“I love training Jiu-Jitsu! I love competing. I love that I am a small woman learning how to defend myself, that I as an adult can play-fight with my friends on the mats, and hopefully pass this on to my daughters!”
My background is in Capoeira, which I started training in 2001 and was my main focus for about 15 years. I remember being taught some Jiu-Jitsu at Capoeira practice, maybe 2002. I didn’t understand it, it felt claustrophobic and I definitely didn’t like it. People around me kept talking about Jiu-Jitsu and training moves, but I kept avoiding it.
The first time I saw a Jiu-Jitsu class for real was in 2009 in Brazil. I was intrigued. Then I saw a good friend of mine in a competition and thought it was exciting! But still it wasn’t “really my thing”.
My first Jiu-Jitsu class was in 2013 at Frontline Academy with Eduardo “Teta” Rios, who is still my main teacher. I went as moral support for a friend who had trained a bit in Brazil, and was looking for a place to train in Norway. Having already been taught some Judo I thought I knew what Jiu-Jitsu was, but quickly realised I had misunderstood. I loved it, but I was afraid to commit. I was afraid of what my Capoeira friends would think. And what would my Judoka husband have to say? No, I couldn’t. But I kept thinking about it and envying my friends who were already deep into the Jiu-Jitsu rabbit hole.
Then in 2015 I decided it was time to immerse myself. I decided that all the time that I had dedicated to going to the gym lifting weights and running would be substituted by rolling around on the floor and being choked out. And it felt so so right. I was already 29, but luckily I didn’t think that it was too late, because it truly never is too late to learn something new!
I got pregnant shortly after, and was depressed about not being able to train and learn more on the mats. Then when I got back a year later I was overcome with happiness!
Now I have a few years of learning, training and even a handful of competitions behind me. It’s humbling and painful at times, I have been injured, there are times that I feel that it’s too hard, and I lose matches that I feel I shouldn’t have lost, but all in all I feel like a winner. I am successfully learning and doing something that the majority of people think is too difficult or too scary or too late to start doing.
I love training Jiu-Jitsu! I love competing. I love that I am a small woman learning how to defend myself, that I as an adult can play-fight with my friends on the mats, and hopefully pass this on to my daughters! Oh, and my Judoka husband also trains Jiu-Jitsu now!
