Strength training for women in martial arts
Build a stronger body for the mat, the Capoeira roda, the gym, and everyday life.
Rooted Strength is for people (especially women) who want training that feels clear, grounded, and connected to how they actually move. Choose the experience that fits your season: ongoing membership, private online classes, or the upcoming Rooted Strength cohort.
“When strength is rooted in mind, body, and spirit, the body becomes capable and the art becomes a lifelong home.”
- Morena
EXPERIENCE PATHS
Choose the Rooted Strength experience that fits your training season
Rooted Warriors Membership
Ongoing strength training through Zoom with community support. Build steady progress, accountability, and a training rhythm you can return to week after week. Regress and Progress according to your rhythm of life.
Online Private Sessions Experiences
Pick from mobility, breath, women's life cycles, mindset, steel mace, and kettlebells, or any of my martial arts knowledge. This class is to help you with whatever you need. Sold as 1 session or a package of 3 sessions.
Rooted Strength: For Women In Martial Arts
An 8-week cohort experience is coming soon for women who want to reconnect with themselves. Time to gain the strength you've always deserved with a community go keep you inspired.
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What is the Rooted Strength Method?
Born from a martial artist's and mother's lifelong journey, the Rooted Strength Method is a grounded approach to strength training for martial artists — with an emphasis on the unique needs of women, though anyone willing to train with intention is welcome.
It uses mobility, breath, body awareness, kettlebells, and the steel mace to build reliable patterns that reduce pain and injury while maximizing performance. It builds strength that carries into real movement: striking, grappling, Capoeira, stance work, balance, transitions, recovery, and control. Ancient methods, made for the modern martial artist — training the whole self, mind, body, and spirit.
This is not about doing more for the sake of doing more. It's about training with self-love, attention, and intention — building joint stability, pelvic floor awareness, and confidence in your body, without burning it down to build it up.
Rooted Strength helps you train in a way that supports your body instead of working against it. It's a relationship with yourself — present with your breath, no matter the circumstances.
Learn moreÂ
Who is Ana Carolina Lima, "Morena" as trainer
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I'm a Brazilian/American mother of three, and I've been training martial arts since I was 12 years old. Over the years I've cross-trained across many arts, including dance, competed professionally, and lived through every cycle a woman's body and life can move through. Along the way, I got hurt — a lot. I burned out. And I went looking for a more sustainable way to train — one that would let me age unbroken in these arts that I love.
That search became Rooted Strength.
I help people (especially women) in martial arts feel stronger, more stable, and more connected to their bodies. My approach is direct, supportive, and practical — I care about form, strength, and consistency, but just as much, I care about how training actually feels in your body.
Strength training doesn't have to be loud, confusing, or built around punishment. I believe it should be built around self-love and trust in the power you already carry. You deserve training that respects your goals, your busy life, your lived experience, and the demands of your practice.
Rooted Strength exists to help you build strength with clarity, intention, and trust in yourself — because muscle and strength aren't just physical. They're the pillars of longevity, for your body and your mind.
You are powerful. Let's train like it.
Read my story
Testimonials
I began working with Morena during my second trimester of pregnancy. Her guidance in alignment, breathing, movement, and mindset kept me pain-free and empowered throughout. She showed me how to honor my changing body and taught me to hold space for myself with love and without judgment.
-Josemar (Maracuja)
Mother, Capoeira practicioner, Tennis player, Dancer, Musician
I began training with Morena right before a breast cancer diagnosis. Through surgeries and chemo, she supported me with patience and care, and when I returned, she gave me modified training that helped me heal and grow at the same time. Morena’s approach is real, raw, and deeply supportive. I am stronger, more aligned, and more hopeful than ever.
-Â Leoa
Mother, Capoeirista, Bjj practitioner, Yoga teacher
Before joining RSM, I lived with constant joint pain and stiffness and had stopped training in martial arts because of it. Now I feel stronger, grounded, and pain-free enough to walk barefoot again! I’ve learned how to move in ways that protect my back and body. This has been a life-changing, empowering experience—I recommend it to everyone.
-Â Amy Barsky
Mother, Capoeirista, Bjj practitioner, Yoga teacher
Testimonials
 I came to Morena right after injuring my collarbone. I felt better after our first session and was back to training within days with tools to keep myself safer. What I learned from her will serve me for a lifetime.
-Paulo Illias (Bocao)
Bjj black belt, Bjj coach, Bjj professional competitor
After almost a year of training with Morena, I feel more stable, strong, aware, and capable. My posture, breath control, and ability to move and train without pain have all improved. Her unique combination of unconventional weight training, breathwork, body mechanics, and self-awareness is a true game changer. It has been an honor to grow with her and the community she is creating.
