Leilani Bernales, the Peruvian who escaped the pandemic and became world jiu jitsu champion

The fight with the pandemic was so strong that he had to use his best movements to avoid those hard blows. He left virtual medicine classes and zoom training to decide on a new path in life for himself. Airports open at the end of 2020 and at the age of 18, Miami was his glorious destination: today gold medals hang from the chest of Leilani Bernales upon her return.

A sports lover, he couldn’t find ‘his’. “Since I was little, my parents put me in different sports so that I could try them out. I did board, swimming, volleyball and basketball, but I felt they were a bit boring”, The current jiu-jitsu fighter tells us that last October she was crowned IBJJF world champion in the No-Gi modality in the United States.

Her step into this sport was nothing more than the search for a sport to “have resources to know how to defend herself”, but before that she went through muay thai and boxing, without falling in love with it. Her reason: she didn’t like being punched in the face. That was how, on the recommendation of a friend, she arrived at the G3 Guigo Jiujitsu academy at the age of 18 and everything changed. The youthful atmosphere in each training, a new way of training and, as she says, “a new lifestyle”, inclined her towards this discipline. “Before I was a very shy person, but this sport gives you self-confidence, by practicing it I feel that I can relate better to people, that’s why I liked it more than other sports I had tried”.

What started as a hobby for her, a diversion from college soon became more important in her life. After difficult months due to the pandemic, in December 2020 Leilani, with the support of her parents, traveled to the United States to try to dedicate herself full time to this sport. “At first it was not easy because I was alone. Stabilizing in a new country, starting to work and earning money took me a year. I’m just a year old I feel that I’m balanced, I live with a friend and I have a routine that I can follow “, tells us.

Leilani knew that to dedicate herself professionally to this sport she had to go to the United States, the birthplace of Jiu-Jitsu, to be able to train and compete at the highest level against the best rivals. “You have to be out there. The athletes who compete there have the competitions there, every weekend they go and fight. If you stay here it’s very complicated.” For this reason, he arrived at the Fight Sports Miami academy directed by multiple jiujitsu champion Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu.

Every day Leilani gets up at 6:30 am to do an hour of physical training, followed by two hours of jiu-jitsu. Towards the afternoon, the Peruvian returns to the academy for one more technique, then she teaches the class for boys and girls, and at the end of the day she goes to work in a restaurant. The life of the champion is not easy, but she defines herself as a disciplined person who works to achieve her dreams.

Leilani’s hard work and sacrifices in her new life in Miami gradually paid off. In October 2021, she was crowned world champion and just six months later, in April of this year she became Pan American champion. Looking at her medals today, she remembers those moments with a smile. “Getting up every day, going to train, putting in the extra effort and seeing that it’s paying off is the best feeling you can have because this sport is not easy.”

The young woman who turns 22 next June proudly wears her purple belt, an honor that her teacher gave her. “The belt does not define you, your jiu-jitsu defines you, but it is a way to see your progress”, she says very sure. Leilani came to the capital on a brief visit for her father’s birthday. She now returns to Miami with great expectations and eager to defend her title. “Jiu-jitsu taught me to live”, comments excited.