JitsCast #67 features one of the top competitors from the late 2010s, Livia Giles. Not only did Giles win ADCC Trials in 2019 but she also won titles at several different belt levels and a silver medal at black belt at the IBJJF No Gi World Championship too. She was right at the top of the sport in Australia during that period, but she chose to retire immediately after making her ADCC debut in 2019. She still trains Jiu-Jitsu regularly at Absolute MMA alongside her husband Lachlan Giles and many of the best grapplers in that area of the world.
Jits Magazine spoke to Giles about her unusual journey to becoming a top Jiu-Jitsu competitor, as she actually tried her hand at multiple different sports before finding grappling. She spoke about her time growing up in Poland and attempting to make it to the Olympics as a Rhythmic Gymnast, before reaching an incredibly high level in Track Cycling in Australia. It was after deciding to move on from that second sport that she discovered Jiu-Jitsu, through her now-husband Lachlan and her brother’s interest in Muay Thai. She also talked about her journey to the top of Jiu-Jitsu, and how it felt to finally achieve her goal of making it to ADCC.
Giles also spoke about the current state of ADCC as it pertains to women’s divisions, something that she has already shared her input on with us before. She spoke about the current inequality between women and men at ADCC, both in the number of divisions available and the sizes of those divisions. She also discussed their decision to pay female champions half as much as male champions, and Craig Jones volunteering to bridge that pay gap himself. The final area of ADCC itself that we talked about with Giles was their absolute divisions, as the promotion has decided to abandon the female absolute after previously bringing it back in 2024.
JitsCast #67 with Livia Giles is now available to watch on the official Jits Magazine YouTube channel, click here to subscribe for more or check out they interview below:
