01 02 03 Emilia Tuukkanen: Well hello, toeholds and kneebars! 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33

Well hello, toeholds and kneebars!

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Those of you who have seen my Facebook or follow me on instagram (@emiliatuukkanen) know that I received my brown belt from my master Pablo Cabo a few days ago at Roger Gracie Academy in Malaga. I'm still very surprised and taken back about it, but also very excited to see how this affects my jiujitsu, now that foot lock game will get a lot more serious. Thank god Santeri has been ripping my legs off ever since he got brown belt 1,5 years ago, so there's not so much new things to worry about. But competing now seems a bit more scary than before, I can't wait to see how it is as brown belt. I already wrote a text in finnish where I looked back on my jiujitsu history, starting from June 2010 when I went to beginners class at Barreto JJ in Lahti, Finland, and now I'm going to do the same in english.

 BJJ was very much out of my comfort zone and it made me nervous being so close to all these new, strange people. I almost quit a few months after I started to going to the advanced classes in the autumn. I don't really know why, probably it was just about my laziness. But after some months of training only max. once a week, I decided to go back and really start training. And I'm still on that road. In the first year I didn't really think about competing, and I would have never imagined one day being a brown belt. It's crazy how life can change so much in only few years.

I competed the first time in june 2011 after my teammates preassured me to do it. I was so nervous, I still remember the long drive to the city where the competition was held as one of the most nerve-wrecking experiences of my life. I couldn't sleep at night a full week before, I couldn't eat, definitely not relax. But my first fight went really well, I got a submission by choke in only few minutes. My next fight I lost by advantage, but I was still happy I had competed and got out of my comfort zone. But I didn't have any hunger for more or a need to compete again. I kind of thought I will just keep training for fun, nothing serious will come of this hobby called brazilian jiujitsu. Thankfully that wasn't my last competition, I had a few in the next autumn, and when I heard my teammates planning to go compete at the IBJJF European Opens 2012 in Lisboa, I wanted to go too. I think for me it was more about getting to travel than compete, and now looking back it seems really stupid for a inexperienced white belt girl to go to such bug tournament to compete, but I'm glad I was stupid back then. I actually got my blue belt a few months before Europeans (october 2011) so the competition seemed more serious after that. 

I cut weight for the first time in my life, and that did definitely NOT go well. I had no idea how to do it, and my dieting was very rough. After all I didn't even get to compete, first my gi didn't go through the checking, and I had to change it to Santeri's huge and heavier one. So then I was 100grams over-weight and disqualified. That was a hard experience, but I'm also glad it happened. Now I can laugh about it and see it as a learning experience. What it also did was it made me want to win competitions, so I finally got that hunger for medals that I had been lacking. I remember looking higher belt girls there in Lisboa and thinking that they are the coolest things ever. I definitely did not think I would be one go them one day.

In the spring 2012 I competed in Nordic Opens in Sweden, I didn't make it to the podium but the experience was very important. I noticed that I actually like to compete and I was bummed when I lost. I remember seeing Iman Darabi after she won the final celebrating and I thought to myself that I want to be that happy and have that gold medal too. In the autumn we went to train in Spain with Pablo Cabo and RGA Malaga to prepare for IBJJF London Opens and Nogi-Europeans in October. Long story short, I won London Opens and got silver in Europeans after I lost the final by triangle to the great Laura Hondorp. I was so proud of myself for getting such good results from big competitions, and I immediately started to think about next BJJ Europeans in January 2013.

Nogi-Europeans 2012

London Opens 2012
This time I used Herbalife products on my diet and got a real diet plan from them, so I made weight so much easier than the times before. I submitted all of my opponents, and cried like a baby when my hand was raised after the final. After the competition we went to Spain for a week to train with our master Pablo Cabo, and I received my purple belt too. It felt so good to say that I'm a European Champion, and purple belt felt so cool. Also Santeri got his brown belt then, and has been trying to detach my feet from the rest of my body ever since.
Europeans 2013

I got purple belt, Santeri brown in the beginning of february 2013
In Alicante in summer 2013
I didn't compete much that year, and I wasn't very nervous about the next Europeans either. I didn't expect a lot, since it was my first competition as purple belt in my own weight category. I think that was one reason why I won, the fact that I felt no pressure at all to win, and I was very relaxed and just excited to see how it feels to compete as purple belt. I had two very tight matches, and in the final I got a submission by ankle lock. I can honestly say that happiest moments in my life so far have been the few seconds when I realized I won the final and my hand was raised, the moment Santeri lifted me up after I got out from the warm-up-area, and the moment I got my medal around my neck. I still watch the video of me on the podium (on my instagram) if I'm feeling down or I have troubles with motivation. It just makes me feel so good and happy. It felt so crazy to say that I'm a two-time european champion. I would have never in my wildest dreams thought that I would accomplish something like that. Nobody can take those titles away from me, and even if I would never win anything ever again, I will always have those two beautiful medals to show to my grandkids.

The happiest moment of my life, European Open Champion 2014
Photo from my first fight
Mundials 2014 went really bad for me, I lost to the winner of the category. Shit happens, but it was a real bummer still. But before competition we went to train to AOJ for some time. And I think that time there has affected my today's jiujitsu the most. It really opened my eyes about how a champion needs to train, and what is a good bjj class for competitors. The Mendes Bros are so amazing teachers, and even the newest white belts have so much technique that it made me feel like a beginner. I also met so many cool people there, and the AOJ girls were so welcoming, nice and sweet it made me want to go live there. If you are in LA, go train there even for one time. It's worth every penny.

Now that I got brown belt, the up-coming Europeans make me extremely nervous. I don't really know what to expect, and I feel weird about competing in the same category as some of the girls I have looked up many years, like Vanessa English. But at the same time I'm excited and happy to get to compete on a higher level. It feels like only a second ago I was trying on the gi for the first time in Lahti and learning how to tie my white belt, and now I'm a brown belt living in Spain. Life is crazy.

Brown belt
I want to thank my friends and family for all the support, my teammates and training partners both in Barreto JJ Finland and RGA Malaga and my coach and master Pablo Cabo. Huge thanks to my sponsors for believing in me, Grab&Pull, Spartan Gear and Total Shop. Biggest thanks to Santeri for kicking my ass and for always being there for me.














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