12-Year-Old Becomes First Female Hijabi Jiu-Jitsu World Champion

The 12-year-old girl made history by becoming the first hijabi female to win a gold at the world's largest Jiu-Jitsu tournament.

Aaminah Abdrabboh from Dearborn clinched gold at International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Pan Kids Tournament. It is the world’s largest kids’ Jiu-Jitsu tournament. The championship was held from July 21 to July 23 in Kissimmee, Florida. From all over the world, around 2,700 kids competed to display their skills and battle for gold in each division.

Aaminah started training for Jiu-Jitsu at the age of seven at Metro Jiu-Jitsu in Southgate. Several family members also coached her. Aaminah's father, Mohammad Abdrabboh is a first-degree black belt, and her brother Jabril is a head coach with a brown belt. As per Aaminah, her sister Nuzmeya is also one of the coaches. 

First Female Hijabi Jiu Jitsu World Champion

As per the report of Arab American News, Aaminah pointed out that she feels happy making history and inspiring millions of Muslim girls to venture on their own Jiu-Jitsu journey. Aaminah indicated that her victory exhibits  "hijab doesn’t stop girls from reaching goals." 

She also expressed that It is an honour as "women almost 10 years ago were being told no to compete for Jiu-Jitsu," any way she achieved it. "There was no reason to ban the hijab in Jiu-Jitsu because look at me, it didn’t stop me," added Aaminah, as per the report. 

Perseverance is the word. Aaminah trained for longer hours and consistently balanced her school and training sessions. She drilled for two hours, five days a week. In summer, the training became more rigorous. Considering IBJJF Pan Kids Tournament, she stretched the training hours. Her coaches set up a training camp for the competition, allowing her to train seven days a week, on a few occasions, she practised for four hours a day.

Aaminah calls her sisters, Nuzmeya, 18, and Rayyan, 15, as inspirations in her journey through Jiu-Jitsu. 

The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation banned women with hijab to compete. In 2014, the ban was lifted before that women were not allowed to participate in the competition. 

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