March / April

A World Champion's Fight For Women

by Allison Kenien

Meet the local jiu-jitsu black belt who conquered a male-dominated sport and paved the path for other women.

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In the face of adversity,

some people give up, and some people fight. April Parks falls into the “fighter” category in every sense of the word.

Parks is an eight-time International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation World Champion, and her path to the title was not easy. Her journey started after her fourth child was born in 2010. She had always excelled athletically as a track and field athlete. In fact, she set school records at East Syracuse Minoa High School and Syracuse University. But like many women, Parks put sports on hold when she became a mother.

“When I first had my kids, I was completely lost,” Parks said. “I was in my twenties, I had been an athlete my whole life, and then all of a sudden I was a mom.”

Parks realized she needed to bring athletic competition back into her life. Her husband had been training in jiu-jitsu, and Parks decided to try it.

“From the first day, I fell in love with it,” Parks said. “As a young girl I wanted to wrestle, but no girls wrestled. I found similarities in jiu-jitsu and realized that it was something I always wanted to do, but never got to.”

Despite her love for the sport, being a female jiu-jitsu fighter in 2010 wasn’t much easier than being a female wrestler would have been in the 1990s. Nevertheless, Parks was determined to pave her own path — and ultimately, she made the way for many other women as well.

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April Parks and her husband Gee Vien.

Becoming Undeniable

At that time, most Brazilian jiu-jitsu centers were designed for men, according to Parks.

“There were no female locker rooms, so I had to change in the bathroom,” she said. “I had to drive to New York City to find women who were competitive.”

When she couldn’t travel to compete with other women, she trained with her husband and other male practitioners. While she found supportive local men to train with, she also encountered those who tried to push her aside. She was usually the only woman at the gym and found herself dodging disrespectful, inappropriate comments as she tried to learn the sport. The easy choice would have been to give up, but Parks did the opposite. Within four years, she won her first world championship.

“I decided to go out and make myself undeniable so that these people would have to acknowledge that women are serious,” Parks said. “We’re not just playing. We’re actually really good. I’m making sure that no one can discredit us.”

A Worldwide Fight

After earning her first world title, she wanted to help other women succeed. In 2015, she launched Grappling Getaways, a business specializing in luxury jiu-jitsu camps. Her goal was to make jiu-jitsu more accessible to women regardless of their location.

“The problem for women in jiu-jitsu is not just endemic to Syracuse; it’s a worldwide issue,” she said. “It is evolving and changing, but what it did require in each location all over the world was a woman who had been able to withstand the storm and get her brown belt or black belt — and then stand up for the women coming behind her.”

Parks has empowered women across the globe through her camps, which are held in the United States and internationally. Participants ranging from beginner-level white belts to experienced black-belts attend for the weekend, training jiu-jitsu each morning and then relaxing in the afternoons.

Last year, Parks hosted a Barbie-themed jiu-jitsu camp at a Dreamhouse AirBNB in Scottsdale, Arizona. On the first day, participants dressed up like their favorite Barbie for a poolside party. Next, on Cowgirl Barbie Day, they explored an abandoned ghost town and Red Rock Canyon on horseback. They ended the weekend with a Sporty Barbie Day spent hiking Camelback Mountain and playing Top Golf.

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Parks’ Championship Medals.

Helping Women Stay Safe

When she wasn’t managing Grappling Getaways and winning championships, Parks was still working a full-time job. For 18 years, Parks served the Syracuse City School District teaching and doing social work. Her dream was to make jiu-jitsu her full-time career. She took a step toward that goal in 2022 when she and her husband, Gee Vien, opened a gym in Manlius called Vien Jiu-Jitsu. Along with jiu-jitsu, the gym offers wrestling and judo programs for women, men, and children.

Both Parks and Vien are determined to provide self-defense skills to anyone who might find themselves in a vulnerable position, and they host periodic eight-week self-defense programs in addition to their regular offerings.

Self-defense was the driving force that brought Julia Ramsey to the gym shortly after it opened. As a single mom of four, she felt defenseless. She heard about Vien Jiu-Jitsu and attended a trial class where she met Parks.

“April is so down-to-earth, friendly, genuine, and welcoming,” Ramsey said. “It would have been very easy to be intimidated by April because she is lethal. But like me, she has four kids and she instantly wanted to know about me and why I was there. I felt a strong connection with her from the beginning.”

After attending the trial session, Ramsey went on to participate in the introductory class, a women-only class, a self-defense class, and one of the Grappling Getaway trips. She has met some of her closest friends through the gym, and in every session, she has felt comfortable — even when she is training with men.

“April and Gee have cultivated a very safe and respectful environment,” Ramsey said.

She was so happy with the experience that she decided to enroll her four children in the programs. She wanted them to gain the life skills and self-defense strategies that are emphasized at Vien Jiu-Jitsu.

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Parks and Gee Vien sparing during a class at their gym in Manlius, NY.

A Space For Everyone

Fredrica Introne, another local mom, started training in other out-of-state programs before she moved to Syracuse and discovered the unique atmosphere at Vien Jiu-Jitsu. She said that some gyms will line up participants by belt color, establishing a visual hierarchy, but rank is purposefully deemphasized at Vien Jiu-Jitsu. The approach allows every participant to feel valued regardless of experience or physical strength.

“Gee and April are super technical with what they do,” Introne said. “The fact that they focus so much on skill versus brute force gives room for growth for everyone.”

Jiu-jitsu has been compared to a game of physical chess with strategic moves, reactions, and attacks. A physically weaker person can still outsmart their opponent using incredible focus and mental toughness. As training progresses, people of all sizes tend to feel that they could protect themselves if they were ever attacked.

Parks sees jiu-jitsu as a way to build the physical and mental strength needed to handle challenges both on and off the mats. She’s helping all of her students discover new power within themselves, and she invites anyone who is interested to join.

“It’s a sport that requires a high level of intelligence and persistence,” Parks said. “You don’t need to be highly athletic, although those attributes will help you. What you really need is a spirit that you are not going to quit. If you’re a person who likes to do hard things, you will love jiu-jitsu.”

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