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Last month featured a absolute spectacle of Brazilian jiu-jitsu: the IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Con, certainly one of the biggest and most highly-anticipated events in jiu-jitsu today. Competitors and fans alike from around the world showed up in Las Vegas for the event, to compete, attend high-level seminars, get autographs from their favorite athletes, and to shop the numerous jiu-jitsu brand tents.
It was the sheer number of this last one that is noteworthy, and gave testament to just how much the BJJ industry has grown over the last couple of decades.
There are untold millions of people in the world today practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Travel to any major city on the globe, and you'll likely find a BJJ academy, or two, or ten. Those countries in which it has had several decades to take root, you'll even find at least one place to train in nearly all the small towns, too.
There is no doubt about it: BJJ is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. However, amidst the excitement of each new competition season, and the latest wave of BJJ superstars, it's important that we don't forget BJJ's history.
If you start with the creation of the very first Brazilian jiu-jitsu academy in the world, BJJ is really only 100 years old. Yet, it's roots - the roots of all grappling-style martial arts - run far deeper. And there's no denying the influence Japanese jujutsu and judo had upon this sport we all love so much. Feel free to go down that rabbit hole if you have the time.
However, that mere century is full of remarkable events that had they never occurred, you might not be here, reading this, today. So, in honor of those moments, take another moment to brush up on the last 100 years of BJJ history. Don't worry, we've kept it short a sweet.
It doesn't matter who you are and what you do - no matter how fit, how young, how careful you might be - you will get injured at some point during your Brazilian jiu-jitsu career. You might even get injured multiple times. Even worse, you might get injured off the mat, doing something silly, like getting up from bed too fast... or sneezing.
It happens, to all of us. Ideally, it's just a minor injury; something that a few ibuprofens and a good night's rest will resolve. However, at times it will be a major injury that will force you off the mat for several weeks, if not months. And that sucks, we know.
It's when you sustain a major injury that returning to the mat can be tricky. Maybe you've strained, tore or broke something that requires significant medical attention and follow-up rehabilitation. Even when you're released to train again, it's unlikely that your body will be back to its pre-injury state. That's when you have to be careful, and have a solid plan of action, so that you don't re-injure yourself, setting you back yet another indeterminate amount of time.
There are very few events in Brazilian jiu-jitsu calendar that generate as much excitement as the IBJJF World Championships. For many in the BJJ community, the chance at being able to call yourself a "World Champion" is the ultimate dream.
Indeed, every year, thousands of jiu-jitsu competitors converge on the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach just for that very chance. Divisions are filled with fierce competition - both seasoned veterans and new faces ready to make a name for themselves. For all but a very few, that chance eludes them... leaving them hungry to get back on the mat and return again the following year.
For those very few, however, all of their hard work and dedication over the past year culminated in that one glorious moment: standing on the top of the podium as the 2025 IBJJF World Champion.
An amazing nine on our Kingz Athletes team were among those who achieved that coveted dream! Not only that, but FIVE of them leveled up as they did so!
Every year at the IBJJF World Championships, there are always a few highly-anticipated black belt promotions that happen on the podium or just after an incredible finals win. This May, two happened within minutes of each other.
You've probably already guessed it, but we're talking about Mia and Ashlee Funegra, who were awarded their black belts from their long-time coach, AOJ co-founder Guilherme Mendes. The twins had been training for just about a decade, having started when they were just small girls. Their leveling up happened just after Ashlee secured her finals match win in the brown belt light-featherweight division... and right before Mia made her black belt debut, that very same day.
But... how was Mia able to register and fight in the black belt division of the World Championships? This kind of thing doesn't happen often, but it's not unheard of. According to IBJJF rules, a prior world champion can sign up for the upper belt division, before he or she has officially been awarded that belt. In this case, Mia and Ashlee had become world champions in the purple belt division last year, where they received their brown belts. So, technically, she could sign up for the black belt division while still a brown belt.
