The Pioneers of the Suffrage Movement: How Jiu Jitsu Fueled the Fight for Women's Empowerment
- Self Defense Academy COS
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
With what seems like neverending political cycles this weeks post focuses on voting and the role Jiu jitsu played in giving women the right to vote. True empowerment has always been about more than just finding your voice—it is about possessing the absolute physical and mental agency to protect it. With what seems like anever ending political cycle this is an interesting blog post about how Jujutsu has been helping people find their rights and voices for a long time. Long before the modern martial arts boom, a brave group of women discovered that real-world preservation and survival require a practical answer to physical threats. Facing systemic hostility, political suppression, and outright violence on the streets, they realized a fundamental truth that guides us to this day: YOU are worth defending.
To understand the roots of reality-based street self-defense, we have to look back over a century ago to the streets of Edwardian London, where the fight for the women's right to vote was won not just with speeches, but with the leverage, technique, and indomitable spirit of Japanese Jiu Jitsu.
The Birth of "Suffrajitsu"
In early 20th-century Britain, the fight for women’s suffrage reached a boiling point. Frustrated by decades of political inaction, Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1903. Their motto was simple: “Deeds, not words.”
As their protests grew more public, so did the backlash. Suffragettes frequently faced severe physical intimidation from the public and brutal handling by local law enforcement. When arrested, many went on hunger strikes, prompting the government to pass the infamous Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health Act of 1913 (better known as the "Cat and Mouse Act"). This law allowed authorities to release weakened hunger-striking women, let them recover their strength at home, and then ruthlessly re-arrest them.
The leaders of the movement realized they were hopelessly outmatched in raw size and numbers. They didn't need a sport; they needed a functional system of street self-defense geared toward pure survival and preservation.
Enter Jiu Jitsu.
Edith Garrud: The 4'10" Force of Nature
The woman responsible for weaponizing the movement was Edith Garrud, a martial arts pioneer standing at just 4 feet, 10 inches tall. Edith and her husband, William, had studied the traditional art of Japanese Jiu Jitsu under master Sadakazu Uyenishi at London's Golden Square Dojo.
Edith quickly recognized that Jiu Jitsu was the ultimate equalizer for women. Because the art relies on redirecting an aggressor's momentum, utilizing structural leverage, and targeting vulnerable joints rather than matching brute strength, size differences became completely irrelevant.
Garrud established a twice-weekly, women-only training club for the WSPU. The media quickly took notice, and journalists soon coined a clever portmanteau to describe this tactical phenomenon: "Suffrajitsu."
"The Bodyguard" and the Battle of Glasgow
To keep Emmeline Pankhurst and other high-profile leaders safe from the police under the Cat and Mouse Act, the WSPU formed an elite, 30-woman tactical security force known simply as "The Bodyguard" (or affectionately dubbed Mrs. Pankhurst's Amazons by the press).
These women trained rigorously in secret locations to avoid police detection. They learned how to break grips, throw larger attackers onto the cobblestone streets, and quickly escape chaotic situations. They even wore layers of heavy cardboard under their traditional dresses to cushion the blows of police truncheons and concealed wooden exercise batons (Indian clubs) within their long skirts.
Key Milestones of the Suffrajitsu Movement
Year | Historical Event | Strategic Significance |
1909 | Edith Garrud's First Public WSPU Exhibition | Showed the public how a petite woman could easily throw a 6-foot police volunteer using leverage. |
1913 | Passage of the "Cat and Mouse Act" | Created the critical necessity for a specialized close-protection unit to prevent unjust re-arrests. |
1914 | The Battle of Glasgow | The Bodyguard famously held 50 armed police officers at bay for several minutes, allowing Pankhurst to speak. |
The ultimate test came on March 9, 1914, at the Battle of Glasgow. In front of a stunned crowd of over 4,000 onlookers, the 30 women of The Bodyguard formed a defensive ring around Pankhurst on stage. When a massive contingent of police officers rushed the stage to arrest her, the women utilized their Jiu Jitsu training to execute throws and escapes, holding off a force nearly double their size and ensuring their leader's voice could be heard.
How Suffrajitsu Benefits Us Today
The incredible history of the Suffrage movement reminds us that real martial arts are not about athletic trophies or point-based rulesets. True Jiu Jitsu is a legacy of personal safety, street readiness, and functional confidence.
At a dedicated Self Defense Academy in Colorado Springs, we honor this exact lineage. The techniques forged on the cobblestones of London are the same principles we teach today: using structural mechanics, timing, and boundary setting to handle real-world conflict.
Studying street self-defense impacts your daily life by giving you:
Unshakeable Situational Awareness: Learning to recognize threats before they physically manifest, much like The Bodyguard anticipated police movements.
True Force Multiplication: Understanding how to use an attacker’s size and weight against them, ensuring you never have to be the strongest person in the room to win a physical encounter.
De-escalation and Boundary Control: Building the mental fortitude to stand your ground and command respect in your professional and personal life.
Stand Strong with Your Colorado Springs Framily
The Suffragettes survived and succeeded because they didn't fight alone—they built a tight-knit community of absolute trust and mutual support. That is the exact environment we cultivate inside our academy. We don't just train students; we build a framily bound by the shared goal of keeping one another safe, strong, and prepared for whatever life throws our way.
True empowerment means knowing that you hold the keys to your own preservation. The historical "Amazons" proved that no matter the odds, no matter the size of the obstacle, a dedicated individual armed with the right knowledge is entirely unstoppable.
You possess that same potential within you right now. Step onto the mats, embrace the timeless art of street self-defense, and discover the peace of mind that comes with knowing YOU are worth defending. The Pioneers of the Suffrage Movement: How Jiu Jitsu Fueled the Fight for Women's Empowerment
Thought of the Moment: "Women using jiu-jitsu have brought great burly cowards nearly twice their size to their feet and made them howl for mercy."— Edith Garrud, 1910
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