-Sara (Fominha)
Mother, Capoeira teacher, RS Coach
Morena has been such an integral part of my journey in jiu-jitsu and building strength. Her experience in Capoeira, jiu-jitsu, and her life as a dedicated mother all contribute to her wealth of knowledge and compassion. I had been dealing with chronic shoulder and upper back pain with limited mobility. Within just a few weeks of starting her program, the pain disappeared, and my mobility improved. I feel stronger, more confident, and I thoroughly enjoy the work we are all doing together.Â
-Lora (Coração)
Mother, Dr. of Acupunture, bjj & Capoeira practicionerÂ
 Testimonials
 Morena awakened me to the power of breathwork. It completely transformed my balance, strength, and control in training. I now have the tools to take my movements to the next level.
- Julia (Faisca)
Professora of capoeira
Before training with Morena, chronic pain from Capoeira left me feeling weak and stuck. Within months, the tightness and pain in my hips and legs were gone. After a year, I feel stronger, more mobile, grounded, and free in my body. I even enjoy lifting weights now—something I never thought I’d say! Morena transformed my perspective on aging, healing, and what’s possible.
- Fernanda
Mother, Dancer, Capoeira practicioner
With Rooted Strength Method, I became aware of how body and breath are connected. This created a foundation upon which all my other fitness goals were built. I trained with more confidence than ever because I knew which muscles I was focusing on and knew how to engage my entire body in supporting them. It felt great to feel confident! As I progressed, I discovered ways to tap into my balance in order to add fluidity to my movements.
- Carrie Dragoni (Chuquinha)
Teacher, Capoeira instructor, Runner
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CREDENTIALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Ana Carolina Lima "Morena"
- Brazilian/American, 43, single mother of three
- Training martial arts since the age of 12
- Coaching martial arts since 2005
- Specializes in teaching everyone from 3yrs +
- 3rd Degree BJJ Black Belt
- Capoeira Contra-Mestra
- Certified Physiotrainer
- Certified in Traumatic Crisis Intervention
- Creator of the Rooted Strength Method
- Founder of Rooted Warriors, an ongoing training &Â community space
Competition & Media
- Sponsored BJJ competitor with experience competing worldwide
- First woman commentator on TV for Abu Dhabi World Pro, 2018
- Traveled the world to teach, learn, and compete
Teaching & Impact
- Self-defense and close-combat specialist
- Works with kids and teens with social-emotional difficulties, including those on the spectrum
- Coached kids' BJJ, producing multiple world champions
- Guinness World Record holder for the largest kids' BJJ class in the world
- Pioneer of Capoeira and BJJ in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Built &Â Taught BJJ programs for schools and the military in the UAE
- Advocate for female leadership in martial arts
Strength you can use
Training that carries into striking, grappling, balance, and transitions.
Mobility and control
Build joint support, core stability, and movement quality without burnout.
Confidence and consistency
Create a grounded training rhythm you can trust and return to.
Support for every season
Choose community, private coaching, or a guided cohort based on what you need now.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Bring Morena/Rooted strength to your next event
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SPECIAL EVENTS
Bring Rooted Strength to Your Next Event
Grounded, body-aware coaching in martial arts, strength, breath, and mobility — taught with clarity and respect for how training actually feels in the body.
While Rooted Strength is built from my experience as a woman in martial arts, these sessions are open to everyone. I regularly teach mixed adult groups, men's programs, and kids' classes, alongside women-specific sessions on strength, breath, and pelvic floor awareness.
Sessions can include breathwork, mobility, pelvic floor awareness, kettlebells, steel mace, functional strength, and martial arts-specific movement — built around your group's goals.
Available For
- Martial arts seminars (all ages, all levels)
- Women's self-defense events
- Kids' BJJ and martial arts classes
- Strength and mobility workshops
- Breath and pelvic floor education sessions
- Kettlebell and steel mace training
- Guest teaching and speaking
- Custom private group events
Who It's For
Schools, studios, teams, and communities looking for training that is strong, clear, and respectful of the body. This includes women's programs, men's and mixed adult groups, kids' classes, coaches, students, and fitness communities looking for a deeper connection between strength, movement, and real-life application.
Let's Talk
Interested in hosting a seminar, workshop, or speaking event? Share a few details — your event, audience, location, and goals — and Rooted Strength will follow up to discuss fit, format, and availability.
You're safe with me. I'll never spam you or sell your contact info.