Peters Township woman wins silver medal at jiujitsu world event
Carri Czyzewski, 48, of Peters Township, returned from the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Master Worlds Championship in Las Vegas in August with a little more weight in her luggage.
The local real estate agent, wife and mother of two earned a silver medal in the Women’s Purple Belt Middleweight Division. The Master Worlds Championship is the premier event for juijitsu athletes ages 30 and older, open to blue belts and above, according to Sharon Czyzewski, mother-in-law to Carri Czyzewski and a top fan.
“I’ve watched Carri grow her skills and not only her physical strength these past few years, but also her courage and determination,” said Sharon Czyzewski.
Carri Czyzewski describes her nature as competitive and previously she was an amateur boxer. Becoming a real estate agent 12 years ago prompted her to seek training in self defense. She started to train in Krav Maga, the Israeli hand-to-hand combat system developed for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), which she now also teaches.
“The majority of fights or attacks end up on the ground. I really enjoyed that part of self defense. Striking and kicks are OK, but I really enjoy ground fighting, and I knew I wanted to get into that deeper and that took me to jiujitsu,” Carri said. Juijitsu is a form of martial arts centered on ground fighting.
She said she does a sport style of jiujitsu, not a self-defense one, which is designed to “make you comfortable on the ground, where most women are the most uncomfortable.”
“I’m a highly competitive person, and when I got my purple belt, I knew I needed to compete. I just didn’t feel authentic as a purple belt without testing myself against other people like me.” The highest belt is a black belt, two above purple.
“I’m older and here, locally, there’s not a lot of women like me who want to compete, so I knew I had to go to worlds to compete with other women my age, my size, my belt rank. You get women from all over the world … Brazil, Australia, Texas, England, all over.”
This year, she competed against five other women to earn the silver medal.
“These women are so amazing,” Carri said. “The camaraderie, I can’t explain it. It’s very pro-women. We are all very proud of ourselves. It’s scary to get out there and do this. It takes a lot.”
Her first match on Aug. 28 was won against a woman from Brazil. Her second match for the win was against a woman from Texas.
Carri trains at Streel City Marshall Arts and had a local coach attend the master worlds tournament with her. She also trains about three times a year in Nashville with Rachel Casias, a third-degree jiujitsu black belt and multiple master world champion, who gave her encouragement to compete at this level.
“I asked her, ‘Do you think I can compete at worlds?’ and she said, ‘Absolutely you can.’ I wouldn’t have done it if she hadn’t given me the reassurance that I could do it.”
Carri trains daily and trains in jiujitsu about 10 hours weekly. “I love it. It’s my therapy.”
She will compete at the IBJJF Pan American Championship in Orlando, Fla., in March and the master world tournament again in August.
“I haven’t won gold yet,” she said. She plans to continue competing as long as she is healthy.