Yasmine WIlson is a BJJ Black belt under Roger Gracie, the first female fighter to be promoted by the legendary member of the Gracie family back in 2013. She is instructor at RGABucks and an sponsored athlete by Tatami Fightwear. She is one of the most accomplished female competitors from UK. This strong and determined woman with a long list of titles is also a proud mother of a young man who just became 18 and seems to be following her mum’s step at the competition scene. Let’s know a little bit more about this succesful competitor and mother.
I am Yasmine Wilson, age 36 and i started doing bjj when i was 26-27. I started as I wanted to get fit as hadnt done any exercise properly since having my son. Then I did a competition as a white belt and loved competing so much that I´m still competing to this day.
2. Did you start BJJ before or after being a mum?
I had my son when I was 18 and didnt start BJJ until about 10 years later.
3. What do you like more about this sport?
I love this sport because anybody no matter their age, weight, ability, gender, race or religion can train on the mat with everybody else and are treated equal.
4. Some weeks ago you celebrated the 18th birthday of your son. How does it feel?
5. You got pregnant at very young age. Tell us about it, how did yu handle it?
I don´t recommend to anyone to get pregnant at a young age as it is hard trying to raise a child anyway but for me it really helped me grow up and be responsible and I´m so glad I had him at the age I did or I don´t know where I would be or what I would be doing.
6. Some mums find difficult to keep training when they have kids. They don’t know how to combine motherhood and training. How did you manage it?
My son was already training before me as he started when he was 4 with his dad who is also a jiujitsu black belt. As Keenan´s dad has always trained, he grew up on the mats so when I started it was natural for Keenan to wait around in a gym after his classes for me to finish mine so it wasnt that hard for me to get my training in.
7. Does your husband/partner also do BJJ? Does he support your training?
Keenans´ dad is a black belt under Roger Gracie as well and he has always supported my training and has helped me to compete by looking after Keenan if i needed to go away.
8. What has been the most difficult thing you have endured so far as a mum/fighter?
The hardest thing for me was the money to be able to travel as a lot of the bigger competitions that I liked to compete in are usually abroad as the womens side of the sport is still growing so travelling was quite important to get the good fights and fight the best girls.
9. Do you work full time as instructor?
10. Many BJJ mums are graduated female fighter who work as instructor and usually teach their own kids.Are you/were you the trainer of your son? If yes, could he respect you as a trainer or saw you as a mum?
I never trained my son really as he was growing up because he trained at the RGA HQ kids classes. Now he is 18 and he is one of my best training partners.
11. Which are your coming future plans, training, next competition, seminars?
12. Anything you would like to tell the BJJ Mums community out there?
Enjoy your training and make sure to have fun doing jiu jitsu even though it is hard and finally dont be afraid to compete. It really helps in the long run!