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Turkey Crowns Its 1st Female BJJ Black Belt in Emotional Ceremony

Turkey Crowns Its 1st Female BJJ Black Belt in Emotional Ceremony

Asena Melike Ağansoy of Corvos MMA in Istanbul, Turkey made history this week when she was promoted to black belt in BJJ, becoming Turkey’s first ever female BJJ black belt.

Her instructor, Burak Deger Bicer (Turkey’s first locally based black belt) did the honours in a very emotional ceremony. There were 2 more black belts awarded that night, Kaan Fazla and Melike’s brother Ugur Agansoy.

Melike stated:

After dreaming about this moment for 5 years I finally received my black belt from the hands of my professor @bdbicer and became the first female black belt of @corvoscombat and #Turkey. Last night I realized that after all this time I spent dreaming, I gained something much more valuable than becoming a BJJ black belt. Exactly 5 years ago, after competing at Europeans as a white belt, I decided to become a full time athlete and it was the best decision I made in my life.

Thanks to Jiu Jitsu I made amazing friends along the way and unforgettable memories around the globe. One of the great example of this was @marangoni22 being with us during my grading, I was a white belt when I first attended his seminar. Thank you for being here!

I’m in love with how Jiu Jitsu introduced me to myself. On and off the mat, it taught me how to address and face problems under any circumstance and it also taught me how to use that resistance to hoone my sword and I’ll do my best to honor that lesson. Jiu Jitsu is a magical tool where all your illusions need to be shattered. It will irritate and annoy you, that’s the way Jiu Jitsu functions. It will sabotage you from your roots. But you will also find your reward in that shattering if you let yourself learn how to control the chaos inside you.

I can’t be thankful enough to @bdbicer, @sortudocorvo, my beloved mother, my sponsor @moyabrand and everyone who supported me through my journey. I’m part of an amazing team so my black belt doesn’t only belong to me. This is the result of the work we put in with a huge group of people I sweat and bleed with @corvoscombat I also want to congratulate @sortudocorvo & @bjjkan for receiving their black belts and others who got promoted previous night. Thank you! ..and it really feels like I’m just getting started 🏴 #faixapreta

In 2016, BJJEE’s editor Guillaume (Gile) Huni trained at Corvos MMA in Istanbul and made a training report of his experience there:

BJJ Euro Trip Part1: Corvos BJJ Academy in Istanbul, Turkey

Check out the emotional promotion ceremony: