A Father’s Role

The Jiu-Jitsu Ponytail by Mir Khalid Ali

From the author:

“On the surface, “The Jiu-Jitsu Ponytail” is a fun, whimsical story about a 7-year-old girl named Noor and her mischievous ponytail. I’ve gotten a lot of laughs from kids and adults alike who have read it. However, there is a deeper message here as well, namely of empowering girls and the role men can and must play in it. Noor has to make some important decisions that will affect the outcome of her performance in her first jiu-jitsu tournament. Meanwhile, her Baba (dad) must play a key role in enabling her success.”

“As a Baba to a daughter myself, this story is very personal for me. In fact, as several of you know, it was inspired by my own experience learning Brazilian jiu-jitsu with my daughter. Not wanting to wake up my wife for jiu-jitsu practice early on Saturday mornings, my daughter and I decided that I would have to be the one to tie her “jiu-jitsu ponytail!” It was a steep learning curve for me, but eventually, I got the hang of it (somewhat). And it led to this story :)”