KnuckleUp Fitness Girls Team

10 Saturday Mar 2012

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In Sandy Springs, Georgia, there is a very successful women’s team called KnuckleUp Fitness Girls Team. The team leader is Laura Hart, a purple belt, who has built it from the ground up. As many women can relate, she was the only woman at her gym for a long time, wishing to have other women to train with. Little by little women signed up and now there is a strong group of ladies collecting medals at East Coast tournaments.

We wanted to find out more about Laura, and her team, and share it with our readers.

1. Hi Laura! How did you get started in BJJ?

Ha! I started 5 years ago, I had never previously exercised or played sports and so I was an old woman stuck in a young woman’s body. I had to nap during the day and I hurt from inactivity. My husband recommended that I try working out, he suggested trying classes offered at different gyms before I committed to anything.

BJJ was the first class I attended, it was the most fun thing I’d ever done! I didn’t attend anymore free classes, I didn’t need to :). Once I signed up I was nervous, there were no girls who attended regularly and as such it was a little intimidating, but I was encouraged to attend by CJ Wilson, then manager now owner of Knuckle Up. I never looked back. My coaches now are Master Ricardo Murgel and Jim Abrille.

2. What do your friends and family think about your training?

I don’t know to be honest… my mom and sister love it! They love that I do a martial art, they love that I love it (but to be honest I could play ping-pong and if I was happy they’d be happy too!) My dad and the rest of my family like that I’m happy but definitely don’t understand my obsession.

My friends all love it! Most of my friends are competitors, not necessarily fighters, but they do something so they under stand the dedication that comes with loving what I do. Of course I have the team, all of it, men and women, who love what I do, they are my primary support, in and out of the gym!

And my husband? He’s proud, he loves me and he’s happy when I’m happy, he struggles with the time and effort that training takes but since he is an athlete as well, he understands.

3. What’s your biggest accomplishment so far?

The Girls Only Team is definitely my biggest accomplishment, being a part of other women discovering BJJ, Thai, and MMA.

When I first began BJJ there were no other consistent women and it was hard to train with men who weren’t always happy to partner with me, it was also discouraging to see the camaraderie the men had and know that I didn’t have that, so very early on it became important to find other women to train and share with.

I was lucky enough to have an owner, CJ Wilson, and finally another woman, Moe Travis, who is a female Thai fighter, who encouraged and supported me in the dream of a team.

4. You’re the leader of Knuckleup Fitness Girls Only Team. Can you tell us a little bit about the team?

Definitely don’t feel like the leader, if I am it’s only because I’ve had the desire to have a team the longest, we all learn from each other, we all respect each other.
We train and hang out together, watch each other’s kids, listen to our complaints, BJJ and non-BJJ related, we have girls nights, and carpool to tournaments. I think the reason we’re such a good team is because we’re always there for each other, no boundaries, no questions. The one thing that comes up the most is how much we all waited for a woman who understands, now we have a team of women to turn to and depend on, BJJ is just one part of all of that.

I feel that I should mention that we have a lot of guys on our team that are excellent MMA and BJJ fighters and we make sure that we continue to support them like they support us, as much as I love my girls, we wouldn’t be here without the boys!

5. Your team is quite known on the East Coast competition scene. Do you focus a lot on competition training and do you require that all your girls compete?

We focus a lot on training, period and we like to win, those 2 things have led to us being seen as a competitive team. The one thing we always try to remember is that we do it because it’s fun, and winning is just one more aspect of it to enjoy!

We definitely don’t require that all of our women compete, but I do encourage it, I think that competing is an aspect of BJJ that needs to be addressed, there is no way to duplicate the feeling of a tournament: the adrenaline; the excited nerves, learning how to win or lose admirably, and the feeling of conquering something outside of the norm.

That said, I try to encourage anyone who wants to compete to do it according to their timeline, based on their desire and trust of BJJ, forcing someone who isn’t ready isn’t worth a win.

6. How do you keep the girls motivated to keep training? Is it hard to get new girls to stick with it?

We seem to motivate each other, we want to train, and more importantly, we want to train together, so we show up.

I think about half the girls that try it, stick with it but even if they’re not doing BJJ they still stay on our team, we also do Thai, and we have a smaller MMA team, so just because they’re not in gis doesn’t mean they’re not on the team, once we know you we are pretty hard to shake!

