The women who built jiu-jitsu, and why nobody knows them
The history of BJJ is told as a history of men, and largely it has been one — but not because the women were not there. Because they were not let in.
BJJ Square · Updated on 08/11/2026
The official history of Brazilian jiu-jitsu contains almost nothing but male names. It reflects how the sport was organised for decades: women's courses rare, competitions absent, black belts almost non-existent.
Yvone Duarte
She is recognised as the first woman to earn the black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, in the Nineties. She came from a career that began in childhood, in an environment where training partners of her own sex were few or none, and she went on to work at building a women's competitive circuit that simply did not exist.
Note The detail that says everything: when she started competing, there was often no category to enter. It was not a question of being good: it was that the bracket did not exist.
The categories arrive late
The structure still tells that story today: in the IBJJF rulebook the women's weight categories are eight against the men's nine — Ultra Heavy is missing. It is not a technical detail, it is the mark of how much later that part of the system was built.
Prize money
For years the prizes for the women's finals at the big tournaments were lower than the men's, and parity arrived only after public campaigns run by the athletes themselves. It is a recent story, not an old one.
What the research says
The lag is not only organisational: it is a lag in knowledge too. Every study on injuries in jiu-jitsu has samples that are 88-90% male, and a female injury profile does not exist. When you read a figure about jiu-jitsu, almost always you are reading a figure about the men who practise jiu-jitsu.
Careful ⚠️ On this page we have deliberately kept the names few. Not because there is a shortage of important athletes — there are many, and some have won everything — but because the historical sources on the pioneers are scarce and often second-hand, and we would rather say little and checkable than compile a list we cannot verify.
What to expect in a gym today: BJJ for women.
Frequently asked questions
- Who was the first female black belt in BJJ?
- Yvone Duarte is recognised as the first woman to earn the black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, in the Nineties. She then helped build a women's competitive circuit that did not exist.
- Why are there so few women's names in the history of jiu-jitsu?
- Because for decades women had few courses, almost no competitions and very few black belts: it is not that they were not there, it is that the system did not let them in.
- Are the women's categories the same as the men's?
- No: in the IBJJF rulebook there are eight against nine, because the Ultra Heavy category is missing. It is the mark of how much later that part of the system was built.
- Does the scientific research on BJJ cover female athletes too?
- Very little: every available study has samples that are 88-90% male, and a female injury profile does not exist.
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Read next
- BJJ for women: what a class is like and what to expectThe real question is almost never “will I be able to do this”. It is “who will I be on the mat with, and what exactly happens”. That is the one we answer.
- The stories few people knowAlmost everything you read about the history of jiu-jitsu comes from the people who won that history. That does not make it false: it means you have to read it knowing as much.
- Periods, pregnancy and coming back after birth: what is not knownOn these subjects the honest answer is almost always: it has not been studied. Not “it is safe” and not “it is dangerous” — it simply has not been studied, and that is worth knowing.