Emily Kwok is a Canadian third-degree jiu-jitsu black belt, world champion and coach. Wikipedia describes her as a pioneer for women in the art. She co-founded Princeton BJJ in New Jersey, where she trains and teaches, and her channels cover teaching, competition and coaching for women.
Background
Kwok was born on 5 October 1980 in Aomori, Japan, and her family moved to Canada when she was a baby. She trained in Wing Chun and kickboxing and found sambo in Vancouver in her late teens. She started jiu-jitsu in 2001. In New York she received her blue belt from Renzo Gracie and her purple belt from Takashi Ouchi. Ricardo Almeida later awarded her brown and black belts, making her the first Canadian woman to earn a jiu-jitsu black belt. Wikipedia lists Marcelo Garcia as her trainer and affiliation.
Competition highlights
- IBJJF World Championship: gold at −69 kg in 2007, the first jiu-jitsu world title won by a Canadian woman, and bronze in 2010.
- IBJJF World No-Gi: gold at −66.5 kg in 2010, silver in 2007 and 2011.
- Pans and Nationals: Pan bronze in 2008 and 2012, and American Nationals gold at −69 kg with open-class silver in 2009.
- Masters: World Masters gold in 2018, Pan gold in 2022 and European gold in Paris in 2023 (Master 3 middleweight).
- MMA: one fight for Smackgirl, won by decision.
Teaching and community
In 2010 Kwok and Art Keintz co-founded Princeton BJJ in Princeton, New Jersey, a Marcelo Garcia affiliate. She was also an early organiser of the Women's Grappling Camp, and Wikipedia lists her current work as jiu-jitsu instructor and consultant.
Related pages
Princeton BJJ is affiliated with Marcelo Garcia, whose game is built around the guards and back attacks covered on our butterfly guard, x-guard and back control pages. Follower counts are curated snapshots, not live data.