EPISODE · Nov 18, 2016 · 48 MIN
Leka Vieira, 1st woman to win black belt worlds
from Dirty White Belt Radio · host Jeff Shaw
We're thrilled to bring you an interview with a true legend: Leka Vieira started jiujitsu in 1992, walking into a room with 60 or 70 men training when she was just a 16 year old girl. She went on to become the first woman to win the black belt world championship, the first woman to promote another woman to black belt, and -- after leaving Brazil with "a few hundred dollars, a few sets of clothes and a big dream," became instrumental to the growth of jiujitsu in the United States. She's a three-time world champion. In this show we talk about the loss that hurt her most, why some black belts in America told her "don't try to bring American women into BJJ, you're wasting your time," why the old school era was the best era, what her toughest day of training ever was, about coming back from two ACL surgeries, and her burning desire to win. You'll also hear her explain why she says "the system wants to separate us, but jiujitsu brings us all together."
What this episode covers
We're thrilled to bring you an interview with a true legend: Leka Vieira started jiujitsu in 1992, walking into a room with 60 or 70 men training when she was just a 16 year old girl. She went on to become the first woman to win the black belt world championship, the first woman to promote another woman to black belt, and -- after leaving Brazil with "a few hundred dollars, a few sets of clothes and a big dream," became instrumental to the growth of jiujitsu in the United States. She's a three-time world champion. In this show we talk about the loss that hurt her most, why some black belts in America told her "don't try to bring American women into BJJ, you're wasting your time," why the old school era was the best era, what her toughest day of training ever was, about coming back from two ACL surgeries, and her burning desire to win. You'll also hear her explain why she says "the system wants to separate us, but jiujitsu brings us all together."
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Leka Vieira, 1st woman to win black belt worlds
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