7. What are the plans for 2012 for your personally and for the team?

We trying to expand our competition experience, 3 of the girls and I are going to Pans at the end of March, Tyra Leigh Parker is our first professional MMA fighter, she’ll be fighting in May, we have a bunch of girls going to IKF (kickboxing competition) in Florida this summer, I am planning on going to no-gi Pans in October and Worlds in June! All of that in addition to the local BJJ tournaments and fights that come along.

8. This is what the team members had to say about Laura!

Katrina Norman
Laura Hart challenges my endurance and pushes me to the limits consistently. She is an amazing coach who encourages me to do my best and kicks my ass when I’m not giving it my all. I consider it a privilege to learn from her. She is not just a coach. She is a friend to everyone she meets, one of the most caring coaches I know.

CJ Wilson
Laura Hart is one of the most dedicated Jiu Jitsu players I have ever had the pleasure to know. As a woman, a mother and a provider, Laura has never had it easy, but her persistence and love of our sport has kept her focused on her training for all these years and her dedication has brought her from being one of the only women competitors at our school to being the coach of a highly competitive women’s team.
I for one am extremely proud to have Laura as a teammate, friend and employee. The KnuckleUp Fitness BJJ program is better for having her and she is an inspiration to many.

Monica Osorio Hyatt
I was very intrigued but intimidated to try out Jiu Jitsu, Laura encouraged and introduced me to it. In class you can feel how much she wants to share her knowledge. I have seen her train for years, at times with pain and frustration but her determination to improve her technique and her passion for this sport seems to always come on top. I am very grateful that she leads the women’s team and look forward to learning from her.

Moe Travis
I am very grateful to be on the same team as Laura Hart. I thank her for helping me understand and appreciate BJJ. I was super frustrated at the beginning but Laura was there to help guide me. If I wanted to drill or had a competition coming up, she would make the time to meet me and explain step by step for me. Regardless of what was happening in her life, she would show up and help me. She loves BJJ and it is very obvious when she starts speaking about it. She lights up and smiles a lot! Not only is Laura a very tough, strong and determined person, she is a very technical purple belt and I feel blessed I get to train with her. She is an awesome coach, mother, friend, and teammate. I am lucky to have her in my life and I can’t wait for the day she receives her black belt.

Fenomenal Woman: F as in Fiona

13 Friday Jan 2012

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We are pleased to kick off the Fenomenal Woman series this month with Fiona Muxlow, a BJJ and MMA pioneer from Australia. Fiona is an active competitor at state, national and international level in submission wrestling, knockdown karate, sambo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has an impressive (5-1) MMA record with 3 submission wins.

Fiona started her martial arts training in 1996, earned her blue belt in BJJ in 2002 and currently holds the rank of a purple belt. In the recent years she has been doing mostly MMA and submission wrestling. She participated at ADCC in 2007 and 2011. This year she is returning to the BJJ competition scene and focusing on earning her brown belt. She is also a highly qualified CrossFit, Kettlebell and Weightlifting instructor.

1. You’ve been in martial arts for more than 15 years. Can you tell us a  little bit about it?

Oh my goodness, has it been that long? I started when I was in university as a way of getting away from my crazy room-mate, there was a notice for a club that had just started on campus, I went along and I think it was a full year before I missed a class. I still train with my original coach, I did relocate to Melbourne for 3 years to train exclusively BJJ but I was not happy living there and ended up moving back to Townsville and the tropics.

2. In 2006 you switched focus to MMA? Can you tell us more about why and what are your plans for future in MMA? Active competing? Coaching?

MMA was a natural progression for me when I first started we used to do a mix of striking, aikido and BJJ. Eventually my club switch to mostly BJJ, once I moved back from Melbourne they had gone full circle and  where focusing more on the standup side. I competed in a few knockdown karate competitions and enjoyed it, but I still liked grappling. In 2006 to went to do my CrossFit coaches training in America and stopped over in Japan, while I was there I was lucky enough to train/spar with Roxanne Modafferi and a few other female japanese MMA fighters. In 2007 I got an offer to fight on Princesses of Pain Australasian knockout tournament in New Zealand and I jumped at the chance to do ” hugging and hitting”. I’m planning on having a few more fights this year, I had one planned for March but my opponent had to pull out so I’m not sure when the next one will be at the moment. I reffed my first MMA fight in 2011 as well so maybe once I stop fighting this maybe something for me to get into. I just started to teach a girls only grapple group once a week as well.

