Empower Us 2018 – Maeghen Cotterill

Owner, 5 Elements Martial Arts
Team Canada President, Ringsports
Co-president, Matsport
World Kickboxing and Karate Union (WKU)

Maeghen Cotterill is thirty-eight years old, but has already had thirty plus years of training in martial arts. She has a fifth degree black belt in shotokan karate, and a first degree black belt in kickboxing, muay thai and WTF taekwondo. She has a brown sash in kung fu, and has been awarded eleven world championship gold medals. Maeghen has taken her martial arts training and turned it into an extremely successful career. She is now the owner, head instructor, and head coach of 5 Elements Martial Arts in Calgary, where over one thousand students are training in more than seven different styles of martial arts. Her studio (dojo) is one of the largest stand-alone dojo’s in Canada. Along with her successful martial arts business she is WKU Team Canada president of Ringsports, and WKU Team Canada co-president of Matsport.

Maeghen has been awarded one of the titles in the prestigious ‘Top 40 Under 40’ for Avenue Magazine because of training and teaching a large amount of autistic students. She has also received an award from the Prime Minister of Canada in recognition of positive contributions to the community.

Multiple other accomplishments include national and international referee and team Canada coach, motivational speaker, corporate keynote speaker, self defense and anti-bullying educator, corporate health and wellness coach, personal fitness trainer, Canadian Cancer Society fundraising gala board member, and ambassador for Gems for Gems which works in Canadian women’s shelters for victims of domestic violence.

Maeghen is also responsible for leading the International Woman in Martial Arts Initiative – in partnership with WKU World. This initiative is focused on empowering, supporting, encouraging, developing and providing equal opportunities to women in martial arts, while encouraging new women into the sport.

As Maeghen is working with the team Canada schools as well as woman’s charities, the initiative would encourage the education of these community women (and men) to be more welcoming and inclusive, and less intimidated by martial arts schools and classes. It would provide more confidence and awareness for people in negative situations, show value in training, help others become a black belt, and provide opportunities for competition. The initiative would also present possibilities for others to own a dojo, and provide woman-to-woman support, showing the girls and ladies how strong and capable they are of achieving any goal they set their minds on.