Chrissy Linzy is one of the owners of US Grappling, along with her husband Brian, and their BJJ instructor, Andrew Smith.? She has been grappling for nearly 4 years, and loves gi chokes (it says so on her license plate).? She also wastes more time than any one on “the forum”; just check out the top posters there.

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VJJBJJ: Tell us a little about your background in grappling: How long have you been training, with who, what is your belt rank?
CHRISSY:? I started training in August of 2005.? I got my blue belt from Andrew Smith in December of 2007.? Before BJJ, I hadn’t done anything even remotely athletic since high school.? This is a lot different than the tennis team!

VJJBJJ: Spouse/Children/Pets?
CHRISSY:? I’ve been married to Brian (Brain to you internet folks) since November of 2000.? We have two Rhodesian Ridgebacks (Deke and Miles), and a 3-legged cat named Lego.?

VJJBJJ: Proudest moment on the mat?
CHRISSY:? Man, that is tough.? I think it was about 2 years ago, at an open mat.? A woman came in with one of her BJJ friends.? She had been around the BJJ scene before, but never actually attended a class.? She was rolling with her friend, and I was attempting to coach her.? A guy from one of our affiliate schools came over to listen to me coaching her, and asked if he could come back sometime and film me giving instructions, because I was being so precise with what I wanted her to do.? I think that was the first time I ever thought, “Holy crap, I can DO this.”? Of course, he never came back to film anything, but it was a really nice thing for him to have said.?

VJJBJJ: Alaina nominated you for your contributions to women’s grappling.? What are your goals and plans for advancing the sport?
CHRISSY:? What a weighty question!? Honestly, I feel like a lot of what I’ve done (which never feels like enough to me) came from being in the right place at the right time.? I credit a lot of it with the NHB Gear forum, where Sam Kim gives women a top-secret place to come together and share ideas, tournament schedules, and plan women’s open mats all over the place.? Without Team Estrogen, I don’t know if we’d have the community that we have now.?

Looking forward, I’d absolutely love to see even more women trying jiu jitsu, and trying out competition.? It really can be fun (after it’s over, anyway).? One day, I hope to see all of the women’s weights and skills have full divisions, something we don’t even get to see at the IBJJF events yet.? I think the only way to make that happen is for all of the women training today to remember that we’re the groundbreakers here.? We have to keep spreading the word about BJJ.? I guess that’s my only plan…keep spreading the word, and making sure that women always feel like they have a place on the mat.? ? ?

VJJBJJ: What do you do in the “real world” outside of the hours and hours you devote to BJJ? Does such a thing exist? J
CHRISSY:? My “pay the mortgage” job is as part of the telecommunications team for HMC, a subsidiary of Anthem Health Insurance.? Basically, I design the call routing for different companies, so that they can talk to a nurse about whatever is ailing them.? I’m hoping we’ll add a sports medicine option soon, so I can call it when I tweak something on the mat.? When I’m not at HMC or training, I’m typically working on upcoming US Grappling events, hanging out with Brian and the dogs, and swearing at the PS3.?

VJJBJJ: Favorite splurge?
CHRISSY:? Ice cream, definitely.? I wish Ben & Jerry would bring Primary Berry back.? It’s always election time somewhere.?

VJJBJJ: What are you most passionate about?
CHRISSY:? Aside from running really awesome tournaments, I’d have to say dogs.? I’ve been a dog trainer since I was a teenager, and there are few things that get me on a soapbox faster than lousy dog training techniques.? Please, PLEASE don’t mention Cesar Milan (the dog whisperer…ugh) to me unless you have time for a lecture about why he should never be allowed near dogs.?

VJJBJJ: We would be surprised to know that…
CHRISSY:? Hmmm…I sort of already blew the dog training thing in the last question.? Plus, that’s fairly common knowledge nowadays.? I’m really a pretty open book.? I don’t like germs.? I will yell at you if you go into the bathroom barefoot at the gym, or at a tournament.? I’m not above public humiliation to make my point on that one.? Oh!? Here’s a surprise!? The last two times I trained no gi, I had fun.? No one will believe that!

VJJBJJ: 10 years from now you’ll be….
CHRISSY:? Running tournaments with Brian and Andrew, and training dogs…without needing a “pay the mortgage” job.? I also plan to have an awesome car, or six.? I dig cars.

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