The Makings of A Martial Artist: Women in Uniform

By: Melina Farahmand

Founder of Past Present Future Co.

Throughout my fifteen years in martial arts, I’ve had the honor and privilege of training alongside and learning from many impressive women. They are fierce and brave and embody the best qualities of what it means to practice a martial art. For my second essay, I’ve selected a few women practitioners who have deeply inspired me in my journey and deserve to have the spotlight on them and their work. Each story below shows strength, grace, and experience in various art forms.

Maria Victoria (Mavy) Silva

Born and raised in the vibrant country of Brazil, Maria Victoria Rausch Lopes Silva is a nineteen-year-old martial arts practitioner. This long journey began quite early for her at the age of three under the influence of her father, who is now a 5th-degree black belt with twenty-two years of experience in Jiu Jitsu. Maria Victoria, better known as Mavy, grew up and lived on the mats all her life. When she was very young, Mavy says she didn't take martial arts very seriously until she was sixteen; however, Mavy was a present participant in all classes and always watched and assisted her father in teaching his classes. Maria Victoria believes observing other practitioners train made Jiu-Jitsu flow more naturally when training became a more significant part of her life. Since her white belt days, she has graduated through all the "child belts" and now finds herself at the rank of a purple belt, clocking in over seventeen years of experience in the field. Mavy says that while she could technically be a black belt, she believes she is still very young and has plenty of time to perfect her technique before accomplishing that feat. This speaks to one of her core life lessons: that all good things come in time and to trust oneself in the timing of one's life.

Throughout her martial arts career, Mavy has competed in numerous championships and has had the opportunity to learn a lot about art and life. The philosophy of Jiu Jitsu for Mavy is based on the constant learning and improvement of oneself, the constant search for evolution, and, most importantly, the ability to deal with problems and uncomfortable situations that we encounter in our day-to-day lives. After all, pursuing a well-lived life is about solving problems and evolving with them. Being a jiu-jitsu coach is undoubtedly one of her tasks that brings Mavy the most happiness and personal fulfillment. Dealing with people's self-esteem and confidence is something she considers to be a huge responsibility and one that she does not take lightly, primarily since she deals with people's countless traumas and deeply rooted wounds. However, Mavy says, seeing the difference from the first day a person starts Jiu-Jitsu throughout the process, as their coach, she witnesses tears, revelations, and pain, making them transform into a person of extreme influence and importance in the life of the other. And that's why Mavy always talks about the importance of taking your heart to the mat.

I asked Mavy if she felt compelled as a martial arts practitioner to intervene in acts of violence. Mays proudly and fervently believes that being a Jiu-Jitsu practitioner makes her uphold a sense of responsibility to intervene in acts of violence. Throughout her journey, Mavy has picked up on many valuable lessons. First, controlling her emotions and mind is the biggest and most important achievement that jiu-jitsu has taught her. Each training session brings a different challenge, and so, too, is like a roller coaster of emotions and phases. What matters is how you react and what you take from them.

Maria Victoria believes that strength lies in how willing you are to work on yourself; when you are in a difficult phase, can you get up? Or do you need and depend on other people to do what you should do for yourself? The real strength, she says, is in you and your love for yourself.

Sarah Haspel

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Ms. Sarah Haspel started her martial arts journey in 1994 at Champions Martial Arts in Brentwood. She grew up with two older half-brothers. Sarah has the most experience in Wushu but has studied several different styles and has become fluent in practicing them. While Wushu technically doesn't have belts, she holds a second-degree black belt and was recently inducted into the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame in 2021 for her impressive and honorable work. Sarah describes her martial arts philosophy as focused on the importance of being a student on a continuous mission to learn and expand the tools in their toolbox. She says, “Everyone is always a student – even the Masters. It’s impossible to learn everything, and martial arts is not one size fits all. Whatever your 100% of the day is, give it, but not all days look the same, and that's OKAY”!

Sarah’s wide range of experience in martial arts has made her a great leader and coach to look up to. She is very passionate about teaching self-defense to women and others. This role speaks deeply to her as she views her role as a coach and leader in martial arts as living her life to the fullest and as honestly as possible, which includes understanding that living by example in a leadership role is imperative. This, to Sarah, also means recognizing that we all make mistakes and educating others on things we would have or should have done differently. Her goal is always to inspire others but also to make sure there’s a healthy dose of reality instilled as well. Essentially, it boils down to education in Sarah’s view.

I asked Sarah the same question about intervening in acts of violence or aggression as a martial artist, and she had a very detailed view of her response. Sarah believes that “Yes & no. I could talk to you for a full day about this. Short answer: Having gone through rigorous self-defense training, you learn to assess situations. If I'm confident I can intervene to assist someone without having to use physical force (or minimal force), I feel more obligated to help if they cannot handle the situation on their own. It gets a little more iffy when violence is going to be involved. If I see that someone has a weapon on them, it's multiple people, etc., then no, I'm not going to jeopardize my livelihood to help someone. However, if my well-being (or someone I care about) is on the line in addition to other people’s, then yes, I’m more likely to step in. I give these answers because I've been in a variety of situations where I've witnessed the assault and seen the damage that can be done.” Sarah has been in situations where she had to assess whether to intervene. Knowing when it is appropriate to involve yourself in some instances is something that every good martial artist must consider.

