Austin Fit Magazine > Articles > AFM > Voices: How Two Friends From Austin Are Learning To Roll With The Many Lessons Of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Voices: How Two Friends From Austin Are Learning To Roll With The Many Lessons Of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Maria Isaza and Lauren Burandt have relatively new journeys in Brazilian jiu jitsu. But their experiences have opened the door for boundless opportunities ahead.

By Cory Mull – November 18, 2025

Maria Isaza (left) and Lauren Burandt (right) are two friends who train and compete in Brazilian jiu jitsu out of 10th Planet Austin.

Martial arts are seriously big business.

Over 46,500 gyms in the category generated $19.4 billion in revenue across the United States in 2024, according to IBISWorld. That number continues to throttle up as the combat sport business booms to insane levels.

Over in Austin, some say, the business of Brazilian jiu jitsu is at its epicenter. That fact is only emboldened by international names like Gordon Ryan, considered one of the top jiu jitsu athletes in the world, and Craig Jones, a native Australian and Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt, owning and operating gyms in Central Texas.

That success has funneled down to the hyper-local level, providing a barrier of entry for men and women alike, from youths and teenagers looking to build confidence beyond the hallways, to parents and adults learning how to roll for the first time on the mat. And women like Maria Isaza, a single mother and project manager for Tesla, and Lauren Burandt, a creative marketer by trade, are taking full advantage.

The duo, who train and compete out of 10th Planet Austin, have not only grown within the sport, elevating to the status of blue and purple belts, respectively, but they’ve also formed impressive voices within the sport, with social media handles that reach a combined 100,000 people on Instagram. Both have also competed in Brazilian jiu jitsu competitions at the amateur level.

On most days, you can find the two friends collaborating on silly videos on the mat, training toward their next match, and finding perspective through their journeys.

We sat down with both recently for our latest in-depth interview.

Maria Isaza competes in Brazilian jiu jitsu events in Austin. She says it’s helped her gain confidence in herself and build skills.

Learning About Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Austin Fit Magazine: When did you first come to Austin? When did you find this community, and how important has it been to you?

Maria Isaza: I came to Austin in 2020, back during the COVID days, and I found out very quickly that Eddie Bravo had his gym here, so I was just like, I need to join it. I need to join it. I was actually married at the time, but I was going through a crazy divorce at the same time. I found jiu jitsu to be my safe haven during that time, and I’ve been here five years since.

Lauren Burandt: I started jiu jitsu seven years ago. I was a yoga instructor and really into acrobatics. I kind of wanted to go more towards like a circus route, and one of my students at that time said, ‘Hey, you should try jiu jitsu.’ So I came here, I tried it, and it was so much fun because it incorporates a lot of yoga, surprisingly, and just overall athleticism. You can connect with people really quickly. Also, you’re sitting on them. So it was just a fun way to get really in-depth relationships and meet a community that’s wild, fund and athletic at the same time.

Austin Fit Magazine: Did either of you have backgrounds in wrestling or jiu jitsu, or any sort of combat sports?

Maria: Absolutely not. I came into jiu jitsu completely raw. And, like, I remember my first couple weeks here. I was just like, ‘Ah, it feels weird to touch people.’ But you get over that pretty quickly, and you find the best of friends.

Lauren: What did help me. I didn’t have a background in combat, but I had a background in acrobatics, so that helped me with movement. The hardest things to learn in jiu jitsu s just where you are in space. Figuring out, ‘Oh, knee bend, left arm moves like that.’ It’s really tricky.

Austin Fit Magazine: Maria, you talked about needing community at a time in your life that was important. Can you expand on that a little bit. Why was jiu jitsu, the family community, important for you, and how did t sort of help you grow in your own self?

Maria: It was a really rough time going through the divorce. And. I think there’s a statistic out there that says you need around eight, nine hugs a day to get a healthy amount of serotonin levels. And just being around people and a community that’s so genuine like this one in Austin. There’s nothing that can beat it. It gave me the resilience to go through the hard times that I went through and continue going on.

A Thriving Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Community

Austin Fit Magazine: Can you talk to me a little bit about navigating the community? You were telling me that it’s growing in terms of females competing and training. What’s it like to be a female in this sport and how have you seen it grow?