3. You are the Head Trainer and owner at CrossFit North Queensland. Do you still have time to train and what is your training schedule?

Depends on the time of year I teach season Aqua Fitness classes so over winter I have more training time, but I have to make time to train if I want to do well. I’m lucky I had two great CrossFit coaches working with me which left me to do my own training. This year however I’m back down to one coach as the other is just about to have her second baby and is on leave. I have to get used to training at odd times, which can be hard and some times there seems not to be enough hours in the day.

4. Why has CrossFit and Olympic lifting suddenly become so popular?

I don’t think it’s a sudden thing, it’s just gaining momentum really quickly now. I was introduced to CrossFit via one of the guys at BJJ who one night came up to me and handed me a piece of paper saying “ here” you like weird stuff… It was a print out from that day’s crossfit.com. He had found it via a link on BJ Penn’s site. That was back in 2004. I’ve been a CrossFit affiliate since 2006 and  my Affiliate CrossFit North Queensland is actually the first CrossFit Affiliate in Australia. I think people like CrossFit because it gives them an outlet to test themselves, it gives them a place to play, it empowers you,  it’s a community and it works.

5. Do you follow a special diet all year around or try to lose weight right before competing?

I was an obese kid and teenager at 90 kg. It wasn’t till I left home and started training and actually getting off my butt and moving in general that I lost weight.  I found during my time at University that wheat didn’t really agree with me. Nowadays I follow the Paleo/ primal diet . No grains, legumes or dairy. Meat and veggies, nuts and seeds, some fruit and avoiding sugar. Although, my old friends chocolate and ice cream can be hard to resist. If I’m not preparing for a competition or fight  I will allow myself to have them as a treat. But I find that if I eat clean I feel and train better and can also recover quicker.  In 2011 I competed at under 65 for an MMA fight, Open weight 60+ for ADCC and under 68 in Sambo, with my walking weight being up around 72-73. This year i plan to keep it under 70. Ideally 69 or below to make it easier to cut down to the lower weight class when I have to or at shorter notice and also to give me more opportunities to compete.

6. What was the highlight for 2011 for you and what are you competition plans for 2012 now that you are focusing on BJJ again?

2011 is hard to pick… it was a big year. I racked up a lot of frequent flyer points.   I had 3 overseas trips in order to compete

  • Winning ADCC South Pacific Qualifiers for the second time (and after only being back at training for 2 months after a 12 month layoff).
  • Fighting MMA in the cage for the first time (all previous fights had been in a ring and let me say the cage is so much safer than the ring because there is no risk of falling out of it, like there is with the ring.
  • Being invited to coach the stand up and no gi section of the first Australian Girls in Gi day camp.
  • Competing at ADCC World Submission Grappling Championship in England for the second time and coming up against Hannette Staack.
  • Representing Australia at the World Sambo championships in, Vilnius, Lithuania.
  • And finally having my old training partner Sophia McDermott Drysdale and her husband Robert come to my club The Arena Townsville and school me for almost a week and help renew my desire to progress in BJJ.

In terms of competition I’m trying to do as many as I can the ones at the top of my list include

  • 2012 FILA Oceania Grappling Championships in January
  • WPJJC Australian Qualifiers in February
  • BJJ State, Australian and Pan Pacific titles

I ‘m  also saving up to head over to the USA to train and compete at the World BJJ Championships.

7. Talking about Australian Girls in Gi day camp. You were the submission wrestling and take down coach. What were your expectations before the camp and were you pleased with the turnout? Are there any other AGIG events planned for 2012?

It almost didn’t happen my plane got delayed. I was meant to do the second session after the yoga  and had to ring Jess from Brisbane and tell her the bad news. They swapped the program around and put me on last. I actually arrived just in time for the gi session and it all went fine. It was an awesome turn out of 30+ ladies. I didn’t really know what to expect before I went down there, Jess Fraser, the brains behind it sent me a list of people ranks and experience so I could plan my session around this. I was actually quite nervous, I’m used to coaching CrossFit not Grappling.

In December I went back down to Melbourne for the AGIG Christmas party which was awesome, it was an open mat/free rolling with at least 20 people. At the moment I know that there is a seminar with Ester Tavares Tutida in the works and I’m sure there will be another day camp but I’m not exactly sure when.

