Mina Burnside, a Gracie Barra brown belt in Arizona, tells Pete and Professor Lucas Rubbo how she started jiu-jitsu in 2013 at 17. Choosing between Taekwondo and jiu-jitsu, she went with the gym that offered five classes a week instead of two, then settled it by watching YouTube matches of jiu-jitsu against other styles. In a Friday night class full of high school wrestlers who expected her to quit, she kept showing up until she was the only one left. She describes how a triangle choke changed how she saw her own legs, and how her first real submission, after a year of training, sent her home thinking "it works."

Mina talks about spending her first year as the only woman in the gym, training with a partner who stood well over six feet and weighed twice what she did, and why she now tells newer students to speak up for themselves on the mat. She also opens up about a concussion and other injuries, a four-year purple belt plateau, and a surprise brown belt promotion that came while she was making coffee in the office. Leg locks helped her fall back in love with training, and she shares the women competitors who inspired her and the story of a shy child who later asked to help teach class.

In this episode

• 0:00 Welcome
• 1:07 Meet Mina Burnside
• 3:17 Choosing jiu-jitsu at 17
• 7:33 Thick legs and the triangle choke
• 10:40 Picking a college to stay with her team
• 12:49 Different bodies, different games
• 17:03 Her first real submission
• 20:14 Training as the only woman
• 23:22 Learning to speak up
• 29:46 Injuries and when to tap
• 34:04 The purple belt plateau
• 36:14 A surprise brown belt
• 43:35 Women who inspired her
• 48:58 Advice for parents

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