Lauren: For me, what it’s like being a female in jiu jitsu is you’re entering this as a team. You’re sitting on people, you’re trusting them with your body. So it builds this sense of trust that you can handle yourself. Trust in yourself as a woman, like being on Sixth Street walking through some sketchy areas knowing, ‘OK, I can hold myself.’ I’m more confident. But also, coming in here, you have a group of brothers …never having to wonder if something went wrong. Your relationships are so strong with people.

Maria: I remember going to China for work by myself, and I felt very comfortable going into a country like that, because I have this training that not many people have. It definitely gives me more confidence. And I think not having that victim mindset that people without training have, it makes you not a victim.

Austin Fit Magazine: Both of you train, but you also compete, right? You try to see if you can beat another person? On that end, the competition side, what has it taught you about yourself, maybe how strong you are and what it means to compete?

Lauren: I have an interesting relationship with competition. Technically in the world of jiu jitsu, we are not competitive. We dabble in competition. There are people who go to war all the time, so we would be on the lower level of that.

And just being around people and a community that’s so genuine like this one in Austin. There’s nothing that can beat it. It gave me the resilience to go through the hard times that I went through and continue going on.

Maria: I would kind of say hobbyist competitor.

Lauren: I mean, I don’t enjoy it.

Austin Fit Magazine: Do you enjoy training?

Lauren: I enjoy training, but competition puts you in this war mindset. When you’re training every single day, I know I can break your leg, I know I can break your arm. But I want to respect you so that when you tap, whereas when I’m going into competition, I’m going to hurt this person. And if you go into training and you hurt your partner, you’re hurting yourself. That’s why you see a lot of people with trauma who go into jiu jitsu, because it’s about self control and how to navigate that trauma.

Austin Fit Magazine: I’m a runner, so I would reference this in terms of being a hobby jogger going out and doing a marathon, or doing a half marathon. So there are some parallels to that, but at the very least, you are extending yourself in training to these other avenues. I’ve seen your face on some advertisements, Maria, you get a small amount of promotion. What do you get out of it?

Maria: Competition for me, I enjoy it a little bit more than Lauren. Like I told you earlier, I get very tunnel vision when I have an event coming up. I only think about training. And I think competition has taught me that my worst enemy is myself. So if you come in with a bad mindset, you’re probably not going to win. You have to understand that you are the best person on the mat and it’s this mental game you play. And I kind of like playing that game. It’s one of my favorite things. Once I’m on the mat, I’m a different person and it really excites me.

Austin Fit Magazine: What’s your record?

Maria: I don’t keep a record, but I think I have 25 competitions under my belt.

Austin Fit Magazine: What about you, Lauren?

Lauren: I don’t know how many competitions I’ve done. But I haven’t lost any, though. I think I’ve had a draw.

Lauren Burandt had no experience in Brazilian jiu jitsu prior to starting the sport for the first time. But with a background in acrobatics, she said, she was able to transition to specific movements on the mat.

Navigating Combat Sports On The Mat

Austin Fit Magazine: Impressive. So this is a fitness magazine. I’m curious. How does this make yo fit? How does it train you? It’s not running, but it’s cardiovascular n a way. It is strength in a way. How does it make you fit?

Lauren: With this, you have to be completely be in control of your body. There’s no area of your body that you don’t have control of. You have to engage in absolutely everything. You need to know how to hold your core in. You need to know how to exhale at the right moment, how to block, how to hold someone up who’s three, four times your weight. When you first start jiu jitsu, you’re sore. You’re sore in areas like your jaw, your back, behind your ears and your fingers. You didn’t know you could get sore there, because it’s so much engagement and cardio and breath. All these types of workouts are intense. Let’s put them all into one, and that’s what you have with jiu jitsu.

Maria: You have to have the cardio to be able to roll a lot, too. I think something you learn as you do jiu jitsu longer is like the slower the movements, the better. If you’re very spazzy and fast, which happens in the beginning, you’ll tire out.

Austin Fit Magazine: So do you build endurance from just being on the mat for a long extended period of time, or do you have to run in your off time?

