You Do Not Need Permission To Belong In Combat Sports

The fastest way to understand where women’s jiu-jitsu is headed is to listen to someone living it. We sit down with Adriana Gutovska, a rising competitor and coach, to talk about the real world of Brazilian jiu-jitsu for women: how you get started, what makes a gym feel safe, and what it takes to keep showing up when the sport is still heavily male dominated.

We get practical fast. Adriana shares why the quality of a first academy can make or break a woman’s experience, how to spot unhealthy gym culture, and why athletes speaking up protects the next generation. From there we dig into how women’s grappling can look different on the mat, with technique and flexibility often taking priority when most training rounds are against stronger partners. She also explains gi vs no-gi jiu-jitsu in clear terms and why she prefers no-gi’s faster pace.

Then we go where combat sports get uncomfortable but necessary: fairness. Adriana breaks down ADCC qualification and prize money differences, why extra trials mean extra injury risk, and how equal weight classes, equal pay, and equal competitive opportunities would help the entire sport grow. We also talk training volume, small injuries that stack up, smart rest, weight cuts, and the mindset shift that turns “failure” into fuel.

If you care about women in combat sports, BJJ training, athlete safety, or the future of jiu-jitsu competition, this conversation is for you. Subscribe for more, share this with a training partner, and leave a review, what’s one change you want to see in women’s jiu-jitsu next?

The only podcast that is all about Athletes Supporting Athletes!

Transcript

Welcome Back And Meet Adriana

Coach B 0:01

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Plan B Podcast. I'm your host, Coach B, and today it's not just welcome back to season three of the Plan B Podcast, Athletes Supporting Athletes, it's welcome back to the mats. I am so pumped for today's episode because we have an absolute rock star of a guest. Her name is Adriana, and she is a rising star of the jiu-jitsu world. Whether she's competing, coaching, or just living and breathing this unique sport, today we get to understand what it's like being a female in a combat sport. So we're going to get into all of it today: her journey into jujitsu, what it's been like on the competition circuit, and how she's contributing to the next generation on the maths through her coaching and a whole lot more. So without further ado, welcome Adriana to the show. Hey, it's awesome to be here. It is so awesome to have you here. And thank you so much for giving up your time because not only do you train and do this super physical sport, you're also working as well. And that is always such an awesome thing to see because you know, a lot of young people out there, this is an inspirational young woman who is doing a lot of things and now potentially heading into the professional world, would I say? Or am I preempting that? But you are looking like that might be the direction you're heading. But hey, we're not going to jump the gun. First of all, we're going to start at the beginning. How did you first get into jujitsu? And what made you stay in a sport which really isn't, I would say, and please correct me on any of these questions that are wrong, that many women don't really run into.

Adriana 1:40

Yeah, I would say a lot of women like do leave if they do join. But my journey personally started first through karate. So I knew somebody else who was doing karate classes, and one day my parents just kind of decided to sign me up. And I wasn't too much of a fan of it because like you would do these things called katas, which are like just like coordinated movements that didn't really help you fight or help you understand how the body worked. But they had jiu-jitsu once a week. So you did that for a little while, and then

From Karate To Jiu-Jitsu

Adriana 2:05

when COVID hit, everything kind of shut down. And I didn't really want to go back to karate. So instead, I decided to sign up for a jiu-jitsu gym. And luckily, I found like a really good gym that I really enjoyed being at. And I think there's some really good coaching. And yeah, I decided to stay. I think, in terms of women actually staying in the sport, the gym that you join is kind of what makes or breaks it. Like in the jujitsu world, right now there's a lot of gyms that have kind of like sexual allegations against them. So, you know, like women are not being treated great as some of these gyms. So it's super important that you have a good first experience and do your research before you join, I think.

Coach B 2:41

Wow. Okay, this could be something that we really get into. This sounds juicy, Adriana. I had no idea that we could be it, this could be like explosive. We're going to explore that a little bit later. So I'm excited, excited to get into that. Everyone, I also want to let you know that Adriana, she was born in Poland. So she, you know, if you can hear a little slight accent there, that is because she is Polish, but now lives in the United States. And I didn't even attempt, actually, I did attempt like about 10 times before we started this podcast to get Adriana's last name correctly. And I failed massively. So Adriana, what is your last name? Just for those, you know, potential jujitsu sponsors listening, if if they want to like track you down and find you after this podcast.

Adriana 3:24

Yeah, so my last name is pronounced Gutovska.

