Magdalena Loska is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt from the north west of Poland. She began training aged 16 but adds “I started BJJ when I was 16 years old, but I only did it from time to time because I used to train pro track and field. So I was focused on track and field at the time.” She also mentions he entry into the sport and how it happened, saying “One day my friends invited me to watch a small inter-club BJJ competition in my home town, and when I got there I just wanted to try it the same day, and when I tried I knew that I would continue at it.”
Since then, she received her black belt aged 25, but also adds that just one week after this milestone she found out she was pregnant, which obviously meant she couldn’t compete or train as hard as before.
We asked Loska what her favorite BJJ positions were and she claimed she wasn’t as focused on sweeps but loved to pass and favors smashing to do so. Her favorite submission is also the omoplata and claims Cobrinha is one of the most influential athletes towards her style. She competes at under 64KG or 69KG, depending on the competition. She adds her best BJJ achievement was World Champion in Abu Dhabi, 2019. We also enquired about her hardest opponent and this was her answer: “There are no easy fights if you take it seriously. There is time for preparations, time before the fight and the day of the fight. Every part needs a lot of energy. Especially when I’m a mom and full-time worker as a maths and Jiu Jitsu teacher. I was an engineer navigator [on a ship], this was my profession from University. But I’m not working on a ship anymore because of my baby and because of Jiu Jitsu. So I can’t say who was the hardest opponent, I can just say how hard I train and how much I have to dedicate myself. So maybe myself? and the obstacles that I have to overcome.”
Q&A
I have seen there is a lot of photographs of you with Joanna Jedrzejczyk, is she your main training partner for grappling, or are you just old friends?
“Joanna is my friend and we just train when she is in Warsaw, she is an amazing grappler. I wish to train with her everyday of course”
Secondly could you tell us why Polish people like grappling and MMA so much? I think the rest of Europe likes it too, but I think Poland really loves it. What do you think?
“Polish people are strong and they are dedicated. We are good at many things, not just in sport. Polish people are warriors”
As for women’s grappling in general, did it change a lot since you started? Are there more women training now and full competition brackets?
“It has changed a lot, actually it’s changing and every year we can see how many girls are competing. There are special classes for females if some girls don’t like to train with men, then they don’t have to. On the big events, brackets are full, especially in lower belts. In black belts there are not unknown names. There is always hard fights.”
She finishes by saying her future BJJ aspirations include competing at IBJJF Mundials and ADCC.
