A pastor and semi-known poster on X started some controversial by slamming parents who put their daughters into Jiu-Jitsu training. Navy Seal and BJJ black belt Jocko Willink gave the best response to this pastor’s ill-informed comment.
Controversial Pastor Rails Against Girls in BJJ Training
Last week, Dale Partridge went on X to browbeat parents about putting their teenage daughters into Jiu-Jitsu.
“Parents, stop putting your daughters into Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling.
You’re letting 14-year-old boys grope, mount, and dominate your little girl.
Yes, teach them self-defense, but do so with self-awareness and weapons training, not ground fighting.”-Partridge.
Needless to say, this uneducated comment annoyed many within the BJJ community as the post got heavy negative engagement.
Parents, stop putting your daughters into Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling.
— Dale Partridge (@dalepartridge) January 23, 2025
You’re letting 14-year-old boys grope, mount, and dominate your little girl.
Yes, teach them self-defense, but do so with self-awareness and weapons training, not ground fighting.
Enter Jocko
By far the best response to Partridge came from Navy Seal and BJJ black belt Jocko Willink. Jocko is one of Jiu-Jitsu’s biggest advocates and employs anyone to train to improve their self-defense.
The highly respected grappler and military veteran made this simple and factual retort to the pastor’s comment.
“Parents, put your daughters into jiu-jitsu and wrestling.
That way they will be able to defend themselves against boys trying to grope, mount, and dominate them.
It’s comforting when your daughters can choke, maim, or otherwise incapacitate potential attackers.”- Jocko Willink.
Parents, put your daughters into jiu-jitsu and wrestling.
— Jocko Willink (@jockowillink) January 24, 2025
That way they will be able to defend themselves against boys trying to grope, mount, and dominate them.
It’s comforting when your daughters can choke, maim, or otherwise incapacitate potential attackers. https://t.co/Ar91BVwuyb
Another Great Response
There were tons of other great comments to go along with what Jock Willink said. One in particular came from Zac Kaizen.
“Trying to teach them self-defense without teaching them how to grapple is like trying to teach them how to ride a bike without handle bars. You are giving them a massive handicap if they ever get in a situation where they actually need to defend themselves.”–Zac Kaizen
It’s a common fact that the majority of self-defense situations will involve grappling. For any parents with daughters, please ignore the ignorant comments of this pastor. Following this bad advice will seriously handicap your child’s ability to defend themselves.
Please take the advice of Jocko Willink and put your daughter into some form of grappling training. They will be better prepared to take on an attacker.
Bobby is martial artist for almost 20 years with a BJJ black belt under Professor Sergio Miranda. He is also a karate black and former combat sports athlete, who loves all things grappling.