Emmanuela Oliveira 
In the month of celebration of International Women’s Day, it is important to give visibility to women’s careers that day after day prove that, for women to declare that their place is on the mat, they just need to persist and trust in their own purposes. Nathiely de Jesus is a good example of this, in balancing motherhood with the routine of a high-performance athlete, among other roles, such as businesswoman.
The Jiu-Jitsu black-belt, through her results, demonstrates the good balance between all the roles that permeate her life. Last season, Nathiely de Jesus became Who’s Number One heavyweight champion and placed first in the IBJJF women’s heavyweight GP, with gi. All these challenges were closely observed by someone very special: her daughter Laura, the little one already familiar with the mats, who turns three years old this year.
“I always try to optimize my time, creating a routine makes a lot of difference. Nowadays Laura is in a better phase, she can now understand when we are training and that she can’t run around on the mat to avoid getting hurt, but in the beginning I had help from my training partners. I took turns with (Manuel) Ribamar on the rounds and I could always count on the mother of a student to help me. In fact, she is an angel who helps us to this day. It’s not easy to maintain the training pace, but organization is the secret.”, she says, highlighting the importance of planning.
According to Nathiely, a world champion, body, mind and spirit need to work together
In her career, Nathiely has already reached many of the most coveted places among elite athletes, such as first place on the podium at the IBJJF Worlds, in California. In an interview with VF Comunica, she said that it is necessary to believe in consistency, with synergy between body, mind and spirit. It is these three components, aligned, that will make the athlete go further. In the challenges imposed by motherhood, Nathiely states that the lessons learned on the mat are of great value.
“Jiu-Jitsu definitely made me a stronger and more confident woman. I knew that becoming a mother would not be an easy challenge, but I learned, since I was a little girl, to deal with insecurity, fear, frustration and pain. So, being a mother only strengthened everything I learned in Jiu-Jitsu: being strong, resilient, patient, teaching, learning and understanding that everything is part of a process.”, she comments.
Faith is one of Nathiely’s foundations for overcoming mental traps in competitions
Regarding the mental strategies that help Nathiely during competitions, the athlete highlighted that this is a very personal process and that, taking into account her own experience, the practice of religiosity, with prayers, is like a switch that activates her competitive mode. “Feeling the presence of God before fighting is everything for me, I feel calm, focused and ready.”, she highlights.
About the next challenges for the current WNO heavyweight champion, the focus at this stage of her career is more on superfights. “Now, I’m more focused on superfights, as it brings great visibility and, for me, it’s more worth it. It’s easier to balance my life as a mother, teacher and businesswoman, since I only need to focus on one opponent.”, she concludes.
