Laurence Cousin

Laurence Cousin Fouillat, born on 7 August 1981 in Saint Germain en Laye, France, is a French submission grappler and fourth degree black belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor and instructor, regarded as the first European woman to receive a black belt in the sport. She trained in aikido from the age of eight, joined Europe's oldest BJJ academy, Le Cercle Tessier, in 1999 as its first and only female member, and received her purple belt from Flavio Behring in 2002 and her black belt from him in 2005 during a seminar of Saulo Ribeiro. In 2005 she won the CBJJO World Jiu-Jitsu Cup and medalled at the IBJJF World Championship in Rio de Janeiro, and in 2007 she became the first woman from outside Brazil to be IBJJF World jiu-jitsu champion. That year she switched to the Sankuno Academy in Paris while working as a police officer.