Roll at your own speed – we encourage you to communicate with your partners and any level of intensity is welcome if you both agree. Injury-conscious, cautious and gentle rolling is encouraged!
If you are interested in us running a women’s open mat at your gym, please get in touch.
Upcoming Events
Flo Martial Arts
Unit 9, 62 Valley Road Business Park Plympton, Plymouth, PL7 1AB
The photographs below are from Gemma of Midnite BJJ – I think we can all agree she does a phenomenal job of capturing how it feels to roll! These are her pictures from our recent women’s open mat at Horizon Academy BJJ in Exeter. We are, as always, incredibly grateful for her time and energy in taking and editing these for us. Please feel free to use and share, but please credit her! xx
I’m a purple belt coach, student, competitor and sometimes referee 🙂
I moved to the UK at the end of 2016 and felt like I wanted to learn something new and needed to make friends, that’s how I found BJJ.
My first gym was Checkmat affiliated Trojan Free fighters in Worcester (now Three points martial arts), where I trained my first few months– I tried MMA, K1, wrestling and finally BJJ.
In the Summer of 2017 I moved to Exeter and started training at Horizon Academy, where I still train.
Competition was very important for me in my first years – I tried competing around once a month and managed to achieve some cool things – and enjoyed competing all around the UK and in the Europeans in Portugal. I still really enjoy competing, and preparing for it is one of my favourite things to do in BJJ, as it gives me an objective to work towards. I have also made some awesome friends on the way – people I still enjoy visiting and training with.
My love of competing drove me towards my referee training, which I found quite cool and terrifying at the time. I have since refereed in a few competitions and it’s something I want to keep doing, as it keeps my knowledge sharp and it’s another way to keep attending competitions.
Another thing I really enjoy doing is attending Seminars and Camps, training with different people/ coaches has really helped me find the BJJ I like and meet lots of awesome friends along the way – the social side of jiujitsu is really important to me and it makes me feel like we are one massive family.
Around 3 years ago I took the opportunity of teaching my own women’s classes at Horizon, firstly as a self defence class and now as a BJJ/ competition class – depending on what the students are more interested in at the moment. Self defence is the reason I first started jiujitsu and I find it’s a very important part of the sport, specially for women.
In 2024 I had a little baby girl and my training changed completely – lack of sleep and no recovery was massive and being a mum took over. The one thing that kept me consistent was my women’s class. Now I still really enjoy competing but I do it very sparingly, even though I am wanting to get into it a bit more – 2026 will be the year!
Now onto open mats, they have been a constant in my bjj journey – a place to meet people, make friends and learn jiujitsu. I find open mats an awesome place/time to test your jiujitsu without the pressure of a competition. You can just have a chat with your training partner and figure out what you both are expecting of that roll. Open mats are one of the most valuable opportunities we have to meet different jiujitsu ways and training styles.
Women’s open mats have helped me massively as it’s pretty hard to find people my size in a pretty male dominant sport, which I really value as a way of trying out my jiujitsu against people similar to me. There have been a lot of women along my journey that inspired me, taught me and kept me going – even when I was disheartened and not enjoying it anymore. I have a lot of love for the women I have met along the way and will always be up for another open mat!
Our next open mat is at Horizon Academy BJJ Exeter on Sunday 18th January, 1-3pm
The photographs below are from Claudia of Fightworx Academy – she was rolling with us as well as taking these (and Jade also got her hands on the camera too!) and we think she did a phenomenal job!
The photographs below are from Gemma of Midnite BJJ – she is not only a passionate member of our local BJJ community but a phenomenal photographer! These are her pictures from our recent women’s open mat at Exeter BJJ Academy. We are, as always, incredibly grateful for her time and energy in taking and editing these for us. Please feel free to use and share, but please credit her! xx
I’m a competitor, a coach, a student, a caffeine addict, a proud representative of Fightworx Academy and if you ask anyone at the gym- someone who has built her entire adult life around rolling around on the floor and coffee (more to come on that later😅)
I actually started martial arts for one very serious, very logical reason:
I thought WWE looked cool, I was hooked and I fully intended to grow up to be a pro wrestler.
