If you’re a medal-winning martial artist, as this Liverpool Hope University student is, you’ve got a fighting chance of landing a lucrative scholarship.
Denissa Retezan is a second year student at Hope.
She’s the epitome of someone with both brains and brawn.
The 21-year-old, originally from the small town of Lupeni, western Romania, has racked-up countless trophies in the twin disciplines of karate and jiu-jitsu.
And due to her prowess in the two sports, she’s also the recipient of a £1,000 per year Sports-related Performance Scholarship from Hope, to help her in both her academic and competitive efforts.
She explains: “Back in Romania, I was a two-times national champion and two-times European champion in karate, the last medal coming in 2015.
“I competed constantly for around four years, picking up more than 35 medals, more or less.”
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When Denissa moved to Liverpool, however, she decided to take her martial arts career in a new direction, joining the acclaimed Aspire Combat Sports Academy, located in Wavertree, Liverpool.
It’s here Denissa switched to Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a martial art and combat sport where ground fighting techniques and submission holds are key.
She’s competed multiple times - winning 18 medals in just a six month period starting in the summer of 2021.
She adds: “Overall, I had 38 matches in those six months. It was intense. I fight in two divisions - one while wearing a ‘gi’, which is the traditional white uniform, and one without a gi - so there was a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes.”
Denissa has fought in a host of prestigious tournaments, including the All Stars and Empire competitions. And in December she took part in what she calls a ‘super fight’ in Glasgow as part of the Scottish Cup.
Denissa reveals: “With my jiu-jitsu, I’ve also been coaching for three years. And it’s connected perfectly with the degree at Hope, because that too looks at coaching, training, injury prevention, rehabilitation methods and how to use data analysis to help athletes perform better.
“And because I’m an athlete myself, doing this course helps me to work on myself, but also on my students when I teach.”
Ultimately, Denissa plans to carry on competing for as long as she can in jiu-jitsu, as she dreams of rising to the very top of her sport - and hopes that competing could one day represent her sole profession and source of income.
Meanwhile Denissa says her Hope scholarship has proved invaluable, particularly when it comes to help purchase training kit and equipment - which isn’t cheap.
She says: “I train at least three times a week, and I also need to cover the cost of gym membership and transport, so I’m extremely grateful for the Scholarship from Liverpool Hope University.”
And why should you give jiu-jitsu a try if you’re curious?
Denissa argues: “It’s a lot of fun. Everyone I’ve met in the gym has been really nice and you can make friends easily.
“But jiu-jitsu also gives you a skill that you can use in life if you ever need to defend yourself. Not only does it keep you fitness up - you train very hard - but you learn something which can give you a lot of confidence.”