Young Checkmat couple wins no-gi world title together at brown belt

Jacqueline and Windson. Photo: Personal Archive

Windson Ramos and Jacqueline Amorim are two brown belt competitors on the Checkmat team. Local to Brazil and now training in California, they travel often to compete around the U.S., Abu Dhabi and elsewhere they can win some titles. The duo traveled to Azusa, CA over the weekend of Oct. 4 & 5 to test their skills at the 2014 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship. They both came out on top.

Windson, 22 years old, won the brown belt male adult light-feather division and 20-year-old Jacqueline, after coming short of the gold in her brown belt adult featherweight division, captured the gold in the absolute.

Catching up with the couple, they talk with GRACIEMAG about their time at the Worlds No-Gi and their training together:

GRACIEMAG: How many matches did you have at the Worlds No-Gi in Azusa and which was the toughest?

Windson on top. Photo: Erin Herle

WINDSON RAMOS: I had four matches: three ended in submission and one ended in points. All of my matches were the hardest, but I was more prepared, more focused than my opponents.

JACQUELINE AMORIM: I had three matches: two submissions and in the final of the absolute I won by referee decision. The hardest match for me was the final of the absolute because the girl was bigger than me. I tried to play my game but the match ended in a referee decision. This was the hardest part because you do not know who the judge will choose to win.

How long have you been training?

WINDSON: I starting training when I was ten years old in Manaus at Club Pina. Now I’m training at checkmat with my coach Carlos Vieira Holanda and Lucas Leite.

JACQUELINE: I starting training when I was six years old in Manaus at Club Pina/Checkmat and now I’m training with Lucas Leite as well.

Do you train together? What is the benefit of training together as a couple?

WINDSON: Yes, we train together every day. We do drill together, which is very good because we learn and help each other. When we do something wrong in the match we return to training and correct it. It helps both on the technical side, but also psychological.

What did it feel like to win the worlds?

Jacqueline in the absolute final. Photo: Erin Herle

WINDSON: Winning the worlds for me was a dream come true since childhood. I promised my mother that one day I would be a world champion and I got it. I’m very happy for this. Me and Jacque are very happy for this achievement together because this is our first world title at brown belt and conquering it together is very rewarding. We will continue to help each other to improve every day.