Coach B 3:27

Okay. I'm just leaving that alone. All right, because I I don't know what it is. As I said earlier before, maybe it was because I was dyslexic growing up, but this I struggle with some pronunciations. So you've you transitioned away from karate and now you're in jiu-jitsu. Can you tell us a little bit about who were your early role models in the sport for you?

Adriana 3:45

Yeah. So I think one of the biggest ones was Fionn Davies. And then the other person I think I watched a lot was Adele Fren Arena. And they're like still world champions, they're still doing really great. And then a third person I'd say I watched a decent amount was Mo Black, which I actually got to compete against a few months ago. So that was like a super cool experience to go with someone I've actually like watched before on TV.

Coach B 4:06

Oh, that's amazing. Were you a little bit starstruck with with Mo, like seeing Mo for the first time, knowing that you know you you had watched this person from a distance and you and you had admired them?

Adriana 4:16

Yeah, I would say it definitely was. I think in my head there's still like this threshold where I'm kind of like just getting into the professional world. So when I meet someone well known, it's like I don't know if I can like meet those standards. So it's kind of like a mental barrier for me right now.

Coach B 4:31

Well, I I think listen, I've been I've this is the first time I've met Adriana. We would have been like talking for 10 minutes or so before we started. I I it's it's I'm very early to tell, but I'm very good at judging people's personalities, get this like insight, um, intuition. I I think you're gonna do great. I think you are just gonna slide right into those pro ranks and feel right at home. So I, you know, I have no no dramas about that. So you meant you, yeah, yeah, easily. So you mentioned just before about sort of breaking into the finding the right training environment, which is huge. And I didn't actually, I never really thought about it in regards for it being specifically tailored, like, you know, ensuring that women feel really comfortable in it. Do you feel as though whether it's whether it's the other athletes there, do some male training partners in your sport unintentionally or intentionally, you tell me, because I certainly have never been in the world of jiu-jitsu, create, do they create uncomfortable environments by I don't know, how do they do that? And and how do you navigate to find the right training environment?

Adriana 5:35

So typically, I feel like in terms of training specifically, it's usually the newer people that make it a little bit overwhelming because a lot of the newer guys, they don't really know how to control their strength yet, or they're trying to like prove and like kind of feed their ego, so they use a lot of strength. And then usually, as you kind of gain more experience, they know that strength isn't necessarily the answer, that's not how you improve, and they get a little bit more technical. But then, in terms of like, I guess the vibe of the gym, I've never had a bad experience, but one big gym that's kind of having problems right now is called the ATOS, where the owner of the gym, who's a very prestigious black belt and competitor, he was kind of like inappropriately talking and like even touching some ladies there. So,

Gym Culture And Athlete Safety

Adriana 6:15

you know, those are like serious problems that you can run into.

Coach B 6:18

And was that like in the process of training? So, like like female jujitsu athletes were training and he was, did he feel that perhaps, and we've we've talked about this before, not in the physical touch, but we've talked about coaches' training styles on other podcasts and that what some coaches feel is appropriate because either that was the way that they were trained, that was their era. Do you feel that potentially he's been misinterpreted? Or or do you think, I mean, you you don't have to answer this. Maybe we don't want to say like you think he's creepy, but is there, is there the potential in your spot, in your sport? Because there is touching, like I'm sure there would be like showing, hey, this is how I need this is how I'm showing you how to do this. And so there would be the need for coaches to put hands on you, I'm sure, at some point. Could that possibly be misconstrued?

Adriana 7:02

I think if you've never trained before, it can, but the person who kind of like spoke up about this has been training since she was little. Like she was at that gym since she was, you know, growing up, kind of competing through the ranks. So I think definitely that is like not misinterpreted. And then, like, the comments she was talking about, I think definitely indicate there was a problem. And then she also spoke up about how he would kind of like isolate her from different training partners. So she wanted to work with someone, but instead he would say, No, you have to work with me today. So those kinds of things. Like, I don't think are misinterpreted at all.

Coach B 7:34

Well, and I think it's really important to know, like, I am actually so proud of young athletes who speak up because it's not easy, it's difficult. Sometimes there is the fear of what may happen if you do speak up. But if you're ever an athlete in those situations where you do feel uncomfortable and you didn't do do feel, hey, this is not appropriate for what I should be doing. And I've made a judgment and I've talked about it perhaps with my people that closest to me that I trust first. Please speak up because it's not just you that you're protecting, you're protecting the next generation of athletes. And I have said this till I'm blue in the face. There's not enough regulation in coaching, and anyone can sign up and call themselves, you know, coach B. So don't worry, I'm I have my uh regulations uh I'm police checked. I mean, I've got everything on me like crazy. And but I think that that's so important that we we make a note of that. Speak up. If something doesn't feel right, probably isn't. And just be aware that check the coaching credentials of you know those you work with. I I probably unfortunately dare say that this guy, if he has a gym, he probably had been coaching a long time, it sounds like.

