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Emma

@emmaonthemat

925

followers

1881

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🤎🥋 Jiu Jitsu coach & competitor
Free Palestine 🇵🇸
Abolish ICE
Fuck Fascists
🏳️‍🌈 Bi/Pan/Queer

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It looked a little different, it felt a lot different, and yet Vegas remains one of the most special places in the world to me.

Much love to my husband, to many friends, to this deeply flawed, intensely magical city. I'll see you again soon. Hopefully, with a little more fight in me. taken in Las Vegas, Nevada by @emmaonthemat

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a month ago

Pride in 2026

I cry every day.

Forced into a corner I didn't know was behind me

Navigating crises without being able to rely on the state of the larger world for a sense of hope, peace, or safety

Genocide, torture, and collapse sit like a permanent lens over and behind my eyes, an ever-present specter

Clinging to my queerness and my marriage and my networks for an ounce of starlight in the abyss

Desperately trying to claw back a sense of love for grappling; I'm in my 15th year and I've never felt so adrift

Unyielding in my commitment to my strength for a sense of stability and consistency

Frantically searching for a thread of ancestral connection and guidance

I have endured, and will endure, but dread what that endurance will cost me

Pride for me this year is not cast in rainbows
It is not shining, free smiles in the sun
It is not infectious joy in crowded streets
Pride this year is a feral, agonizing fury
It is guttural, wailing grief that there is no way back
It is an oily black wound festering in my gut
It is flashbangs in the adjacent neighborhood
It is the whispers of the disappeared
It is maced elders
And zip tied teenagers
It is cities made cemeteries
And babies made target practice

I have endured, and will endure, despite what it will cost me

I hope that in sharing this, maybe the darkness in you will recognize the darkness in me, and in that familiarity we have solidarity. Seeing the world for what it is is power, even and especially when it is at its worst. Straightforward witnessing is a threat to fascist terror and the many evils that feed it and are borne from it.

I ultimately chose the image above for this post because, despite what I have earnestly and honestly conveyed as my current everyday experience, looking at this reflection of myself instills in me some sense of strength and resistance. That I can and will find my way back to myself and to purpose and to community.

She's made it this far, and so have you, and so we shall by @emmaonthemat

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4 months ago

Fuck it. 🥀🐦‍🔥 taken in Kissimmee, Florida by @emmaonthemat

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7 months ago

Inspired by the ongoing outpouring of rage, solidarity, and calls for change in the jiu jitsu community, I am offering not just my thoughts, but my personal testimony.

A few years ago, I was met with unwarranted and sudden physical contact by someone whom I had already felt unsure about. It was not intense, it was not in an area that would have made me retaliate, it was such a flash in the pan I almost didn't process immediately what happened. It was the kind of thing that you almost try to brush off, but festers under your skin like a sliver over time. I was not the only one.

More recently, a different individual who often dropped in commented inappropriate things on a photo of me shared on two different social platforms. The words were not graphic, but they were clearly sexualizing. I remember breaking out in a cold sweat and feeling my stomach sink when I read them. I remember dreading running across him in the gym again. I didn't feel safe or comfortable in what essentially amounts to my own home.

First, I am sharing these stories because I believe they represent the majority of inappropriate behavior and/or harassment that women and girls experience in jiu jitsu gyms. They aren't overt abuse; they aren't shocking; they aren't life changing. But they are pervasive. They represent a culture of what has become acceptable behavior from men in our space. It has become easy to ignore or normalize this behavior, which contributes to an ecosystem that is not conducive to believing and supporting survivors when catastrophic injustices are committed.

Secondly, I am sharing these stories because they highlight how a gym should handle business. I will never have to see or worry about either individual ever again. Especially in the second circumstance, which they witnessed, the owners of our gym were already in communication with each other and other leaders in our space to discuss what happened and take action before I could even think about how I was going to address it. You cross a hard boundary - you're done.

This is how you set the standard. This is the template for change. At @commonwealthjiujitsu, I am protected. I am safe. Everyone deserves this 🫂❤️‍🩹 taken in Commonwealth Jiu Jitsu by @emmaonthemat

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9 months ago

After years of talking about it, perusing, and finally planning out the nostalgic pieces…
@emmaonthemat and I finally got our sister tattoo. Can’t say enough how much this means to me.
Credit to @emku_tattoo for designing the piece and bringing our vision to life.
I couldn’t be happier. Love you sis 🫶🏻❤️ taken in Balm Tattooing by @emmaonthemat

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9 months ago

Strength training is where I truly found my discipline in 2025. I almost never missed a session, 3x a week, throughout the entire year. I only ever missed a session if I was very sick or traveling to compete. I hit milestones like single arm rowing over 100lbs for reps and using the heaviest weights in the gym for an exercise.

Goals for 2026 include:
🏋‍♀️ Deadlifting 300lbs
🏋‍♀️Bench pressing 135lbs
🏋‍♀️Squatting 200lbs

Absolutely NONE of this would be possible without the genius behind it all, Kam. @vittybitties_ajj you are the strength coach serious athletes dream of. Please never fire me as your client 🙏🏻

I'm now up to 4x a week. Here's to working on going from very strong, to freakishly strong.

