19/03/2026
Women and girls in martial arts: On supporting people with female bodies to practice martial arts.
By Ingrid Bean, 3rd higher-level black belt in Pai Lum Kung Fu
14.03.2026
Author’s note:
This article is about supporting people who have female organs or body parts. Transwomen may have breasts that need adequate support and protection. Transmen may have a uterus and experience menstruation. Intersex and non-binary people may have breasts and/or a uterus.
About me
I am a woman who has trained in martial arts for more than thirty years - certainly more than half my life. After starting with Tae Kwon Do when I was 15, I switched to Pai Lum Kung Fu at the age of 18 and haven’t looked back since. I have trained through puberty, various injuries, depression, a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, my first pregnancy, and am now training through peri-menopause.
Though I don’t run my own club, I am an accredited instructor through Kung Fu Wushu Australia, and often support the learning of other students in our club. I train with men, women, and children of all shapes, sizes, ages, and abilities. I practice unarmed forms (other styles might call these kata, or patterns), and forms with weapons including Dao (Chinese broadsword), ring-knives, staff, spear and fans. I practice unarmed combat through sparring, often with men who are much bigger and stronger than me. I also break concrete.
Introduction
The issues I discuss in this article are things that I have read about, heard from other women, or experienced myself. Not everyone will experience all these things in the same way, or at all. There are sure to be things that I haven’t mentioned that impact women in martial arts. It’s important to understand these issues, whether you are a woman in martial arts, you train with women in martial arts, and especially if you are a martial arts instructor.
If you are an instructor, and are not comfortable talking about these things with your female (and male) students, I invite you to ask yourself why. If you are ok telling your male students to wear a groin guard, why can’t you talk to your female students about breast support and protection? If you are comfortable helping your students train safely when they are injured, why can’t you talk about how to train throughout their menstrual cycle?
All students have different strengths and abilities, and differentiation to support your student’s needs is a mark of a good teacher.
Breasts
Breast injuries among women who participate in contact sports are becoming better acknowledged and understood (see articles here, and here). Damage to breast tissue from impact, or excessive movement during exercise, can have significant long term health issues, and can affect people’s capacity to train effectively. People with larger breasts are more likely to get injured: large breasts move more during exercise, and are harder to avoid coming into contact with. Breast injuries can be minimised by well-fitted bras and appropriate chest protection.
As women go through puberty, pregnancy, and life in general, their breast size may change many times. It is important to help people with breasts to understand the value of a properly fitted sports bra, that provides the right amount of support for the training that they are doing.
My experience as a woman with small ribs but large breasts (bra size 10GG) is frustrating. It can be hard to find sports bras that are comfortable and provide adequate support. My current solution is to wear two wire-free pull-over bras at the same time, one over the top of the other. This tends to give me a “mono-boob” look, but at least I don’t have underwire digging into my ribs while I’m training. It also means I need to buy twice as many bras as I would otherwise.
It is also important that people with breasts are provided with appropriate breast protection any time they are sparring or engaging in other physical contact (see articles here, and here), the same way people with a p***s and testicles should be using a groin guard.
While there are a range of chest protectors on the market for women, it can be hard to find protection that fits comfortably and securely. The level of contact expected will inform what type of chest protection is most appropriate for your art.
Some martial arts use padded chest protectors that are worn over the top of clothing. There are also options for moulded plastic protectors that slide into a crop top and are worn inside/underneath clothing. Single piece protectors that cover the sternum as well as the breasts are generally shaped with separate cups for each breast, but don’t usually correspond to bra size. I can never find single piece ones that fit properly: if it’s big enough to go around my breasts, it’s too loose around the ribs so it doesn’t sit securely. I find that separate pieces for each breast work best for me.
Menstruation
People who have a uterus may start menstruating any time from the age of about 9. While menstruation is a perfectly normal and natural part of life, there is still a stigma around discussing it, and it can be physically and mentally challenging going through it.
When young people first start menstruating, it can take months, if not years, for their cycles to become regular. For some women, their cycle will never be regular. This means that it can be hard to predict when a period will start, and how heavy it will be. People who menstruate may worry about starting their period unexpectedly during a training session, or leakage from their period products. This may be of particular concern if the uniform includes white, or light-coloured pants, that are more likely to show blood stains if leakage occurs (discussed here and here).