Adriana 8:42

Yeah, he he's like a world champion, you know what I mean?

Coach B 8:47

That's oh, that's unfortunate. But I and I hate to say it, Adriana, it's not just in your sport, it's in so many sports. And we just have to do a better job of advocating. So I uh, you know, I we we won't say the athlete's name, but hey, if if she ever gets to hear this, or if you ever send this to Adriana, tell her she's a hero and super proud of her for speaking up because she's not only making a difference for herself, she's making a difference for others, and that is what it's all about. So huge. So on that line about you know, women being in this sport that is predominantly dominated by men, how do you respond, Adriana, to people who question whether women belong in combat sports?

Adriana 9:24

I feel like the question like just kind of shocks me because there are so many great matches, not only in jujitsu, but in MMA and wrestling, and like women really do put on a show, and it's exciting to watch, and you can tell, like, we know what we're doing. So it's like it just like astounds me that anyone would still question it.

Coach B 9:41

It is crazy. And I I kind of feel like I mean, I have no doubt that you can probably see the difference in style and between men and women. Like, there are there some like nuances where women do do things differently in your sport than men.

Adriana 9:56

I would say for sure. I think women are a lot more technical

Why Women Stay Or Leave

Adriana 10:00

because like as a female, you're probably mostly rolling with guys, so you can't really like use your strength to kind of make up the difference in Tahig. So women tend to be more technical, and this is kind of like a very niche comment, but women are a lot more flexible, and that makes a huge difference in like such a close sport because they hold on to positions that guys usually wouldn't hold on to. Like, if I'm stuck in a triangle choke, which is when you can't you make a triangle with your legs and you have your head and your arms stuck in there, it's a lot easier to stack a guy in this cave compared to a girl, which is more flexible and tolerates pressure a little bit better.

Coach B 10:34

You know, and Adriana, as you were saying that, a triangle choke, I was like freaking out, like at the process, thinking of, you know, and I used to get thrown around by my brothers and did a bit of boxing. And but even just the thought of uh, when you said triangle choke, I'm gonna get a picture of that. I don't, I saw if you go and have a look, guys, at the Instagram page of the Plan B podcast Instagram page, I'm gonna you'll be able to see some of the moves that Adriana has done. I was looking at some of her moves and I was thinking, oh my god, I'm scared. So I make sure that I'm not gonna upset Adriana today because I don't want to like tracking me down and then flipping me and putting me in some kind of like hole. But yeah, that that to me is like is so impressive. And I love that you say that, you know, women are more flexible because I have no doubt. You know, I male athletes stretching are a hundred times worse than female stretching. I mean, no athletes really like to stretch, but we have to do it. And I I don't know, that's a big claim, but I'm saying that I think females do a better job at stretching more than men. But yeah, yeah, absolutely. In your training partners, do you have a high number of male training partners?

Adriana 11:33

Yeah, I would say a majority of my training partners, especially like the more experienced training partners, are male.

Coach B 11:40

Yeah, I mean, and I'm sure as you get better and better, they are going to continue to be men. And I know myself as a former pro triathlete, all my training partners were men because you do get to a point where it's not that you don't want to train with women, but you're trying to compete on a world stage. And so you're limited as to who you can train with because you need to train with people who are better than you. What are the limits of the dynamic of training with male athletes that that sometimes happen?

Adriana 12:07

I think the biggest one is just like the strength difference. Like it's nice in terms of uh self-defense purposes, but in terms of actually competing, it's like completely different to go against someone who is of your own strength, right? Like flexibility becomes a big factor, technicality becomes a big factor. And like you go into it thinking, like, oh, I'm used to like fighting people who are stronger than me, but then you go in and it's like, oh, these women are like just as strong, you know what I mean? It's like you don't expect it. And then another factor, I think, is that when you compete, there's a lot more aggression. So when you're on the match, you're kind of working on things, it can be like pretty relaxed

How Women’s Style Differs

Adriana 12:40

a lot of the time. Not that it's not intense, but you don't really sense like that same aggression. And when you go in to compete, especially against other women, because we have something to prove, you just like sometimes you can get like overwhelmed by other people and how they're aggressive they are if you haven't competed before.

