Mayra Conde (born January 28, 1969 in Guatemala City, Guatemala) is a professional Personal Trainer and mixed martial artist, who has also competed in bodybuilding, kickboxing and brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Conde hails from Guatemala City, where she grew up on her grandparents’ farm. She has spoken fondly of her time there in interviews, as well as citing her grandfather as “my source of strength”. However, at the age of nine when her younger brother was born, Conde moved with her parents to Toronto, Canada, hoping for a better education.
Her early years as an immigrant were tough; “I was constantly picked on because I couldn’t speak English and was very small”. Conde proved up to the challenge, never failing a grade, and is now bilingual, speaking both her native Spanish and adopted English. While still at school, Conde got into sports drinks and nutrition through her father, which led to her becoming a bodybuilder at the age of 16. Her muscular physique proved useful when she moved into construction work after high school. Earning a living as a welder, she would later become a foreman. Meanwhile, she continued to attend fitness seminars and read any health-related books she could get her hands on.
In summer of 1996, Conde moved to Los Angeles for the love of Personal Fitness Training, and in search for something bigger and more challenging. California brought Conde her first taste of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, training at the Beverly Hills Jiu Jitsu Club with such luminaries as Mark Kerr and Bas Rutten. Learning from them and another trainer, Marcus Vinicius, she would later fight in the US, Brazil and Greece, Japan, and was a part of the groundbreaking all-female “Hook N Shoot” Revolution promotion.
She was asked her to represent Team Canada at the 1st World Wide Pankration Championships on 11 November 2000, in Lamia, Greece. Despite a last minute notice and traveling at her own expense, she earned two gold medals. She was later invited to train with Coach Scott Miller and the Women’s Wrestling Team at Pacific University in late 2002 and March 2003. Conde is a Purple Belt Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Instructor, having studied under 4th Degree Black Belt Master Marcus Vinicius and Bas Rutten at The Beverly Hills Jiu Jitsu Club.
Conde is now living and working in Frankfurt am Main, Germany as a professional Personal Trainer. According to German authorities (in Frankfurt), she is the only foreign Self-Employed Personal Trainer authorized to live and work in Germany, without the need of an employer at first, due to the fact she is a high level Certified Martial Artist/Instructor/Personal Trainer.
Career
* 1st Place at the 3rd American International Championships, Grappling (148-160lbs) Light Weight Division, Carson, CA, 9 December 2001
* 1st Place at the 3rd American International Championships, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Women’s Open Division, Carson, CA, 8 December 2001
* 1st Place in the US Open Brazilian Jiu Jitsu CHAMPIONSHIPS, October 2001
* 2001 Bronze Medalist in the World Wide Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (July 26-29 )
* Double GOLD Medalist in 1st World Wide Pankration Championships on 11 November 2000, Lamia, Greece
* 1st place winner in the Heavy weight & Open Division in the U.S. Open Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championships in Santa Cruz, 5 November 2000
* Winner in NHB Bout at the Mark “The Cobra” Hall’s Cobra Challenge Federation, in Anza CA on 3 June 2000
* 1st Place winner in the California State Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championships, 26 March 2000
* U.S. Open Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Heavy Weight and Overall Winner, Santa Cruz (White Belt), 5 November 2000
* Won Cobra Challenge NHB fight, 6 March 2000
* Women’s Kick-Boxing Division Winner, September 1999
* Women’s Heavy Weight Grappler’s Challenge Champion, August 1999
* Winner by technical K.O. in Kick-Boxing Bout at the Bas Rutten Invitational in Littleton CO, 26 June 1999
* Winner in NHB/Vale Tudo Bout at the 1st Bas Rutten Invitational, 6 February 1999
* 1st Place Women’s Heavyweight Winner at the Grapplers Challenge in Toronto, Canada on 8 August 1998
* Nite Magic Flexmania Ladies Overall (Bodybuilding), July 1996