Multiple female athletes dropped out of a women's martial arts tournament last week after being matched up to fight trans-identified males.
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) October 27, 2023
In one of the women's divisions, the only participants left competing were men.https://t.co/AdGzSWUckK
Black Conservative Perspective published November 2, 2023: Martial Arts League FOLDS After Terrified Female Fighters PULL OUT Against Stronger Trans Fighter!
The Officer Tatum published November 2, 2023: Females BOYCOTT Martial Arts Tournament FORCING Them To Compete Against TRANS Women!
Washington Examiner
written by Luke Gentile, Social Media Producer
Monday October 30, 2023
The Georgia Grappling and BJJ Championship reportedly falls under NAGA, which has received criticism in the last year for facilitating matches between men and women.
"NAGA does not require biological women to compete against transgender women," an initial statement from NAGA following the criticism said. "Instead, we give the choice to the biological women and if they decline, they compete in a division only with other biological women."
However, an Oct. 28 policy change by NAGA following mass outrage about the Oct. 21 tournament now prohibits transgender women form competing in female competitions.
"We, as an organization, strive to ensure fairness, inclusivity, and respect for all competitors within our events. With regards to transgender females competing in NAGA, the following policy shall be implemented," the statement said.
"Transgender females must compete in the men's division," it added. "We hope that the simplicity of this revised policy will help to avoid any future occurrences where transgender females enter women divisions. If NAGA staff is informed that a transgender female is in a women's division, they will be given the choice to go to the men's division or given a refund."
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Reduxx Mag, Feminists News and Opinions
written by Anna Slatz
Friday October 27, 2023
Female martial artists have come forward to reveal that male athletes claiming to be transgender have completely overtaken the women’s categories of a major grappling association, leaving them fearing for their safety in many instances. One of the men, Corissa Griffith, took home four gold medals in the women’s category during a tournament in Georgia on October 21.
The North American Grappling Association (NAGA) is the largest submission grappling association in the world, and facilitates standards and tournaments in various martial arts, including Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. But while NAGA has provided competition categories for males and females since its inception in 1995, it has recently become the subject of controversy after a number of female athletes were found to have been matched up against trans-identified males.
The issue first received widespread attention in September after it was learned that a female Brazilian jiu-jitsu athlete had not been informed she would be competing against a male. Taelor Moore posted a clip of her fight against James “Alice” McPike on her Instagram, noting that there was a 65lbs weight difference between them.
Following the clip going viral, NAGA was prompted to issue a statement clarifying its policies on the inclusion of trans-identified males in the women’s category.
“NAGA does not require biological women to compete against transgender women. Instead, we give the choice to the biological women and if they decline, they compete in a division only with other biological women.”
NAGA also provided a link to their official policy, which reads: “For those who chose not to compete with the transgender female, we will inquire if they have an interest in entering a separate division which includes the transgender female. This additional division will be offered at no cost to those competitors. However, if individuals decline this opportunity, the transgender female will be directed to compete with the males in their respective weight and skill level category.”
But despite claiming to have had a policy in place that required female athletes to be informed, many are coming forward to reveal that NAGA has continued to pair women against trans-identified males without their knowledge and depriving them of the opportunity to opt out in many instances.
Speaking to Reduxx, professional martial artists Jayden Alexander and Ansleigh Wilk highlighted their experience being made to fight against males with no prior warning until stepping onto the mat.
“I honestly never thought this would actually happen in a contact sport, especially not MY contact sport,” Alexander, who is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blue belt, said. “When I saw him, I was so shocked I didn’t know how to respond.”
Both Alexander and Wilk fought against Cordelia Gregory of Temporal Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy, who is one of many trans-identified males currently participating in NAGA women’s tournaments. Both women describe that they were not informed they would be competing against a male until the it was too late during their July tournaments.
