Grit & Grace: The Road of a Woman in Her 40s Training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

The Unexpected Journey Begins

There’s a quiet kind of power that comes from being a woman in your 40s training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It’s not loud or flashy, and it doesn’t need to be. It’s earned—not just in stripes or belt colors, but in the resilience required to return to the mat again and again despite the setbacks, injuries, and the ever-present whisper that says, “Isn’t this too much for someone your age?”

I started training BJJ before I fully understood what it would demand of me. At the time, I just knew I was drawn to the discipline—the movement, the strategy, the unexpected grace in the grappling.

Injuries, Setbacks, and the Will to Return

My journey has been anything but smooth. Along the path to brown belt, I’ve faced multiple knee injuries, a broken foot, a displaced collarbone, and a torn labrum. Most recently, in March of this year, I underwent total hip replacement surgery—a decision born from years of wear, trauma, and unrelenting dedication to a sport I love deeply.

And now, after three months of determined recovery, I am excited to return to the mats this June.

Each injury was a reckoning. Each comeback required deeper courage. But I kept showing up—not just for the belt or the rank, but for the woman I was becoming through the fight.

What BJJ Teaches Beyond the Mat

You learn a lot about your body when it breaks, and even more about your spirit when you choose to keep moving anyway. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is as much about character as it is about technique. It teaches you how to breathe under pressure, how to pivot in real time, and how to trust yourself after setbacks.

The mat is my mirror—and what I’ve seen reflected back is strength, vulnerability, resilience, and growth.

The Call to Teach and Empower

Beyond personal mastery, BJJ awakened something deeper in me: a responsibility to share this empowerment with other women. That’s why I began teaching women’s self-defense.

Because let’s be honest—women don’t just need strength. We need sovereignty. We need the ability to move through the world with confidence, to assert our boundaries, and to feel safe in our bodies.

The Power of Self-Defense

In every self-defense class I teach, I witness something powerful unfold. Women begin to reclaim what was never meant to be taken from them—their voice, their power, their presence. I see the moment when something shifts and they realize: I can protect myself. I am not helpless. I am strong.

Teaching women’s self-defense is one of the deepest honors of my life. It’s not just about the moves—it’s about awakening something primal and sacred: the right to feel safe, embodied, and empowered.

A Message to Women: It’s Never Too Late

To every woman who feels like it’s too late to start, too hard to continue, or too risky to try: I see you. I am you.

I’m walking proof that you can come back—again and again—and still rise stronger. That your body, even through the breaks, replacements, and surgeries, can be a source of immense power. That age is not your limitation. It’s your foundation.

There is magic in the fight, and healing in the return. Keep showing up. Your strength is not in spite of the struggle. It isthe struggle. And you, my sister, are already victorious.