In a recent interview, Ivanka Trump shared the story behind her family’s involvement in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – which started with a surprising and mature request from her daughter, Arabella.

At just 11 years old, Arabella approached her mother with a thoughtful concern about personal safety and self-confidence:

She came to me and said: “You know, as a woman, I feel like I need to know how to defend myself, and I don’t have a confidence level yet that I can do that.”

My jaw just hit the ground because at 11, I don’t know what I was doing – I was thinking about boys or something – but I was not thinking about being able to physically defend myself.

Moved by her daughter’s initiative, Trump sought recommendations and connected with the Valente Brothers, highly regarded instructors based in Miami.

What began as a self-defense journey for Arabella soon became a family affair.
At Arabella’s encouragement, Ivanka joined the classes, and the enthusiasm spread.

Her two sons and husband, Jared Kushner, also began training:

I started driving her to these classes. She started asking me to join, so I joined.
Then my two sons wanted to do what their older sister was doing.

Then my husband joined.

It’s supposed to be really good for kids, right?
It is good for everyone, and it’s like multiple things I like, so it meshes.

Physical movement – it’s almost like a moving meditation because the movements are so micro – it’s like three-dimensional chess.

Beyond the physical and tactical aspects, Ivanka emphasized the more philosophical roots of Jiu-Jitsu:

There’s a real spiritualism to it, like the grounding in Samurai tradition, culture, and wisdom.

As someone who’s always been drawn to philosophy, I love how it meshes movement with deeper principles.

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