Women’s Jiu Jitsu Open Mat at Oregon Grappling Arts
In line with our mission of furthering the inclusion of females in combat sports, Oregon Grappling Arts is proud to host a triennial gi Brazilian jiu jitsu and no gi submission grappling open mat at our gym in Portland, Oregon, for grapplers ages 16+. Our first two open mats were resounding successes with grapplers representing 13 academies in the Pacific Northwest packing the mats. These events are free of charge and open to members of any and all academies and affiliations. — NEXT EVENT COMING EARLY 2026.
Who may attend: female grapplers ages 16+* who have an active membership at a BJJ or submission grappling gym — All attendees must read, complete, and submit a waiver prior to participating in the open mat.
Next event date and time: TO BE ANNOUNCED — slated for early 2026
Location: Oregon Grappling Arts, 2627 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97212
Parking: Paid parking is available in the back lot and free street parking is available in the nearby and adjacent roads
*Grapplers under the age of 18 must have their waiver submitted by a parent or legal guardian, and a parent or legal guardian must be present at the gym during their participation in the open mat.
About: OGA’s women’s open mat is an exciting opportunity to cross train and network with women from other academies in the Pacific Northwest. Attendance at our events is uncommonly high and features women of all levels, from white belt hobbyists to some of the highest level competitive female grapplers in the area. We pride ourselves on cultivating an open mat atmosphere of respectful and safe training, where attendees communicate their desired training intensities and levels of knowledge, and work together to roll productively. Our events feature two straight hours of six-minute gi and no gi live rounds. Attendees are encouraged to roll as much as they’d like and take breaks as needed. Particularly risky techniques such as guard jumping, tani otoshi/valley drops, kani basami/standing scissor takedowns, and flying techniques are not permitted.
Alongside creating and growing the Oregon Grappling Arts women’s team, hosting a women’s open mat has been a career-long ambition of Oregon Grappling Arts co-owner and co-head-instructor, Hannah Sharp (bio available here), who has been striving to promote a greater representation of females in combat sports and to create training opportunities for those who may feel uncomfortable training in co-ed environments. Hannah, a former Flograppling top-five-world-ranked female black belt no gi competitor, spent years in predominantly male co-ed training environments preparing for competition. After founding and growing a women’s team (you can read about it here), Hannah realized the immense value in training with partners of similar size, strength, and physical abilities. Hannah found that the physical capabilities and grappling styles of the training partners in her women’s classes more closely resembled those of her competitors than the men she trained with. She also found that training with females tended to lessen the amount of wear and tear on her body that she experienced. Hannah knows firsthand the joys and benefits of cultivating and being a part of a women’s BJJ community, and wants to share that with female grapplers from around the Pacific Northwest.
Please come and share the mats with us! Women grapplers with active memberships from any gym or association are welcome to attend.
If you have any questions regarding our women’s open mat or women’s jiu jitsu classes contact us via email at info@oregongrapplingarts.com or through our contact form located here and we’ll respond to you as soon as possible.