There is an increasing understanding of how the menstrual cycle impacts physical and psychological performance and wellbeing (see here). Menstruation can be uncomfortable or painful. While exercise may help with menstrual cramps, it won’t always help everyone. Being understanding of your students’ experiences of menstrual pain, and other symptoms relating to the menstrual cycle, will help them feel supported to train as best they can.
Practical suggestions:
• Have easy access to clean bathrooms that include sanitary bins and sinks
• Have a supply of freely (and privately) available menstrual products including pads and tampons
• Consider having uniform options that do not include white pants (several women’s sports, including football and tennis have made such changes over the last few years)
Uniforms
While we’re on the topic of uniforms, it’s worth thinking about whether and how your style’s uniforms fit a range of body shapes and sizes. Some martial arts use heavy cotton, with cross-over jackets and pants that tie up on the sides. If you have breasts, or female hips, these uniforms can be awkward to wear. The jackets don’t always close fully over the chest, which means women may want to wear an additional layer underneath for modesty, which can contribute to over-heating. Tie-sided pants don’t always fit well, or securely, over wide hips. Even elastic waisted martial arts pants are often sized simply by length, and don’t always have sufficient width around the hips and thighs for female body shapes.
Having more flexible uniform options can help all students feel more comfortable while they are training.
Urinary incontinence
Even before I went through two pregnancies (both of which culminated in a vaginal birth), I had a tendency to leak urine when sneezing or jumping. When I mentioned this to my instructor, he swapped out star-jumps from our warm-up routine to a different exercise that was more friendly to my pelvic floor. This was an easy change to make, and one that potentially benefited many other students as well. There are a variety of incontinence products that people may find helpful including pessaries (which need to be properly fitted by a women’s health professional), pads and underwear (disposable and/or reusable).
Perimenopause
There are a number of symptoms that women may experience as they go through perimenopause that might need to be accounted for when supporting their training. These could include brain fog, temperature regulation, muscular/skeletal changes, heavy menstrual periods, and the aforementioned urinary incontinence.
The aspect of perimenopause that is most impacting my training at the moment is temperature regulation. Anyone doing, or supervising, intense physical activity should be aware of the need to stay hydrated and keep cool. My problem is that I currently overheat much more easily. This means I need to be more careful with the duration of intense exercise, and also consider the temperature of my surroundings.
Wrapping up
I have never been shy of speaking up about my training needs, and our senior instructor (who is male) has always been happy to adjust techniques or exercises to support me. However, not every person who menstruates, or has breasts, will be comfortable talking about their issues with a man. This speaks to the importance of having female instructors and senior students as part of your club. Not only can they be role models, but also some women will feel more comfortable raising female health issues with another woman.
Whatever your gender, if you are an instructor you should make space for your students to express their training needs. If you are a student you should know that you have the right to have your needs accounted for. The more comfortable we become with discussing how all types of bodies work, the better, and safer, our training experiences will be.
Useful links
These links are mostly about women in sports, rather than in martial arts, but the principles still apply.
Menstruation:
• Breaking the Barriers: Periods and Girls' Sports
• Does a woman’s menstrual cycle affect her athletic performance? Here’s what the science says (theconversation.com)
• Opinion: Period shame stops countless girls from continuing sport. The Women’s World Cup can help break this stigma (2023)
Breasts:
• The prevalence, severity, and mechanism of breast injuries within women's rugby league - Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport (jsams.org)
• The Occurrence, Causes and Perceived Performance Effects of Breast Injuries in Elite Female Athletes - PMC (nih.gov)
• Medical research - B**b Armour
• Many Australian women are exercising in the wrong sports bra. Here's how to get the right fit - ABC News
Urinary incontinence
• Urinary Incontinence in Athletes - Physiopedia
• Urinary Incontinence Among Elite Female Gaelic Sports Athletes - Urologic Health
Perimenopause:
• Physical activity during perimenopause – Health and Wellbeing Queensland
