Interview: Get A Grip Clothing

I received my first shirt from Get A Grip Clothing this week- a fantastic, female owned BJJ brand. The first thing I noticed was the softness of the T-shirt, I really have never felt anything like it. The design was simple and classy and the Medium was a nice roomy cut. If you typically wear a medium and would like a tighter fight, purchasing a small would be a good idea. I've been spreading the word out here in Virginia at Jiu Jitsu Institute and will continue to recommend them!

This week I and had the pleasure of interviewing the minds behind Get A Grip!


What’s the inspiration behind your brand?
Simply put, being a woman, a feminist and now for the past 2 1/2 yrs, a Jiu Jitsu practitioner. My business/life partner and I, Felina had fallen in love with the sport. I am a graphic designer. Professionally, I design shirts for a living for a company here in the Valley. It made sense for us to start a company to both fill a niche market and do what I love to do - design while Felina takes care of the Businsess aspect.

Do you train? What's your story?

My partner and I both train at Gracie Barra Burbank under Alberto Crane. We're both Blue Belts, 2 stripes. Initially, we went to the school to attend this women's "Tough Girl Bootcamp Class" but after a few months, we were being approached by some of the Jiu Jitsu coaches there to take Jiu Jitsu classes. Felina decided she wanted to try Muay Thai and I would go on to try Jiu Jitsu. We were both immediately hooked and super into it -- attending classes 5 days a week. A few months later, a very scared Felina decided to try Jiu Jitsu and really fell in love with it. A lot has happened in between. I for one, wound up herniating my lower back, had surgery, recovered fully and the rest is history. Felina and I are still going at it with the same amount of love


What do you think makes Get a Grip Clothing unique from other BJJ brands? What makes us different is that we don't just sell tees. We sell a variety of fashion tops: muscle tees, cap sleeve tees, slouchy tanks etc. My goal was to be a cute trendy fashion line that happened to be Jiu Jitsu themed, if you will. A Forever21 for grappling girls. You can wear our tops to the beach, bar, music festivals and feel like your wearing a cute top. Our tops are also high quality fabrics made from Bella Canvas. We are open about where we buy our tees from so that our audience can see for themselves how high end they are and responsible. They are all made in the U.S.A., -- NO Sweat shops! (https://www.bellacanvas.com/responsible-ts)


Any exciting new products coming up?
We JUST came out with our Spring line so we do have a lot of our "Classic" designs such as our 'Arm Collector' & 'Rear Naked Choke' designs on NEW bodies and then a lot more NEWER designs, also on some cute new trendy tops. Gradually, as we grow a larger audience, we will start coming out with caps, more hoodies, bags etc.

I would like to point out that we are now selling a new tee for GIRLS! Sizes 7-16 for the little grappling gals. That design reads "Mat Misfits". It's a really cute but tough looking design for all Future Black/Red belts! (http://getagripbjj.com/products/mat-misfits)

Do you have any athletes you sponsor?
Yes! We sponsor The Flores sisters who attend Art of Jiu Jitsu. They are Sophia and Isabella. They are 16 and 14 (I think lol). 3 world champions 2x pan ams champions. Sweetest girls with amazing technical skills. I'm pretty sure they can kick our butt!

We also have Melissa Davis from Lotus Gym in Irvine. She is a bad ass Purple belt who is currently on her way to Abu Dabi! SO we're very excited for her. She is a highly regarded grappler in the community, she trains extremely hard, goes to school. Highly intellectual. Just an ideal Brand Ambassador for our line. We love and admire her!


Describe Get a Grip Clothing in three words:
Cute, Trendy, Affordable

Anything else you'd like to add?
Add us to your Social Media repertoire!
https://www.facebook.com/getagripclothing
Instagram: @getagripbjj
Shop online: www.getagripbjj.com

I can't recommend this brand enough! By women, for women and clearly also supported by some of BJJ's  biggest names!




 Lucky guys, the Tshirts also come in Unisex sizes.

Keenan Cornelius sporting one of the new designs

The Day Ralek Gracie Came Out of His Cave: GIF Edition

Today Ralek Gracie emerged from his neolithic cave, dragging his knuckles to reveal what many of us already knew...there are still too many sexist attitudes towards female BJJ Practitioners. If you didn't have the uh....pleasure of reading his whole interview  sexist, excuse making rant, you can enjoy it here. Sometimes words fail to explain my rage, so GIFS will have to suffice.

Ralek Gracie while he tries to navigate what he should/should not say during an interview


Reading sexist responses from male practitioners supporting Ralek...

When I realized the Gracie's let Ralek speak without a PR person...

That face when you hear Ralek making excuses for leaving women off the card....
 When I realized the secret match also wouldn't be a women's match.....

When Ralek called female practioners "charity cases"

When Ralek said he had no more money to add women but offered Gary Tonon 140k

 Ralek, from myself and all the ladies who train hard and know just how good we are....

oh and one more thing....

Da Struggle: BJJ Gifs

When the purple belts have to pick someone to roll and I'm one of the only people left.....
 When you have a counter for every move your partner throws at you.......

Looking at Gi's online when you know you have no money......
 How you feel when you take a break after rolling only one round.......


When you use someones specialty move against them.....

Trying to disappear into the mat after you've rolled 5 rounds and the black belt picks you....

When people try to sneak out before we've cleaned the mats, but the professor catches them....
When someone is trying to choke you, but you're defending like a boss.....