Bailey Heinsohn
Bailey Heinsohn competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in a gi.
Training Background

It started with two hours a week.

Before AOJ. Before wrestling. Before strength training. Before the championships. Bailey's Jiu-Jitsu began with two one-hour classes each week — and then, year by year, the layers were added.

The beginning

Nothing about the beginning looked like the athlete she would become.

Bailey's first organized sport was gymnastics. She started at World Gymnastics in Rancho Santa Margarita on September 11, 2017. Nine months later, on June 18, 2018, she took her first Jiu-Jitsu class.

There was no immediate full-time commitment. Jiu-Jitsu meant one hour, twice a week. Gymnastics continued alongside it. For years, the two overlapped while Jiu-Jitsu gradually became the larger part of her athletic life.

Her first BJJ school was Evolve MMA. In March 2021, she moved to Ralph Gracie Mission Viejo and trained roughly two to three days per week. Gymnastics ended two months later. The path was narrowing.

By the time Bailey walked into Art of Jiu Jitsu on September 13, 2023, she had already been training Jiu-Jitsu for more than five years. AOJ became a major new chapter in a story that was already well underway.

The pattern

Jiu-Jitsu stayed at the center. Everything else was added with a purpose.

Wrestling was added to strengthen grappling. Strength training became a separate development track. Muay Thai and MMA were periodic self-defense and combat-sports exposure. None of those replaced the main path.

The development timeline

One layer at a time.

This is the chronology behind the current athlete. Exact dates are used where they are known. Approximate dates stay approximate.

  1. 2017

    September 11, 2017

    01

    Gymnastics comes first

    Bailey began gymnastics at World Gymnastics in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. It was her first organized athletic foundation.

  2. 2018

    June 18, 2018

    02

    Two hours of Jiu-Jitsu a week

    Her first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schedule was simple: one-hour classes, twice per week, while she continued gymnastics.

  3. 2021

    Around February 2021

    03

    The first BJJ chapter ends

    Her first Jiu-Jitsu school, Evolve MMA, ended as a chapter around February 2021. The date is approximate.

  4. 2021

    March 16, 2021

    04

    Ralph Gracie Mission Viejo

    Bailey started at Ralph Gracie Mission Viejo, training approximately two to three days per week at that stage.

  5. 2021

    May 2021

    05

    Gymnastics ends

    After years of overlap between gymnastics and Jiu-Jitsu, gymnastics ended and grappling became the clearer athletic path.

  6. 2023

    February 23–26, 2023

    06

    Muay Thai and MMA enter the picture

    Bailey began periodic Muay Thai training with Bangkok Muay Thai on February 23 and MMA training at Black House MMA on February 26. These were primarily for self-defense and broader combat-sports exposure, not central parts of her competitive program. She later had a few MMA fights; the exact record is still being documented.

  7. 2023

    July 31, 2023

    07

    Wrestling is added for Jiu-Jitsu

    Bailey began at Thunder Wrestling. Wrestling was introduced to strengthen her Jiu-Jitsu rather than to create a separate full-time wrestling path.

  8. 2023

    September 13, 2023

    08

    The AOJ chapter begins

    Bailey started at Art of Jiu Jitsu in Costa Mesa, California. AOJ remains her current Jiu-Jitsu academy.

  9. 2023

    September 25, 2023

    09

    Strength becomes structured

    Bailey began structured strength training at East Coast West Coast. She continues to train there.

  10. 2023

    October 30, 2023

    10

    SoCal Hammers Wrestling

    After stopping Thunder shortly before, Bailey started with SoCal Hammers. During these wrestling-school periods, training was usually around twice per week, with some weeks missed entirely.

  11. 2024

    October 10, 2024

    11

    Reign Wrestling

    Bailey started at Reign Wrestling, her current wrestling club. Her wrestling schedule has remained intermittent — often one to two sessions per week for a few weeks, sometimes followed by months away.

Bailey Heinsohn at a wrestling competition.

The wrestling chapter

She did not start wrestling to become a wrestler.

Wrestling was introduced to make Bailey better at Jiu-Jitsu. It has never been a continuous, full-time second sport.

She started at Thunder Wrestling in July 2023, moved to SoCal Hammers that October, and began at Reign Wrestling in October 2024. When active, the schedule has usually been only one or two sessions per week, sometimes for a few weeks at a time, followed by long gaps.

Even with limited wrestling-specific training, Bailey has won multiple wrestling tournaments, including a California state championship and events described by her family as nationally ranked. The individual tournament record is still being verified before it becomes a formal part of this site.

What belongs where

Not every discipline has the same role.

Center

Jiu-Jitsu

The primary sport and the center of Bailey's competitive development since 2018.

Support

Strength

A structured development track at East Coast West Coast since September 2023.

Supplement

Wrestling

Used intermittently to strengthen the larger grappling game rather than as a separate full-time path.

Exposure

Muay Thai + MMA

Periodic training primarily for self-defense and broader combat-sports exposure.

The game today

Pressure.
Position.
Finish.

Bailey's competition game is built around a heavy top style, pressure passing and strong positional control. A recurring progression is pass to side control, establish control, then advance toward mount.

Chokes are a major finishing pathway. Her front-headlock attacks include guillotines, D'Arces and anacondas. Those are recurring parts of the game visible in her competition footage and results.

The current style did not arrive all at once. It sits on top of years of Jiu-Jitsu, selective wrestling, structured strength work and the different rooms Bailey has trained in along the way.

This page is still growing

The dates are the skeleton. The archive will add the life around them.

Historical training photos, early academy footage, exact wrestling tournament results and Bailey's own reflections will be added as they are verified and preserved. Unknown details are left unknown rather than filled in.

Continue the story

See what the training became.

Competition record

Results

Follow the verified results, matches and championships built from the work.

Explore →

Watch

Media

See Bailey compete, train and move through the moments behind the record.

Explore →

Journey

Timeline

Place the training chapters inside the larger story, year by year.

Explore →