A SALTCOATS martial arts rising star is heading to Las Vegas for training ahead of the world championships.

Zaira Cousins jets off to start three months of coaching at the Zenith Jiu Jitsu by Robert Drysdale school in the USA.

The international jiu jitsu competition in Los Angeles in May will be Zaira’s first worlds.

The 21-year-old told the Herald: “My hope, really, is to win.

“Especially as I’m going full-time for three months.

“It’s going to be really hard training and I hope the hard work pays off.”

The opportunity to be coached in Las Vegas came after a series of successes.

Zaira recently competed at the London Winter International Open.

She had six fights against competitors from Portugal, Sweden and the US.

She achieved first place in her weight position and first place in the open class.

The wins are even sweeter as Zaira only started competing three years ago.

A keen boxer, she saw that her local centre had started offering jiu jitsu.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a self-defense martial art that focuses on grappling one’s opponent.

Zaira said: “I just decided to give it a go.

“It’s brilliant, especially for women. It’s a very empowering sport.

“It puts technique over strength.

“That’s what got me caught up in it. It’s a feel good sport.”

“I suffer from anxiety and it helps with that.”

The champion fighter said jiu jitsu is useful outside of the arena too.

She said it provides the user a good self-defence mechanism for daily life and gives you the confidence to protect yourself.

But, she said, it is demanding both mentally and physically so requires dedication to see results.

She said: “It’s like nothing else. I’ve been getting up and training whenever I can.

“And it all comes from the amount of sacrifice and dedication you put into it.”

There has yet to be any news about whether the coronavirus will lead to the championships being cancelled, but there have been some changes.

Zaira said: “Normally, when you come into the fight the referee will shake our hand, but now it’s been fist bumps with sanitising gel on the tables too.”