Yvonne Duarte

Yvone Magalhães Duarte grew up in the town of Boa Vista in the Brazilian Amazon state of Roraima. In 1978, at age 14 she moved to Rio de Janeiro to join her brothers living with her grandparents.{{cite web | title=Breaking Barriers: An Interview with Yvone Duarte | website=Girls in Gis | date=14 February 2022 | url=https://www.girls-in-gis.com/blog/breaking-barriers-an-interview-with-yvone-duarte}} She started training Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) with her older brother Pascoal Duarte,{{efn|today a BJJ coral belt}} and his friend Sérgio Penha, before she joined them at the Osvaldvo Alves Jiu-Jitsu Academy. At first Duarte was the only woman training, their number then grew to fourteen, she started going to competitions to watch her brother compete.{{cite web | title=Yvone Duarte: From White to Coral | date=7 July 2022 | url=https://jiujiteiramagazine.com/2021/11/from-white-to-coral-yvone-duarte}} Duarte asked Marcelo Behring and Rickson Gracie if women could be included in the Carioca Championship, the local tournament, Grandmaster Hélio Gracie agreed on the condition that "no women of the Gracie family participate".{{cite web | title=Do Not Go Where The Path May Lead, Go Instead Where There Is No Path And Leave a Trail | website=Girls in Gis| date=27 August 2015 | url=https://www.girls-in-gis.com/blog/do-not-go-where-the-path-may-lead-go-instead-where-there-is-no-path-and-leave-a-trail}}

In 1985, a female division was added to the Rio de Janeiro BJJ federation allowing women to finally compete. Duarte won the first competition taking place in Rio, her division was for -{{convert|60|kg|lbs}} women including white and blue belts. Duarte kept competing in very female BJJ division without losing a fight for the next ten years, winning both her weight class and the open class vision despite being only {{convert|52|kg|lbs}}.{{cite web | last=Kelly | first=David Roy | title=Who's who of Women in BJJ | website=StudyMartialArts.Org | date=10 December 2016 | url=https://www.studymartialarts.org/blog/whos-who-of-women-in-bjj}}

Towards the end of the 1980s Duarte settled in Brasilia and opened her own BJJ school {{lang|pt|Equpe Yvone Duarte}}, the first academy ran by a woman. In October 1990, Osvaldo Alves awarded Duarte her black belt, at age 27{{cite web | last=Teague | first=Hywel | title=Grappling Bulletin: Coral Belt Yvonne Duarte Makes Jiu-Jitsu History | website=FloGrappling | date=23 August 2021 | url=https://www.flograppling.com/articles/7138839-grappling-bulletin-coral-belt-yvonne-duarte-makes-jiu-jitsu-history}} Duarte became the first woman to earn a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, receiving her CBJJ (IBJJF) certificate in 1991. She helped establish the {{lang|pt|Federacao de Jiu-jitsu de Brasilia}} (Brasilia federation of jiu jitsu) helping to grow BJJ in the capital of the country. On 1 October 2013, she received her 5th degree black belt, granted by Carlos Gracie Jr and the IBJJF/CBJJ, from her brother.{{cite web | title=First ever female BJJ black belt receives her 5th degree | website=BJJ Heroes | date=22 December 2014 | url=https://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-news/yvone-duarte-receives-her-5th-degree-black-belt}} After moving to Rome with her family in 2018, she trained women in BJJ for the United Nations security course.

In August 2021, she made history again by becoming the first woman to receive a BJJ coral belt after receiving her 7th degree.{{cite web | last=Burne | first=Kathrine | title=Yvone Duarte Becomes First Ever Female BJJ Coral Belt | website=Jitsmagazine.com | date=20 August 2021 | url=https://jitsmagazine.com/yvone-duarte-becomes-first-ever-female-bjj-coral-belt}}{{cite web | title=Yvone Duarte promoted to BJJ coral belt – The first ever female to do so | website=BjjTribes | date=22 August 2021 | url=https://bjjtribes.com/yvone-duarte-promoted-to-bjj-coral-belt-the-first-ever-female-to-do-so}}

Main Achievements:

• Rio de Janeiro State Champion (1985, 1986, 1987{{efn|name=Weight and absolute|Weight and absolute}})
• Brazilian National Champion (1991, 1992,{{efn|name=Weight and absolute}} 1996{{efn|name=Absolute|Absolute}})

Carlos Gracie Sr > Reyson Gracie > Osvaldo Alves > Yvone Duarte

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• [https://www.bjjheroes.com/editorial/quest-for-the-first-female-black-belt Quest for the First Female Black Belt on BJJ Heroes]

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Category:Living people

Category:1963 births

Category:Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu

Category:People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu

Category:Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners

Category:Martial artists from Rio de Janeiro (city)

Category:People awarded a coral belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu