Kyra Gracie’s spirits are soaring. The fair Jiu-Jitsu stylist, who this year was crowned champion at absolute and weight at the Worlds in California, kept up her solid performance at the Rio International Open, once again taking first in her category and at weight.
Off the mat, the black belt is coming into greater and greater evidence Kyra has appeared on TV, in newspapers, magazines and on the internet. During the month of September, for example, she taught a seminar in Paris, appeared in the Sunday edition of O Globo, Brazil’s most popular newspaper, and was on the Sensei tv show alongside Brazil’s biggest name in ballroom dancing, Carlinhos de Jesus. And that is not all, for the month of October, Kyra will be in the popular Brazilian magazine VIP in an article about her family, with special focus on her.
The Gracie has a notion of the importance she plays in representing the gentle art. “I’m really happy to be doing my part in the growth of women’s Jiu-Jitsu. I’ll be doing much more too. I can see that these days the number of girls is just getting bigger. My youngest cousins are now training. If one day Jiu-Jitsu should be in the Olympics, we’ll have to support female Jiu-Jitsu,” she says.
Kyra ended up clearing the way for other women as an icon in women’s Jiu-Jitsu. “I’m trying to use my exposure in the media to change the impression most people have about Jiu-Jitsu and show another side, beyond showing how women can fight too and don’t have to be masculine to do so,” she finishes.
