Las Vegas - The #IBJJFWorldMasters are in our rear view mirror and as we reflect, there is perhaps no greater high than being promoted on the podium. While a handful of athletes received their next belt in #LasVegas, one competitor's promotion truly stood out. Meet #KelseyCarter the Female Brown Belt Master's Gold Medalist who finished the day with a 100% Submission Rate! CS/R sat down with Carter to discuss her journey from Trial Class to Black Belt promotion! Check it out!
Q&A with Kelsey Carter Precision Jiu Jitsu Academy's Newest Black Belt
Q: Talk me through your journey a little bit. What made you initially step into a Jiu Jitsu Academy and at which point did you know that you wanted to pursue a black belt?
A: So my sister is now a black belt in North Carolina but she's been training for about two years longer than I have and for that entire amount of time she tried her hardest to get me onto the mat. I kept telling her that the sport looked rude and I wanted nothing to do with it. Then, somehow she broke me down. I think I was visiting her for Christmas and she took me to an open mat and I got these shit kicked out of me. It was like the best two hours of my life. We found me a gym out here in California and when I got back from visiting her, I was hooked. I was on the mat, almost every single day after that. Sometimes, twice a day. There's something about Jiu Jitsu, that really just like stuck with me, but my sister didn't really, give me a choice. I had to do it.
Generally, you know, it takes 10 years to get to Black Belt and so, I put that 10-year goal on myself. I was like: "Okay, it's going to take 10 years. This is what we want to do if we're in it." I'm a very 'All or Nothing' kind of person, so, if I'm committed, I'm committed. It took a little over six and a half years, so it's been a journey. I spent about a year and a half at each belt and then two years at Brown Belt leading up to it. It was like day one, I said, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna go all in and that's where I went.
Q: You're definitely fast tracking versus the average athlete but, I'm assuming the journey wasn't all easy going. Can you speak on some of the adversity you have faced along the way?
A: I've been through a lot in the almost seven years that I've been doing this. I started at one school as a White Belt that was part of the Check Mat affiliation and it was never a great school in terms of competitors, it was very family friendly. It was mostly geared towards that kind of style of Jiu-Jitsu and I knew that I was going to be a competitor kind of from day one. So I struggled that that first like two and a half years or so, really trying to find my place in an environment like that.
I found my current school, which was kind of handed to me, because everything shut down for covid around here but Precision opened the day California went into lockdown. So it was kind of a blessing to be there. The coach was like: 'Hey, come train and if your school reopens go home, there's no pressure to it.' So I came in and then this place was home from day one.
But in that two and a half years of trying to find the right school for me, I also went through a divorce, which was wild. You obviously like to keep your personal life off the mat, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't affect how I felt in certain environments. I'm out in California without any family nearby and going through a divorce really had me leaning on my family a lot. It's been a wild ride.
I've been pretty blessed to not have any serious injuries during all of this. I've been able to just stay on the mat consistently throughout this whole time which has been great and I didn't work during covid, so I got to train two or three times a day. I helped teach kids class and fundamentals. I didn't have to take the time off that a lot of people did and I think that really contributed to the fast track here. It didn't take me as long as I thought it would to get to Black Belt and I know that a lot of us have that same work ethic, so I'm blessed having the ability to train as much as I do. There's been some hard shit in the background. It's been a roller coaster, but the school I'm at now is incredible and it's incredibly supportive we have a huge women's team. My main training partner has been a Black Belt for like six years already. So you know, this is the best place that I could have ended up for sure.
Q: I watched you document your day on social media. You were posting your weight cut and your affirmations. Can you summarize the process from heading to Vegas to being promoted on the podium?
A: Yeah, I never used to cut weight for any tournament ever. I just would rather go into a tournament at the weight that I train at because I know how I move. I wouldn't want to get any smaller, any bigger because I want to compete how I train more than anything on competition day, you know? I've lost and I've won and it's been great but like the last few competitions that I've gone into.... So, starting with #NoGiWorlds last year and then #PANS this year and then #WorldMasters those were mornings that I woke up and I was like this is my freaking day. You just wake up, doubt free, just ready to go. I was bouncing around the tournament coaching teammates and it was the bubbliest I think I've ever felt. Especially this last World Masters and I think I knew that it was going to be the end of the Brown Belt, not necessarily at the podium at that tournament, but I knew that it was like the Black Belt was coming shortly thereafter. It felt like my moment to really just like go out on top of the color belts.