Martial arts, in its entirety, is an art that teaches its participants valuable life lessons that often exceed in importance compared to those of the physical. Sarah has learned an abundance of wisdom throughout a lifetime of practice. Philosophically, she says, dedication can take you further than skill. Outside of training, Sarah has progressed due to staying dedicated to something rather than being skilled up front. As for the physical component, she says awareness is everything. Sarah defines strength as a combination of perseverance and spirit. If she could advise a young girl starting her martial arts journey, she would say, “It's okay to fail – we learn the most from failure, don't give up, try everything at least twice, it’s better to have the tools and never have to use them, and most importantly, have fun!”

Learning about these remarkable women and their stories was eye-opening and a joy. I hope they inspire you and that you take their words to heart; whether you are starting your martial arts journey or have been in it for some time now, there is so much we can all learn from them.

Simo Julie Loeffler

Born and raised in a small town in Ohio called Shelby, Simo Julie Loeffler had no experience with martial arts until she was in her early twenties. She notes her great upbringing, which included a loving family comprised of her mother, father, and sister. At eighteen, Simo embarked on her undergraduate studies at Ohio State University in 1990 and graduated in 1994. During the first two months of her freshman year, she was raped in her dorm room. This violation shook her, but Simo didn’t share what happened with anyone, didn’t report it, and struggled with school for a couple of years but managed to push through and graduate. Simo began martial arts training after graduation based on a suggestion from her father, who, at the time, had no idea what she had been through. Loeffler started training at an IMB school straight out of the gate – again, she had no prior martial arts training, so this was all new to her. Simo notes liking the versatility of the movement and working with so many different styles. At the time, Simo Julie didn’t realize it was only one way formed by so many other ‘ways.’ Over time, the personalization became evident and very appealing.

Fast forward to today, Simo Julie is now a Full Instructor at the IMB Academy. She still trains to stay sharp and teach others on a private instruction basis. However, as time passes, preferences change, the body changes, and so does what we emphasize in our training. Currently, Simo Julie is very interested in honing her hand-trapping skills, Eskrima, flexibility, and martial arts philosophy. Simo’s martial arts philosophy is one to take notes on. She strongly believes in simplicity, directness, practicality of thought and movement (which can change throughout a person’s lifetime), honesty and integrity, being open to change and new ideas, and to challenge everything (with respect, of course).

A question I asked SImo Julie that we spent a lot of time discussing pertains to what it means to be a woman in a leadership position within martial arts. She started by explaining how she only gave it much thought once Sigung Bustillo died. After his passing, she felt a tremendous weight on her shoulders – the importance of ‘getting it right,’ carrying on the legacy (not only of Sigung’s but also of Bruce Lee’s), as did many of Simo’s IMB brothers and sisters. She says, “It’s funny when I’m with my martial arts family, I don’t think of me as a woman or a female martial artist – we’re just family. But I think I understand what you’re getting at, and I would have to say that I feel a strong sense of responsibility to lead by example for other strong, capable women”. The responsibility of training women to be their most confident selves is one that she does not take lightly because it’s essential, especially for women, to look out for one another and empower each other to be their best selves.

As for whether she feels compelled to intervene in acts of violence or aggression as a martial arts practitioner, Simo says that “a trained mind and body must know when to act and when to be a good witness. Depending on what a person encounters, they may or may not know the entire situation”. An example she gave me during our conversation is what if you’re intervening in a situation with an undercover cop. The totality of the problem, Simo says, would have to be understood to make a sound judgment call. She has been known to speak up for someone in public who needed someone on their side, but simply because she is a martial artist, it does not require her to do something unsafe for herself or someone else. Throughout someone’s martial arts career, this is a concept you learn repeatedly. We are not invincible simply because we have this training in our toolbox; while it may give us a slight advantage, no one is immune from violence. We have to be smart in making calls on how to act.

To wrap up our interview, Simo Julie shares some last words of wisdom on the most crucial life lessons martial arts has taught her. She believes that you must learn your inner strength, find your confidence, know who you are, not be intimidated or fear something unknown (you face it head on), embrace curiosity, have a sense of humor, know that you will not always be right, try again (and again and again), accept help from people who love and support you. All of these things, Simo says, have been engraved in her mind over the years thanks to her family, training partners, Sifus, and Sigung himself. Simo Julie defines strength as “that moment when you are able to harness the energy inside you when all it wants to do is explode out of your body and toward whatever is drawing your attention, and you channel it into whatever you are trying to convey (whether it’s in words, a look, or a physical motion) and the other person ‘feels’ you vibrating with this energy so much that it really impacts them – being able to do all that in a split second – that’s strength.”