“I hadn’t been notified. The only thing that brought it to my attention was my teammates. They kept asking me ‘are you fighting a man’ and I was honestly too focused on coaching the rest of the crew to really pay attention to my opponent,” Wilk said.
“I realized very quickly I couldn’t muscle them like most girls,” Wilk, who is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt and coach, added. “Well obviously, because it wasn’t a girl! Then not long after, I had to do a second match of which Cordelia threw a tantrum saying [he] ‘didn’t tap [out].’ I was sincerely scared [he] was going to punch me when I stuck my hand out to shake [his].”
Both women also note that the experience of fighting Gregory was distinctly different than fighting a woman.
“The fact of the matter is that he had a man’s strength. I train with men and women and the difference is massive,” Alexander explains. “After my match with Cordelia, I sat mat-side and cried as my teammates massaged out my cramping forearms.”
But despite NAGA’s September claim that its policy was to inform female athletes if their competitor was a biological man, watchdogs have noted that no enforcement of the policy appears to be taking place, even since their September announcement.
“A rule is only effective if a federation will follow it and, most importantly, enforce it,” says Marshi Smith, the co-founder of Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS). She noted that on October 21, a female grappler was “blindsided” into fighting not one, but two trans-identified males during a tournament.
Danielle Lenane, one of the only females involved in the competition, was made to fight Cordelia Gregory and Corissa Griffith, the latter representing Odyssey Jiu-Jitsu. Following the fight, Lenane asked for her record to be wiped clean of any indication she had fought either one of the men.
Smith said that during the October 21 tournament, there were more males participating than women in some of the women’s divisions.
In the Women’s No-Gi fight for the 160-169lbs weight class, only Griffith and Gregory participated and took home medals. On his Instagram, Griffith joked about the match, posting a scene from a Japanese “softcore” pornography series and suggesting the two women depicted represented him and Gregory.
Jayden Alexander says that she and other females were set to compete in the October 21 tournament, but dropped out after seeing how many males were involved.
“There was not just one, but two trans-identified males who were signed up in a bracket that me and several other women should have been able to sign up for but couldn’t because we didn’t want to go against the men,” Alexander explains. “And for a man to be able to come in and sign up in the women’s bracket and discourage us from even being able to compete at all is absolutely heartbreaking and honestly scary.”
Ansleigh Wilk affirmed Alexander’s sentiment, and added that most female participants feel unable to vocally protest the gender self-identification policies.
“The majority of the women feel scared to even speak out about this matter. They don’t want to be labeled a bigot or transphobic,” Wilk said. “There’s so many girls just not signing up now because they are allowing this. Women’s sports will cease to exist if this keeps up. Medals, belts, records, and money are going to be stripped right away from women.”
Marshi Smith similarly notes that women have been self-excluding from the competitions, but that attempts to formally lodge complaints about being paired up against males have fallen on deaf ears.
“I have now spoken to four women who have all fought male fighters in the combat sport of Jiu Jitsu. They are extremely upset. They are self-excluding. They are emailing federation leadership and being dismissed. These organizations and teams that are encouraging this dangerous display of violence against women need to be publicly shamed into doing what is right for women or reap the outrage that comes with cowardice.”
The North American Grappling Association has revised their gender identity policy after a 135lbs female jiu-jitsu athlete was matched to compete against a 200lbs trans-identified male.
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) September 15, 2023
James "Alice" McPike took home silver in the women's category.https://t.co/NEhNZxr6iT
Reduxx Mag, Feminists News and Opinions
written by Genevieve Gluck
Friday September 15, 2023
A female athlete was reportedly not told she would be competing against a male during a Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament in California last week, prompting a policy revision from the North American Grappling Association (NAGA).
On September 12, Brazilian jiu-jitsu athlete Taelor Moore posted a clip to her Instagram account with the caption, “I weighed in at 135 … and she was over 200!” In the video, a much larger male with braided hair steps up to the mat and engages in combat with her.