Coach B 12:54

Wow, that that's I I find that like really that's really fascinating. So we just before we came on, Adriana and I were having a talk about, you know, and and Adriana was educating me on her sport. And they, you know, it it's almost like a podcast that could go on for like we could have multi, you know, episodes on this. But one of the things that we talked about, and I was really shocked, is that female athletes in her sport have been calling for equal weight classes, equal pay, and equal competitive opportunities. Can you talk to us a little bit on that? What are the differences that you see between male and female jujitsu athletes?

Adriana 13:28

Yeah, so I'll talk about one organization right now specifically called ADCC. So ADCC has kind of like three divisions, you can say. You have the ADCC Open, which is kind of like, you know, kind of like more of a local tournament, it doesn't mean as much. Then you have ADCC trials, and then you have ADCC worlds. So in order to get into worlds, men only need to pass through one ADCC trial, but women need to pass through two trials. And I think that's a big problem because every time you compete, like this is a combat sport, you're exposing your body to more and more injuries. You know what I mean? And then in terms of actually getting paid, the men get paid $20,000 for winning ADCC worlds, whereas women get paid $10,000.

Coach B 14:08

So how do they justify that, Adriana? What is the current feedback in your sport at the moment? Why are they justifying the fact that men get more money than women and women have to do it twice before they get through? Like, what is the actual sport saying back on that?

Adriana 14:23

So ADCC claims that women's brackets are a lot smaller, which is why the pay is smaller and the visions are smaller. But I think part of the problem is that there isn't like that many brackets and they're not letting a lot of the women through to ADCC worlds. Like I think if women just had one run at ADCC trials and were allowed to compete in worlds, like the views would be coming in and one more women would be competing. You know what I mean?

Coach B 14:47

Yeah, I 100% agree with you. Is there like an advocacy page that we can like promote for people that also agree with this? So is there like a movement of women that are trying to really hard within your sport that we can support?

Adriana 15:00

I see a lot of like social media movements. One of the pages is actually called Creante Media, and I didn't know this until recently, but it's actually a page led by a guy. So it's led by a man, but he records like all the women's events, he makes like amazing highlights and everything. And it's really cool because it's like someone from like the other gender is like supporting this movement, you know what I mean? It's really cool to see.

Coach B 15:22

Oh, I I love that. Hey, we are going to include that link at the bottom of this podcast because one of the things we we're not promoting on the Plan B podcast is we're not

Strength Gaps And Competition Aggression

Coach B 15:30

saying women against men because there's a and we're not saying that, you know, male coaches or are worse than female coaches or female coaches are worse than men, blah, blah, blah. We're not wanting to create more division. There is so much division in our world today, and I certainly do not want to create any more. And there are so many men in sport, so many great men, male coaches and men, obviously, like this man who is created a page to support women. So that is unreal. We are listing that down. In just in recurns in terms of your competing, have you ever been offered like less pay or visibility than a male counter counterpart recently at a same event? Like I know you're you're still progressing into the pro level, but it may not have been like money, but was it ever like you know, you were put on a a different time slot or a worse time slot than a male? Or have you ever experienced that kind of difference that they treat the male and female that currently that they do have in the pro level?

Adriana 16:27

So jujitsu is not very lucrative to begin with. Like you don't really get a lot of money for competing. So I've never actually had an experience of getting paid less. But I will say that this tournament called Naga initially created prizes for just the men's bracket. And this is like maybe in the past two years it started doing this, and it actually got like a pretty big lashback for that. So they actually fixed their mistake, and now you just get paid based on how many people were in your bracket, which I think is the way to go. You're getting paid based on how many people sign up and how much of a performance you put on, which I think is great.

Coach B 16:57

Okay, uh, we've only been going for like 20 minutes, and hello, newsflash to jujitsu organizers and administration. Could you please loop in with Adriana? She has a lot of ways which she could improve your sport. Okay, and I think that, you know, getting Adriana to consult it because it just makes sense. That is madness that they would have prizes for males and not for females. It's 2026, guys, in jiu-jitsu. Let's get with the program and let's make it equal for your female competitors as well. So you mentioned your role model for Yon Davies. So you know, they have called out events for doing full feature coverages on all men divisions and zero on women's. Just I and I found you through social media. Do you think that that's changing? Do you think that more and more media outlets are starting to promote jujitsu and women combat fighters, or is that like still still in in the dark ages?

