Female Ju-Jitsu Class Sparks Passion for Fitness

Over 100 young women participated in Ju-Jitsu at Bradford College, with 11 going on to achieve their initial white-belt grading, thanks to a This Girl Can project.  

The National-Lottery funded campaign aims to encourage more females to value getting active and enjoy fitness and sport. The Bradford group has been training in self-defence at the College once a week on Tuesday afternoons.

Classes are in run in partnership with Onna Ju-Jitsu Club which provide a structured approach to learning enabling students to progress through the use of a syllabus system based on graded belt rankings. The Club was founded by Mumtaz Khan over 20 years ago and has a successful track record of developing young women as Black Belt Coaches.

Chris Taylor, Bradford College Sport Development Officer said: 

“The College is committed to transforming lives, not just through study, but also via Sport and wellbeing programmes that are fun and engaging.  We believe these are essential components to set our students up for future success.  We do this by working with fantastic partners such as Onna Ju-Jitsu and Punjabi Roots who, like us, understand the potential in our students and out in our communities.

“The project was supported by Sport England as part of the This Girl Can initiative to get more girls active.  The students loved it and we’ve seen a real difference in those that participated, which has translated to improved outcomes in the classroom.  As a result, we now have the chance to develop something special and to continue to break down barriers and help young people reach their full potential.”

Mumtaz Khan said:

“It has been a pleasure partnering Bradford College in delivering this programme and we are proud of the students who have trained towards their white belts demonstrating the club’s values of respect and equality.  We look forward to continuing the development of these students who are pioneers at the College and to the new cohorts in September.”

It is hoped that Ju-Jitsu – alongside a bhangra dance programme run by Punjabi Roots – will become embedded activities at Bradford College to help more young women to enjoy wellbeing activities and sport.

Among the guests were Alina Khan, Bradford College Vice Principal for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and the Lord Mayor of Bradford.