Women in Martial Arts

The other day I watched the movie “42” the story of Jackie Robinson and I had an asthma attack!
It was so touching to me because I went through so much as a woman in the Martial Art world… so I wrote this paper that tells my personal experience and how lucky I am and how fortunate everyone is at Elite Training Center (students and instructors).

 
I hope that this story will teach everyone a great lesson, which is that you never give up on your dreams, no matter what the adversities are. When there is determination, anyone CAN be great and be in charge of its own destiny.

WOMEN IN MARTIAL ARTS
(Personal experience)

17 years ago, I was exposed to Martial Arts back in Italy (Jeet Kune Do and Kali). At the time and in my little town, Martial Arts was not a popular activity for women.
Ever since I started my Martial Art career, I encountered problems because I am a female in a man’s world. I was working harder than the average student and yet, I wasn’t moving forward. At one point I was a student of three different dojos…

 
I have been told from everyone (including my family) that girls should stay home having babies and cook, I have been physically punished from teachers and their students. Many times the abuse didn’t stop to just physical/verbal/emotional…

 
I was determined to learn and be able to teach Martial Arts (self-defense). What really bothered me was that people didn’t see me as a Martial Arts student; they saw me as a gender. I trained really hard, putting all my hours to achieve my instructorship. When the time came to get certified , I was ordered to have 50 hours of private sessions (5 times more than a male student) with a teacher that I didn’t even know, and, he was so far away from where I lived… about 6 hours drive. Well, I did complete the 50 hours as required. I was very proud of me and the day came to receive my instructorship. We were many; I was the only woman in the group. One by one everyone was called and received the certificate, my name was never called, I never received my certificate and I was never given an explanation…

 
I still remember vividly my anger; I invested time, money, tears and blood… I realized I had no future in my country so, I decided to move to United States. When my head instructor learned that I was gone to United States and I wasn’t going to come back, he wrote a paper to inform all the Instructors that I was expelled from their group and if I ever came back I wasn’t allowed to train, not in Italy nor in the whole Europe.
No one supported my decision to learn Martial Arts in the United States, not even my own family.
In 1998 when I arrived in the United States it was hard; I didn’t speak English and I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t know where and how to start but, I had will power.
I went in many different schools encountering more problems. My first teacher charged me $20,000 to certify me. I paid him the money but, he didn’t train me, neither gave me the instructorship. The next teacher wanted me to sign a paper that prevented me to open a school for 25 years in exchange of my instructorship, the next teacher viewed women as objects and it was a real struggle until I left, then it was politics and who you know… on and on and on.

Fortunately, I have never given up; to prove myself and my skills, I fought several tournaments: French Savate 5-0 (won) and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu 1-1 (1 gold medal in Arizona and 1 loss by triangle choke). In 2001, I managed to earn my Phase 3 (Brown Belt) in Jun Fan Gung Fu/Keet Kune Do Concepts and my Yellow Gloves (Brown Belt) in French Savate. In 2002, I earned my Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and in 2003 (after 7 long hours of testing), I earned my Muay Thai Instructorship. In 2005, I earned my Brown Ikat (Brown Belt) in Indonesian Silat and in 2012 (after 16 years of practicing), I earned my Instructorship in Filipino Kali. Moreover, in December of 2011, I started teaching seminars to the victims of the Domestic Violence.
I became a student of Elite Training Center in 2005. Respect, Honor and Discipline is the school foundation. In this school, everyone has a chance to shine; they want you to learn and improve, if you have a goal, they help you to achieve it. At Elite Training Center, it doesn’t matter which gender, age, race, and religion the individual is, if you put your effort they’ll match it 100%.

I have been teaching at Elite Training Center since 2010 and I am grateful of the opportunity that Brian Rauchbach has given me as my Instructor and Friend. He believed in me always and equally all the Instructors that are part of Elite Training Center have been rocks of strength and support to me.
I never get tired to say what an amazing group of people they are and how well the school is managed. The students are also great! They are so open-minded and it’s a joy to see how well they do. I have been in many dojos and I believe Elite Training Center is the best for students as well as instructors. Being a teacher at Elite Training Center is a privilege that I cherish every day.

~Guro Barbara Dalla Riva

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Elite Training Center
1628 South Pacific Coast Highway,
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
(310) 543-1600
www.elitetrainingcenter.net

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Women in Martial Arts

Women in Martial Arts

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