Adriana 18:04

I definitely think that's improving, especially since I started competing at these bigger tournaments, and have not experienced like

ADCC Inequality In Access And Pay

Adriana 18:10

a woman's match not being televised. Like I kind of see a ton of women's matches on social media right now right now. And I think part of it is like I think the sport is kind of being revolutionized right now. Like jujitsu is pretty closely related to wrestling, and women's wrestling right now is the fastest growing sport in America. So I think this is like a really good indicator that you know jujitsu is different than wrestling, but I think it is growing. Like I think the sport is revolutionizing right now.

Coach B 18:35

Wow, that's exciting. And you are like on the verge of making that transition. Adriana just recently finished college. And I'm gonna throw this in there to give her a huge plug because she's not just an athlete and she's not just a super lovely person from what I can gather in the short time we've been together. She's also incredibly smart and she finished her college. Wait for it in two and a half years. Okay. Adriana, listen, if it doesn't work out with jujitsu, I would like to hire you to help me because it sounds like you have an amazing brain as well as an amazing, you know, physical athletic abilities. So you don't have to worry about a thing in the future. I think that your future looks amazing. And Adriana's been helping me the whole time to understand this sport because as I shared with her, I had a best friend in high school who did jujitsu. And back then it was really like, whoa, a female doing, you know, a combat sport, whoa. And I'm really, you know, stoked to see that it is changing. And Adriana was helping me with pronunciation again. So can you explain to everybody what is ghee versus non-gi? What first of all, what is gi in the sport of jiu jitsu?

Adriana 19:43

Ghee is like the typical clothing you see people wear. So like people in judo wear it, people in karate wear it, even though it's kind of like thinner, not made for the same thing. But it's like the clothing you wear and then like the belt you tie. People call that the gi. And then nogi is just kind of where you wear a rash guard and leggings.

Coach B 20:01

Okay, and you know, as a female competitor, where do you see the women's competition heading? And which one do you prefer?

Adriana 20:09

So I have a bias towards nogi. I think it's just a little more exciting because there's less stalling. When you have all the grips and the gi, like people can just kind of grab and hold on, but in the nogi, you get really sweaty, it's more dynamic. And I think because it's more dynamic, nogi is probably going to be more popular.

Coach B 20:27

And when you say that, because like when you said no sweaty, I like sweaty, and I with no gi, I kind of was like, oh gross. It but does that make the competitor slippery, like hard to hold on to?

Adriana 20:38

Yeah, for sure. Especially like in the training room, if you're training with a bigger guy, bigger guys kind of sweat more, it gets sweaty really fast. And and you're totally okay with all that. You get used to it.

Coach B 20:49

You're a legend, I love that. You know, and you do. Adriana loves her sport, and she, like she said before, hey, there's not a lot of money in it, but she does it for the love of it. And I love to hear that today, um, particularly from like today's generation, because there is so much focus on money and blah, blah, blah. And but at the end of the day, you will go places and do great things just by falling in love with what you do, whether that be a jujitsu athlete, whether that be, you know, you don't want to go to university. That's okay. What maybe you want to paint or maybe you want to be a carpenter. The whole point is do what Adriana's doing, find something that you love. And clearly, Adriana is progressing in her sport and it's so, and it's because she loves it. Like she has a passion. And I can't like just stress that enough. It's so, so important that we keep that at the front and

Media Growth And Visibility Shifts

Coach B 21:35

center of why we do our sport. So let's talk about the mental side of jujitsu. Because you mentioned before aggression, that you know, there's a difference between training and competition and also the you know, levels of, I guess, aggression of training with a male or a female. So the jiu-jitsu demands like solving problems. Literally, like you could be tied up as a pretzel under physical pressure. How has that shaped? You in how you handle stress outside of the sport. We're gonna start outside and then we'll go in. So, how has like being a jiu-jitsu athlete just helped you in life in general?

Adriana 22:10

I think it teaches you that you're stronger and tougher than you perceive yourself to be. Like sometimes when you do it around, you're just kind of stuck like under somebody heavy for five minutes straight. And I feel like it just kind of teaches you that even though someone's like, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Coach B 22:24

You stuck under someone heavy for five minutes straight. Could we just what? How do you handle that? Like, are they like I'm are you just like are you wriggling to get out? What happens? Do they like blow a whistle? Do they or do you or are you just expected to get out of that?

Adriana 22:36

So usually when you're in the gym, when we start rolling, that's kind of the term in jujitsu. So when you roll, there is like X amount of minutes and then you switch partners. So usually it's like, I don't know, like a five-minute round. And during that five minutes, you're trying to submit the other person. And there's this saying, submission before or sorry, position before submission. So you're trying to get somebody in a really tough spot where you're kind of exposing their arms, for example, trying to get out. So a lot of the time you're just kind of, you know, getting smashed under somebody that's really heavy for a little while. Oh man.