And in order to achieve that goal, Fightworx was sold to me as it was the nearest ‘WWE’ gym to me at the time. So at 13, I started MMA, and wandered into the world of Muay Thai and BJJ- there were no steel chairs and dramatic ring entrances but from the very first session I was HOOKED
From 13 to 18 I trained religiously. I had two Muay Thai fights, competed regularly in junior Jiu Jitsu competitions winning Nationals and Europeans. Then university happened… and Covid happened… and suddenly four years went by without training.
After graduating, I returned to Fightworx “just to get fit again.” One class a week. Nothing too serious. I even had a job lined up in London and was definitely going to move.
But week after week I found myself pushing the start date back… and by this point I was training EVERY DAY, 2/3 times a day… until eventually I realised the truth: I had no idea what career I wanted, but I knew I wasn’t ready to stop training or leave Fightworx behind again.
So I took a gamble, declined the job offer and chose Jiu Jitsu.
Best decision I’ve ever made.
Three years later, BJJ has completely rebuilt my world. I’ve made lifelong friends, travelled to places I never would have otherwise and met people worldwide who instantly felt like family. Now I lead our ladies-only BJJ program, proudly teach 1–1s, and teach a junior BJJ & parent and child Muay Thai class weekly.
Watching women gain confidence and kids develop their skills is genuinely one of my favourite parts of the week.
Alongside this, Fightworx Academy has expanded, and somehow I ended up opening my own coffee shop inside the academy…Ringside Coffee Shake Shack. It’s a homely set up and something I’m extremely proud of- great coffee, protein shakes, fresh fruit smoothies and a place for members to hang out before and after training.. representative of the amazing community we have at Fightworx.
When I’m not teaching, training, making coffee or sleeping then the likelihood is I’m competing. I’ve been lucky enough to compete on a variety of different shows across the UK such as Enyo, Gorilla Invitational and Tanto, and as a result gained some unforgettable moments; most recently becoming the first female middleweight champion on Tanto (bonus is, the belt looks just like a WWE one!)
I’ve also been supported by amazing brands that all contribute to how lucky I feel to be on this journey. Such as Progress Jiu Jitsu (shameless plug of MADISON15 for a discount) and Warrior Supplements (MADDOG for 10% off too). Their belief in me has opened doors I never imagined back when I decided to decline my job and train full time, hoping for the best without a clue where it was going to lead me
One of the biggest privileges in my journey now is hosting open mats alongside Rosie and Jade- three people who all found their passion on the Fightworx mats. Even though life has pulled us in different directions, these open mats mean we still get to train together, support each other, stay connected, and keep building something meaningful for the women in our community… that’s pretty cool if you ask me.
Jiu Jitsu has given me a career, a community, a purpose, lifelong friends, unforgettable memories, confidence and the opportunity to share this amazing sport with others. Might not be a WWE champ but this is a close second.
Our next open mat is at Fightworx Torquay on Sunday 14th December, 2-4pm
For me, BJJ has become about fun, a release of stress, “accidentally exercising” and a massive source of community. It’s been the perfect way for me to move my body, make incredible friendships and feel powerful after a long day. I also manage a chronic illness and I have found regular exercise to be a massive factor in my staying well – so in every aspect BJJ is medicine for me. I am definitely a hobbyist rather than a competitor so that it still fits around work and personal commitments, but I love to train as often as I can.
I started BJJ in 2016 at a time in my life when I was really quite isolated. I was just coming out of a not-great relationship and I knew that something regular like a fitness class would be good for me to get some structure and some human contact. I had NO IDEA that I would be getting so much human contact…
I had never done martial arts or any combat sport before, and I had only got into fitness and sport in my mid-to-late 20s. I had previous done some yoga, surfing and running but I had never taken anything seriously for very long in the past.
I was encouraged to go to BJJ by a friend who was really enthusiastic about training, and it felt like good timing, so I went to my first class. I was not in particularly good shape, and I just wore my old running kit and felt very out of place. I was lucky that I had some friendly faces in the class to help me settle in, and my very first drilling partner was Jade – who really helped me feel comfortable and get stuck in! I remember walking home after that first class with a massive smile of my face, genuinely thinking ‘this might be the sport for me?’
