Have you ever decided to sign up for a competition and selected that lower weight bracket because surely you’ll be able to cut that weight in time…only to be 1-2 weeks out with a ways still to go? Then that moment of panic sinks in and you start researching all […]
It all began with the new girl. She showed up a few months into my BJJ journey, slightly bigger than me and somehow already wearing a matching set of colorful rashguard and spats. I pictured myself patiently teaching her the one move I had learned, giggling at how awkward […]
I was just halfway through the tournament from hell. Earlier that morning I was pumping myself up for victory, knowing this tournament would prepare me for my first super fight the following month. Yet, here I was, losing match after match in my division with my gas tank at […]
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the “gentle art,” you say? Ask anyone who has trained for a bit and they probably have an injury story to tell you. What happens after that injury? How do you get back in the saddle after getting sidelined? While I’m no expert, I’ve learned […]
Many competitive Jiujiteira view weight cutting as a necessary evil of the sport. I used to cut weight before every competition, even the local ones where there weren’t enough female competitors to create weight classes. The first time I talked to my coach about cutting weight I thought, “Maybe you […]
The women’s movement in Jiu Jitsu has grown tremendously. We’ve gone from having “a women’s division” to having close to the same divisions as men when it comes to belt, weight and age. There are more and more women’s organizations offering open mats, seminars and camps. More and more academies […]
One thing you learn early on in training is holding onto a grip too long can end you up in a worse place than where you started. We’ve all been there in the early days of competition. We are convinced if we just hold onto that sleeve grip of our […]
There is an unfair standard in most societies where women are forced to choose between having a career and raising a family. But who says we have to give up one for the other. Can’t we have it all? Karen Antunes is here to say you can have it […]
When it comes to finding a Jiu Jitsu academy the process can be frustrating and it may take you a few tries to find the right one. It can also be scary and intimidating to walk into a new academy and be the new kid on the block. What if […]
It was only 32 years ago, in 1985, that women were allowed to compete for the first time at the Rio de Janeiro federation thanks to Yvone Duarte, the first ever female black belt. Later in 1998, women’s divisions were added to tournaments at the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation, […]