Karen Antunes

Black Belt
Instagram: @karenantunesbjj

I started training back in Brazil in 2009. Jiu jitsu was very strong in my family since my older siblings all did it.  It was only after my older brother passed away that I decided to give it a try. I instantly felt in love and never stopped. 

My favorite part about jiu jitsu is that I finally found myself, who I truly was as a person. This was the first time I had ever put myself first, and I finally saw myself as a strong woman. I was already 23 years old when I started, so I had to work really hard to catch up the level of the other competitors. 

My biggest accomplishment in jiu jitsu is my career. Winning Pans and Worlds as a black belt was huge, and something I dreamed about for 9 long years. But more than that is every aspect of this journey. Teaching, impacting, inspiring other people is definitely my biggest accomplishment in jiu jitsu.

A fun fact about myself is that I’m number 5 of 7 siblings and I was the sweetest fragile skinny girl in the world (my family's words) and I wouldn’t use the same words to describe myself nowadays.