Professor Vivi Almeida is a first-degree black belt under her husband Flavio Almeida, her brother Marcio Feitosa and Master Carlos Gracie Jr., and one of the people working hardest to bring more women into jiu-jitsu. She grew up inside the Gracie Barra community in Brazil from the age of six, cheering for her brother at tournaments, yet did not take her first group class until 2007, after moving to the United States. Back then the mats were a boys' world, and it was the community, not the techniques or competition, that finally drew her in.

Vivi explains why part of her job is giving women "permission to fight," how jiu-jitsu broke her habit of calling in sick to avoid anything that scared her, and the years of going home in tears as a colored belt. A talk with Flavio at brown belt taught her to detach emotions from training: you are fighting an arm or a neck, not the person. She talks about building female leaders across the eight Arizona schools she helps run, values over personalities, the pressure on professors' families, and why making competition optional will bring in more women and more people in their 50s.

In this episode

• 0:00 Welcome
• 1:13 Meet Professor Vivi Almeida
• 3:24 Growing up around Gracie Barra
• 7:46 What made jiu-jitsu her own
• 14:11 Giving women permission to fight
• 18:25 What jiu-jitsu taught her about fear
• 24:41 Crying through the colored belts
• 26:50 Detaching emotions at brown belt
• 30:04 Building female leaders in every school
• 34:24 Values over personalities
• 38:41 Pressure on professors' families
• 45:06 You don't have to compete
• 49:17 A complement to every sport
• 53:31 Why men's support matters

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