In 2012 the 3rd Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Ladies Summer Camp took place in the Netherlands. During this event almost 50 ladies from mostly Europe were united. The female BJJ players in this documentary are sharing their passion and are explaining what position BJJ takes up in their life.

BJJ Lady aims to make BJJ more accessible for women. Even though the popularity of BJJ under women is growing, it’s still a highly male oriented sport. BJJ Lady believes strongly in the power of BJJ as a great source of empowerment for women. BJJ Lady wants to inspire ladies and show the fun and benefits of doing BJJ!

-Yasmin Sewgobind
BJJ Black Belt
Amsterdamn, Netherlands

Video by Denis Popov & Naomi Felesita

Female Brown Belt Pluma Podium

The Brown Belt Pluma Division had only 3 women in it. Tove Sodersten (Alliance-Cobrinha BJJ) was the favorite as an experienced brown belt, having placed 3rd at the 2012 World Championships. Tove fought Alicja Rybak (Gold Team Fighters) in the first round. Tove pulled guard quickly and went to work finishing with a triangle in what seemed like less than a minute. The second round brought Alicja up against relatively new brown belt (full disclosure-me) Jen Flannery (Alliance-Marcelo Garcia-50/50 BJJ) who was competing for the first time at brown as well as the first time since her recent shoulder surgery in July 2012. Jen pulled guard off the start and swept quickly from de la riva. After being up 12-0 Jen won on a tap from shoulder pressure in side control. The final brought Tove and Jen together. Again Jen pulled guard quickly but the experienced Tove moved in quickly to stuff it before Jen could set her grips/space. Tove forced her way to half guard but Jen fought to stay on her side and was able to recover her guard but when the pressure was on she switched to a cross grip and turned away. From here she was able to sweep to top but was unable to secure the pass and Tove scrambled to her spider guard. From here Tove was able to sweep again and became the victor, winning by 2 advantages.

Unfortunately, since I was competing I missed most of the other brown belt matches, although I heard there was some issue with Angelica Galvao being disqualified.

Here are the rest of the brown belt weight division results…
Feather
FIRST Karen Deisy Antunes Souza – CheckMat
SECOND Yasmine Clarisa Wilson – Roger Gracie Academy

Light
FIRST Anna Louise Mayne – CFS BJJ
SECOND Camilla Kerstine Elnegaard Hansen – CheckMat
THIRD Arnela Hadzisulejmanovic – Viva Zapata Jiu Jitsu
THIRD Jackeline Rodrigues M. de Oliveira – Alliance

Middle
FIRST Karolina Zawodnik – Brasa
SECOND Janni Margareta Larsson – CheckMat

Heavy
FIRST Gretchen Dawn Zoeller – Gracie Barra
SECOND Venla Orvokki Luukkonen – Hilti BJJ Jyvaskyla

Brown Belt Open Podium

As a competitor I was really impressed with the positive energy given off by all the women at the European Championships today. There was frustration, tears, and joy and through all of it these women shared friendly chats, experiences, hugs…and a few scrapes, bruises and black eyes.

Mackenzie Dern v Polyana Lago 2013 European Championships

Let’s introduce the black belt open weight competitors! Marina Soares (Check Mat), 2012 Mundial’s 2nd place finisher to teammate Michelle Nicolini at Pena, is competing this year at Leve. Will she stay there? Marina came up in the first round against relatively new Black Belt Nyjah Easton (Lloyd Irvin) who has moved up from Pluma, Nyjah placed 2nd at the Mundial at Brown Belt last year, to Pena this year. Marina chose to start from the bottom, no surprise as she is known for her ability to off-balance her opponents from there. After a short battle for ideal grips and position, Marina was finally able to hit her sweep and come on top for 2 points. Not content to sit still, she pushed the pace to secure a pass and was awarded 3 more points. As she moved to attack the back however, Nyjah was able to roll and recover back to her guard. But Marina kept hunting the back and was finally able to secure it and win with a Rear Naked Choke.

