- The tournament aimed to spread the culture of self-defense, discipline and respect, which would reflect positively in building strong and honest citizens to promote the country to be in the ranks of developed countries
JEDDAH: The Legendary Heroes gym club in Jeddah is organizing the first women’s jiu-jitsu and kickboxing tournament with the participation of more than 40 contestants.
This first-of-its-kind tournament, featuring a number of amateur games, will be held under the auspices of the General Sports Authority on Nov. 17.
Captain Mohammed Abbas, founder of Legendary Heroes, said that the tournament paves the way for women to participate in self-defense sports such as jiu-jitsu, MMA, Kowat Al-Rami (“force of throw“), Muay Thai and kickboxing.
“As part of the extensive efforts exerted to enable women in the field of martial arts, we have established the Legendary Heroes female branch to enable them to learn various types of martial arts and understand their tactics,” Abbas said.
Abbas said that the tournament aimed to spread the culture of self-defense, discipline and respect, which would reflect positively in building strong and honest citizens to promote the country to be in the ranks of developed countries.
“We also aspire to set an example in organizing and running women’s self-defense tournaments so that all women’s clubs can organize such activities professionally and smoothly,” he said.
The sport of self-defense had little importance in the Saudi national scene until Dona Al-Ghamdi won gold and a silver medals, paving the way for women to practice all sports, most notably martial arts.
The tournament’s organizing committee chose Captain Farah Al-Zahrani (the first Saudi woman to practice jiu-jitsu, the holder of a white belt and the fourth place in the Challenge Championship in Abu Dhabi), and Captain Marouj Al-Ghamdi (she has more than five years of experience in martial arts and holds a black belt).