Groundbreaking jiu jitsu athlete Sughra Mubarak became the first Bahraini woman ever to earn a black belt in the sport earlier this week and is still trying to process her achievement after having worked extremely hard over the past seven years to reach the goal.
Mubarak, 36, who only took up jiu jitsu in 2016 just before she turned 30, was awarded the black belt by Redha Munfaredi, himself a fourth-degree black belt holder and the owner of Reza’s Martial Arts Centre which he has been running since 2002, last Saturday.
“I’m still trying to process the fact that it has actually happened, that something I have worked so hard towards for the past seven years has actually happened, that I am a black belt in jiu jitsu now,” Mubarak, who works as a crew planner in Gulf Air’s flight department, told the GDN in an exclusive interview.
“It still hasn’t registered that I am the first Bahraini woman to achieve this feat! I was just so focused, for so many years, on the goal that, when I was awarded the black belt by Redha, it felt very surreal.
“But I’m extremely happy! My achievement just proved to me – and, I hope, will show others as well, as especially women and young girls – that when you put your mind to something and work hard, there’s no limit to what you can accomplish!”
Mubarak, who said she was into a lot of sports growing up, stumbled into jiu jitsu quite by accident seven years ago. Having enrolled at Munfaredi’s academy to learn kick-boxing after initially attending cross-fit classes, she was asked by her coach if she wanted to try jiu jitsu.
“So I thought I’d give it a shot,” Mubarak laughed.
“I didn’t know much about martial arts, then. I’d just intended to do cross-fit, then gravitated towards kick-boxing, just as a means to keep myself fit because I was always an athlete.
“But, when I tried jiu jitsu, I was instantly hooked!”
Mubarak, who has a bachelor’s degree in informatics and has been with Gulf Air for 15 years, decided to focus solely on jiu jitsu, thereafter. And the move paid dividends because, within two years, having earned her white belt, she stood on the victory podium at the AJP Tour’s Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu Jitsu World Tour having become the first ever Bahraini woman to win a gold medal in that championship after triumphing in the Female/White/Master 1/90kg category in January 2018.
Just four months prior, Mubarak had won her first ever medal in an international competition when she claimed the bronze in the Female GI/White/White/Adult 90kg category at the Al Ain International Pro Jiu Jitsu Championship, also in the UAE, in October 2017.
Mubarak’s rapid rise at the international level continued following her gold medal win at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam as she became the first Bahraini woman to ever win a gold medal at the AJP Tour’s Abu Dhabi Jiu Jitsu Festival – Adults, Masters and Para Jiu Jitsu in April 2018 when she triumphed in the Female GI/White/Master 1/70kg category.
She won two more medals: a silver at the AJP Tour’s Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu Jitsu World Tour in January 2019 and a bronze at the Abu Dhabi World Masters Jiu Jitsu Championship in April that same year.
But the big one would come Mubarak’s way in 2021. In November of that year, she became the first Bahraini woman to ever win a gold medal at the AJP Tour’s Abu Dhabi World Masters Jiu Jitsu Championship when she clinched the Female GI/Purple/Master 1/95kg title.
The achievement not only etched her name firmly in the history books, it also earned her an audience – with three male teammates – with His Majesty King Hamad, who awarded her the medal of honour at a special ceremony.
“Meeting His Majesty was like being in a fairytale,” Mubarak remembered.
“It was just amazing! Growing up, I could never have imagined that I would get to meet the King of Bahrain one day and that I would receive the medal of honour from him.
“And he was so wonderful, so very friendly, so humble, so down-to-earth. It was truly a magical moment!”
Her family was thrilled and very proud when she received the prestigious honour from His Majesty, Mubarak added.
By then, she was a purple belt and, soon afterwards, she earned her brown belt with the next step taking her to her ultimate goal: the coveted black belt.
“The soonest an athlete can hope to earn their black belt is in about seven years,” Mubarak explained.
“And I did it in exactly seven!”