The second match of the bracket brought Caroline de Lazzer Cardoso (UAE Jiu-Jitsu) up against Luanna Alzuguir a multiple time world champion (at Leve and Medio). Luanna quickly pulled closed guard but an unfazed Caroline stood up and opened it. Luanna was able to bump her down and shoot a triangle but landed back in closed guard. Luanna opened again and moved to de la riva guard. Luanna was able to bump Caroline to the ground and came up chasing the single leg, but unfortunately landed it out of bounds. They were restarted on their feet and Luanna pulled closed guard again then moved to de la riva and to the omoplata, but Caroline escaped that and went back to closed guard. Looking to progress her position Luanna moved to weave her leg through and take the back but just as she was getting close, Caroline’s gi came off as Caroline tried to pull away. However, the referee restarted them with Luanna on the top of turtle. She jumped for the back from here and Luanna secured a choke with 4 minutes left on the clock.

Polyana Lago Barbosa (Alliance) a long time BJJ competitor participating in the Meio-Pesado division fought new Black Belt Mackenzie Dern (Gracie Humaita) who won the Brown Belt open at the Europeans last year and her weight (Pena) and the open at the 2012 Worlds. Mackenzie came out aggressively in a grip battle looking to prove her place in the black belt line-up. She certainly did not look intimidated by the experience or size of Polyana as she attacked Judo throws. Polyana moved in for her throw and Mackenzie looked to switch it up on her, Mackenzie almost landed on top but at the last second must have sensed she was out of position and she quickly switched to an omoplata in mid-air. As Polyana tried to defend the omoplata, Mackenzie switched to attacking her feet but then Polyana sat on her and was able to use her weight and positioning to pass Mackenzie’s guard. But Mackenzie was able to recover to turtle and again rolled for a knee bar/toe hold, however, she ended up moving back to her guard as Polyana effectively defended her attacks. Mackenzie shot a triangle from the guard but wasn’t able to control the posture, so Polyana shrugged it off. Knowing she was down on points, Mackenzie kept attacking. She went back to the leg lock attacks but had to move to 50/50 when Polyana defended the knee bar. But she was on the bottom of a smashed 50/50, making spectators fear for her knee the way it was folded across and under the weight and pressure of a larger opponent. Polyana looked calm and collected as she stayed on top waiting for her moment to score. Mackenzie continued trying to sweep but was unable to create enough space. Finally, she managed to work her way to spider guard but was unable to secure it before Polyana slid past her guard. But once again Mackenzie was able to turtle and as she attacked the legs again from there, Polyana took the opportunity to move to the back, however, time ran out before she was able to secure it.

The second round brought Luanna up against Marina. After a double guard pull, Luanna chose to take the top position. Marina maneuvered into position to get to her spider guard, which she successfully used to keep Luanna on her toes before finally securing a sweep from De la Riva guard and coming on top. Luanna working hard to recover quickly moved to take the back from De La Riva guard but Marina was able to recover. But not for long. Luanna tried to sweep but is only able to bump Marina back at first. She tried again but then landed in closed guard. She attacked aggressively going for the cross choke while climbing her legs up to the armbar/omoplata combination but Marina escaped. Not one to be deterred, Luanna went for the cross choke/armbar/omoplata combination one more time and this time was able to put Marina in enough danger to sweep with the arm bar and she finished it from the top at almost the exact same time in that she finished Caroline earlier in the day.

Michelle Nicolini’s (Check Mat) first and last match of the day was in round 2 against Polyana Lago (Alliance). Michelle had a bye in the first round, perhaps due to the fact that she took first place in 2012. Believing that she couldn’t allow Polyana to put her weight on her or she would risk being squashed as Mackenzie Dern had been, Michelle wasted no time pulling to her guard. It took her a few seconds to manuever herself to her spider guard because Polyana had managed to stuff her guard pull a little. But once Michelle got to her hooks, she was in the zone. She moved quickly to her signature triangle attack, swiftly transitioned to an omoplata and then to the armbar, which she swept Polyana with before finishing from the top at the :45 second mark. What makes Michelle so fun to watch is her unique ability to be 100% aggressive without looking harried or rushed at all.

