LEKA - THE LION KILLER
"A big part of the grappling game is about proving yourself, proving yourself to your teammates to your opponents to your trainer and to the fans. For every competitor this can be a struggle. When you are a women competitor the pressure is greater, you have fewer peers, you have to prove that sex is not an issue when it comes to performance and you have to prove that you can fight as well as any man. Leka Vieira, the first women to become a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt has a good way of describing this.
"Everyday I have to kill one lion so the people believe in me"
Being the first one to break a barrier is never easy, being the first person of a different race, religion or sex to knock down a wall sets you up to prove yourself more than anyone else. The pressure these athletes face is tremendous. Leka has tackled with all these issues and come out at the top of her game. Undeniably the worlds most successful and gifted female grappler, she continues to knock down stereotypes and images of women as fragile vessels unable to compete in a mans game.
Grappling has is mostly thought of as a mans game, the participants are men, the fans are men, the trainers are men. "JJ in brazil is hard for women there is not a lot of respect". Leka is unique she is the first female black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, amazing as it seems it was not until 1998 that the honor was awarded to the first women. The world of Jiu-Jitsu is a macho place filled with big men and big ego's, the grading of the participants is not like tae kwon do or karate where simply coming to class guarantees you a black belt but rather is based on performance and skill.
"Jiu-Jitsu is not about years but its about hours flying, like hours on the mat, I feel like I have 18 years on the mat, three times a day every day no holiday no vacation…"
It was nine years ago that Leka first walked into a Jiu-Jitsu school in her home of Rio De Janeiro, she was looking for something different. It was not like the other martial arts she saw. "When I saw Jiu-Jitsu I saw that this was a real martial art…(that) I could learn to submit strong guys, that was very interesting for me." With that first glimpse of Jiu-Jitsu her whole life would change and she would be set on a course to change the face (and sex) of Jiu-Jitsu. The then 16 year old would soon discover she had a natural talent for the art. Even in her early matches as blue belt she showed strong promise and a killer instinct.
Natural talent can only take you so far and the rest is achieved through hard work. Leka began to compile an impressive resume of tournament wins and began to stand out from the other girls in class. She developed a fluid and graceful style of Jiu-Jitsu, she is relentless with her attacks and seems to float from position to position, constantly moving constantly angling for the submission. Leka is not a point fighter she is fighting to finish the opponent, and more often than no this is exactly what she does.
Though the world of Jiu-Jitsu is a macho one, Leka received support from her coaches and from her family especially her mother and brother, himself a blue belt, "He is tough but I still beat him up" she says of him with an impish smile. It was after six long years of training that Leka received the coveted Black Belt "It is harder to get a black belt in Brazil, Brazil is a Man's country, a macho country, it's hard for a women". She had also to fight misconceptions people felt about her, that by somehow competing in what was seen as a man's game she is a man. The struggle to keep identity and femininity is a constant one, and one felt by many women in non-traditional roles.
She talks about how she had to do more, win more, and win more decisively "Every time I have to prove something to somebody". She constantly had to fight higher belts while a student, and fight heavier opponents as a black belt. A toned 125-pound fighter she often finds herself competing against far heavier female opponents, most recently at the grappler's games, fighting against a muscular 185-pound wrestler, who dwarfed Leka. When the match started it truly looked like a child going against an adult, but Leka seldom lets those things influence her, and quickly took her opponent down with a single leg, and secured the choke minutes later, all the while in control of the women seemingly twice her size.
Leka's tournament wins are as impressive as they are complete, State Champion in Brazil, Pan American Champion and most impressive of all world black belt Champion, winning the 1999 Mundials. Thought the field of highly skilled women in Jiu-Jitsu is small (three years after she broke the barrier there are still only five female black belts), it continues to grow and most evidently in North America.
Now teaching at the Machado Brothers School in Torrance California, she see the chance for real growth of women competitors and athletes in the sport, "here in America I think it is different because people have a different mentality". She sees the acceptance of women in Jiu-Jitsu growing everyday. She prides herself on being a role model for the women of the sport "I am a black belt a world champion and a women, I can set an example for the women".
And many of her students want to follow in her footsteps. Leka is known for teaching only women, something she finds she has a skill at "I know how to teach women because I am a women, if they have a bad day I know it, if they fight with their boyfriends I understand". She teaches them the same style, relying on sensitivity and technique not strength. She talks of how when she trains with men it is like killing lions, but she has to kill a thousand, as killing one doesn't prove it to them.
She briefly discussed MMA and the role of women in it, though it interests her she is till looking for the right event, one that treats the women the same as the men, and pays the same as the men. With the exception of the Remix Cup in Japan, which has no weight classes and limited time on the ground, there are no large-scale events doing this.
Leka is deservedly proud of her achievements and has over the years gained the respect of the martial arts community; "I think I get respect from other Black Belts because I just don't have the belt around my waist. I have my belt in my head in my heart in my life…I have proved myself". She has certainly sacrificed a lot to get to where she is now and with that in mind I asked her if she has any regrets or misgivings.
Her answer summed up herself and her achievements quite well. "I had many reasons to give it up but that is not a thing for me, giving up does not exist for me." "
z tym że to jest ONA....... popatrz na pierwszą fotkę i zastanów się dlaczego chłopak jest jakby "wydepilowany" i dlaczego nosi biustonosz 
nie wiem jak to się stało :roll:
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