9. Is there anything else interesting you want our readers to know about you?

I used to work with dolphins when I was in high school and have a degree in Zoology. I have a little Koala named Walter who is my travel companion. He goes with me everywhere and has become quite famous.

December = Women’s Jiu-Jitsu Month

26 Saturday Nov 2011

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December is a fantastic month for women’s jiu-jitsu! While most of the people are hitting the mall or tucking into holiday treats, jiu-jitsu girls and women are getting together for the year end training session.

New women’s open mats and groups were popping up all over the world in 2011 and it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down. A clear indicator that new women are starting to train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and they are sticking to it! The Fenom Kimonos team is grateful to have had the opportunity to participate, contribute and support many of these groups.

Here is the list of events we know of that are happening next month . If you know of an event that is not on this list, please email us the details and we’ll share it on our blog and social media channels.

Women’s Jiu-Jitsu in Lakeland, Florida

10 Monday Oct 2011

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Every so often we have the pleasure of blogging about another blogger. Allison McClish shares her Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu journey with other women on her blog and contributes her time to a small group of dedicated women training with Fabio Novaes in Lakeland, Florida. We caught up with Allie to learn a little more about our friend on the East Coast!

Hi Allie! Please tell us about yourself. 

If you saw me outside of class, you probably wouldn’t expect me to be involved in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I’m short, a stay-at-home mom and when I’m not at BJJ, I’m either chasing after my six year old son Noah (or my husband JJ), or else I’ve got my nose buried in some book. But, I absolutely love BJJ and am a blue belt under Fabio Novaes at his school in Lakeland, Florida.

Before I started BJJ I had no idea what it was. I was not looking for a martial arts class. But I was a youth pastor and two of the kids in the youth group were taking an after school BJJ class and they basically harassed me until I agreed to come. I went to one class and was instantly addicted. That was two years ago. The after-school class was taught by two of Fabio’s students; a brown belt named Ben Aubin who has since gotten his black belt and a purple belt named Mario Menchaca. I still train with them at Fabio’s.

What do you do besides train BJJ? Work? School?

I spend most of my time with my husband, JJ, and my son, Noah. They are the loves of my life. Other than that, I am pretty nerdy. I love to read and write books. I love movies and going out with the girls. Hiking is one of my favorite things to do. Horseback riding is also a passion of mine.

Do you do any other sports?

All through high school and college, I played a lot of different sports: softball, volleyball, racquetball and lacrosse. But now, BJJ is the only other obsession I really have time for!

You started the girls class aka barn-jitsu. Tell us more about it and how it became an actual women’s class in your school.

Barn-jitsu happened kind of by accident. Me and a few of my fellow bjj-obsessed friends, Stephanie McClish, Phil Richardson and Kara DeBats, had talked for a while about turning my old barn into a bjj gym for our own use. But, as we started working on it, we decided it would be fun to open it up to our friends. I was a youth pastor at the time and several of the kids were interested in trying bjj out. For some reason, the way things turned out, we had mostly girls—and mostly college age girls, at that—coming to the barn to learn.

When I stepped down from my position at the church and found myself with a whole bunch of extra time on my hands, Fabio suggested that we start a Women’s Class at his school. I had to stop myself from jumping and down I was so excited. We started the class almost two months ago, now, and I have been loving every minute of it.

What were the obstacles and how easy/difficult has it been to keep the ladies coming back week after week?

Wow, that’s a good question. BJJ is hard, both physically and emotionally. I think the first hurdle that women have a hard time getting past is the issue of personal space. Men seem to wrestle around with each other from boyhood on, but for many women using their body weight to hold another person down and invading someone else’s personal space is pretty foreign. That’s one of the reasons why we started the Women’s Class, so that these ladies would feel more comfortable during the initial space-invasion crisis.

Another big hurdle I have noticed is that many women feel bad about being aggressive. They tend to be more concerned about their training partners comfort than about using their weight to keep pressure or about applying the technique correctly. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard “sorry” and “I don’t want to do that because it might hurt her”. Once they realize that they are not “being mean” and that they can practice these moves safely with their teammates, they become more confidence and start to assert themselves. After they get over that fear, they turn into what the boys at our school affectionately call “Bear Traps”. They look so nice and sweet and then the next thing you know they’re tapping you out.

