Kenny Kim

Kenny Kim is the founder and head instructor of Kenny Kim Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, one of the most respected martial arts academies in Georgia. A black belt under Professor Eddie Camden of Tiger Academy of Martial Arts in Alpharetta, Kenny has spent nearly two decades building what started as a single small room into a 5,000-square-foot academy in Marietta that now trains close to 400 students — from four-year-olds taking their first class to seasoned competitors preparing for national titles.

His path to jiu-jitsu started long before the sport found him. Kenny began training martial arts at age four, working through Taekwondo and later Muay Thai before encountering Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as an adult. The first experience on the mat was, by his own account, deeply humbling — he found himself being submitted repeatedly by training partners using movements that looked almost effortless. That frustration became the hook. He kept coming back, and eventually earned his black belt under Professor Eddie Camden at Tiger Academy of Martial Arts in Alpharetta — one of Georgia's most storied BJJ lineages.

As a competitor, Kenny has earned multiple IBJJF Open Black Belt Championship titles and has tested his game at the Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Pro level. He approaches competition the same way he approaches teaching — with the belief that the mat is where you find out what you are actually made of.

Opening the academy in 2006 was not a smooth ride. Kenny had spent years in construction before making the leap — working seven days a week, ten to twelve hours a day to save enough capital to start something of his own. The early days of the gym were lean: one meal a day, long nights in an empty building, and more than a few moments of genuine doubt. What carried him through, he says, was consistency and patience — the same qualities he now tries to pass on to every student who walks through the door. The academy started at the intersection of Barrett Parkway and Dallas Highway and has since grown into its current location on Whitlock Avenue, where it operates with a full competition team, multiple black and brown belt instructors, and programs across every age group.

Beyond the mat, Kenny is the creator and host of Mat Made, a documentary series that travels across the United States documenting the stories of people whose lives have been transformed by jiu-jitsu — veterans managing PTSD, people in recovery, individuals who found confidence and community when they needed it most. "Jiu Jitsu is for everyone," he has said. "It isn't just about fighting. It's about testing your limits and going to places you never thought possible." He is also the author of The Jiu-Jitsu Millionaire, a practical guide for martial arts academy owners, and runs an online instruction platform at rollwithkenny.com. He competes when he can, longboards when he has time, and travels internationally whenever he gets the chance.