Can you please introduce yourself to the Swedish grappling community?
My name is Laura Hondorp, 24 years old and I am a Dutch purple belt training at Gracie Barra the Netherlands under professor Jordy Peute.

When and how did you first come in contact with Grappling/Jiu-Jitsu?
A little over 3 years ago, my boyfriend Jordy Peute took me to his school in Maastricht to do a BJJ class. I used to be a competition judo player for 16 years, but I had some troubles with the new judo rules and was looking for a new challenge. In judo I used to hate the groundwork, so I never thought I could fall in love with BJJ/Grappling that easy. After that one class, I stopped judo, and started training BJJ as much as possible. The love for the sport has grown ever since and BJJ/grappling has already brought me amazing experiences, successes and new friends.

You qualified to ADCC World Championship by winning the -60 kg weight class at ADCC European Championship 2013. Can you tell us about the matches that led you to the gold?
The first fight was against a Polish girl, I went for flying armbar, but wasn’t able to finish right away, so she ended up in my closed guard. I did a new and successful armbar set up and was able to finish the first match within the first 3 minutes. My second match was against a tough girl from Finland. I don’t remember the beginning of the fight. The thing I do remember is that I was able to get back mount after a minute and finish the fight with a back mount choke. Because this was the semifinal, I placed myself for the final against another Finish girl. I saw her matches and she was really strong and technical. The finals where in the evening, so I relaxed a little bit, put on some music and pumped myself up one more time. In the final I did a flying armbar, she defended but I was able to go straight to triangle. She also defended the triangle by grabbing my knee, which made it easy for me to finish the fight by wristlock. It took me a while to realize that I qualified myself for the ADCC in China, but once I realized I was ecstatic and really happy. It’s a great opportunity to test my skills and measure myself with the best fightergirls I look up to and respect.

What are your biggest competition achievements this far?
2 times European champion CBJJE (2010 white, 2011 blue)
Bronze medal IBJJF Europeans (2011 and 2012 blue)
Champion London Open international 2012 (blue)
European champion IBJJF Nogi 2012 (blue)
Champion NAGA Paris (2010, 2011 and 2012)
European champion IBJJF 2013 (purple)
ADCC European champion 2013
Silver IBJJF World championship 2013 (purple)
Champion Rome Open international 2013 (purple)
European champion nogi 2013 (purple)

How has your last grappling year been like?
My last grappling year felt like an amazing roller coaster ride!  After winning the Europeans nogi in November 2012 I got my purple belt and started training and dieting for the upcoming events. I’d have to say that this is my best grappling year ever, so far. At NAGA Paris I won my first Elite tournament ever, followed by winning the IBJJF Europeans, Qualifying for the ADCC in China, winning silver at the world championship and becoming European champion nogi. Qualifying for China and being able to stand face to face with the best female fighters of the world, that’s just a dream coming true and I am going to make the best of it. I am already looking forward to all the other great things ahead of me. And I am really happy that I can live my dream.

How are you preparing for ADCC 2013?
At the moment my preparation isn’t going how I planned because of an injury I got at the Europeans in Rome last month. I am working on my recovery together with my physical therapist, so I can start sparring again as soon as possible. Meanwhile I run and do power training as much as possible to improve my strength and conditioning. With the grappling training I do techniques and drilling until I am able to spar. Jordy and I are the same weight and we have the possibility to train nogi at home. So next to the normal training sessions at Gracie Barra, we train at home. Next week Jordy and I are going to Lanzarote to train with our friends over there and I am hoping that my body will be recovered enough so I can start rolling again and be the best I can be at the ADCC.

Who has meant the most for your Grappling/Jiu-Jitsu?
My boyfriend and trainer Jordy Peute. He taught me everything he knows. He’s a great coach and teacher. Together we travel the world to make our BJJ dreams come true. I couldn’t have done it without him.

What is your opinion regarding the lack of weight classes for women at ADCC tournaments?
It’s a pity that there aren’t more weight options for woman. It would be good for many girls if there is one more above the -60 (like -70) and one under for the really light girls. Around 55 maybe, I normally fight -56 in nogi. So -60 was okay for me and I don’t have to diet for this tournament. I think and that there will be more classes when the female grappling scene gets bigger.

Favorite submission?
Wristlock and footlock.