Lauren: You’ll hear the high competitors say is like, ‘Don’t run.’ All you need is jiu jitsu. Maybe swim. They encourage a lot of swimming. But it’s mostly just going out there, because jiu jitsu isn’t like any other sport.

How Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Has Given These Athletes Voice

Austin Fit Magazine: I think both of your stories are tremendous, obviously competing on a higher level. But your instagram accounts have a bigger outlet, too. You’re speaking to a larger audience. Can you talk to me a little bit about the opportunity of having a big voice on social media, and what has that allowed you to do in terms of inspiring others, other women, potentially other jiu jitsu athletes, or anything that’s willing to get into the sport?

Maria: I would say for me, social media, my favorite content is just kind of showing the embodiment of who I am. I am a very silly, a very fun person, but I’m also a very active person. So my hope for people following me is to be themselves, to be the most genuine person as they can be.

Lauren: I’ve had many sabbaticals from social media. I have an on and off relationship with it, too. I don’t really how to answer it. I just like my voice in it. I feel like I’m still trying to find it, right? I feel like being a female in jiu jitsu, it’s given me a larger voice than I was ready to have, and knowing how to navigate that.

Austin Fit Magazine: From an outside perspective, when someone is not within this sport, they see either of you and see what’s possible, as a female or just as an athlete. You look at influencers nowadays, social media can be a mechanism for people to achieve something. So I see how it can be distracting and negative, but can you also see what kind of positivity it can bring to someone?

Lauren: Definitely. I think if there’s anyone I would like to give my social media to, I would it would be to help people who have had a traumatic background. Coming to jiu jitsu has really helped me be able to connect with people a lot deeper. And with social media, my message would be: go find your people, find a way to connect deeper with them and incorporate movement.

Maria: I do a lot of outreach through my church, so I’ve become a leader in group here that I do on Saturdays. It’s called Rolls of Jesus. I think I do want women to get into the sport to learn a little bit of self-defense, to learn to move their bodies, and if they just do that little bit, then that’s a win for me. I know I’ve gotten brand new people to the mat, people who don’t know what they’re doing and they end up loving it. That brings joy to me.

Austin Fit Magazine: Growing anything organically is huge.

Maria: And not just that, but like seeing them in the community and becoming friends is something that also brings me joy.

When you first start jiu jitsu, you’re sore. You’re sore in areas like your jaw, your back, behind your ears and your fingers. You didn’t know you could get sore there, because it’s so much engagement and cardio and breath. All these types of workouts are intense. Let’s put them all into one, and that’s what you have with jiu jitsu.

Maria Isaza says she’s the ultimate competitor who once dreamed of being a Brazilian jiu jitsu professional.

What’s Ahead In The Future

Austin Fit Magazine: As I said earlier, running in Austin is booming. But you told me earlier something similar about jiu jitsu. Is that right?

Lauren: Austin is the hub for jiu jitsu in the U.S. No-gi jiu jitsu, in particular, kind of in the world. You have major competition gyms here. People will literally travel from all over the world to come here for jiu jitsu.

Austin Fit Magazine: That’s a great endorsement. I guess the last thing. What’s your long-term goals? When you look at what you want to accomplish as a jiu jitsu athlete, grappler, what do you want to accomplish?

Maria: I think that’s changed through the years. I think year two or three, I got into jiu jitsu. I quit my full-time job to get another full-time job to maybe do grappling. I wanted to be like this pro grappler. I realized very quickly that was not going to happen. So it changes. Now, I can see something clearer: to be with my friends, to keep doing it as a hobby, to learn more about self defense. And, you know, hopefully one day I’ll be a black belt. Maybe in five, six years, we’ll see.

Lauren: For me, obviously, everybody wants to be a black belt one day. It’s fun, but I would like to continue on this path of finding the balance to get there, not being injured, knowing how to roll smart, knowing how to connect with people while becoming a black belt. And that’s really kind of the deeper layers of a black belt, is that you would know what you’re doing so much that you’re controlling the entire roll. So I would like to do that and continue to grow in that way in jiu jitsu.

You can follow Maria Isaza at @mariabamf and Lauren Burandt at @lauren_bur. Have a story to tell? If you’d like to be a part of our Voices series, email Cory Mull at comulles@gmail.com.