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Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner from Brazil From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alessandra "Leka" Vieira (born March 14, 1976) is a submission grappler and a 6th degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and coach.[lower-alpha 1] Widely regarded as one of the pioneers of women's Brazilian jiu-jitsu, she became in 1999 the first-ever female black belt World champion.[1][3]
| Alessandra Vieira | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Vieira in May 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Alessandra Vieira de Souza[1] March 14, 1976 São Pedro dos Ferros Minas Gerais, Brazil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other names | Alessandra Vieira Jamgochian[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Leka[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Valencia, California | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Brazilian / American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Division | Feathereweight | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Style | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | Checkmat Gracie Humaitá Dojo/Machado | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | 6th deg. BJJ black belt[lower-alpha 1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | BJJ instructor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | checkmatvalencia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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A highly accomplished competitor, Vieira is a three-time World champion, four-time Pan American champion[lower-alpha 2] as well as an ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship finalist, in 2022 she was inducted in the United States Martial Art Hall of Fame.[3] As a 6th degree black belt, she is one of the highest ranked female jiu-jitsu practitioners in the United States.[1]
Alessandra Vieira de Souza was born on March 14, 1976, in São Pedro dos Ferros, Minas Gerais, Brazil.[1] At the age of 16, after an ACL injury forced her to take time away from handball, she started training Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) under Aloisio Silva, a Carlos Gracie's black belt, founder of Dojo jiu-jitsu and one of the first BJJ masters to teach women.[4] She was promoted to blue belt after six months of training and two years later was a finalist at the 1994 Brazilian National Championship winning silver. She was promoted to black belt by Silva in 1998 then won the 1999 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship a year later, becoming the first female black belt world champion.[1][lower-alpha 3] She won silver at the 2000 World Championship in the featherweight division,[6][lower-alpha 4] then the following year, she won gold at the Pan American Championship. In 2001 she was invited to help start a women's only class at Rigan Machado's academy which resulted in her move to California and representing Machado JJ in competition.[8]
In 2002, Vieira won the World Championship and the Pan American in the same year.[9] After promoting Cindy Omatsu in 2002, she became the first woman to promote another woman to BJJ black belt.[lower-alpha 5][10] She won the Pan championship again in 2003 in the featherweight division.[lower-alpha 4] In 2005, she faced Kyra Gracie in the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship final losing on points after a 16-minute match for the woman's under 60 kilograms (130 lb) title[11] that same year, representing Gracie Humaitá, Vieira won the World Championship for the third time after defeating Kyra Gracie in the lightweight final.[lower-alpha 6][13] In 2004, Vieira opened her own school out of Torrance, California.[14] In 2015, she opened CheckMat Valencia an affiliate of Checkmat.[15] In 2014, she became a member of Black Belt Magazine hall of fame after being chosen as Competitor of the Year.[16]
In 2018, Vieira launched the Wonder Woman BJJ Project, a program to help promote and expand the role of women in jiu-jitsu.[10] In 2019 Vieira returned to competition to win the Pan Masters championship in the featherweight division.[2] In March 2022, she received her 6th degree from Léo Vieira,[3][17] and was inducted in the United States Martial Art Hall of Fame.[3]
Main Achievements:[1]
Vieira's jiu-jitsu instructor lineage can be traced from Carlos Gracie Sr, one of the founders of the art, to Grand Master Aloísio Silva (7th degree):[1][19]
Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie Sr. > Robson Gracie > Aloísio Silva > Leka Vieira[1]
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