Our future, we build it! - October 2019
I am very happy and honored to receive the Jiu Jitsu Global Federation’s invitation to write in the “Women in Sport” editorial, but at the same time came to me the dimension of the entrusted responsibility.
Thinking about the content of my first article, I came across one of the most important and present themes of our lives. How we deal with life situations and how we use them to build our future.
So, I decided to tell you my personal story.
I'm Nika Schwinden, I'm 35 years old, I'm a mother, psychologist and athlete. I teach Jiu Jitsu to women and I'm very happy with life. But it was not always like that...
My childhood was in the periphery, with financial difficulties, divorced parents and without the foundation of a structured family. I started working early at 14 year old, selling snack at a local fair.
When I was 15 years old my father was murdered. This was a devastating episode for everyone, as well as losing our father and husband reference in the family, we also lost our financial support.
We had to adapt and move on. However, shortly thereafter, my brother disappeared and was never found.
What to think? What to do? How to proceed?
I had a difficult childhood and grew up in a family marked by these two sad episodes. It affects me a lot making me a sad and out of perspective person, locked in my own world.
I isolated myself from everything and everyone.
But God, in his own way, presented me with new purposes and enlightened my path.
I was blessed with a daughter, my beautiful Maria. From this moment on, I decided that nothing would be the same as before, I gathered all my energies and put them into activities that would make Maria and me well. Embedded with a strength that only women and mothers have, I lived my life as best as possible, taking care of Maria and studying in my Psychology course.
Everything was going fine, but life would present me one more great gift. I met Jiu Jitsu!
Then my life changed again. I found on the mats my full happiness. Parallel to my responsibilities as a mother, psychologist and housewife, I started to dedicate myself and train hard.
Jiu Jitsu, like sports in general, has many benefits for its practitioners. These benefits are not limited to moments within the mats, but it transcends to the practitioner’s lives making their life better.
I became healthier, more emotionally balanced, more confident, more resilient and much happier! I became a better mother and a more prepared person for life.
After a lot of hard work, in 2013, I became world champion for the first time.
At that moment, I made a decision and invested in a new life project. I started teaching Jiu Jitsu! On the mat, I was able to add all principles of our martial art to my knowledge as a psychologist, providing my students with a unique and transformative experience. By a natural demand, I concentrated my dedication to the female audience. So I started an exclusive women's class with a focus on mental empowerment, self-esteem gain, emotional balance and all the attributes that could make them better people.
Today, I work with hundreds of women in private and group classes, seminars and workshops, and I see in practice the benefits I bring to them all.
I am so grateful for everything, but sure to have worked hard, prepared myself, and conducted my life to achieve my goals.
I am very happy to contribute and make my students and women better individuals, more prepared for life.
Therefore, we must always, regardless of complicated moments in our lives, focus our energies on something that renews us every day and makes us a better human being.
I can't wait to share with you all the subjects related to the female universe within the sport!
Nika Schwinden