Everyone is looking forward to seeing Michelle and Luanna fight in the final tomorrow afternoon. These two ladies never disappoint!

The Brown and Black Belt women compete at 1pm local time tomorrow. I just hope things move quickly in my division so I have time to watch the rest!

Jiu-Jitsu Epiphanies

I was so disappointed at the outset of my brown belt to see that no, we aren’t magical. I was no different on the day after (besides having a torn shoulder) than I was the day before when I had been planning to compete at the World Championships at purple belt. And the realization that I was no better from one day to the next was when I gave up on the idea of ever seeing a unicorn…finding true understanding of Jiu-Jitsu.

Then after two post class drilling sessions last Friday and Saturday, my training partner and I finally began to understand a concept our instructor had been trying to get across to us for months. Something that seemed to instantly change the way we roll. It excited us to the point of wanting to train more right away, we wanted to spend every minute discovering every transition and position through our new lens. Sure, I’m certain that I will not always be able to execute my recent epiphany perfectly, but weeks like this re-excite me for learning Jiu-Jitsu.

Jiu-Jitsu Magic

How many other activities exist that after 7 years of participating in them day after day, you are still discovering a whole new world inside?

Have you had an epiphany lately? Share them on our Facebook page Grappling Girls Facebook Page!

Angelica Galvao

Angelica Galvao (Atos) received her brown belt earlier this year…
http://youtu.be/Tu8QEZsMUcQ

Here is an old match between Gezary Matuda Kubis (ATT) and Sam Faulhaber (Gracie Humaita). Sam is a brown belt and Gezary received her black belt this year, keep your eyes on these ladies in 2013!

An old video of Sofia Amarante (The Avengers), now a black belt.

Luiza Monteiro (PSLPB-Cicero Costha) wow’d audiences with wins over Michelle Nicolini and Luanna Alzuguir at this year’s Mundial

Who says you can’t be pretty AND kick ass?

While waiting to go through the metal detectors at the NoGi Pan this morning, one may have wondered why they seem to have the same issues every year with apparently no effort towards improvement? Many of those who arrived early hoping to have time to warm-up for their 9am division were surprised to still be in line outside up until go time. I am curious that the IBJJF hasn’t figured out that if athletes are to be ready to go at 9am, they have to be able to get into the tournament beforehand, ideally with enough time to change and warm-up. Perhaps opening the doors an hour before the start time is necessary when requiring each person entering to go through one single metal detector just to get in the door.

It appeared, however, that everyone made it in time to compete, since some of the divisions did not begin on time. And per usual, there were those running around needing to purchase a new rashguard and/or a pair of shorts because they did not read the uniform requirements closely enough.

Most of the women’s divisions were relatively small, with some ladies having to bump up weight classes or only do the open for matches. However, everyone had a chance to fight, and no one had to walk away paying $120 just to watch a tournament (which happens sometimes).

Because their divisions tend to be small, most of the women know each other and/or have competed against each other before. The Pluma blue belt division saw this year’s Gi Pan Champ, Tamara Dominick (Fairfax Jiu-Jitsu), take the NoGi Gold as well. Kate Marshall (Team Link) took the gold in Featherweight with an armlock win in the final over new blue belt Hanyu Xiong (Marcelo Garcia) and Eva Tarnay (Yamasaki) won Lightweight. 2x Mundial Lightweight Bronze medalist Megan Lomonof (50/50 BJJ) and Kim Rice (Team Royce Gracie) won their weight at Medio and Meio-Pesado respectively, before they went on to battle it out for the Absolute title, with Kim coming out the victor via RNC. Sherri Mccann (Brazilian Top Team) won the Heavyweight division.

The Pluma purple belt division saw the 2012 Pan Silver medalist and Mundial Bronze medalist at blue belt, now a newly minted purple, Jillian DeCoursey (East Coast United Queens BJJ) take the division over veterans Melissa Biscardi (Toronto BJJ) and Jessie Carpenter (Team Jucao). As the only entrant for the Pena division, Abby Bork (Carlson Gracie), bumped herself up to Lightweight to fight Danielle Battiato (Alliance) and after a well-fought battle on both sides, Danielle won via triangle arm-lock. Middleweight found Ana Carolina Lima (Team Link) with the gold and 2012 World Champion Alison Tremblay (Brazilian Top Team) took gold in both the heavyweight division and the open. Roberta Quinones (American Top Team) won the only match in Purple Master to bring home gold at Heavyweight.

