A Woman’s Perspective on Life as a Martial Artist...
A Woman’s Perspective on Life as a Martial Artist and a Martial Arts School Owner
I can only speak for myself, so what I write in this article is about my experiences as a martial artist.
Beginnings: A Child in Judo
My martial arts journey started at the age of eight. My mum asked me if I wanted to give judo a try. My cousin did judo, and if he did it, I wanted to as well. At eight, I didn’t think about gender—or at least, I never did. I have always been sporty, playing football with my dad and grandad, running around with my brother and friends. I wasn’t the kind of child who sat still much, so I jumped at the chance to try something new.
Friday nights were judo nights. We would arrive at the club, and the mats would be out, ready to go in the local town hall or the primary school. I can remember my teacher, Derek; he had really bad feet and always wore socks on the mat. I don’t remember much of what was taught, but a few throws have stuck in my mind. I recall breakfall competitions and winning a Mars bar for breakfalling over several kids in a line.
Competition was compulsory to level up, but I wasn’t very good and always felt nervous. One thing I do remember vividly is having to put the mats away at the end of the night. There I was, an eight-year-old girl with a massive judo mat balanced on my head. How I managed, I don’t know, but I guess that’s where my strength training started. Today, kids might see it as punishment, but for me, I loved knowing I could do it.
Karate and Beyond
Fast forward to 2001, and I started my karate journey—a journey that has been on and off for over 20 years. During the off-periods, I took up Muay Thai, but I always gravitated back to karate.
Six years ago, I opened my own martial arts school with my friend and fellow karateka. We are a female-led martial arts school, predominantly studying Shotokan karate. My personal martial arts background includes a 4th Dan in karate, a 1st Dan in kickboxing, and a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I spend most of my week training or teaching. Between our instructor group, we currently run a full-time school with 11 classes a week.
I love both training and teaching, and as a woman in my 50th year, I am discovering new challenges in my daily life as a martial artist.
Women in Martial Arts: The Challenges
Challenges have always existed for women in a male-dominated martial arts world. I don’t want to beat the feminist drum too much—I was born in the 1970s and was raised to believe that if you want to do something, don’t let anyone or anything stop you.
I spent 15 years at a karate school with a male instructor and received excellent teaching. He put me through instructor training, and I was given the opportunity to teach my own classes. During this time, I attended various seminars and martial arts shows, gaining a wealth of knowledge and experience.
However, when your teacher is 6ft tall and built like a tank, they cannot truly understand things from your perspective. When we parted ways, I had the chance to set up my own school, and from that point, my desire to learn and pass on knowledge to my students skyrocketed. Over the last five years, my confidence has grown, and my voice has become louder.
Creating a Safe Training Space
In our classes, we follow a set syllabus, providing a basic template for students to work from and a grading system to measure progress. We foster a safe and fun training environment where students are encouraged to ask questions.
Many clubs claim there are no stupid questions, yet when students offer their own interpretations—for instance, a different application for a kata move—they are often dismissed because it does not align with the sensei’s perspective. We don’t do that. We tell our students, "If you see it, give it a go. If you can make it work, then it’s the right answer for you."
As a female martial artist, nobody else can walk in my shoes. They are not me.
The Physical and Mental Shifts in My 50s
For years, I believed being small and female was a disadvantage. Training with bigger, stronger (usually male) partners often left me frustrated. I frequently came home from training in tears, convinced that if I had more women to train with, things would be better.
But I was forgetting an important lesson: size doesn’t matter if you have the right training partner or teacher. I’ve now trained with the same partner for four years, and trust has been the key. A good training partner pushes you when needed, encourages you when you fail, and respects your knowledge. When I train with my current coach, gender isn’t a factor—we are simply two martial artists learning together.
Menopause, however, has been my biggest challenge yet.
The Reality of Training Through Menopause
I won’t shy away from discussing this because it needs to be talked about.
I have always worn undershorts under my gi, mainly for security during that time of the month. Whoever decided white gis were the best option certainly wasn’t thinking about women! Heavy periods have plagued me for years, making training uncomfortable, and the fear of leaking through my gi was a constant worry. At our dojo, we provide free sanitary products in the toilets—no one has to ask; they are just there. We also keep a few spare gis on hand, just in case.
Now, bladder weakness is my new concern. My solution? Tena Lady pads. It’s just another thing to add to my already oversized training bag!
Another major change is the amount I sweat. Sometimes, I look like I’ve just stepped out of the shower. When I do double classes, I have to bring a complete change of clothes.
Brain fog is another significant hurdle. I used to remember all my students' names and Japanese terminology with ease. Now, I have blank moments, and it stresses me out. I worry that it makes me look unprofessional, particularly to new students.
Physically, I bruise more easily, my joints ache more, and my recovery time has increased. But I push through. Since martial arts and personal training are my full-time job, I can build rest time into my day—afternoon naps have become a regular part of my routine!
Despite my stubbornness, I know I can’t keep this level of intensity up forever. Being "the crazy 50-year-old woman martial artist" is my identity. Without it, I’m not sure who I am.
Women-Only Spaces: Necessary or Not?
Recently, my business partner and I were invited to teach at Kaizen, a progressive mass seminar headed by Lucci del Gaudio. He has decided this year that there will be a women’s only mat where there will be women
teaching women. This is something that I’m very excited about but also very nervous. I bring this up because once it was announced, grumblings in message groups started to happen. In general, men answering for women and feeling it was their place to put their opinions across for us. I wouldn’t usually get involved with back and forth online, but this time I felt I needed to speak up. Is it so bad that we have a small section of a martial arts expo where we can work together and learn from each other? It might just get more ladies on the mats. It’s just another thing that we have to battle, I don’t want to just train with ladies; I would like more opportunities to train with ladies, and I’m sure many of us think the same. Thank you Lucci for being an innovator and sticking your neck out there once again.
Running Our Own Martial Arts School
Owning and running our own martial arts school has been a real adventure during the last 6 years. I feel that each year has made us stronger as teachers and people. It hasn’t all been plain sailing, and we have our disagreements as any business partnerships do, but we work at it. We have an incredible range of students, from male to female, young to old. Being female-led has been a real draw for parents, and once the kids start training, then mum and dad want to join in as well. We run open classes so families can train together, and although this makes our lives quite complicated when lesson planning and making sure everyone gets something out of the lesson, it has also created a really lovely training environment. There are moments of magic when you see a giant adult black belt help a small child through their kata. We truly are very lucky as teachers and students ourselves.
As a female martial artist knocking on in years, I can say I’m living the dream. Is it all sunshine and rainbows? No, but it isn’t all thunderstorms either. Do we have to work hard? Yes, but so do many others.
Do I feel that I’m taken seriously as a teacher and student, YES. Yes, by the people that matter, everyone will have their say on what they think of women who train and that is their right. It doesn’t have to be how I think or affect what I do and how I conduct myself. I will continue to be the best I can be and learn as much as I can from the people I come across in my life. This Martial Arts journey continues.
Big thank you to the guys that matter.My long-suffering husband, who has been my biggest cheerleader for the last 27 years.
My business partner and friend Clare Potter.My coach, Stuart McDowell.
Professor Foran.
Simon Oliver Sensei.
Neil Ellison.
All my training partners.All our students, without you, this would be a completely different journey.
Sensei Steve Lowe for inspiring me to study deeper.
Thoughts of a menopausal Martial Artist.
Written by Sensei Natasha Barlow
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