Gina Carano versus Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos?

Now that Gina Carano has defeated Kelly Kobald, the MMA fans are clammoring for a new bout.
Gina Carano versus Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos.
Santos fairly easily crushed Yoko Takahashi, while Kobald gave Carano a run for her money, even winning one round in a judge's opinion.
Now is the stage set for Carano versus Santos?
The Face of women's MMA against The Destroyer?
You have to admit, the hype around this sounds almost like a Hollywood movie.
No offense to either women (I think they are both pretty in their own way), but it feels almost like Rocky and Clubber Lang in Rocky 3.

Kiernan inducted into Martial Arts Hall of Fame

The Northeast Georgian: Sports:

"Habersham County martial arts instructor Master Kathy Kiernan has received one of the highest honors available to those who practice: she was inducted into the 2008 U.S. Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

Kiernan, who owns Kiernan Hapkido Academy in Hollywood, says this is her second Hall of Fame induction. In 2004, she was inducted as female hapkido instructor of the year. This year, she is Hapkido Master of the Year."


Technorati Tags: Kathy Kiernan, boxing kung fu, fighting, mma, karate, martial arts, judo , taekwondo, self defense, female fighting, tae kwon do, news, muay thai, mixed martial arts

MMA pioneer Debi Purcell on Sexton, road to mainstream TV | MMAFighting.com

Interviews - MMA pioneer Debi Purcell on Sexton, road to mainstream TV | MMAFighting.com:

"In late 2007, Muscle and Fitness HERS wrote an article about female fitness role models entitled, “Women Strength”. The article opened by introducing readers to four women that were the class of their sports.

'Skateboarding has Tony Hawk. Women's soccer has Mia Hamm. And if female mixed martial arts (MMA) ever goes mainstream, it will have Debi Purcell,' the magazine said.

Unfortunately, when female MMA first did go mainstream the woman most credited for helping to start and keep the sport alive wasn’t getting the fights on television. Purcell, whose website FighterGirls.com helped keep the sport vibrant in the dark years was notably absent."

Carano, Kobold-Gavin, Santos, Takahashi bouts confirmed for EliteXC card

"Two female tilts will take place. The first features the face of female MMA — Gina Carano — go head to head with Kelly Kobold-Gavin, plus Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, the wife of veteran Evangelista Santos, is slated to square off against Yoko Takahashi."
http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/story/8494324/Preliminary-bouts-confirmed-for-EliteXC-card

TV Recap: America’s Next Top Model – The Notorious Fierce Fourteen/Top Model Inauguration

TV Recap: America’s Next Top Model – The Notorious Fierce Fourteen/Top Model Inauguration:

"Brittany S., 19 from Lake Forest, IL
Mothers, there are other names for your baby girls. There’s Sharon and Linda and Sue – yes, a bit boring, but come on! This is the third Brittany/Brittney of the competition! This particular B-girl practices mixed martial arts with her cage fighter boyfriend and can only pose in a boxer’s stance."

Brittany S.'s name was changed to McKey by Tyra.

Gillian Chung, Kicking Back

Gillian Chung was born January 21, 1981, in Hong Kong China. She is a Hong Kong-based actress and singer. She is best known as a member of the Cantopop group Twins, alongside Charlene Choi.In 2000, one of the model agencies that Chung worked for as part-time while in HK contacted Chung about a job opportunity offered by Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG). Chung accepted the offer in 2000, became a contracted artist of EEG and underwent training before her debut. In 2001, the management company assigned her to form a singing duo, Twins, with Charlene Choi. Currently, she is on extended leave to avoid scrutiny by the media and the public due to the Edison Chen photo scandal in February 2008.