The last big hurdle I’ve seen doesn’t hit the girls until somewhere between 6 months to a year. I haven’t seen it yet in my girls because they are still new. But for me, and my other training partners at Fabio’s, I have seen a pattern where you start out in BJJ and become quickly infatuated with it. You’re learning so much and seeing so much improvement because you’re going from knowing nothing about the world of grappling to discovering all the positions and submissions. But then, once you’ve started to make progress, you hit a wall. Suddenly you feel like you’re not getting better or actually getting worse. You think you suck and that BJJ might not be for you. We call it “hitting the wall”. But from what I’ve seen and experienced, that usually happens when you are learning new ways to move and are actually getting ready to take your game to the next level. I always tell my friends who feel this way to keep pushing through. That feeling that you can’t get anything right will pass and you’ll feel like a whole new world of grappling has opened up to you. And then you’ll hit the wall again.

Do you compete? Do you push your women to compete? How much of the teaching is focused on self-defense and how much on sports Jiu-Jitsu?

I do compete, but only once or twice a year. So far, I’ve done four tournaments. For me, competing has been instrumental in helping me overcome my fear of failure. It has taught me to do my best but to be ok with not coming in first all the time. It has also helped me see what areas I need to work on more and where my strengths lie.

I make sure to let the girls know that they CAN compete in tournaments, but competing is totally optional. Most of the girls are surprised to know that they can compete even at a beginner’s level and want to try it at least once. To me, anyone who steps out on the mat to compete has my respect whether they win or lose because they were willing to face something so intimidating. But if a person has no interest in competing, there is no pressure for them to do so.

As far as the focus of the class, I tend to lean more toward self-defense. We talk about what you would do in different scenarios or how bjj techniques would be applied in a real-life situation against someone bigger and stronger. But, for the girls who do want to compete, I’ll mention things during technique drilling and grappling like, “That would get you four points in a tournament” or “you would have just lost two points for getting swept,” just so that they are thinking about it.

At this point, since most of the girls in the class are new to bjj, we are focusing on how to move between positions and establish control as well as how to escape from bottom positions and submissions.

What do you see yourself in 5-10 years? Still teaching? Training?

Oh man, I really hope so! I love learning BJJ as well as teaching it. For me, the two go hand in hand. Teaching helps me solidify my own technique when I have to explain it to someone else. Plus, nothing beats that moment when you see that light bulb come on when someone “gets it”. Their excitement is contagious! The more passionate a student is, the more they are having fun and gaining confidence, the happier I am. As far as training goes, I will keep showing up at Fabio’s until he kicks me to the curb. 😉

Thanks for sharing Allie and good luck at the Miami Open!

Women’s Only Class in North Carolina!

27 Saturday Aug 2011

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Women’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is spreading like wild-fire. All of the world, there are open mats, seminars and regular classes popping up as women organize and find their place. The recent 2nd Anniversary Girls in Gis in Houston was evidence that Women’s BJJ has come a long way. As an early supporter of the event, we remember showing up and being completely blown away with 10-15 participants. These days events pull in over 40 participants!

What makes events like this successful is the daily dedication of women in each local school. Sure, there’s a lot of promotional and logistical work required, but the effort to create an inviting environment for new women to start training (and stick around) is where the real impact is made. Women like Suay Al-Aziz of North Carolina’s Combat Club are creating lasting impact.

When we found out that Suay was teaching an ongoing women’s class at her home academy, well… we just had to share her story.

World meet Suay.

Hi Suay! Tell us about yourself and your Jiu-Jitsu Life.

Hello, my name is Suay and I AM a jits addict! I’m a 30 something Navy wife and mom. My kids range from 18 years to 4 years old. I joined the Army right out of high school as a Combat Medic. I was working Managed Care at a Naval Hospital when I met my husband, Saad. I started my training in San Antonio after checking out Relson Gracie giving a seminar in Feb 2010. I had never even heard of the Gracies or BJJ before this seminar ( I know–how is that possible! Just consider me a late bloomer.). I only knew my husband was really into it and he always was driving across town to train. One afternoon, he said he was going to a seminar and curiousness got to me. I didn’t participate, but after about ten minutes I really wanted to jump on the mats. If I had seen this dude on the street, I would have never thought twice about him. It was insane how motivating he was to me. He really showed how anyone could dominate and size didn’t matter. For my birthday I got a gi and and a year’s worth of BJJ lessons at Relson Gracie San Antonio. Since we are military, we were transferred to Jacksonville, NC where I currently train at Combat Club Martial Arts and Fitness, a Saulo Ribeiro affiliate school. Currently I’m a 2nd degree blue belt. I wish my husband had hooked me on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu earlier…I’m kind of mad he’s got 2 years on me!

