Jordan Blade can call herself a gold medalist.
Earlier this year, “The Submission Sniper” Jordan Blade returned to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with a special focus on the 10th Planet style. Blade’s dedicated training to this new style later paid off as she was later promoted to blue belt status. Additionally, Blade competed in her very first International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation competition.
During a recent interview with WrestleZone’s Ella Jay, Blade reflected on her IBJJF performance, which yielded some medals, including gold.
“That was my first competition after two years, so I was super nervous, but I knew I wanted to compete in it because a ton of a ton of my teammates were competing. We took a whole squad. I think it was like 40 of us athletes from my gym competing. So I knew I wanted to compete in that even earlier this year. And that was initially what had prompted me to lose 15 pounds for this competition because I really wanted to hone in on my athleticism and compete at a weight class, lower than I had done previously. “
Warming Up In The Bullpen
According to Blade, the IBJJF tournament contained a bullpen, akin to the Gorilla position in wrestling, in which competitors would stand before making their entrance to the mat. In looking around at her fellow competitors, Jordan noticed many of them warming up with burpees and other exercises. Jordan, however, warmed up and dialed in to the sound of her music playlist.
“It’s almost like an out-of-body experience once you step on the mat to compete,” Jordan said. “So kind of the same with professional wrestling, but obviously with jiu jitsu, you don’t have to worry about playing to the crowd or anything like that. I mean, unless you want to do something cool like a flying arm bar or something like that. But it’s such a surreal experience. And I’m very much in favor of everybody taking some form of martial art.”
In total, Jordan claimed three medals at the Viriginia International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship. In the Heavyweight No Gi class, Blade claimed gold. For Open Weight No Gi, Blade earned silver. Finally, for Heavyweight Gi, Blade’s performance solidified a bronze medal placement.
Watch our full interview with Jordan Blade below:
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