Coach B 23:06

Oh man. Okay, now keep going. That that is incredible. Okay, I just am loving this. So now how you have like learned sort of how to process the the stress outside of the sport by uh by looking by from how you're addressed physically. Like it did you use that to to like zoom through college in 2.5 years? Like did you just go, hey, this is no problem compared to what I do like normally in competition?

Adriana 23:33

I feel like it definitely helped me develop a good mentality. Kind of based off like also what I learned in jujitsu is that

Gi Versus No-Gi Explained

Adriana 23:40

failure is like kind of like a good thing. Like you learn the most when you fail. So if you just fail cons well, not fail consistently, but if you keep failing and learning from your mistakes, you're gonna get further than if you keep kind of doing the easy things for easy successes. So I think what I learned from jujitsu is you really need to put yourself out there and try difficult things. And even if you fail, that's just your opportunity to learn from that.

Coach B 24:03

Oh my goodness, that is like such a gold nugget, right there, Adriana, that everybody can take away. They don't even have to be a jiu-jitsu fighter, but I love that you you grab that and that what is what the sport has has like taught you, because that is so like important. So talk us through a little bit. What does a training week look like for you at Peak Competition Prep? And what's the hardest part that people don't see?

Adriana 24:26

So if I'm really getting ready for a tournament, I'll train usually six to seven times a week. And usually I'll do one training session of jujitsu, usually lasting between two to two and a half hours. And like maybe four days a week, I'll do strength and conditioning. So that's like a pretty hard week. I'm not really getting any rest days. But the difficult part about that is because you're not getting rest, you start occurring all these small injuries, like maybe I'll sprain my ankle and then a few days later I'll sprain my wrist. And that's like a sign to me that I need to take a day off and like kind of taper down my training at that point.

Coach B 24:55

Okay, now here's a tough question for you, Adriana. Do you take a day off? Because getting athletes to rest can be the hardest part.

Adriana 25:03

Yeah, so usually if I go into training and I feel like I'm not training with intent, so I'm not really focusing on the small details, that indicates to me that I need a day off and a day to reset.

Coach B 25:13

Wow. You what you're an amazing example of of how we all need to approach, you know, our training and and also like obviously we can't always take days off work and we have to push through, but listening to your body, guys, and and just giving your body back a little bit of a break. Because we're as athletes, we're asking ourselves to like deliver, deliver, put out. And there are so many times where we, if we don't listen, sadly, that's where the injuries and and if you go back to season two, the first episode, you'll hear Olav talk about that, how he said he should have rested when he forced himself to play. And it's a huge lesson because sometimes you can get a massive injury which can take you out of your sport, and we don't want that. So, what many people might not know is that jujitsu is one of the sports, and a lot of combat sports have this. We see that with, you know, if you guys watch any of the um combat sports on television, you'll see that they have to get weighed in. So, Adriana, how do you manage weight cuts? And do you think that the weight class structures currently for women are fair?

Mental Toughness Through Hard Rounds

Adriana 26:10

So I'm very fortunate. I hover around 150 pounds, and currently the woman's 145-pound bracket is like really hot. There's a ton of competitors in that bracket. So, usually I only need to cut about five pounds, which is like super easy. You can do it in like two days if I just like not eating much. But I think in terms of like the bigger weight brackets, there's some like pretty big leaps and gaps. And I think that prevents someone who like weigh a little more from competing because they either have to go with someone who's much bigger than them or they would have to do a pretty severe weight cut.

Coach B 26:40

Now, guys, we are not advocating this for uh for weight loss, or I'm just putting that out there, and we're just trying to understand combat sports. But when you do have to be under a certain weight for your sport, what are some of the things that people have to do? Is it what you see like on Rocky? And that's really showing my age, the movie, of when you have to like wear layers and layers of clothes and just sweat it out? Like, or do you it or is it really a science today where you have to focus on your diet and hydration and but still maybe go into the sauna? What are the steps you have to take to make those cuts?

Adriana 27:11

I think it depends on how big of a weight cut you're doing. Like if you're doing a 20-pound weight cut in the UFC, that's a really hard weight cut, you know, especially for a woman. So then you would need to like not only cut down on food, but you would probably need to go to the sauna and like really do a water cut, which can also be harmful to the kidneys. But if you're just doing like a small cut, it's okay to like not eat for a day or two, weigh in. And then that day you kind of like maybe drink a bunch of electrolytes, rehydrate yourself, and you're pretty much good to go the next day. So it really all depends on how much of a weight cut you're doing.