My first academy was Fightworx Torquay and they were an amazing community for first few months of training. I then moved to Exeter and had to begin at a new club. I was SO NERVOUS. I felt like I would never make as good friends somewhere new as I had at my first club, and I was really scared not knowing anyone there. I went along and waited outside the room and got my first introduction to my Exeter BJJ family. What seemed like a room full of really large, intimidating men has turned out to be the best possible place I could have ever found myself in.
Nine years later, these people have become housemates, best-friends, my home-from-home. I have gone from a white belt who got her very first stripe from James at Riverside Leisure Centre to being a brown belt instructor for our women’s class (under Tanya, our female Black Belt) at a club that now has it’s own dedicated space. I literally don’t know what my life would be like if I hadn’t started at that club. It’s really shaped the last few years in the most wonderful way.
Exeter BJJ has been running for 20 years now, and we are so lucky to have such an incredible range of people running and supporting our club, including the three owners – James, Alaric and Chris. I finish work and head to training with a massive smile on my face, knowing that I am taken care of, pushed, challenged and always learning from the kindest, toughest bunch of people I’ve ever met.
I taught my first BJJ class in 2021 as part of our women’s’ only programme which has now been running for over 6 years and was headed up by Tanya. I took over in September 2024 and Tanya now runs our mixed gender Fundamentals class on a Thursday. We now have a strong cohort of women at the club now which is incredibly exciting and benefits all of us.
I am beyond thrilled to be part of the ongoing Women on the Mats community so that we can keep building the kind of sisterhood, support and challenge that got me into the sport in the first place.
Our next open mat is at Exeter BJJ on Saturday 18th October, 2-4pm
Follow @exeterbjjwomen or @exeterbjj on Instagram for more information
The photographs below are from Midnite’s very own Gemma – we are so blessed to have such an incredible talent as part of our community. Gemma donates her time to record our open mats and share the photos with us because she is an absolute star!
My name is Jade Campbell and I am a brown belt BJJ instructor/coach at Midnite Jiu Jitsu in Totnes. I am not a competitor at this stage in my life, but I am more than a hobbyist. I LOVE training, it is literally my life. I am at Midnite 6 days a week, often rolling, sometimes just drilling, (nursing an injury) and other times coaching the tribe.
I started my BJJ journey in Jan 2014 at Fightworx Academy, Torquay. I was a 32-year-old mum of two boys, a little overweight, underconfident and had absolutely no experience in grappling or Martial Arts of any sort. I met Isaac at work and he spent two years relentlessly talking to me about BJJ, about how I should try it, about how my Judo brown belt partner Dan should give it a go, about how amazing it was. Eventually I succumbed and Dan and I turned up one Sunday afternoon. I was so anxious, but I loved it and I never stopped training from that day onwards.
I supported Isaac to open up Midnite Jiu Jitsu in my home town on 17 December 2021 and overnight I was able to triple the volume of training I had been doing because I could just walk to the gym every day. Isaac was a huge support and advocate and encouraged me to teach my first ever class as a purple belt in the new gym on 18 Feb 2022.
We then agreed that I would lead the women’s program at Midnite and on 26 November 2022, I ran my first women’s class. At Midnite we believe in integrating everyone together in training, but recognise that for women, BJJ can feel quite overwhelming and intimidating. We wanted to reduce barriers and access to training for them, and create a space where women could feel comfortable to give BJJ a go.
Not only did we want to create an inclusive space for beginners; we also wanted to create an environment where more experienced women in BJJ can train together.
I am passionate and dedicated to encouraging more women to train BJJ. Rosie, Madison and I all felt the same and knew we needed to support one another in this mission. So, in October 2024, Rosie, Madison and I hosted our inaugural Women’s Open Mat at Midnite Jiu Jitsu and it was a huge success. We then found more women wanting to host an open mat in their gym, so we coordinated a schedule for the year, with the idea to build community, socialise, train as we need to and support the women training together in South West Devon.
After a successful year, we are scheduling another round with the next open mat coming up on Saturday 6 September, 11am until 1pm at Midnite Jiu Jitsu in Totnes.
Roll at your own speed – we encourage you to communicate with your partners and any level of intensity is welcome if you both agree. Injury-conscious, cautious and gentle rolling is encouraged!
If you are interested in us running a women’s open mat at your gym, please get in touch.
WOMEN ON THE MATS 