Penny Thomas

Penny Thomas is a South African submission grappler and third degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, born on 2 July 1979 in Durban. After opening South Africa's first jiu-jitsu academy in her garage she began travelling to Brazil to train, and she later moved to the United States, training under Luis Heredia and then Leticia Ribeiro. Her titles include four black belt world championships in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, two Pan American titles, the World No-Gi, a FILA world grappling title, a Grapplers Quest world title and the ADCC Submission Wrestling world title. She is described as the first jiu-jitsu black belt from the African continent.