Feminine is also tough

The Brown Belt divisions were extremely light this year with only one weight class with matches (Lightweight Master). Jennifer Russell (Gracie Elite) took the gold and jumped into the open to give Meio-Pesado Rachel Demara (Lloyd Irvin)her only match of the day. Rachel quickly finished Jennifer to take home the absolute title.

The black belt ladies were clearly preparing for the NoGi Worlds with this event. 2009 Pluma NoGi World Champion Sofia Amarante (The Avengers) weighing it at a whopping 118lbs in her jacket and shoes, won the Pena division (with a 125lb weight limit) with a kimura in her first match and a 2 point victory in one of the most exciting matches of the day between her and Jen Petrina (Marcelo Garcia). Their match prompted bystanders to comment that the women’s divisions are often more exciting than the men’s since no woman seems to be interested in eking out a win on points. The Meio-Pesado division brought familiar competitor Valerie Worthington (50/50 BJJ) up against none other than UFC Fighter Thiago Silva’s wife Thaysa Ramos da Silva (The Avengers), a legit BJJ Black Belt in her own right. In yet another exciting multi-positional exchange, the ladies showed their grit with Thaysa coming out the victor in the end by 2 points.

The last of the women’s divisions ended at almost exactly 7:30pm, with most competitors having arrived before 9am. A long day perhaps, but one filled with hardship, success, failure, team bonding, and new friendships. A day well met.

Full Results IBJJF 2012 NoGi Pan Championship

Talk about a line-up not to be missed this Veterans Day Weekend!

Have you always wanted to train with a roomful of people your sex, size, and belt level??? I know I have! The guys have it all but now you can too!

Women are already planning to come to DC from California, Texas, Florida and of course the surrounding area to participate in a camp with FOUR female black belts. It’s not very often we get to see that much talent together outside a large tournament.

Where: 50/50 BJJ, 3601 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22201 5050bjj.com

Start Date: 2012-11-09
Start Time: 18:30
End Date: 2012-11-12
End Time: 1300

Preliminary Schedule:
Friday – Meet and Greet Dinner
Saturday – All day training
Sunday – All day training
Monday – Co-ed Open Seminar offered jointly by Michelle & Hannette, so don’t leave your significant BJJ other at home!

For more information about the Women’s Grappling Camp click here: http://www.womensgrappling.org/wordpress/

My Ovaries!

“My Ovaries!”

This is the phrase one of the first women I met in jiu-jitsu would yell when a male training partner would train too roughly or dangerously with her. Of course it sounds hilarious, but she needed a safe word, something to quickly clue them in to the fact that even though she trains BJJ, she is still a female. Although we don’t generally like to admit it, we are (physically) the weaker sex and once in a while our training partners can get carried away and need to be reminded of this fact so that we can continue to train another day.

Please let my story serve as a reminder to you and your teammates/coaches that they should never forget your body’s fragility.

Four week ago we were preparing for a big belt test at the academy, one where 2 of my oldest teammates were going to get their brown belts. And unbeknownst to me, so was I. Being in the middle of my Mundial preparations, I spent the day before doing a pretty rough circuit-training workout and was feeling rundown and sore going in. When my name was called, I hesitated a few seconds before I stepped forward, already knowing I wasn’t physically in a position to protect myself for 50 straight sparring rounds.

What?!

Yep, I said FIFTY sparring rounds. Our belt tests are what Ryan (my coach, Ryan Hall) calls a heart check. Each of the students testing must roll with every single person in the room from white through black with no rest in between. And on this day no less than FIFTY people were there to “help” their teammates move to the next level.

First, Ryan gave a long speech about the purpose of the belt test and how each person’s primary responsibility was the safety of their partner, and their second responsibility was to make the testers work their butts off. Then he set the timer.

