Despite only winning European titles last week, the Blackman Sisters are already turning their attention to next year’s World Championships.
Nia, 11, and younger sister Zuri, eight, both fought their way to victory to claim gold medals at the 2015 Junior Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu European Championships on Saturday (November 21).
The impressive achievements comes just months after the Beckenham duo claimed British and English titles in their respective belt and weight divisions.
“They both went in hard and dominated their fights from the off,” Mum Sherise said.
“You could tell their training paid off because they looked great and put in fantastic performances.
“The whole event was just amazing.”
Nia, who attends Langley Park School for Girls, started traditional Jiu-Jitsu at the age of five, before picking up the Brazilian format at seven.
The sisters have been competing for around two years and Mrs Blackman is astonished by how their involvement in the sport has evolved.
She said: “It started off as an after-school hobby but now they are excelling and loving it.
“They really showed skill for it and now they’ve won titles all across the country and we could not be any prouder.
“They are these badass princesses – they are just brilliant.”
Nia and Zuri, who train at New School BJJ in Battersea, travel across the country to compete in competitions, but Mrs Blackman admits watching her daughters in action can be difficult.
When asked whether it was nerve-wracking, she said: “That’s a massive understatement!
“I tried to film the fights because it’s good to look back at them and to have them as memories, but I was shaking throughout.
“I think I age about ten years every fight.
“But it’s worth it seeing them out there absolutely loving what they’re doing and being a real success.
“They handle the pressure and the nerves much better than I do.”
After their superb achievements at the European Championships in Wolverhampton, Nia and Zuri are already targeting more success at the World Championships in Los Angeles in February 2016.
“They are training like you wouldn’t believe,” Mrs Blackman added. “It’s over 10 hours a week sometimes, including strength and conditioning and general fitness work at Mytime centre in West Wickham.
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“They’re already so excited for the trip to America.
“It’s going to be a huge competition, kids from all over the world will be competing so it’s really exciting.”
While Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is currently not an Olympic sport, the sport’s governing body is keen to break into the pinnacle international sporting event.
For the Blackman Sisters, the opportunity to represent Great Britain at the Olympics would be a dream come true.
“Both the girls want it to become an Olympic sport and then to represent Great Britain and become the first Olympians to win medals,” Mrs Blackman said.
“People at school and the local community are looking up to them and they’re showing that Jiu-Jitsu is not just a boy’s sport and that girls are more than capable of competing.”
A JustGiving page has been setup to support the Blackman Sisters on their Jiu-Jitsu journey. For more information visit http://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/BlackmanSisters.