Jiu Jitsu Journey
CrossFit Journal Article Reprint. First Published in CrossFit Journal Issue 63 - November 2007
Jiu-Jitsu Journey
How Valerie Worthington Found CrossFit and Won the Gold Medal
Becca Borawski
The U.S. team showing off their sweep of the golds at the 2007 World Grappling Championships in Turkey.
Valerie is second from right in the front row. - Photo courtesy of USA Wrestling
Just a couple of months ago, in September 2007, Valerie Worthington stood on top of a podium in Turkey, accepting
the gold medal for the Grappling World Championships. She was there representing the United States and joining
her teammates in their sweep of the gold medals in all nine weight classes.
A little over one year earlier, in June of 2006, Valerie had stood in her empty condo in Chicago, finalizing its sale
and official y making herself homeless. It was the beginning of what was intended to be a three-month trip around
the country to train in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. With the money from her condo, she intended to buy a car, pack up her
remaining belongings, and hit the road.
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Jiu-Jitsu Journey (continued. .)
Like many young professionals, Valerie reached a point Like jiu-jitsu, CrossFit presented an arena in which to
in her life where she realized she had the car, the home, chal enge herself, physical y and psychological y.
the job, and everything she was “supposed” to have,
but it no longer felt satisfying. A graduate of Dartmouth Now, Valerie has been training at Petranek Fitness
and Michigan State University, Valerie was putting her regularly since April 2007 and used it to prepare her
doctorate in educational psychology to use working for her grappling competitions. Having tried competing
with the state of Il inois and an education corporation. years earlier, Valerie at first shied away from another go
Outside of work she had run marathons, trained in Muay at it. “I didn’t have the realization until more recently that
Thai, and final y settled into training Brazilian jiu-jitsu skill in jiu-jitsu and skill in competing are two different
with Carlson Gracie and Carlson Gracie, Jr., eventual y things.” Her initial lack of success in competition as a
earning her purple belt.
blue belt had turned her off because she equated it with
shortcomings in her jiu-jitsu and was not quite ready to
Despite all that, she felt a growing discontent and that face that.
perhaps the ambitions she had been fulfil ing were not
real y her own. She took a close look at her life and Being in the highly competitive jiu-jitsu environment
desires and made the decision to start over, without of Southern California, however, drew Valerie to try
knowing exactly where it was she was headed.
competition again. As a more mature athlete, and
now a purple belt, she actively wanted to improve
So, on July 1, 2006, Valerie left Chicago in her newly her jiu-jitsu and knew that competition was a way to
purchased car and began her journey. Her original do so. In competition there are unknown elements of
intention was to travel around the country for three the competitors, mental stressors, and great physical
months visiting various jiu-jitsu and grappling schools. demands—the same things her CrossFit training was
For her, jiu-jitsu was not only physical y chal enging, it helping her to develop.
presented something deeper. “There’s just something
about pushing yourself physical y that I think brings out Competition was also scary. That’s where Valerie’s
a lot of mental, psychological, and emotional issues and personal philosophy kicked in once again. “My philosophy
fortitude,” she says.
these days, or the way I live my life these days, is that
if someone suggests something and my immediate
A couple months into her journey, Valerie arrived in reaction is, oh, I could never do that, then I have to
Los Angeles. Her intention was to train for two weeks do it.” She explains this philosophy was the root of her
and move on. The first school she trained at was the journey and of her exploration of jiu-jitsu, “That’s why I
New Breed Academy, with instructors John Ouano and ran a marathon, why I started to compete, why I started
Johnny Ramirez. When Ramirez asked Valerie where jiu-jitsu to begin with. The more I said to myself, I can’t
she was staying and she had no answer, he offered up
the academy as a place to stay.
For the next three months, the academy
was Valerie’s home, and also the link that
brought her to CrossFit. Fel ow grappler
Sean Robinson also trains in jiu-jitsu at New
Breed and in CrossFit at Petranek Fitness/
CrossFit Los Angeles. Intrigued, Valerie came
to a CrossFit class with him one morning. “I
came in and I thought, maybe I know some
things, and then I thought, wow, I real y don’t
even know how much I don’t know,” she says
of her first experience. “CrossFit is a lot like
grappling and jiu-jitsu, and what I mean by that
is, first of al , there’s always something to work
on, always something more to chal enge you,
and, second, it’s always extremely humbling.” Valerie on top against Milda Shibonis at the World Team Trials.