We were to roll with the white belts for only 1 minute each in the interest of time and also to minimize the contact with the most dangerous element in the room…or so we thought. We would roll with the blue through black belts for 2 minutes each. And so the test began.

Me at NY Open

I noticed in my first or second round that my legs were still too tired to even squeeze a triangle, but luckily, I made it through my most dangerous obstacles (white belts) with only a few close calls. Somewhere around the 15th round or so, I started rolling with a blue belt weighing about 170lbs – close to 50% larger than my 110lbs, who I’ve trained with dozens of times without injury. I was completely worn out having completed at least 15 minutes straight grappling with no rest against mostly men much larger than myself. When suddenly this particular blue belt decided for some unknown reason to do a crazy flying/diving kimura in which he snatched my arm in mid-air and landed with it already twisted behind my back, giving me only enough time to scream aloud in pain.

My coach saw it happening but couldn’t move quickly enough to stop it. He ran over immediately and yelled at the student and told him to leave as I tried to quickly assess the damage to my shoulder. Despite my pain and injury, fearing the degree of the anger that was about to be directed at my teammate who just torqued my arm, I yelled, “I’m fine, it’s okay, I’m fine”, and motioned my next roll over so I could continue.

Of course I wasn’t fine, I realized almost instantly that I had a serious injury and shouldn’t use my arm. So I continued the test…one-armed.

No one noticed right away that I wasn’t using my injured arm. And so they kept coming at me. All of my focus turned toward maneuvering myself to keep my shoulder safe. At about 10 minutes post-injury, the painful burning started and that’s when I knew for sure that it wasn’t just injured…something was torn.

How did I know? Because I’ve torn both shoulders before, this particular one, in fact, had just been repaired less than a year and a half ago.

And yet, they kept coming…

It was around this point that my coaches and teammates started to realize that I was hurt. I’d like to say that what got me through was my serious badassness. But that would be a lie. What got me through was my awareness of the pain, the need for self-protection and pure unadulterated hatred and anger towards everyone I could blame at that moment.

My mental state was all over the place during the last hour of the test. One minute I would feel intense pain and want to quit. The next I would be fuming at the guy who unnecessarily and recklessly tore my shoulder. And after that, I would hate my coach for promoting me ahead of the Mundial and taking away my opportunity to win at purple belt and thereby causing this whole thing by making me test this day. And then my emotions would cycle back through. All the while I was fighting off the attackers and protecting my shoulder as best I could.

Me coaching in my sling

To truly understand the extent of my frustration you would need to know a little background about my injury history. In the last year and a half I have had shoulder surgery (on this same arm that was just torn again). 9 weeks after that, I had hip surgery. As I was just on the mend from that recovery, a training partner tore my LCL. 2 months later another broke my hand, 2 months later another tore a ligament in my foot, and a few months after that just before the Pan Ams, another snapped my neck in an accidental neck crank. I have spent more time off the mat than on it in the last 2 years of my training and finally I was coming back strong.

Me on crutches coaching at a tournament

Almost every single one of my recent injuries could have been prevented had my training partners not all been over 25% larger than myself and overly competitive, allowing themselves to forget the size/strength disparity. Sometimes, things can get carried away in a competitive training session, but it is important for all of us, but especially for bigger and stronger teammates to maintain awareness regarding the health and safety of their training partners. (Btw often guys over 200lbs are better at this because they know they are big. The 150-180lb guys are generally the worst because they are not used to being considered “big”, but to 95% of women, they are.)

As my brown belt test neared the end, I was alternately choking back tears as I asked myself why I do this sport. I told myself that if I had to undergo another surgery than I am quitting Jiu-Jitsu. I was convinced that it was no longer worth the pain being inflicted on my body.

Eventually, the test finally ended, I had rolled with somewhere around 30 people one handed. I didn’t wait; I got up and ran sobbing into the staff room. One of my coaches came back and handed me Advil and an ice pack. Normally, I am against crying in Jiu-jitsu, but I just couldn’t stop. I told him that there was no way I could go through another surgery and continue doing Jiu-Jitsu. I yelled that I didn’t want my stupid belt anyway and that it certainly was not worth this pain. “I Hate Jiu-Jitsu”.

