Stormy Paxton’s journey to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was anything but conventional. Before stepping onto the mats, she had built a respected career as a government marine ornithologist, earning publication credits for her work on pelagic ichthyoplankton. Her life revolved around science, research, and data, until Jiu-Jitsu entered the picture and changed everything.

What began as a physical challenge quickly evolved into a profound personal transformation. Through Jiu-Jitsu, Paxton discovered resilience, confidence, and a sense of liberation she had not experienced elsewhere. The impact was so powerful that she made a bold decision: to leave her scientific career behind and fully dedicate herself to the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Today, Stormy Paxton trains and works under Professor Fabio Villela in Austin, Texas. Professor Villela is the owner of Gracie Barra Cedar Park, Gracie Barra Round Rock, and Gracie Barra Georgetown. Under the mentorship of Professor Fábio “Gigantinho,” Stormy played a key role in building and expanding the women’s Jiu-Jitsu programs across all three academies. Her efforts helped create structured, welcoming environments where women could train with confidence, purpose, and consistent support.

The programs Stormy helped develop go far beyond technical instruction. Many women arrive on the mats carrying emotional – and sometimes physical – trauma. Through Jiu-Jitsu, Stormy guides them toward reclaiming ownership of their bodies, establishing healthy boundaries, and rediscovering strength through challenge. On the mats, adversity becomes a powerful tool for healing, empowerment, and personal freedom.

Stormy leads by example. She competes not only for personal achievement, but to inspire the students she coaches, specially women and children. Her competitive résumé is impressive: ranked #1 overall No-Gi blue belt in the world, ranked #1 in her division in the gi at purple belt, and a highly decorated purple belt competitor. Her titles include Pan American No-Gi Champion, Pan American Gi Champion, and World Champion. Following her world championship performance, Stormy was awarded her brown belt under Professor Fabio Villela, a milestone that reflected not only competitive success, but leadership and character on the mats.

Despite her accolades, Stormy Paxton’s true focus remains impact. Through consistency, discipline, and mentorship, she demonstrates what is possible when perseverance meets purpose. In a sport known for its difficulty, Stormy is building something lasting: stronger women, resilient communities, and living proof that transformation is earned one roll at a time.

Photo: Personal Archive

Women’s jiu-jitsu has been growing fast, and one effect of this is noticeable in IBJJF events. From the blue belt up to the brown – where Thamires Monteiro competes – women are more professional and standing out more.

A few weeks ago, Thamires shone at the 2021 Pan, held in Orlando, Florida. The young Checkmat star defeated three opponents to bag the gold medal in the lightweight division. In the final, she scored ten points on Joanna Christine (Tac Team BJJ).

“I did three fights in the division; no points or advantages were scored against me in the course of the competition,” Thamires said in a recent interview. “I was able to put my whole game into action. I was one step ahead of the other girls.”

She trains at Checkmat La Habra, in California, alongside her husband, the black-belt Jackson Douglas. The 23-year-old Thamires dreams of becoming a strong black-belt. She trains under Lucas Leite, who is charged with shaping her way of fighting. At the Pan, for example, her way of conducting matches was quite clear – always scoring as much as possible until reaching a submission.

“The training is fully focused on competition: specific training and brawling,” she said with a laugh. “I love guard-passing; it’s my favorite game! But it’s been a while since I started challenging myself on the bottom, and it’s going well… I confess I even like it!”

Thamires then shared some thoughts on the growth of women’s BJJ: “I believe we’re on the right path to gaining our due recognition, but changes take time. Each passing year, the quantity of girls in competitions goes up, which really helps bring visibility to women’s BJJ. Big events like Fight to Win, BJJ Stars, BJJ Bet are including girls in their events. Of course it’s still one or two women’s fights to a card with five men’s fights, but it’s getting better. The more women we have in the competitive jiu-jitsu scene, the more visibility we’ll have and, consequently, the more opportunities. I hope.”

In the course of her career, Thamires has won gold medals in the American Nationals (weight and absolute), Brazilians Nationals and Pan.

Multiple times World and ADCC champion Hannette Staack and a group of brown belts from her academy Brazil 021 will be holding a fundraising event to empower women within the BJJ community.

The event is scheduled March 6, at the Arlington Heights location.

The event will consist in a self-defense seminar and a co-ed BJJ class.

For more info, go to brazil021.com.

Black belt Ronda Andrews of GMA Gracie Humaita West Craig – NLV is hosting a women’s only open mat on Sunday, March 1.

The event is calling upon all ladies of all ages to join in on a day of rolling.

The event will begin at 11:30 a.m. and run until 1:30 p.m.

The academy is located at 4600 W. Craig Rd.  #601, North Las Vegas, NV 89032.