What do you do besides train bjj? Work? School?

I never thought that I would ever step away from nursing, but military moves make it hard maintain. Currently, I train BJJ six days a week with my husband and 4 year old daughter. I really enjoy being able to share my enthusiasm with them. It’s awesome to be able to around other jits nerds. The best part is that I can take my daughter to work with me. I actively work for a charity called In The Cage 4 Kids that assists children with cancer. The owner of Combat Club, Chico Santiago, started the charity after his 6 year old son died of a rare cancer a few years ago. It’s great cause and I’m always looking for a way to help them expand and progress. I also manage the fight team at Combat Club.

Do you do participate in other sports activities?

I’ve already got my college degree and I’m pretty lucky that training and work is one in the same for me now. I do train in Arnis, a Filipino style martial arts that involves eskrima fighting sticks. It’s pretty awesome when we do the 3 man synchronized kata. It’s a work in progress. Is there anything better than BJJ out there?

You’ve managed to start quite a successful women’s class in your town. Tell us more about it. Why did you decide to start women’s only class at your school? What were the obstacles and how easy/difficult has it been to keep the ladies coming back week after week.

It all started with a self defense seminar called Ladies Fight Back that the gym hosted. The stipulation was bring a friend and it’s free. It was a huge turnout of ladies. We had girls from the community college, military wives whose husbands were deployed, prior victims of assault and just women who wanted to know how to handle possible situations. That one time event lead to a monthly Saturday class, which turned into my ladies BJJ class. They started me off with one class during lunch on their slowest day to test the waters. Now I teach four classes a week. My class started with 4 ladies and now I have 14. It’s quite a blessing to have so many training partners. I never expected so many women to have a interest in BJJ. Some of them attend the evening co-ed classes, but most of them are strictly daytime. I focus on the basic fundamentals with the ladies. We drill a lot and do timed rounds of rolling to prep them for tourneys. I do incorporate the things I learn at seminars and some Ginastica Natural. I encourage the women to attend the seminars with me and to compete to keep their skills fresh. It also helps that we have a kid’s room to make it easier for moms to get a workout in. There was a great response with having a place for kids to play while we trained. We are very family oriented and it shows. I try my best to emulate Josh Lauber and his teaching style. He has most definitely left a lasting impression on me. When they first approached me about teaching a class, I was worried that no one would want to learn from a baby blue. I was wrong. I never had so many female training partners than I do now. I’m still learning, but teaching has made me really focus on having my fundamentals down. We get to grow together and it is really good to see the progress. A few of my girls have placed at NAGA and will test for blue belt this month. I’m just happy to share the knowledge that others have passed to me. We need more female BJJ players! These ladies mean business, they are serious about training and some take the advanced classes with our brown belt, Philip Wyman.

Do you compete? Do you push your women to compete? How much of the teaching is focused on self-defense and how much on sports Jiu-Jitsu?

Honestly, I spend most of my time going to seminars all over so I can keep my game evolving. I do encourage the girls to try competing once or twice just to say they tried it. I competed at my first tourney in Houston, TX and I was super nervous. But you just can’t get any better coaches in your corner than Josh Lauber and Daniel Moraes. I took home the gold and I had only been training about four months. We do cover self defense a lot, but mostly it has been sport BJJ per the request of the ladies. I do plan on competing more with the girls as a group. Our academy is planning to attend the NAGA in Atlanta, GA and give it a go.

What do you see yourself in 5-10 years? Still teaching? Training?

I definitely see myself training and hopefully still teaching in the future. It’s a great lifestyle to have. Since I’ve started training, I have dropped almost 40 pounds. I have learned to make easy, healthy adjustments to become more fit. Everything we do revolves around BJJ. It truly is a way of life. I can’t imagine ever stopping, not even if i lost a limb.