But really, I don’t. I hate that there are so many men (and sometimes women) out there so insecure with themselves that they get caught up trying to “win” and they forget that I am small. And they forget that the whole point of training is to gain knowledge, to improve. I want to win at the competition and I see training as the medium to get me there. Not something I have to “win” all the time. Because short-term wins are not helpful to me, I want to be the best BJJ practitioner that I can be.

This isn’t just about this one individual. It’s about all the guys I’ve trained with who would rather injure me than “lose” to a woman or a smaller person. Seriously? This is TRAINING!

The thing is this. A REAL man doesn’t have to worry about “losing” to a woman in Jiu-Jitsu. He remembers that even though women train BJJ, we are still more fragile physically. Even the ladies much larger than myself are not as strong and explosive as a man (even though sometimes they feel like it to the guys or want to believe it themselves).

It doesn’t detract from the training of women in BJJ for men to treat us a little more carefully sometimes, because one little misstep could easily ruin our entire BJJ career. I ask you, which one would you prefer? To be treated too carefully? Or to be broken?

Please take care of your training partners, male or female. You need your training partners and they need you to improve.

I hope that one day I will be able to look at the brown belt I was awarded 4 weeks ago, just shy of my seven year mark of training, through three major surgeries, and four IBJJF World Championship medals without disgust towards the day I earned it.

Absolute at NY Open

Jiu-Jitsu is supposed to be the gentle art, the one made for smaller individuals to be able to combat larger opponents. So why do some people get a serious ego complex when being beaten or just having a hard time with someone smaller than themselves? Why is it difficult for them to enjoy the fact that Jiu-Jitsu allows this to happen, and they should take the opportunity to try and learn from this smaller individual instead of feeling inadequate and spazzing on them?

Don’t be selfish in the training room. We (women, little people, everyone) want to be able to train hard too.

Pluma should find Sofia Amarante (The Avengers) up against Leticia Ribeiro (Gracie Humaita) in the final. The multiple time world champion up against the only woman her size to beat her in recent years. Either lady could bring home the gold!

The Pena division proves to be a rematch of last year with Michelle Nicolini (CheckMat) and Kyra Gracie (Gracie Elite) battling for the gold. Kyra did her training camp with the Mendes Brothers and the rest of Atos and is taking her rematch seriously. It’s impossible to pick a victor between these two ladies in advance but either way, the match is sure to be exciting!

With former champion Luanna Alzuguir (Alliance) up at Medio this year, Beatriz Mesquita (Gracie Humaita) and Luiza Monteiro (PSLPB Cicero Costha) are sure to match up in the final of the Leve division. Luiza has been on a tear recently and will be looking to pick up the win after placing 2nd last year. However, Bia came out on top at the Pan this year and won’t be easily upset.

Medio brings together Val Worthington (Alliance-50/50 BJJ) and Vanessa Nascimento (GF Team) in the first round. Vanessa has greater experience although Val showed her stuff at the Pan this year against multi-time champion Hannette Staack. Whoever is able to get to their guard first should take the match. The other side should bring Luanna Alzuguir (Alliance) to the final. Luanna has the best chance for gold with former champion, Hannette out of the game this year.

The Meio-Pesado division is more difficult to call, with so many experienced competitors in the mix. On one side Shanti Abelha (CheckMat) will likely come up against Penny Thomas (Gracie Humaita). One of these two ladies will fight the winner of the Talita Nogueira (Gracie Elite) and Fernanda Mazelli (Striker JJ) match. It is likely that Talita takes the gold for the second year in a row.

Gabi Garcia (Alliance) should once again come out the victor in the Pesado division. 2nd place will go to the winner of new black belt Tammy Griego (Gracie Barra) and Katrina Weilbacher (Paragon).

I am watching on the edge of my seat!!