For any questions please contact Ronda at 702-509-1130 or email gabjj702@gmail.com

Women’s open mat. Photo: Erin Herle

Ladies, don’t miss the chance to gather with fellow females on the east coast to train and learn from one another. This Sunday, Nov. 23, GMA Renzo Gracie Academy will be open for an all-female open mat.

Training will be held from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. The X, Y & Z open mat will feature snack bags available from chef Dana Minuta Palmer of Tembatoo Granola.

You can also donate while you’re there to Safe Horizons, an organization dedicated to helping victims of domestic abuse.

You can roll in both gi and no-gi and the event promises surprises during the event.

RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/events/781443081922739/

Renzo Gracie NYC is located at 224 W 30th St. NY, NY 10001.

Photo: Brittany Rainville / 12 News

The woman over at GMA Texas Punishment in Beaumont, TX have put Jiu-Jitsu in the spotlight recently. Due to three sexual assaults in nine weeks in their area, the team at TPC stepped up to help the general public learn a thing or two about protecting oneself.

Teacher of the ladies, Jason Ebarb, helps women like Dominque in the video a way to feel safe using Jiu-Jitsu.

Check out the full video below:

Learn more about Texas Punishment Crew at www.tpcjiujitsu.com

And see the full article here.

Outi Jarvilehto with the gold. Photo: Erin Herle

For the first time in the history of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, the females had a roosterweight category. On the second day of the 2014 World Championship in Long Beach, CA, the blue and purple belt females of the new division entered the mat.

The purple belts had 11 while the blue belts had 20 in the roosterweight category, the fifth and fourth most populated divisions respectively. This proves that there have been many females often too light to be in the light-featherweight division, the lowest division prior to now. Don’t let the baggi gis fool you because many of these women struggled until now, where the two champions of the second day at the Worlds have earned their gold in their own division.

Blue belt

Katie Yamashita with the win. Photo: Erin Herle

Katie Yamashita of Alliance at Cobrinha BJJ was able to earn the gold in the blue belt category after previous attempts to bulk up to a stronger weight as a light-featherweight. Katie had five matches with one submission. Her toughest match came when she was put in closed guard because “I train a lot of open guard but not a lot of closed guard defense”.

She began training in Jiu-Jitsu three years ago in her boyfriend’s garage where she trained for a year before moving to Cobrinha’s where her boyfriend trains. Now she trains five times a week while working full-time and works out three times a week. Last year she lost at the Pans and the Worlds because she her spider guard was “smashed” in the light-featherweight category.

Triangle set-up in the final. Photo: Erin Herle

“I feel like having the roosterweight division is more fair. It’s supposed to be about technique and when I was in light-feather I struggled because I was smaller,: she explains. The difference in opponents came in loud and clear. In the future she plans to continue her strength and conditioning to keep training hard and keep getting stronger.

Purple belt

Outi in the final. Photo: Erin Herle

The purple belt roosterweight gold was claimed by Brasa CTA athlete Outi Järvilehto from Finland. The 27-year-old veterinarian had three matches with two submissions in the form of a choke from the back and an armbar. Her toughest match against Maria Henderson was decided in literally the last two seconds as she secured an armbar submission while down by two points.

As a full-time veterinarian she works both the morning shift and the night shift but still tries to train twice a day with strength and conditioning as well. “I don’t always get to do all the training that I plan” she says, but she makes it in as often as she can.

She has been training a total of seven years in Finland but for the last three years she and her boyfriend, Tuomas Tammelehto, have traveled to the camp under Caio Terra that is held one week prior to the Worlds tournament. Her academy, Oulun Kamppailuklubi is under Brasa and Demian Maia and led by her professor, Tomi Kaaerela and Tuomas.

You can check out the partial results so far of the 2014 World Championship here. And albums of photos on the Graciemag Facebook page here.

The belt levels grow from white belt to orange belt to all the way up to brown belt. The ages range from teenager to mother but the appreciation for Jiu-Jitsu, no matter the specific reason, is a shared thread. They all come from Gracie Barra schools in Northridge, Irvine, Dana Point and more.

Some compete, some train for the health benefits, some appreciate the confidence they gain and all of them recommend Jiu-Jitsu for everyone.

Check out the video of this women’s class at GB Manhattan Beach and see how, why, where, you can and should train Jiu-Jitsu:

Learn more about GMA Gracie Barra Manhattan Beach at www.gbmanhattanbeach.com

Both ends of the spectrum. Photo: Erin Herle

Last month the IBJJF announced that females of both adult and master divisions will have two new weight classes: rooster and super-heavy. The additions came after much noise was made for the smallest and the tallest women who wanted a category to themselves.

