, and students then practice in pairs. To learn the technique, I lie on the ground and allow my partner to sit on me with a plastic knife poised on my neck. I was shown how to use my arms and legs to take over the weapon and push the attacker away—all in slow motion for the purpose of learning. Then roles are switched; victims become the attacker, an easier job— even if the attacker gets lightly kicked and will spill over and hit the floor. At this point, killing your “bad guy” is optional, but the instructors emphasize that’s a choice that should be considered and made. The level of intensity is moderate. But one has to be comfortable with falling (on a mattress), and with the physical closeness. The students in Women Empowered are all of different ages, body types and ethnicities. Some take the course once, others continue. Chapa says taking each class three times should make one pretty confident about any given technique. True passionates can test for the pink belt that allows them to train with Gracie Jiu-Jitsu for free and serve as an assistant instructor. That’s 60 classes attended and a pretty challenging test, explains Brendan Crooks, one of the lead instructors. Chapa tested and received her pink belt in August 2022, after starting her adventure in April 2019. She never considered martial arts before. “I was just driving by and saw them training,” she says. “It looked surprisingly interesting.” “A lot of women try it and they realize it’s different from what they thought jiu-jitsu is,” Crooks says. He has been practicing jiu-jitsu since 2012, and part of GJJ Monterey since it opened in 2017, becoming an instructor for Women Empowered in 2021. “Many women are not interested in jiu-jitsu because they might think they’d have to train with a bunch of sweaty guys,” he adds. Crooks runs the course in tandem with Chapa. He hopes she will eventually take over. (For students to take the Women Empowered class, after the initial trial, costs $120 monthly—four classes.) “My advice is come to the class,” says Lily Tellado, age 13, addressing all women who are not sure how they feel about martial arts, but wouldn’t mind feeling safer walking down the street. “If you don’t try it, you will never know if you like it or not.” Tellado has been taking Women Empowered for three months, and has been training in jiu-jitsu for five years. She finds jiu-jitsu less aggressive than karate or taekwondo. “I like the flow,” she says. “It’s graceful, like a dance.” Class Contact A self-defense course for women held at Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Monterey is an introduction to empowerment. By Agata Pop˛eda Sam Chapa and Brendan Crooks demonstrate one of techniques from the Women Empowered program at Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Monterey. “If you don’t try it, you will never know if you like it or not.” TALES FROM THE AREA CODE DANIEL DREIFUSS ISSUE Health & Fitness 2023
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