The European IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2018 are currently taking place in Lisbon, Portugal .

As always, there is a good contingent of UKBJJA athletes out to win some medals for the UK. Here we will be profiling some of these athletes. Wish them luck!

Athlete Profile: Kate Jackson (IBJJF Europeans 2018 Gold Medallist!)

Where do you train & what team do you represent?

Pure Grappling / Flo Martial Arts

What have been your main achievements/results/medals so far?

I guess for BJJ it’s currently winning the Europeans (at masters lightweight), although my NAGA belt is also nice and shiny. For MMA, it’s really the fact that I’m still doing something that seemed almost impossibly unachievable ten years ago.

What inspires you to compete?

I like the challenge of trying to beat people that are trying to beat me and, on a good day, I really love the sport.

What is your favourite position/technique? Be as (dis)honest as you like!

High elbow pretzel grip guillotine

What advice would you give other competitors?

Find a team (or teams) and coaches you gel with and that don’t have a problem with you training elsewhere on occasion. I also think that it’s important to wrestle and do no gi as well as gi jiujitsu. They both encourage framing, making space and scrambling, which are areas that sometimes seem to be missing from gi BJJ. Then again, I like to make space by posting and framing on people’s throats and faces, which is an element of my game that probably wouldn’t be missed by anyone.

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