It’s like therapy to get out on the mats to unwind. I’ve made some great friends since I’ve started jits and have had the honor of training with some of the best players out there. It’s one big happy family for me. And I love that the sport just keeps on evolving. It’s our ultimate goal to open our own academy when he retires from the Navy. I can’t wait!

Hi Saad (Suay’s husband)! Please tell us a few interesting things about Suay that we don’t know.

Suay is a talented auto mechanic who learned the skill from her father and brother while growing up. She has helped restore my 1966 Ford Mustang and is the primary mechanic for the vehicle. One day my neighbor came over while Suay was under the car fixing the transmission line and started a conversation assuming that he was talking to me and to his great surprise Suay came out from under the car and said, “I am not Saad.” LOL!

Thanks for sharing your life with us and keep up the great work Suay!

Leticia Ribeiro Seminar in Austin

19 Sunday Jun 2011

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Last year when we brought women’s black-belt world champion Leticia Ribeiro to Dallas, she had 5 gold medals to her name. So coming into Austin on June 11th fresh off her 6th world championship win had us all excited and anxious to get the weekend’s festivities started. As soon as Leticia Bia, Margaret and Maxine landed on Saturday, June 11th, we were at a break-neck speed going from one private lesson to the next. First stop – South Austin Gym.

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Tessa Simpson of South Austin Gym and two of her blue-belt students after a semi-private lesson with Leticia and Bia.

Next stop -we headed to Trainer’s Elite MMA  where the next batch of students were patiently waiting. One being a dedicated mother from Brownsville, TX who made the 6 hour drive with her family to get a private and semi-private as her birthday gift. A huge thank you to Mr. Sean Cooper (owner of Trainer’s Elite MMA and 2nd degree black-belt under Cleber Luciano) for keeping the gym open late. The private lessons were wrapping up at around 9 PM! By the time we got back to the hotel it was 9:30 and it was time to get a dinner at Texas Land and Cattle.

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Leticia at Trainer’s Elite MMA.

We should be equally happy when submitting or being submitted! Smile Leticia at Trainer’s Elite MMA in Austin.

Sunday morning we arrived at Relson Gracie Austin early so that Leticia and Bia could squeeze in a few more private lessons before the seminar. The seminar started at noon, with girls from as far as Oklahoma, Laredo, Houston and Brownsville in attendance. Leticia started out by sharing her thoughts on training, life and what keeps her going. She stressed the importance of training with other women as much as possible to help encourage new women to stick with it and to prepare for competition.

Words of wisdom from the champion.

For starters, Leticia and Bia showed grip fighting technique and take downs. Followed by reversals from de la Riva guard, spider guard and X-guard (now available on Leticia’s new X-Guard iPhone App!) After about 4 hours of drilling (that’s right. 4 hours!) it was time for some live rolling. The energy level was amazing – even after 4 hours of drills, the women were able to muster up enough strength to roll for another hour.

Leticia and Bia teaching spider guard nuances.

Transition from the X-guard.

Texas girls also had a chance to roll with the best light-weight blue-belt in the world, Margaret Aase and a light-weight purple-belt Pan Champion Maxine Thylin who joined Leticia and Bia on the trip to Austin.

2011 light-weight blue-belt champion Margaret Aase (bottom) drilling with Tara Talanco (top)

Light-weight purple-belt Pan Champion Maxine Thylin (bottom) drilling with Ari Burkhart (top)

Over 30 women and girls made the seminar a success. Thank you everyone!

Before leaving the seminar, everyone received a complimentary bar of soap from Fight-Soap!

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After a long and training intensive two-days, we ended the weekend with a group dinner at a Brazilian Steakhouse and the first annual Fenom Project musical chairs championship. Yes, you read right… musical chairs! This year’s prize was a copy of Leticia’s X-Guard iPhone App. Congratulations to Shamo Ko and Maxine Thylin!

Dinner time!

Grueling match of musical chairs.

And there you have it. An account of a great weekend of friends and Jiu-Jitsu. A special thanks to Christy Thomas of Relson Gracie Austin for hosting the seminar at her school.

See you all soon!

Photo credits: Shama Ko and Mitch Sengson

Leticia Ribeiro. One beautiful city. All about the women.

