Laura Hondorp
Laura Hondorp moved from judo to BJJ, won international medals and co-created a foundation to give women more opportunities to train together.
Biography
Sources for this profile
BJJ Eastern Europe, Laura Hondorp interview, September 4, 2013(opens in a new tab)
Hondorp is a Dutch BJJ practitioner who trained under Jordy Peute at Gracie Barra Netherlands.
Where in the source: Introduction and answer1: Netherlands.
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After sixteen years of competitive judo, she sought a different challenge because changes to judo’s rules frustrated her. Peute took her to a BJJ class in Maastricht around 2010.
Where in the source: Answer2: judo rules.
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She had disliked groundwork in judo, yet the first BJJ class changed her mind: she stopped judo and began training and competing in BJJ enthusiastically.
Where in the source: Answer2: groundwork.
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A European title preceded her blue belt; winning the 2012 European no-gi championship preceded her purple belt. She was surprised by how quickly results followed at purple.
Where in the source: Answer2: purple belt.
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Hondorp credited work with a sports psychologist as a major change in managing her competition nerves. Her preparation also included strength training, running and a dietitian’s help with making weight.
Where in the source: Answer4: nerves.
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Daily training with Peute suited her because they had similar size and style; she valued his speed and technique, as well as his example as an active competitor.
Where in the source: Answers3and6: same weight.
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She described a team where recreational and competitive practitioners helped one another prepare, remained friends away from training, and welcomed her sister into the sport.
Where in the source: Answer3: sister.
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Ahead of ADCC in China in 2013, she felt both nervous and excited at the possibility of meeting athletes she admired. She regarded it as a test of the level she wanted to reach.
Where in the source: Answer5: idols.
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Her plans after ADCC depended on money: Tokyo was next on her schedule, while further international tournaments had to fit the available budget.
Where in the source: Answer7: financial situation.
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Her early title list included CBJJE European wins at white belt in 2010 and blue belt in 2011, alongside the 2013 ADCC European title.
Where in the source: Answer1: CBJJE.
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IBJJF, European IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2013, official results(opens in a new tab)
Representing Gracie Barra International, she won adult female purple-belt featherweight at the 2013 IBJJF Europeans.
Where in the source: Female / Adult / Purple / Feather (129.00lb), complete podium.
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IBJJF, World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2013, official results(opens in a new tab)
She took silver in adult female purple-belt featherweight at the 2013 IBJJF Worlds, behind Jaqueline Amorim.
Where in the source: Female / Adult / Purple / Feather (125.00lb), complete podium.
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IBJJF, European IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship 2013, official results(opens in a new tab)
She also won the adult female purple-belt featherweight division at the 2013 IBJJF European No-Gi Championship.
Where in the source: Female / Adult / Purple / Feather (125.00lb), complete podium.
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Graciemag Newsroom, ADCC first-day results, October 19, 2013(opens in a new tab)
At the 2013 ADCC Worlds in Beijing, Hondorp competed in the women’s under-60-kilogram division and lost her opening match to Luanna Alzuguir by heel hook.
Where in the source: Females, -60kg: Hondorp match.
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IBJJF, World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship 2014, official results(opens in a new tab)
As a brown belt she earned bronze in adult female lightweight at the 2014 IBJJF No-Gi Worlds for Gracie Barra.
Where in the source: Female / Adult / Brown / Light (136.00lb), complete podium.
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IBJJF, Asian Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 2016, official results(opens in a new tab)
At the 2016 Asian IBJJF Championship she won brown-belt adult female open-class silver and lightweight bronze for Gracie Barra.
Where in the source: Female / Adult / Brown / Light and Open Class, both full podiums.
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BJJ Eastern Europe, Female Fighter Foundation, March 27, 2015(opens in a new tab)
By March 2015, Hondorp and Marjolein Groenen had created the Female Fighter Foundation to help more women enter martial arts, chiefly BJJ, through activities reserved for women.
Where in the source: Opening and first programme paragraph: Foundation.
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The two founders already trained and competed together. Wanting women to have more female training partners, rather than remain a small minority in mixed classes, helped motivate their collaboration.
Where in the source: Final paragraph: minority.
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The foundation organised women-only BJJ events around the Netherlands; the contemporary report also documents a Female Fighter open mat.
Where in the source: Final paragraph and caption: Open mat.
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Groundwork BJJ, instructor biographies(opens in a new tab)
Hondorp received her BJJ black belt in 2017 within Gracie Barra Netherlands.
Where in the source: Laura Hondorp biography: In 2017.
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At Groundwork BJJ in Vught, Hondorp teaches when head instructor Jordi van de Snepscheut is away, alongside continuing her own training.
Where in the source: Laura Hondorp biography, second paragraph: afwezigheid van Jordi.
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Groundwork describes her teaching outlook as sharing enthusiasm and guiding others, with community, discipline and enjoyment valued alongside technique and competition.
Where in the source: Laura Hondorp biography, final sentences: gemeenschap.
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Lineage
No teaching connections are shown on this page.
Open lineage