Jiujitsu Grandma proves age is just a number [Video]

“Do you take old people?” Elaine Beiersdoerfer asked the coaching staff of Gracie Barra Jiu-Jitsu in Pelham. 

Little did Beiersdoerfer know that seven years later, she would be called “Jiujitsu Grandma” by an Instagram following of over 48,000 followers. The 76-year-old business owner and Vestavia Hills community member holds her purple belt in Brazilian jiujitsu. 

Beiersdoerfer sought martial arts to excite her and keep her mobile as she grew older. 

“I was never a girly girl,” she said. “I remember fighting boys on the playground.”

When Beiersdoerfer started, she was the only girl in the judo class. After she moved up to jiujitsu, she often worked with younger men her size. 

“Everything is still very hard,” she said. “But they’re going to have a fight on their hands.” 

Head coach Kaliffa Oliveira watched Beiersdoerfer’s technique in amazement. In 2019, he approached her with the opportunity to compete in the World …