24 Tuesday May 2011

Posted by in News and Events

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Fenom Kimonos is excited to bring back black-belt world champion and leader of the Gracie Humaita women’s team Leticia Ribeiro to Austin, Texas! If you’ve never been to one of Leticia’s seminars, you don’t want to miss this one. Leticia’s instruction style is not only technically out of this world, you just know she loves Jiu-Jitsu by the way she pours her heart into teaching each student. AND, as an added bonus, black-belt Beatriz Mezquita will be on the mat with Leticia making it a sweet two-for-one deal. It will be the best $60.00 you spend this summer!

To register and pay CLICK HERE.

A special thanks to Christy Thomas of Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Austin for graciously providing the mat space for the event.

Upgrading: A new help desk

31 Thursday Mar 2011

Posted by in Business, Ideas and Concepts, Lessons learned, Products

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It’s pretty exciting times around the Fenom shop. Our customer base is growing faster than ever before and we’re super grateful for all the support we’ve received from just about everyone — a testament to the Fenom brand and what it represents.

The cool, yet slightly nerve-wracking reality is that with this growth comes a lot more one-on-one interaction with our customers. Effectively managing and responding to emails every month has become difficult to stay on top of. With the help of a few tools provided by Google Apps we’ll be upgrading how we manage some internal processes to better serve you — starting with a web based help desk system. Support requests are separated by topic and routed directly to the appropriate team member for handling. Each customer interaction is viewable in thread form so we’ll always have a quick way to reference the entire conversation. No more “oh let me look back at your original email” moments!

Log on to http://support.fenomkimonos.com for all your Powered by She needs.

Just in the Nick of Time

07 Monday Mar 2011

Posted by in Business, Products

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Just like every small start-up company out there, we constantly deal with things that go wrong. Everything ranging from product specifications, vendor management and late shipments. Fortunately, we’ve been blessed with a solid base if supportive and happy customers willing to forgive our shortfalls when we drop the ball every now and then.

During our most recent scramble to get orders out, one particular situation stood out from the rest. Melinda Bringham of Virginia ordered a Fenom Lotus Gi for her daughter Becky’s birthday! The women BJJ goddess was in our corner and instructed the United States Postal Office to get the Gi to Becky a few hours before her birthday party!

We thought it was a great story so we asked Becky’s mom Melinda to tell us about her daughter:

Becky has been training for 2 years under Pat Tray of Trident Academy ( www.tridentmma.com ) and has been actively competing since May 2010.  She has excelled in the sport very quickly and is now competing in the advanced divisions for her age group.  She has competed in Junior Grappling Tournaments ( www.jrgrappling.com ), NAGA, The Good Fight, and US Grappling up and down the east coast.  She is an Honor Roll student  and also is a member of her middle school volleyball team and wrestling team but still makes time to train for 2 hours sessions 4-5 times a week in her favorite sport of BJJ.  She is very lucky to have a few younger girls to train with at Trident Academy but she likes to train with the older boys to sharpen her skills.  She has never let gender be a barrier for her.  She quietly sets personal goals and has the drive and determination to achieve and excel in everything she does.  I have watched my daughter gain self confidence and inner personal strength through her BJJ training.  She now has her sights set on the Pan Am Games!

We would like to thank everyone at Fenom Kimono’s for ensuring that the kimono ordered for her 13th birthday arrived only hours before her birthday party!  She was thrilled that it fit great and she finally has a kimono that works for her size!  Most kimonos are way too wide and too short for her.

The birthday girl rocking her new Fenom Lotus.

Becky with friends and family.

Becky receiving her orange belt!

Joyful Heart Foundation Donations

24 Thursday Feb 2011

Posted by in News and Events

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As you know, Fenom Kimonos spends a lot of its time finding ways to contribute to like-minded organizations and non-profits. We feel that in order to carry out our mission statement of empowering women and girls, we need the help of other groups and to help out when we can. Over the next two months, The Fenom Project will focus its efforts on supporting the Joyful Heart Foundation.

With domestic violence and sexual abuse a sobering reality in our society, groups such as the Joyful Heart Foundation are critical to the healing process for women and girls in our communities. We also believe activities such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu not only help women to defend themselves but provide an outlet for personal growth.

Fenom Kimonos has committed to donating a portion of Gi sales to the Joyful Heart Foundation and we’re hoping you can help us. Please reach out to your school owners and have them email us at info@fenomkimonos.com for more information on how to help out with a worthy cause.

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