Angelica Galvao Seminar at Art of Jiu-Jitsu Academy

Saturday April 26, 2014 I attended a free women only seminar at the Art of Jiu Jitsu in Costa Mesa, CA. led by Angelica Galvao, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu champion, a wife, and most importantly, a mother. She fights under the Atos Team and trains under her husband Andre Galvao, a multiple time BJJ world champion. The academy was slowly being filled up by women of young and old as we all anxiously awaited for the seminar to begin. Some were taking pictures of the beautiful AOJ Academy and others just soaked in the BJJ rarity that was happening around us. It was a very exciting time to be on the mat as my teammates warmed up. The energy was high as some took the moment to introduce themselves to one another. Finally, after taking a couple group pictures, we listened intently to the instruction as the seminar began.

Angelica started off the seminar with spider guard, and being a spider guard player, I was very eager to learn new techniques. It was such an amazing experience, as this was my very first Women’s seminar and open mat at another academy. It was wonderful Seeing women from different schools of all ages and colors helping each other on the mat .  As the seminar came to its close Angelica thanked everyone for coming and then announced we would be taking another group picture. True to our nature as women we all immediately reached up to fix our hair, it gave us all a little laugh. Switching from technique to drills the two hour seminar was a success. I don’t think anyone left the mat unsatisfied and even had a delightful surprise at the end. The AOJ academy provided free acai bowls to everyone in attendance which was refreshing after getting our sweat on. I left the seminar truly inspired and with some new friends. I am truly grateful to have been introduced to the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and have such amazing women as role models. Here are some words from my fellow teammates that attended the seminar:

“I really enjoyed Angelica Galvao seminar, she is a role model to a lot of women in this sport. I had a phenomenal time at the seminar. I was able to learn a lot of good technique from her, since I love to use Spider Guard. I enjoyed seeing the rest of the ladies on the mat. It was a very good time to meet other ladies from different Academies and to be able to share our passion of Jiu Jitsu was just great.” – Jacqueline Dubon ( Carlson Gracie Team)

“I really enjoyed the Angelica Galvao Seminar that was held at the Art of Jiu Jitsu Academy in Costa Mesa, CA. It was a great feeling having that camaraderie amongst other women from other academies who share the same passion for this amazing art. I made new friends in addition to learning some great technique from Angelica Galvao. She was an awesome instructor with a sense of humor that also made learning fun. I hope there will be more seminars in the future because it is a wonderful opportunity for BJJ women (young and old) to come together and experience the unity that this sport brings.” –Grace Cook (Carlson Gracie Team)

“I’m very grateful and fortunate for the opportunity to study the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Attending the Angelica Galvao seminar at AOJ was exciting and definitely fun!! It was incredibly humbling to learn from one of the best in women’s BJJ at such an amazing facility. Angelica was very personable and fun and I appreciate the time she took to instruct us. The hospitality at AOJ was second to none!! Seeing so many women on the mat at one time was inspiring. All belts were well represented, a testament to the strength and growing number of women in our sport. Osss… “– Sorina Canon ( Carlson Gracie Team)

The AOJ academy is an amazingly beautiful academy and I would like to thank the Mendes bros for having this seminar and uniting all the women that attended. I hope to be able to attend a seminar like this again. Oss!