Erin Herle was born on August 31, 1989, and grew up in the San Fernando Valley in California. Before jiu-jitsu entered her life, she was deeply immersed in the hardcore and punk music scene — a subculture defined by community, self-expression, and resilience in the face of adversity. That countercultural ethos proved to be a natural precursor to the discipline and tight-knit identity of the BJJ community she would later embrace.

Herle stepped onto the mats for the first time in August 2009 at the age of 19, with no prior martial arts background. Her entry point was Rômulo Barral's class in Los Angeles, where she encountered a level of challenge and personal growth that resonated with the same spirit she had found in punk culture. The values of grit, perseverance, and belonging that had shaped her early years translated seamlessly into the demands of jiu-jitsu, laying the foundation for a serious and decorated competitive career.

Herle's path through the belt ranks was defined by exposure to some of the most accomplished instructors in the sport's history. Her development began under Rômulo Barral, a multiple-time IBJJF World Champion whose Los Angeles academy provided a rigorous competitive environment for her foundational years. She then transitioned to the Alliance academy in Los Angeles under Rubens Charles — widely known as Cobrinha — a decorated world and ADCC champion whose technical precision and movement-based game would come to shape her own competitive approach.

Training at Marcelo Garcia's Academy

As a purple belt, Herle made a defining commitment to her development by relocating to New York City to train under Marcelo Garcia at his renowned academy. Garcia — one of the most celebrated grapplers in history and a master of guillotine and back take systems — provided a high-level environment that accelerated her technical and competitive growth. She earned her brown belt from Garcia in August 2015, a milestone that coincided with one of the most productive stretches of her competition career.

The Road to Black Belt

After returning to California, Herle continued training under Cobrinha and received her black belt from him on November 4, 2017. Her arc through three elite world champions — Barral, Garcia, and Cobrinha — produced a technically well-rounded game informed by distinct yet complementary philosophies. Few competitors of her generation could claim a development path of equal breadth or depth.

Herle competes in the lightweight division (Peso Leve, 64 kg / 141.5 lbs) representing the United States under the Alliance banner. Her black belt career carried forward the competitive momentum built across multiple years and belt levels.

Black Belt Highlights

Among her early black belt standouts, Herle claimed gold at the 2018 IBJJF Asian Open, where she competed in the Middle division — an important distinction from her general lightweight classification. That same year, she earned a 2nd-place finish at the 2018 IBJJF European Open, demonstrating consistent podium performance in the early stages of her black belt career. At the 2017 IBJJF South American Championship, Herle secured a 3rd-place finish, further affirming her standing as a competitive force at the international level.

Colored Belt Foundation

The groundwork for those black belt performances was laid during a decorated colored belt run. Herle captured the IBJJF World No-Gi title in 2015 as a brown belt — one of the most prestigious results of her pre-black belt career. She followed that with a European Open gold medal in 2016 and added the IBJJF São Paulo Open title in 2017, both at brown belt. A 2nd-place finish at the 2017 IBJJF Pans underscored her consistency on the IBJJF circuit. Earlier in her progression, she reached the podium at the IBJJF World Championship at blue belt in 2012 and continued placing at major events throughout her purple and brown belt years, accumulating the competitive experience that would carry her into elite black belt competition.

Beyond her accomplishments on the competition mat, Herle is widely recognized for founding the #SubmitTheStigma campaign, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about mental illness and suicide prevention. The initiative was born from profound personal loss — the suicide of her father in 2015, a tragedy that occurred during her brown belt years and reshaped her sense of purpose both inside and outside the sport.

Rather than retreating from public life, Herle channeled her grief into advocacy, using her platform as a competitor and her connection to the BJJ community to bring conversations about mental health into spaces where they had rarely been held openly. Through merchandise, social media, and her visibility at competition events, she transformed the #SubmitTheStigma name into a recognizable symbol within grappling circles and beyond.

The campaign draws on the same sense of brotherhood and sisterhood that defines the jiu-jitsu community, framing mental health as a challenge that demands the same courage and directness practitioners bring to the mat. Herle's willingness to speak publicly about her father's death and her own experiences with grief has helped dismantle the silence that too often surrounds mental illness, earning #SubmitTheStigma recognition as one of the most impactful advocacy efforts to emerge from the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Herle's contributions to the BJJ community extend into education and media. She has produced instructional video content that makes her competitive knowledge accessible to practitioners at various levels, extending her coaching influence well beyond any single academy. Her involvement with The Jiu Jitsu Journal further reflects a commitment to BJJ media and the preservation of technical knowledge within the sport.

Her dual identity as a high-level competitor and mental health advocate positions her as a distinctive voice in the broader conversation about what jiu-jitsu can offer beyond physical development. By demonstrating that the sport can serve as a framework for resilience, community, and personal growth, Herle has expanded the understanding of BJJ's potential as a vehicle for meaningful change in practitioners' lives.