Dominika Obelenyte
Address
Kaunas, Lithuania
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About Us
Dominyka Obelenyte was born on the 30th of July, 1995 in the historical city of Kaunas, Lithuania. She left the country at the age of 6, with her family, moving to the United States.
Feeling that Dominyka would be best equipped to ward off bullies and trouble makers if she had a good understanding of self defence, Obelenyte’s father enlisted her in ju-jutsu classes, the traditional (japanese) style of jiu jitsu, when she was 7 years old.
Aged 9, Dominyka moved once again, this time to New Jersey. Although her father tried to find another traditional ju-jutsu club, none was around and she ended up joining a tae kwon do (TKD) dojo. Obelenyte did not settle at the TKD gym, deeming the system weak and unrealistic. The family continued in search for a viable alternative combat syle until they found a Brazilian jiu jitsu advert. The advert was for an academy in Fair Lawn, led by coach Louis Vintaloro.
At Louis Vintaloro’s gym (a Gracie Humaitá affiliate), Dominyka Obelenyte found the martial art she was hoping for. She became increasingly interested and more focussed in the techniques and the training, being promoted by Louis up until her orange belt.
After receiving the orange belt, Dominyka opted to leave Vintaloro’s academy, following her senior teammates’ footsteps (JT Torres and Jay Hayes) who had joined TLI’s gym in Maryland. During this period, as Maryland was a long drive from New Jersey, Dominyka would have private classes with JT (who awarded her green belt) and with Emily Kowk. Emily and young Dominyka bonded well and it was the legendary female black belt who later convinced Obelenyte to visit Marcelo Garcia‘s academy in New York.
At Marcelo Garcia’s, Dominyka found a solid team that allowed her to prosper, this was evident as her jiu jitsu truly started to blossom. The first sign of an emerging star came at the age of 14, when she won the women’s adult blue belt lightweight division world title, the first of her career. The win was even more impressive, taking into account that Dominyka had dislocated a rib a few weeks prior to the tournament. Working with a chiropractor on the days approaching the event, Dominyka Obelenyte was in extreme pain. The medication given to appease this pain made her feverish, which led to a weight loss, arriving at the competition 10 pounds (4.5kg) under the weight limit.
Dominika’s astonishing talent pushed her up the ranks quickly in the MG academy, earning her brown belt from Marcelo at the age of 17. This meteoric rise was justified with sequential wins at the world championship, and earned her, her black belt on the 15th of January, 2015.
In her first year at black belt, Dominyka Obelenyte achieved double gold at the 20th World Jiu Jitsu Championship, in Long Beach, California.
On September 2016 Dominyka announced through her social media accounts that she was no longer training under Garcia, having moved to Fábio Clemente’s gym and claiming personal reasons for her team-swap.