Consistency is everything. by @emmaonthemat

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9 months ago

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10 months ago

🥀End of 2025🥀

In no particular order, some highlights of the year:
- Cancun family trip
- Celebrating 10 years together with my love
- Top fundraising team for Tap Cancer Out
- Winning my first matches at brown belt at the Arnold Classic and IBJJF Detroit Open
- Competing all over the country
- Taking multiple super fight opportunities
- Ren fest
- Tons of time training and just being able to exist at Commonwealth
- As much time as I could get with friends and family
- Lifting my ass off
- Coming back from a knee injury to compete at no gi worlds
- Not quitting competition even though I really want to sometimes
- Teaching a fair amount of CW classes
-Lots of couch rotting
- Making it another year on this Earth not wanting to constantly disappear

I haven't made it this far to not make it farther.

I owe everything to everyone who has loved me and held me through every up and down this year. Time to ring in 2026 properly. taken in Commonwealth Jiu Jitsu by @emmaonthemat

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10 months ago

Another year gone; another 365 days as a delusional NPC trying really hard to be a main character. taken in Las Vegas, Nevada by @emmaonthemat

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10 months ago

Briegel Gauntlet: Endgame 2025

After being sidelined last year, I was able to come back, albeit with an injured but quickly improving knee, this year to complete all 4 stops of the gauntlet.

1. DJJ HQ
2. PCGA
3. Commonwealth Jiu Jitsu (🏠)
4. DJJ Heights

While I didn't roll with as many people or as hard as I would have liked, I was still able to complete a handful of sparring rounds at each stop, pick up the pace at times, and gain some confidence in my knee strength and stability leading up to worlds.

Days like today take a considerable amount of will, endurance, and physical strength, but give community, pride, and levity.

Ypsi crew car departed at 8am and returned at 8pm. 6 hours of event time and 12 total hours training, showering, driving, talking, and finally, eating.

It is a joy to share in these experiences with my teammates and so many others whom I respect and love in this broader community. These events are what build a positive, engaged, and cooperative jiu jitsu network in a region. They keep a culture healthy and prevent isolation and toxicity.

Thank you for bringing us together, @graybeardgrappler by @emmaonthemat

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a year ago

I'm not exactly sure what to say or how to wrap up a lot of complex thoughts, so I'll leave it at this:

I am so grateful to have gotten on the inaugural card for @war_in_the_shores. The event ran impeccably from start to finish and was extremely professional, which is a marvel for a first-time go. The organizers from @voyagejiujitsu really did a fantastic job, and they should be very proud of what they created. Please bring this event back.

To all of my coaches and teammates at @commonwealthjiujitsu, your fellowship and guidance means the world. It was a treat to compete as one of a whopping 10 total from our gym. We run deep, we show up deep. And it's always a treat to hit the RCG special live ☺️ To my family and friends who were there in person or virtually, I cannot thank you enough for your love and support. To the people who found me and talked to me at the event following my match, your kindness was incredibly appreciated.

Special shout out @vittybitties_ajj for making it not only possible, but relatively simple for me to stand and break closed guard not only once, but twice.

Never leave a sub only match to decision. I knew this coming in, but it hits very different to feel and experience it on the level I did yesterday. Lesson intimately learned. No-gi worlds on deck. taken in Barrister Gardens by @emmaonthemat

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a year ago

2025 IBJJF World Master Championship

With regard to my own competition experience this year, the best way I think I can describe it is a series of unfortunate events. Between one of my coach's first TWO opponents no-showing (setting him back an abysmal 90 minutes) and my match being moved at least 4 fights (20-30 minutes) ahead, meaning my name was called right when I walked into the bullpen, I started and ended my match largely alone. Things didn't last long.

After some time to reflect, I was able to learn from my experience despite its brevity. First, I have more work to do in trusting my early A-game options. I was in a perfect position for several moments and didn't pull the trigger. I know better. Second, I need to not let it get in my head so much if things go off script. If I'm going to deal with uncertainty and perform at the highest level, I need to be ok with knowing I'm prepared no matter who else is there or not, how early I'm going or not, and stepping out with confidence. Owning these lessons helped me move on in record time and fully enjoy and embrace the rest of the trip.

I lost my voice screaming for my teammates. I got to eat amazing food constantly, attend CJI, laugh until I cried, and so much more. I am endlessly blessed by this life. Even at its lowest moments, I find purpose and love in so many forms.

Thank you to:

@commonwealthcoach @slackerbjj & @thejayfish for your unyielding leadership. The reasons I've gotten this far and why my horizon is limitless. Why I can mend after breaking.

To @vittybitties_ajj for making me the strongest I've ever been and for your unconditional support. I'm back at it today 🫡

To @pajamber.bjj for being my forever growth partner. The definition of iron sharpens iron.

To @rjonthemat for being the shoulder I am always safe to cry on. For never doubting me. For loving me every day.

To the rest of my teammates and friends on this trip: for your compassion, fellowship, and unbreakable capacity for fun.

To @kekoa_collective for the academy fits. Best in the game, we love you 🥋🌺

@commonwealthjiujitsu second to none ❤️‍🔥

On deck: War in the Shores & No-Gi Worlds. taken in Las Vegas Convention Center by @emmaonthemat

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a year ago