This is Tongass Voices, a series from KTOO sharing perspectives from the homelands of the Áak’w Kwáan and beyond.
What makes a champion? Becca Charbonneau says it’s all about consistency.
Charbonneau is now a two-time gold medalist on the world jiu-jitsu stage. In September, she competed at the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation World Master Championship in Las Vegas. It’s the biggest competition for grapplers ages 30 and up.
Charbonneau’s been practicing jiu-jitsu for six years and has reached the second highest belt. She’s now ranked second globally in brown belt women over 30 according to the IBJJF.
More than a dozen adults and youth grapplers that train at Flow State are traveling to Washington to compete next month.
Listen:
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Becca Charbonneau: I just love blending like movement, wellness, exercise, nutrition all together. So it’s a very good fit for me to do what I do.
My name is Becca Charbonneau. I am a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I teach at Flow State Jiu-Jitsu and Yoga Co-op. I’m also a registered dietitian.
I’m also an avid competitor in jiu-jitsu. It’s something that I’m really passionate about, and I’m pretty decent at, I’d say.
I’m probably someone that I always have to be doing something. I’m not very good at sitting still. I always did like running and lifting and like traditional sports, and I just got sick of it. I was like, “I don’t want to do this anymore. I need something more mentally and physically challenging.” So it just clicked. And then again, my personality is a little bit obsessive. That if I like something, I’m like “I’m gonna do this all the time.”
And I showed up every day, twice a day, just mat time, and I think that’s like the secret to success. And really, anything you do is just continuing to show up and put in a lot of time. Like it takes a lot of time, and I continue to do that to hopefully get better. So just being patient.
There’s a concept called a third space, which I love. Basically, most people have like two spaces. Like you have home and you have work, and most people don’t have that third space to like to exist in community. Like maybe for some people, it’s like church or like an exercise class, but I think jiu-jitsu is the literal perfect third space.
Like you come in, you can’t think about work, you can’t think about other things because you’re engaged in a pretty intense sport. But you’re also learning, even if you’re not physically exerting yourself too hard, you’re learning something new.
You also are trusting these people to not hurt you, and vice versa. So that like sense of community and friendship you build is different than anything else. So these people that I see every day on the mats, like they’re a special kind of friendship.
I started competing because I just wanted to see how I did against my peers. Like again, there’s not a ton of women in jiu-jitsu. It’s changed a ton over the last like chunk of time, and even more now. Like our kids program is actually mostly girls, which is so cool to see. We have so many women at our gym, which is like a rarity, amazing. But I just wanted to see how I did against my peers. So the first time I went, I was actually like other blue belt women against my size, my age.
So it was really fun, and just over time, I’ve loved continuing to do it to test yourself. I think it’s really good to challenge yourself, and it’s hard to mimic that situation, unless you put yourself in a competition environment.
Someone’s trying to submit you. You’re trying to submit someone, and like I’m not afraid to get a little gritty. Like drive my forehead in someone’s forehead. I may playfully do that in the studio, but it’s for real in competition. So the energy is definitely different.
Generally, though, it’s like you step on the mat, you’re both trying to win, so it’s pretty intense. The second the match is over, whether it’s submission or ref decision, whatever, like pretty much always hugging and talking after.
And I feel like I’m friends with almost everyone I’ve competed against. So generally, there is that like really good sense of respect. On the mat, we’re trying to win. Off the mat, we’re thankful you’re here because we can’t compete without each other.
Jiu-jitsu is for everyone. Like you can be any age. You can start as an adult. Like you don’t have to start as a kid. I didn’t start as a kid. You don’t have to compete. You can be a hobbyist, but it really is for everyone.