I woke up. I had a big breakfast. I had half a gallon of water. I'm bopping around the tournament. I got my music going. I'm just saying "Hi" to everybody and I post the same affirmation. It's a quote from Jordan Burrows actually, talking about how, you have to love being in front of the crowd more than, you care about losing essentially. I had no nerves that day. I was just so excited to be there and excited to compete. It's a cherry on top that I submitted everybody in my division and then the Black Belt. It was still very much a surprise on the podium because I got my Brown Belt on the podium two years ago there, so I didn't think I would get another podium promotion honestly. I kind of gas lit myself into that one but it was just this past Master Worlds, and this past No Gi Worlds last year were all incredible but, I went and I did Adult Worlds back in June. Even though I'm into Master II now. I turn 36 this coming Saturday so I'm I'm very solidly in Master II now but I did it Adult Worlds. I always try to do Adult Worlds just for the challenge and I woke up that day nervous as shit. I ended up losing my first match 0-0 ref's decision but I watched that match and I don't look like my normal self. I actually had anxiety that day so I attribute the loss to that. I didn't do my normal routine. I didn't go into it nerve-free, like I usually do. It's almost like I knew it wasn't going to be my day already and I let that play out. So one of the things like especially going into Master Worlds, I did not want to feel like that again. I had a great camp. I have an incredible team of training partners that lend their bodies for it, but you know, you just bop around like you own the place and it manifests itself. It was the greatest. It's been my last year. Brown Belt was incredible.
Q: You sort of touched on this, but based on your performances at such a grand stage, what was your mindset as you stood on the podium? Did you feel like a Black Belt?
A: Oh, that's so interesting. That's an interesting question. My goal is to win and we have a couple people here at the Academy that are kind of due for their black belts. It's been hinted at and alluded to, in the past month or so. I already knew that it was going to happen sometime in the next couple of months but the way I performed and the way I went out there and took care of business that day... My professor was there coaching as well and he was like: "Go buy a black belt and give it a run to the Podium" so like there wasn't really a big arm twist there for it to happen. But for me it was such a personal win. I knew that was going to be my last tournament at Brown Belt, and I was like: "All right. We're going out on top and not just on top but like solidly on top." Not one of those matches were close. Three matches, three submissions. It was just best feeling that day and then the Black Belt itself was absolutely just a cherry on top. It was not remotely expected. As we're standing there on the podium, I see my coach making it around the barrier and he's just got this shit eating grin on his face and I was like: "Here we go." I won it at purple belt for the second time. so I got my Brown Belt on the same Podium, in the same venue, with all the same people. It was just so full circle. I straight up sobbed. I was sobbing. I expected it at some point. I didn't expect it that day and it just it capped off the most perfect day of Jiu-Jitsu I think I've ever had.
Q: It was really awesome to see as a spectator. If you're a fan of the sport or just appreciate the work that goes into performing at that level its hard not to feel something watching your reactions throughout the day, but now is your time. The floor is yours, any shout outs?
A: Have I have so many! My team first and foremost like they're like 15 of us that went got team tattoos yesterday. I never thought I would be "that person" but here we are. My team is just incredible. Prior to coming to this gym, I won a lot of Bronze and Silver medals because I wasn't in the right environment. Being here like Gold after Gold and it's absolutely due to the environment in the community. This place is just incredible. I love this team. We're growing every single day and it's so fun to see and be a part of and now be in front of, but my team. My sister for even getting me into Jiu Jitsu in the first place. Man, that was tough. It was a tooth and nail kind of fight. I wanted nothing to do with the sport and then my main training partner is Liz Mitrovic. She's a World Champion. She just did ADCC. She's incredible. I'm grateful for her and that's my main training partner right there. So we try to beat the shit out of each other every single day. Then I have a huge team of sponsors behind me that help support and fund the dream because the Jiu Jitsu life is not a cheap one. I'd like to thank my gear sponsor, I'm proud to have Gaidama and then I have a bunch of randoms who I love and adore. Monkey tape is a big one. They have always been by my side, but one of my favorite sponsors called Kaizen Grappling Foundation. They sponsor youth scholarships to go train and compete. I really love to be a part of that because I want to give back as much as I can. If you didn't have a whole lot of support coming up, you want to be able to intern, give that back to the community and that's what Kaizen does. It's a great group to be a part of, but man. It's been a wild ride.
Comments