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What Warriors Are Made Of
By: Emily Kwok
2011 – IBJJF No Gi Worlds. Emily Kwok vs. Rachel Demara
The score was 9-0 with 30 seconds left on the clock. I was clinging to my opponent, both of us on our backs, with the seatbelt grip and one hook in, trying to sink in a choke before the buzzer sounded. I was […] -
Should You Compete?
By: Emily Kwok
“Should I compete?”
I am asked this question a lot.I often respond, I’m not sure if you should, but here’s why I do.
In the beginning it had more to do with curiosity than anything else. There were so few women in jiu jitsu that I just wanted to know how I would fare against […]
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Faixa Preta
By: Emily Kwok
Faixa Preta: Black Belt
When I began training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, it was a good while before I’d ever encountered a real live Black Belt and it never occurred to me that I would ever become one or want one. The Black Belt was almost like a god or deity — holy, sacred and […] -
How Leaders Should Lead
By: Emily Kwok
‘Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power’ – Abraham Lincoln
Reflecting on the 18 going on 19 years I’ve been involved with BJJ, it’s a surreal moment to confront myself with the fact that I’ve been training a long time; like long enough […] -
Lessons from Matheus Diniz
By: Joe Hannan
When Matheus Diniz walks into a room, you start thinking he was assembled by an elite team of scientists in some grappling cyborg laboratory. The man was built to lock limbs, compress arteries and apply leverage.
Then Diniz smiles, and what you once thought was a cybernetic organism becomes a playful, gentle world-destroyer […]
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Remembering David Jacobs
“Words fail, and the mind reels.” That’s what my mother said the last time my family lost a member. That sentence says it all, and it says not nearly enough. That’s what I’m thinking and feeling now, about David Jacobs.
The world lost David Jacobs last week. He was a professor, friend, colleague, brother, confidante, attorney, […]