Molly Reis, a three-stripe black belt with over two decades of experience in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, recently shared her experiences as a transgender woman in the martial art on the Fighting Matters podcast. As possibly the most senior trans woman in BJJ worldwide, Reis offered unique insights into the challenges and support she’s encountered since beginning her transition approximately a year and a half ago.
“I think competition-wise is probably the biggest impact,” Reis explained when discussing how her transition affected her BJJ career. “I was somebody who used to compete a lot. I would do Master Worlds every year… And it’s just the amount of opportunity kind of fell off a cliff.”
Reis, who began training in Texas before moving to Seattle over a decade ago, revealed that she now carefully researches gyms before visiting them. “I also have to be careful about what gyms I just go visit. I kind of have to get a vibe check and ask around… maybe even Instagram stalk and see what kind of things they are liking, what kind of stories they are sharing.”
Despite facing some rejection, Reis has found significant support in the BJJ community, particularly at her current gym, Combat Arts Academy in Seattle. “They are fiercely supportive, fiercely defensive,” she said, noting that the gym’s leader insisted she run a class called “Filthy Fridays with Coach Molly” where she shares her technical expertise.
Reis described the different reactions she’s received since transitioning: “A lot of people have been fiercely supportive. Some people have been kind of ambivalent. Some people, very few honestly, have rejected me to my face.”
She highlighted what she calls “concern trolling” as one of the more subtle forms of discrimination she encounters – when people couch their anti-trans views behind a façade of concern, particularly regarding women’s sports.
The podcast discussion also covered how hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has affected Reis’s jiu-jitsu. She explained that while her core technique hasn’t fundamentally changed, she has had to make some tactical adjustments.
“I do feel physically weaker, especially in my grips,” Reis shared. “I’m very focused on a lot of very efficient movements and grips that are really hard to break or address.”
She noted that her game has “basically switched from a closed guard kind of position where people can put a lot of weight on you and muscle, to more of an open guard, lots of frames and taking the back kind of game.”
Reis emphasized the critical role of representation in making BJJ more inclusive. Since she began teaching classes, several trans people have joined her gym specifically because of her visible presence as a trans instructor.
“Putting a diverse group of people into leadership positions, into positions of visibility, is going to make a diverse group of people feel like they’re welcome here,” she explained. “If you are a trans person and even if there’s a couple other trans people who train but they’re all white belts, you’re just kind of like, ‘Do I have a future here?'”
She also discussed the meaningful distinction between being “tolerated” versus being “celebrated” in a gym environment, stressing that simple gestures like displaying pride flags can make a significant difference in how welcome people feel.