Comments on Moore’s post were overwhelmingly supportive, praising her for holding her own against a male twice her size.
“Far from a she, that’s a grown-ass man using his size and weight against you. Congratulations on the win but you ladies need to stand together and not compete against men with makeup. You ladies are the key, this is not okay,” said one concerned commenter.
“Shout out to all the REAL women competitors out there. That other dude should be ashamed of himself,” replied another.
Some responses congratulated Moore for managing to defeat her much larger opponent despite his significant physical advantage. “That guy should not be [allowed] to compete but she is amazing for whooping him,” read one reply.
The match took place during the NAGA Grappling Championship on September 9. Reduxx has identified the male participant as James McPike, 29, who is currently using the feminine name Alice. While McPike lost to Moore, he took home silver in the women’s Absolute No-GI Indeterminate category after beating out a different female athlete.
Following Moore’s video going viral on Instagram, her coach, Smitty Wit, took the opportunity to defend his student in a video where he addressed the issue of trans-identifying males competing against women in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
“I have a student who went against a trans athlete in an open-weight division for jiu-jitsu grappling, a combat sport,” Wit said. “I’m sure a lot of people hearing this are thinking that my student lost. No, she won.”
“But I have a really big issue at hand, this is a very serious topic,” he continued. “In jiu-jitsu we don’t drug test. You can take steroids. Everyone knows this. It is what it is. When you step on these mats, you waive your rights to your life…. And I had to gaslight my student.”
Wit explains that Moore had expressed incredulity when she saw McPike, but he attempted to reassure her to “keep her morale up” by telling her: “That’s not what you think it is.”
Moore’s coach went on to suggest that she had received criticism from trans activists for sharing the video of her match against McPike.
“This is my problem. When she goes online and posts about her experience, now she’s a bigot and she’s ‘outing’ this trans athlete. Where do we draw the line? So now women can’t talk about their experiences in a combat sport?”
In the captions accompanying his commentary, Wit clarified that “this isn’t a ‘ban trans’ video,” while reiterating his concern for the safety of women competing in jiu-jitsu. Wit appeared to draw a comparison between a male athlete grappling with a female to doping.
“My student could have been SEVERELY injured by an untested athlete, and gave up a solid 50lbs. Now you’re telling me women can’t EXPRESS their experience, if that experience conflicts with the other individual? Why is it only okay for women to complain when they lose, but have to shut up about it if they win?” Wit asked.
As with Moore’s video, most replies supported Wit, though some criticized him for a lack of clarity on his position regarding male athletes competing against women.
However, Foundation Chicago, a martial arts school where McPike trains, strongly disagreed with Wit and claimed that trans-identifying males have no physical advantage over females in sport.
“Are you saying trans athletes shouldn’t compete against cis athletes? If so, say it. We disagree. Your student showed superior technique and looked slick as all heck against ours, and that’s why she got the well-deserved [win],” Foundation Chicago replied.
“Beating a much larger trans athlete in short order demonstrates quite well that there’s no crazy advantage for trans women against cis women. Say things with your whole chest, don’t be mealy-mouthed, and then discussions can happen. Congrats on being a great coach and on your student doing so well. Super impressive.”
The controversy caused NAGA to issue a statement on the situation.
“We are aware of an incident over the weekend where a transgender female competed in a women’s division without prior knowledge of their transgender status. We have since updated our policy to require transgender competitors to contact us in advance so we can discuss and explain the policy to them,” NAGA stated.
“NAGA does not require biological women to compete against transgender women. Instead, we give the choice to the biological women and if they decline, they compete in a division only with other biological women.”
NAGA then provided a link to their official policy, which reads: “For those who chose not to compete with the transgender female, we will inquire if they have an interest in entering a separate division which includes the transgender female. This additional division will be offered at no cost to those competitors. However, if individuals decline this opportunity, the transgender female will be directed to compete with the males in their respective weight and skill level category.”
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