Pluma
Perhaps I’m biased because this is the division I should have been out competing in, before sustaining a shoulder tear during training, but either way I am especially excited to watch these matches play out! Former purple belt world champion, 2nd place finisher from last year’s world championships in the combined Brown/Black division, and the first Brown Belt European Champ and first Pan Brown Belt Champ, Nyjah Easton (Lloyd Irvin) will face off against Samantha Faulhaber (Gracie Humaita), former blue belt world champion and 2nd place finisher last year at purple belt in the first match. These are two seasoned competitors, both known for active, difficult-to-pass guards and they are sure to give a fantastic show! The winner will move on to the semi-finals where she will face off against Marcelo Thomaz, (Big Brothers) who placed 3rd at purple belt last year.

The other half of the bracket brings Tove Sodersten (Alliance) up against Shiho Yaginuma (Paraestra Tokyo) in a rematch from the Pan Ams earlier this year where Tove came out the victor. The winner of this match moves up to face Gezary Kubis (American Top Team) in the semi-finals. Gezary wow’d audiences at the 2010 Worlds with her submission wins over all opponents her last year at purple belt. Gezary is going to come out hungry and looking for another gold medal and is sure to give a tough match to either Sam or Nyjah in the final.

Pena
Pena should bring Tracey Goodell (Atos) up against Mackenzie Dern (Gracie Humaita) in the final. Both ladies will have to win 2 matches in order to make it, but I believe this is highly probable. Tracey is well known for her aggressive attacking style and we are all glad to see her return to the World Championships after giving birth to her son last year. This will be her first competition at Pena (formerly fighting at Leve) so it will be interesting to see if the weight cut affects her performance. Mackenzie came out on top earlier this year in their match at the Copa Bella tournament. Can Tracey get that one back? We’ll see later today!

Leve
This division brings back some old favorites. I have long admired the tenacity of Ana Carolina Lebre (Gracie Humaita) since watching her beat Gabrielle Garcia in the open as a purple belt in 2007 and I expect to see her dominate her side of the bracket as she fights 2 matches to make the final. The other side will bring Ana Lowry (Barbosa Jiu-Jitsu), a former blue belt world champion who has battled back problems for years and is looking to make her competitive mark as a brown belt, up against Leanna Dittrich (The Avengers) who placed 3rd last year at the Worlds as a purple belt in both her weight class (Medio at the time) and the open weight. The winner will take on rising success story Angelica Galvao (Atos) who won 1st place last year as a purple belt and then again at the Pan before being promoted to brown belt. If Ana arrives ready for a fight, I predict her overcoming Leanna but am less certain how a match between her and Angelica would fare. One of those two ladies will come up against Ana Carolina Lebre in the final, but Ana Carolina’s more extensive experience should give her the gold.

Medio
The medio division only consists of 4 people this year. Charlene Coats (Raul Castillo BJJ), a former medalist at Blue and Purple Belt will come up against Summer Krause-Wilhelm. Charlene should come out ahead to fight the winner of Priscilla Prandini (CheckMat) and Rachel Demara (Lloyd Irvin). Both of these ladies are former purple belt world champions, this year Rachel won the Pan and Priscilla won the Europeans then at the Brasileiro Rachel came out ahead. Rachel has the upper hand, but Priscilla will be looking for atonement. Whichever woman does come out ahead should take the gold.

Meio-Pesado
Will probably bring Ludymila Espindola (CheckMat), 2012 Brasileiro champion, through her first match then up against Kay Stephenson (Gracie Elite), a former blue and purple belt world champion. Ludymila should progress to combat teammate Nikki Leite (registered under her maiden name Horton) and 2012 Pan champion in the final. If these ladies do choose to fight, Ludymila will likely take home the medal.

Pesado
With only two women in this division, there will be only one match and one winner. Andressa Correa (Alliance) and Pan Champion will fight Cecilia Minshall (Gracie Elite) a former blue and purple belt world champion. The ladies will battle it out for the world championship title and I predict Andressa coming out ahead.

As always, all of these predictions are my own and any mistake is mine. There are so many factors that can be involved in matches, divisions, etc so any 100% certainty is completely impossible at this stage. All of these ladies have put in the work necessary and have the desire to show their skills. It could be anyone’s day! But isn’t that what makes our sport so awesome??