Coach B 27:41

Yeah, wow. Okay, so you've been at this sport for like five years. You it's you started this in during COVID, and you were telling me before we're on camp uh before we started today that you were in karate, but this you know led you here. And where would you like your sport to take you?

Adriana 28:01

So, my goal personally is to become a world champion, and I would really like to see like the women's dividends keep growing. Like, I think right now there's a lot of great matches, a ton of promotions that are doing women's only events. I would like to give a shout out to Finishers Sub Only, which hosted a woman's quintet, and that was like an amazing event. I did it like a month or two ago, and it was like everybody just had to be under 145, and there was just like a bunch of great matches. It was a really cool promotion.

Coach B 28:27

I I love it. I am loved that you said, hey, I want to be a world champion. Everybody out there, please listen to what Adriana has just said. She verbalized her goal, and it's not scary, okay? Shoot for your dreams, go for it. I I know that like I wanted to be a pro athlete when I was in elementary school, okay. And I verbalized it, you know, embarrassingly in front of the whole school when when the principal asked, What do you want to be when you want to grow up? And I said, Oh, I want to be a pro athlete.

Training Load Rest And Injuries

Coach B 28:55

And the principal said, in what sport? And at that stage, I was doing lots of sports, and I'd go, I don't know, but I'm gonna be a pro athlete. And everyone laughed. So everyone laughed at me. So I don't, Adriana, nobody's laughing at you. And I am so stoked that on the Plan B podcast, season three, I got you on my show because I have a feeling that's gonna come to fruition and I'm gonna go, yeah, okay, but you know, before she was big time, Adriana was here. Okay, and then maybe I'll be like calling your manager going, Adriana, do you have time to come on, you know, my ancient podcast? I'll be like a you know older by then, but still I'm I'm waiting for my for my episode to go virals. And and yeah, so you keep focused on that because that is awesome. And I am so impressed. And yeah, I really am rooting for you. So you can count on myself, and undoubtedly all the people that are listening are gonna go, hey, I I'm gonna check out Adriana and please do because her Insta page is gonna be listed, she's gonna be tagged, and you can then follow her or request to follow her. Okay. So I wanted to ask you some really fast lightning round questions, Adriana, because you have been so awesome tonight and you've taught me so much about this sport. And I'm also, I might throw in a few random ones, which I was just thinking. Like one, a question that that came to mind for me is that in this sport, like have you suffered like a serious injury, like say what Olav has what suffered, you know, back in season two? Did you have you in your five years so far, like knock on wood, has that happened?

Adriana 30:26

Haven't needed surgery or anything like that. But I guess a recent injury I had was I was rolling with somebody, so I was foreign, and it was supposed to be like a really light round, but I ended up getting elbowed in the face pretty hard, and I ended up with a fractured jaw and a dislocated tooth.

Coach B 30:40

Oh man, oh man, okay, yeah, that is crazy. All right, well, we uh listen, I'm praying for you as well as you know, praying for lots of things. Keep Adriana safe and keep her on that path to becoming a world champion because I I think she's gonna be awesome. All right, let's get into these lightning round questions. On the mat, gi or no gi? Definitely no gi.

Adriana 30:58

Favorite submission to hit? I like darses and head and arm chokes, which are just kind of like when you squeeze the head and arm really tight together to choke somebody. The worst position to be caught in. The position is called like case of katanami, where basically somebody just has your arm on your head and they're pinging you. And if it's like a really good wrestler or judoka, it's like really painful on the ribs and super hard to get out of.

Coach B 31:24

Okay. Drill, you hate, but you know that you need.

Adriana 31:28

I think getting out of pins when I'm really tired or from when I don't have any frames in.

Coach B 31:34

Okay.

Weight Cuts And Fair Brackets

Coach B 31:35

Your mindset is unbelievable. So I am like really want to hone in on this. What's the last thing you do before stepping on the mat?

Adriana 31:44

I feel like I just like to take a deep breath and kind of think like whatever happens, happens. Like nothing I do at this point is gonna change the outcome. I already put all the hard work in. Now it's just like the fun stuff.

Coach B 31:54

Oh, I love it. That's my whole philosophy, guys. Bust your chops during the week in training and then enjoy competition. And also, as a sports psych, please stop thinking. Stop thinking during competition because the all the thinking needs to happen in practice and in training. And that way you just trust your body and you trust your mind, and it will take over. It really does work. Okay, so let's not overthink. Let's you know, do what Adriana does and just enjoy it. Okay, I'm gonna keep going. Win or learn? What one drives you more?

