Women’s Jiu Jitsu in Colorado
A women-only jiu-jitsu class open to every level, focused on the fundamentals. No experience needed, no one is going to throw you in at the deep end, and your first class is free.
Book a Free Class→Most women at Easton train in the regular classes, alongside everyone else. The women-only classes are an extra door — some people start there, some keep them as a standing part of the week, some never take one. All three are normal.
Why Jiu-Jitsu Is the One That Works for Women
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the martial art built explicitly around being the smaller person. It assumes you will end up underneath someone heavier and stronger, and it spends its entire curriculum on what to do about that — frames, angles, leverage, and the calm to use them. There is no version of this that depends on you hitting harder than the other person, because that was never the premise. That premise is why jiu-jitsu is the art most often put in front of women who want self-defense that holds up. Not because it was built for women — because it was built for whoever is smaller, and in most situations a woman is preparing for, that’s her.
It is also the reason jiu-jitsu is trained the way it is. You drill a technique, then you try it against someone actively stopping you. That resistance is not machismo; it is the quality-control step that tells you whether you actually know the move. Which is why a jiu-jitsu blue belt has tested her self-defense more times than most people ever will.
Jiu-Jitsu for Every Level
The women’s class runs on fundamental-level curriculum, so a first-timer and a purple belt can share it. Where you go from there is up to you.
Not sure where you fit? Come to any beginner class — a coach will place you.
Jiu-jitsu is one of two women-only programs at Easton — the other is Women’s Muay Thai. For the whole picture, including the events and how the two fit together, see martial arts for women at Easton.
Colorado’s Jiu-Jitsu Pioneer
Easton has taught jiu-jitsu in Colorado since 1998, when Amal Easton — a Renzo Gracie black belt — brought it to Boulder. It is now nine academies and more than 100 black belts produced, which matters mostly because it means the person teaching your fundamentals class learned them from someone who learned them from the source.
The women's program sits inside that lineage, not beside it. Easton has women coaching at black belt, and the all-women's randori has been running since 2024 — the sort of thing that only exists when there are enough women training to fill a mat.
Where to Train Women’s Jiu-Jitsu
These Easton academies run a women’s jiu-jitsu class on the current schedule:
When the Women’s Class Meets
Live from the class timetable — these are the women’s jiu-jitsu classes running right now at 5 Easton academies. Times update themselves, so what you see here is what is on the mat this week.
- Sunday · 9:00 AMWomen's Jiu Jitsu · with Jessy Podoll
- Saturday · 9:00 AMWomen's Jiu Jitsu · with Mallory Martin
- Friday · 3:30 PMWomen's No Gi Jiu Jitsu · with Heather Bock
- Friday · 3:30 PMWomen's Jiu Jitsu · with Heather Bock
- Saturday · 10:00 AMWomen's Jiu Jitsu · with Jen Ritzke
- Saturday · 11:00 AMWomen's Jiu Jitsu · with Amy Fidelis
These are the women-only classes. Every other class on the schedule is open to you too.
Every Easton membership trains at every academy, so you are never limited to the one nearest you. See the full class schedule.
All-Women’s Randori
Once or twice a year Easton fills a mat with women from every academy for an afternoon of rounds. It has been running since 2024.
- Apr 18, 2026Two Packed Women’s BJJ Randoris
- Jun 21, 2025First All-Women’s BJJ Randori of 2025
- Dec 7, 2024All-Easton Women’s BJJ Randori
- Aug 3, 2024First All-Easton Women’s BJJ Randori
Meet the coaches behind the program.
Every Easton academy’s program is led by experienced coaches from one lineage.
Women’s Jiu-Jitsu — Your Questions Answered
Everything people ask before their first class. Still unsure? Just show up — a coach will walk you through it.
Is the women's class only for beginners?
No — it is explicitly open to women of all levels, and the room usually spans white belt to black. What is true is that the focus stays on fundamental-level curriculum, which is what lets a first-timer and an experienced grappler share the same class productively: the beginner is learning the position and the upper belt is refining it.
Gi or no-gi — which is it?
Gi is the default, and we lend you one for your first classes. Some academies also run a no-gi version of the women’s class in the same time slot on a rotating basis; the class-times section on this page shows which, because it reads from the live schedule.
How does the belt system actually work?
Adults go white, blue, purple, brown, black, with stripes marking progress in between. There is no test to book and no fixed timeline — promotions are given by your coach based on what you can do and how you train. Blue belt typically takes a couple of years of consistent training. Nobody is counting, and asking about your next belt is the surest way to stop thinking about the actual jiu-jitsu.
What is randori?
Randori is live training — full rounds against a resisting partner, as opposed to drilling a technique cooperatively. Easton runs regular randori sessions, including an all-women’s randori that brings women together from across the academies. It is how you find out which parts of your game are real.
Which academies run the women's class?
The class-times section above lists them, straight from the live schedule — so it is accurate today rather than accurate on the day the page was written. Every Easton academy runs the full coed jiu-jitsu program, and one membership covers all of them.
I am worried about training with men eventually. Is that a problem?
It is a normal thing to think about, and the women’s class exists partly so it does not have to be a day-one problem. When you do start training coed — and most people do, because it is the fastest way to get more mat time — it is a supervised, technique-first room with a strong culture about control and about tapping early. Grappling with a range of body types is also how the art gets useful.
Try a Women’s Jiu-Jitsu Class, Risk-Free
Starting something new can feel intimidating — our team makes it easy from day one. Here’s exactly what happens:
- Book your orientation at a time that works.
- Get a free 30-minute one-on-one orientation for the program of your choice.
- Take a beginner class and drill with a friendly partner. No live sparring.
