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Wrestling With A Goal

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By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 10, 2007

Updated: 10/08/2007 10:22 pm

CARROLLWOOD - The Midget Twister returned from Antalya, Turkey, with a hefty black belt and the thirst for more competition on the world grappling stage.

At 22, Cristina Rodriguez was the youngest competitor on the U.S. Wrestling Grappling World Team.

She won a bronze medal in her 121-pound weight class at the World Grappling Games in September.

The irony is that the 5-foot-2 Brazilian jiu-jitsu teacher from Carrollwood didn't know she was headed to the world-class level and only qualified accidentally.

The road to the international competition began in April when Rodriguez accompanied one of her martial arts students to a tournament in Jersey City, N.J.

While there, she competed as well.

Rodriguez bested Patricia Miranda, the first American woman to earn a medal in Olympic women's wrestling.

Not only did she not know she was up against one of her idols, but winning qualified her to compete in the U.S. grappling team trials in Las Vegas in June.

Rodriguez, who made the U.S. team in Las Vegas, said she is grateful to be competing among other top athletes.

'It was just an honor to be on the mat with people I look up to and with people I consider role models,' she said.

The large belt sits against the front window at Gracie Tampa, a mixed martial arts gym where Rodriguez is the manager and teaches the children's and women's classes.

The gym, in a strip center on North Nebraska Avenue near Fletcher Avenue, specializes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Rodriguez's start in martial arts came out of the blue one afternoon.

At age 8, her mom picked her up from school and asked her whether she wanted to take martial arts. She said yes, and they went straight to a tae kwon do studio.

'She took me that day. I remember the date, March 15, 1993. I started, and she couldn't keep me off the mat since,' Rodriguez said.

That start led to 10 years of training in the Korean martial art. At age 16, Rodriguez began teaching tae kwon do but switched to Brazilian jiu-jitsu two years later.

'I realized that jiu-jitsu was where I wanted to put my focus. I felt it was the more realistic martial art,' she said.

In tae kwon do, opponents begin sparring standing up, but in jiu-jitsu, the focus is on wrestling and ground fighting.

'Most fights end up on the ground. It allows a smaller opponent to beat a larger opponent based on leverage,' she said of jiu-jitsu.

She prefers the no-gi submission grappling style, the type of jiu-jitsu where opponents do not wear the traditional white uniforms.

Through a friend, Rodriguez began training two years ago at Gracie Tampa.

Rodriguez manages the facility and teaches eight children's classes for 3- to 13-year-olds each week and the twice-a-week women's classes, which are offered for free.

When not teaching, Rodriguez is taking a full course load at the University of South Florida and is scheduled to complete a degree in education in the spring.

After graduation, you won't find Rodriguez in a traditional classroom. She plans to continue training and teaching at Gracie Tampa while working to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London.

That is when submission grappling will make its debut as an Olympic exhibition sport and then an official sport at the 2016 Olympics.

For now, Rodriguez is relishing her recent win on the world level and plans to return next year to defend her bronze medal.

'I really enjoy teaching martial arts. My love is to be on the mat,' she said. 'It's a lot of fun being able to say you're a role model for these kids.'

Reporter Elizabeth Lee Brown can be reached at (813) 865-1502 or ebrown@tampatrib.com.

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