Adriana 32:26

Win or learn. I feel like learning drives me more. I love kind of like experiencing a failure and then really working to fix it, and then like hitting it at a tournament after I fixed it. I feel like that's my biggest motivator. Okay, awesome. Toughest opponent you've ever faced. I want to say probably Morgan Black or Nicole Matthews.

Coach B 32:49

Nerves or excitement? A mix of both for sure. One word to describe your sport. I feel like open to all. Open to all. Love it. Okay, life off the mat, first thing you do after a big win.

Adriana 33:08

I like to kind of just like take a walk and let my nervous system kind of reset. But then right after that, just kind of like celebrating with family and friends, no matter whether it was a win or loss. Love it.

Coach B 33:18

Netflix or early to bed before night, before the night of competition? Early to bed if I can get to sleep. Yeah, I know. Nerves sometimes can keep you up. Guys, hey, just a tip from me. If I I am someone who struggles to switch their brain off at night, and I often go outside barefoot and I do some grounding and I, you know, connect with the energy on the earth, and that really does work, guys. I often find doing that five, 10 minutes, it can be even really late at night. If you can kind of get outside and relax and just put your feet in the ground, the energy self-corrects your energy that you have in your system with the earth, it works. I know it sounds like witchcraft, but it's not. Okay, it's actually works, and a lot of athletes are into grounding. So try that if you can't sleep the night before bed. Okay, last couple of questions. What is the most uh underrated technique in women's jujitsu? I think just like basic framework and hand fighting. One rule you'd change in competition

World Champion Goals And Shout Outs

Coach B 34:10

tomorrow.

Adriana 34:12

Specifically related to IVGGF, I would change the the weigh-ins that you have to do. So in IVGGF, you have to weigh in 15 minutes or so before your match. If I could change it, I would do it like a day before, because that's one less thing I have to worry about the day of the tournament.

Coach B 34:28

It it's tough though, because do you think do you feel like your weight could change in a day?

Adriana 34:35

Yeah, I would say so. Like, depending on how hydrated you are, that could be like several pounds of difference. And just like if you're worried about weight and you're like right there and you have to go in 15 minutes before your match, you don't really have a chance to rehydrate or like load up on carbs and stuff like that, which is super important.

Coach B 34:50

Yeah, oh 100%. Okay, so last couple of questions ADCC or IBJ J F worlds, and which hits different?

Adriana 34:58

I would say ADCC is better, it's kind of like the more chaotic tournament where you kind of let more things go, and I really like that.

Coach B 35:06

Best jujitsu movie that we need to go watch after we've listened to this podcast.

Adriana 35:14

So a movie specifically, there's one good one on YouTube called Roll. I would say that's a pretty nice jujitsu movie.

Coach B 35:21

Okay, I'm gonna look that up. Now I know that you're gonna be like the the future goat of women's jujitsu, no doubt. But who is the current goat in women's jujitsu?

Adriana 35:31

I want to say it's probably Helena Crevar. She's like, I want to see 19-year-old prodigy, but she's pretty much just like destroying everybody who goes out against her. But I think what was super impressive is that Adel Fronerino, like she had a decision loss against Helena Crevar, but it was like a super close match. But Adelfronerino is like way smaller than Helena. So I thought that was like really cool.

Coach B 35:53

Oh, that yeah, that's awesome. But I could

Lightning Round And Final Advice

Coach B 35:55

imagine like the size difference would be like interesting like to see on that. Yeah. Okay, well, hey Adriana, you have been unreal and just I always love my athletes to be the last voice that my listeners hear, not my voice, even though you know there is a little sing song at the end, blah blah blah. Okay, people, you know, give me heaps for that, but guys, just roll with it, okay? When you don't have your own podcast recording studio, you are limited. Okay, and maybe one day that that will come. But Adriana, I want you to share, and this is you know, Adly just go for your life. What is the one thing for not just jujitsu athletes? What is the one thing you would love to say to female athletes who are in sports dominated by men or who are, you know, trying to just, you know, in that kind of hassle, or not hassle, but in the hustle of it, what's one thing you would like to share to like those athletes and and female athletes to keep them inspired to keep going?

Adriana 36:51

I think it would be to just like keep pursuing your dream. Like it doesn't matter what the outcome is, it doesn't matter if you actually get there. I think it's all about the journey and you and the things you learn along the way. So even if it seems difficult and maybe not worth it, this is your choice and this is what you want to be doing. So keep pursuing it.