- Photo courtesy of AliciaPhotos.com
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Jiu-Jitsu Journey (continued. .)
do this, I can’t leave, I can’t up and move and sel , the to the Mundials, when I’ve done different competitions
more I said, well there’s clearly something here that I since I started CrossFit, I’ve never worried that I’ll
have to explore.”
gas before my opponent.” Valerie speaks often of the
tremendous confidence that knowledge has given her
This second time around, Valerie found great success and the competitive edge it brings to a match.
in competition. She competed and won at local and
national levels and earned herself a spot on the U.S. Her teammates speak of her noticeably increased
team headed for the World Grappling Championships strength. When Valerie began CrossFit, she could not
in Turkey.
do a single unassisted pul -up; now she can do eleven
at once, and has done up to sixty-five within a single
CrossFit was an essential part of Valerie’s preparation workout. In regard to the application of pul -ups to
for her journey to Turkey. “When I started to jiu-jitsu, Valerie says, “Those may not seem directly
compete halfway seriously I was real y concerned applicable to BJJ, but, for instance, they give me more
about conditioning, about my ability to last throughout power in my arm drags, which is an important BJJ
however many matches I would need, and to have movement. Ideal y you put your whole body into arm
explosiveness when I needed it. It’s something that I felt drags, but the arm strength is important too.”
the lack of when I first started competing, because I
thought, like a lot of grapplers do that I already train all Since Valerie began CrossFitting, her squat—and her hip
the time.” Many grapplers will argue that if they want strength and comfort in a ful y flexed hip position—have
to have the conditioning to do jiu-jitsu, they should also vastly improved. She began in what she describes
just do jiu-jitsu all the time. “But you’re not training all as “remedial squat class.” Now, she knows from
the time the way you compete,” says Valerie. “Training experience what improving her squat can do for her. “In
and competing are two different skill sets and require no-gi class a month or so ago, the instructor had us do
two different types of energy and strength and focus.” as many double-leg takedowns as possible in a minute.
It’s the difference between a skil -based workout and Double-legs rely on that core strength that comes from
a metabolic conditioning workout in CrossFit—you the squat. I did the whole minute without stopping
need the skil s to be able to do the metabolic workout (pausing only as long as it took my partner to stand back
effectively and efficiently, but you can’t be prepared for up), and felt fine afterward. [My partner] and the other
the metabolic workout if you never train under those students in the class, on the other hand, were gassing
conditions.
pretty hard. And before Petranek Fitness, I would real y
have felt a drill like that the next day in my glutes and
“A real y huge part of the skill set of being a competitor hamstrings. This time, the next day I felt. .nothing.”
is feeling prepared,” states Valerie. Since doing CrossFit,
her feeling of preparation and confidence has been higher Valerie works hard to strike a balance between her
than ever before. “When I went to Turkey, when I went CrossFit training and her grappling and jiu-jitsu training.
She trains at Petranek Fitness three times a
week and trains in grappling and jiu-jitsu up to
six times a week. At times she is aware that
she is training more efficiently than others and
is taking a lesson from CrossFit and learning to
take rest days and make her work days more
effective and efficient.
Prior to a competition, Valerie tries to train
lighter. If a competition is on Saturday she
will train lightly from Tuesday forward, and
usual y take a couple of days off prior to the
tournament. She finds the chal enge in tapering
is not a physical one, but learning to balance
the psychological fear of losing her knowledge
with being properly rested.
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Jiu-Jitsu Journey (continued. .)
On the days she does not train grappling, Valerie has
begun teaching beginner classes at New Breed Academy.
She has an apartment now and no longer lives in the
gym. The competition in Turkey, in some ways, has been
the culmination of Valerie’s journey. It is the validation of
her philosophy and her training. It is the answer to the
many voices that said, “What are you going to do? Why
are you doing this?” Had Valerie tried to plot a course
for herself, the destination of standing on the podium in
Turkey listening to the National Anthem while watching
her flag being raised would not have been on the map.
Of her accomplishments, Valerie says, “If you can get
out of your own way, then you can end up in a pretty
cool spot.”
As Valerie contemplates what may happen next, she
continues her journey. Perhaps not geographical y, but
she continues to explores the worlds of jiu-jitsu and
CrossFit. She finds they intersect in both physical and
psychological ways. There is a stripping-down of the ego
that happens in both worlds. “If you come in and you
think you want to be an ultimate fighter and then some
chick who’s smal er than you triangles the crap out of
you and you have to tap to her, you have a decision
to make at that point: you can either see the value of
the art, or you can let your ego get in the way.”For
those who choose to let the ego go, the rewards of
physical chal enge can be immense. “While I’m being
humbled, I’m still being encouraged,” says Valerie of her
CrossFit training. “Even though I may not be able to do
as many unassisted pul -ups as somebody else, when I
get a personal record other people are happy for me,
and that makes me happy for myself, because I realize
it’s not about comparing myself to somebody else, it’s Photo courtesy of AliciaPhotos.com
about comparing myself to who I was yesterday and
being better than that.”
Becca Borawski teaches and trains at Petranek Fitness/CrossFit Los Angeles in Santa Monica. She has a
master’s degree in film from the University of Southern California and a background in martial arts training.
She has blended these skil s together to produce DVDs and build websites for professional fighters. Her
main job is as the music editor on the TV show “Scrubs” and she currently trains jiu-jitsu under Eddie Bravo
at 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu in Hol ywood.
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© 2007 All rights reserved.
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