Mubarak’s first coach, Kasia Munfaredi – Redha’s Polish-born wife, who is also a black belt in jiu jitsu – told the GDN she was extremely proud of her student who had displayed an immaculate work ethic and unrelenting focus as she worked her way towards earning the black belt.
“Sughra started training with me about seven years ago and was very disciplined and focused from the beginning,” she said.
“I’m not surprised that she has become the first Bahraini woman to earn a black belt in jiu jitsu. She’s immensely brave because it takes a lot of guts to start competing in such a male-dominated sport.
“It also took a lot of bravery on her part to start representing her country in such a difficult sport. She’s very disciplined, very driven and I’m extremely proud of her.
“She’s managed to achieve so much, win so many medals, perform so well in all the competitions in and gotten recognition from His Majesty in such a short time.
“And she achieved her black belt very fast because she trains very, very hard at a very high level.”
Kasia’s husband, Redha, the owner and head coach of the academy who has also worked extensively with Mubarak, agreed, saying the athlete’s unwavering focus on improving her craft as rapidly as she could, had made his task of deciding to award the black belt to her last Saturday much easier.
“I’m extremely proud of Sughra and her achievement,” Munfaredi told the GDN.
“Her first coach was Kasia and, while she’s continued to coach Sughra, I have also coached her.
“Throughout the years, Sughra has shown her discipline by working very hard and, today, I’m very proud to say that she fully deserves her black belt!”
“She is one of the most hard-working people I’ve met and she’s an inspiration, even to me, and, I’m sure, to a lot of women and children.”
Munfaredi, who is the Bahrain Jiu Jitsu Federation president, is a member of the Bahrain Combat Sport Council and has also received a medal of honour from His Majesty – who appointed him to the Shura Council in 2018 – added that when the moment came to decide whether to award the black belt to Mubarak or not, deciding in the affirmative was extremely easy.
“Although the ultimate decision to appoint a black belt to someone is mine, I like to make it a collaborative process and discussed it with Kasia and a few other members of the coaching staff,” he explained.
“And we all agreed, without a need for any debate, that Sughra had fully earned the honour!”
The athlete herself, meanwhile, is completely modest about her ground-breaking achievement, deflecting all praise directed at her to the fact that she hopes that she’s opened the door for other Bahraini women and girls to attain similar goals in not only jiu jitsu but other sports and, even, in other fields.
“I never set out to search for glory for myself,” Mubarak explained.
“My ultimate ambition was always to be the best at what I was doing. In doing so, if I’ve been shattering different glass ceilings over the past six, seven years, it is because I consider it a privilege to be able to open doors for other women – and men, also.
“And that is still the message I want to give to everyone, especially women and young girls, that when you set your mind towards something, give it your full focus and work as hard as you possibly can, there is no telling what all you will be able to achieve.”
Mubarak also paid tribute to His Majesty’s representative for humanitarian work and youth affairs Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
“They have both been so supportive and encouraging and have done so much to raise the profile of jiu jitsu and other combat sports in the kingdom over the past few years,” she said.
Munfaredi also expressed his gratitude to His Majesty, Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Shaikh Nasser and Shaikh Khalid for their contribution to, and support for, all sports, especially combat sports, including jiu jitsu.
“None of our individual achievements would have been possible without His Majesty, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Shaikh Nasser and Shaikh Khalid’s support,” he said.
We asked GDN Media AI intern Dana Speaks about jiu jitsu. She replied: ‘Jiu jitsu, also known as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ), is a martial art and combat sport that originated in Japan and was later developed and popularised in Brazil.
It focuses on ground fighting and submission holds, utilising techniques that allow a smaller and weaker person to defend against and defeat a larger and stronger opponent.
It is a physically demanding sport that requires strength, flexibility, agility and mental focus.
Practitioners of jiu jitsu often develop increased self-confidence, mental resilience and a deep understanding of body mechanics.’
Ask Dana a question by clicking here.
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