The female categories vary from the men categories. Their rooster is not ours. Their heaviest will never be our heaviest. But even so, we’ve been expanding our numbers so the divisions should cater to these developments.

As of now the lightest category for the females is light-feather with a weight limit of 118 lbs or 53.5 kg. For the petite, this can be frustrating when the ladies who cut down to the weight are having an easier time than those who try to gain the weight to be closer to the limit. On the other end of the spectrum, the heavyweight category as of now starts above 163.3 lbs or 74 kg and has no cap on the weight limit. So those who are above that weight must fight every other person ho could possibly outweigh them by more than the normal bracket difference, around twelve pounds at most.

The IBJJF has secured the new weight division limits and they will be in effect starting at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship May 28 – June 1. As with every tournament, weigh-ins are handled when an athlete is checked in for their first match. All weigh-ins are done with the gi on so make sure you take into account the weight of your chosen competition gi if you plan on cutting down a division.

Here are the new categories:

Rooster: 107 lbs or 48.5 kg

Super-heavy: over 175 lbs or 79.3 kg with no limit.

Female athletes in the heavyweight division can now compete against those who are more aimed towards their size and the heaviest category can narrow down those most similar in weight.

While the registrations currently open for the IBJJF city tournaments such as Boston Open, New York Open, Boca Raton Open, Las Vegas Open, Copenhagen Open and others will have the same weight classes. The rooster and super-heavy will only apply to the Worlds and after.

Registration for the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship will open soon and give female athletes a chance to join those closer to their weight if they have struggled in the past with losing or gaining the weight necessary to match their opponents.

Check out more information about IBJJF and their events at www.ibjjf.org

The 120 females of the 2nd Bay Area Inspire All-Female Open Mat. Photo: Erin Herle

On Saturday, March 1 the 2nd Inspire Bay Area All-Female Open Mat brought an outstanding number of females together. The leader of such a powerful movement is brown belt Kristina Barlaan of GMA Institute of Martial Arts.

Since returning to her hometown in the Bay Area, she has strengthened the community in a saturated area of women in Jiu-Jitsu with two open mat events so far. The first Inspire was held in September and the capacity was reached at 100. The second event, less than six months later, brought regulars and new faces alike to a cap of 120 participants.

One of the drills had each person jump guard on their partner. Photo: Erin Herle

The Inspire open mats work as a catalyst for females to gain new grounds both as a community and individuals. The hours spent together create lasting bonds and a network for advice, experience and news. Structure for the events include an inspiring speech from Kristina, who teaches, competes and lends a helping hand wherever, a warm-up, techniques to practice, a raffle of many prizes and time to roll with one another.

Women traveled from all ends of Northern California as well as Southern California and Texas. The youngest participant was 13 and the oldest was 68 and 62 academies were represented.

A sneaky choke set-up was taught by Kristina Barlaan with the help of black belt Stephanie Moon. Photo: Erin Herle

To start, each participant was encouraged to pair up with someone they don’t know and the higher ranks sought out the lesser experienced. Kristina situated the group with drills: jumping guard, toreando to knee-on-belly, kimura set-ups, and an ab workout that resembles a synchronized swimming routine. For technique, Kristina showed various ways to set up a choke from closed guard with the help of local black belt Stephanie Moon.

The raffle had prizes from various companies looking to support females in the Jiu-Jitsu community. Photo: Erin Herle

The raffle offered prizes from gis to DVDs to journals to clothing and supplements. Multiple companies and brands gave support to the event and patches were given to all. Black belt Lana Stefanac took over the duties of name drawing and stuck around for the girls to pick her brain during the time set for rolling. The open mat set rounds for all the belts to train with one another and the training lasted for well over an hour.

By the end of the day new friendships were established and the community of females expanded its network.

You can check out photos of the event in a full gallery here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/graciemag/sets/72157642175025124/

Catch the next event by following Inspire on facebook: www.facebook.com/InspireBJJ

Gabi Garcia fights Beatriz Mesquita at the 2012 Worlds

The IBJJF once again heard the requests of athletes and made changes to its tournaments.

Two new weight categories will be included starting at the 2014 World Championship.

Now, the rooster division has a 107 lbs weight limit and with the addition of the superheavy division, the heavyweight division now has a 175 lbs limit.

Here’s the statement released by the IBJJF:

“IBJJF understands that our sport is always evolving and the competitor’s needs have increased as the years passed.
It is a great pleasure to see more female competitors in our events, and in order to fulfill the demand of all athletes, IBJJF is adding two more weight classes in the female division.

IBJJF is proud to announce that, starting at the 2014 Worlds Jiu-Jitsu Championship, we will have the Rooster and Super Heavy weight divisions added to our events!”

Check the new weigh division table for the 2014 Worlds and after.