Back in black: Macleay local makes massive Brazilian jiu-jitsu achievement

Macleay Valley Martial Arts (MVMA) coach Alana Lewthwaite earned her prestigious belt after over 11 years of training.

"It's going to take a while to sink in to be honest," she said.

"It has always been looked at as a milestone that was off into the future."

Lewthwaite was presented her belt by MVMA affiliation head coach Professor Neil Owen who also conducted a training seminar and grading on March 13, 2024.

MVMA head coach Glenn Stewart said that he and the whole club were extremely proud of Lewthwaite.

"She has committed so much to her training, overcome some major obstacles such as injury, and achieved so much in her time training," he said.

"The local crew love her and value her coaching, both kids and the adults, and she is a real asset to the club.

"Her grading is more than well deserved and its fantastic to see Brazilian jiu-jitsu being embraced here in Kempsey and across the Macleay."

Earning her black belt was always going to be a goal for Lewthwaite but when she first started approximately 11 years ago as a white belt, she said it wasn't always seen as a definite.

"I think back then there was about 30 female black belts in Australia," she said.

"They say 90 per cent of white belts quit...before they get to blue belt which is the second coloured belt up.

"And out of the 10 per cent remaining, only 30 per cent of blue belts will get a purple belt."

Lewthwaite said that number is even less for females in BJJ.

In the male-dominate sport, women often face a number of obstacles particularly on the Mid North Coast where female participation in BJJ is lower than city martial arts gyms.

"[Typically] on the Mid North Coast, you're lucky to get three or four [women] per gym, Lewthwaite said.

"[Being the only woman at a gym] can be isolating.

"So you walk into a gym and you just sort of resign yourself to the fact that you're going to be either the smallest or the weakest on the mat that day and you're going to get hammered for an hour."

For women in BJJ who make it to competition, the odds are stacked.

Whilst male competitors have issues finding a precise match up particularly in age, female competitors struggle just to find someone in their belt category.

A lower number of women in the sport means that there are fewer competitors, especially as you move up to higher belts such as black and brown belt.

"If you are a brown belt or a black belt female and you compete, you're a badass," Lewthwaite said.

"There are so few that compete.

"Even now it's super super rare to see a black belt female competing or for anyone to be in that division."

Lewthwaite who has competed in state levels to the Pan Pacific Championships, has arrived at competition only to find she has no one to go up against.

She recently pulled out of a event in Perth after finding out there was no one in her division.

"By the time you reach brown belt as a female, you're limited to just your states national and international competition levels," she said.

"Because anything local or below state, you won't find a competitor."

It's not uncommon for female athletes to reach out to other athletes to line someone up to compete with.

"By brown and black [belt] you pretty much know everyone in Qld and NSW," Ms Lewthwaite said.

"And we know who is in our division so we message each other and we sort of tee up [by asking] 'hey are you willing to travel to this competition?' so we can compete."

Lewthwaite said she was fortunate to have trailblazers like Jess Fraser who established 'Australian Girls in Gi' which runs competitions, sponsors female athletes and creates a support network for women.

She said that Fraser was a role model to her when she established the Mid North Coast Women's Open Mat Group in 2021.

In her years of training, Lewthwaite worked hard to build a women's community at her gym.

Her own gym at MVMA now has a large women and girls class with approximately 40 female students from ages five to 10 as well as in teenagers training at the gym.

"That's super unheard of on the Mid North Coast," she said.

"My reason for starting the open mats was to take advantage of the fact that we'd already built something here and we could use that to include other women"

As part of the Mid North Coast Women's Open Mat group, girls and women from MVMA would pack into cars to travel to gyms across the Mid North Coast to have open mat and training session session with other women in BJJ.

"Gyms that only had three or four girls maybe [then] suddenly have an hour and a half exposure to women from all grades, sizes and skill levels," Lewthwaite said.

"It inspires other women even just at white and blue belt to go 'I want that for my gym' so they start putting in procedures to make their gym female inclusive.

"And it just sort of builds from there."

But being the only woman in your martial arts gym doesn't always have to be difficult.

Lewthwaite said if female athletes have a gym that respects them and tapers abilities to allow them to work their techniques, it can be positive.

When she first started, she was the only women to be taking up BJJ at MVMA.

"I'm super fortunate," she said.

"If you have the right gym, your male training partners will more than make up for it.

"It was all my male training partners that made me as competitive as I am when it comes to competition."

Having achieved the highest belt in BJJ that she can for the next 31 years, Lewthwaite knows what she will continue to focus on.

"I think to just to continue to grow women's jiu-jitsu in the Mid North Coast to be honest," she said.

"And to just to continue to grow my own game."

After completing the Queensland state titles last year, Lewthwaite tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and building her strength conditioning to get back into competitions.

She had previously torn her other ACL and had undergone surgery for the injury.

On top of her recovery, she is still continuing to learn.

"BJJ has an infinite number of techniques and moves that even black belts that have been training for 20 years learn something new on the mats each week," Lewthwaite said.

"So fortunately you can never learn it all so you just continue to get better."