An 11-year-old girl with several learning disabilities, who started 42 lbs overweight, began training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu a year ago. July 25, Leilani Sligar earned two silver medals and two gold medals at the 20151 NAGA US National Grappling Championship in Orange Beach, Alabama. Coach Alex Silva Ruas promised her father, Terry Sligar, on the day she started, which was her tenth birthday, if she did exactly as he said, he would make her a champion.
According to Terry Sligar, his daughter has short-term memory issues, language comprehension disorders, and other learning disabilities. He said no school he visited would take her. But that wasn’t the case at Alex Silva Ruas Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai MMA.
Coach Ruas said, “She reminded me of myself. Nobody wanted to take a chance on her.” He said she was shy and uncomfortable in her own skin. Ruas said he was excited to take on the challenge to change her life. To work with Leilani, Ruas, he said he had to slow down a lot. “(I used) a lot of repetition. I had to break things into pieces and make her repeat it. Ruas noted the bouts Leilani won were all by submission, not points. In boxing terms, these were knockouts.
Ruas himself has a brutally rough background from the ghetto of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He said he started in BJJ at six years old at a school for boys his mother sent him to so she could work. He said by a 1 in 3,000 chance he won a visa to come to America. However, the $1,500 he had when he arrived didn’t last and he ended up homeless until he got a job cleaning bathrooms. Things turned around when he found the Lion’s Den mixed martial arts training facility in California. Today, Ruas is the proud business owner of the Alex Silva Ruas Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai MMA school in Pace where he trains doctors, a judge, and Leilani Sligar, a young champion who defeated opponents bigger than her with years more experience.
Terry Sligar said his daughter trains every day and since starting BJJ she has pulled her grades up in school. She started, he said, solely on conditioning and her diet, eventually dropping to nearly half her size. He said his wife is the general manager at a McDonald’s and he works there as well to support Leilani’s training.
Terry Sligar started training recently as well once. Leilani said, “It’s very cool” her dad trains with her now. Terry said, “Skill-wise, she runs loops around me.” Going into the NAGA tournament, Leilani said, “I was a little nervous, but I had confidence, too.” Of learning BJJ, Leilani said, “It’s awesome. It helps me learn.”
Those interested in Ruas’ school can look up www.alexruasbjj.com. Check out Leilani’s story at www.srpressgazette.com to see video of the champion training at Ruas’ school at 4851 West Spencer Field Road.
Watch video of Leilani training at Ruas' school here.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Girl wins gold despite learning challenges in Jiu Jitsu tourney