After the scandal, Gillian Chung is set to revive her career as a gongfu star
Six months after being embroiled in the Edison Chen scandal, Twins member Gillian Chung seems set to return to showbiz.
Not as a pop idol, but an action heroine.
In the recently released book Angels In The World, the 27-year-old singer-actress revealed plans to star in a martial arts film.
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/show/story/0,4136,174913,00.html

One-on-one with Rosi Sexton, PhD (Part I) | Fight Ticker

Exclusive: One-on-one with Rosi Sexton, PhD (Part I) | Fight Ticker:

"A few mixed martial artists have been heralded for their high educational accomplishments. But no elite mixed martial artist can come close to the level of education held by professional mixed martial artist, Rosi Sexton, who makes her home in the United Kingdom.

Coming off the heels of a tough split decision victory over Debi Purcell, the 9-1 EliteXC competitor took time to chat with me about everything from school to fighting to family. With a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cambridge and PhD in theoretical computer science from the University of Manchester, this fighter, healer, and mother breaks down her multitude of specialties. Oh, and while building her pro MMA career, she’s simultaneously finishing up another professional degree in osteopathy. Those darn over achievers!"

Jamie Chung and Stacy Keibler in Samurai Girl

Okay, this isn't really MMA, but it is martial arts related.

ABC Family will be airing Samurai Girl over a three day weekend starting September 5, 2008.
The series stars Jamie Chung as Samurai Girl (Heaven) and Stacy Keibler as her arch rival.
The mini series is based on a series of fictional books written by Carrie Asai.

Jamie was born born April 10, 1983. She has been in several series including The Real World: San Diego and its spinoff show, Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II, Days of Our Lives, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, CSI: New York and Veronica Mars. Jamie will also be in the Dragonball movie playing Chi Chi.



Her arch rival is played by Stacy Keibler. Stacy is an American actress and former professional wrestler and valet for WCW and the WWE.

Since sword fights will most likely abound in the mini series, I imagine both women had to undergo some training.

Kickboxer AND Model Sarah Ponce

We haven't had a Sarah Ponce update in awhile, so here's one.

Yes this lovely woman was the 2003 Ujena Swimwear Model of the Year.

And in case you doubt her creds......
Sarah has a record of 12-1, she is the IKF Women’s Amateur IR U.S. Featherweight Champion, the USKBA Amateur Women’s San Da Lightweight International Champion, and WCL veteran with the Houston Enforcers. She is a member of Team USA and competed at the 9th World Wushu Championships in Beijing, China. Sarah was also a U.S. team member at the 2005 World Wushu Championships which took place in Vietnam.
http://gokickbox.com/?cat=87

So there!

TUFF, Tidewater Ultimate Female Fighting

For local group of amateur women wrestlers, this is 'real fighting'
By ROBERTA T. VOWELL, The Virginian-Pilot

Foxx is pounding Tazz into the floor.
The women are locked in combat on a wrestling mat in the back room of an office space in Virginia Beach.
Foxx has her muscular legs wrapped around Tazz's rib cage and is slowly squeezing the breath out of the smaller woman.
Tazz's mother leans forward from her folding chair on the sidelines.
"Pop a shoulder into her neck," mom urges. "C'mon, Tazz, make me proud."
But Tazz is fighting for air, her short gasps punctuating her mother's shouts.
"Tap out," Foxx says, "and you won't have to puke."
Tazz takes another sputtering breath, then raises her hand and lets her palm slap on the floor, blue-painted fingernails bouncing. Surrender.

full story:
http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=137991&ran=76857&tref=po



Technorati Tags: TUFF Tidewater Ultimate Female Fighting boxing kung fu fighting mma karate martial arts judo taekwondo self defense female tae kwon do fist females

Zhang Ziyi

Zhang Ziyi was born on February 9th, 1979 in Beijing, China.
She is one of the best-known Chinese film actresses working today, with a string of Chinese and international hits to her name. She has worked with renowned directors such as Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-Wai, Seijun Suzuki and Rob Marshall.

At the age of 19, she was offered her first role in world renowned director Zhang Yimou's The Road Home, which won the Silver Bear award in the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. Zhang further rose to fame due to her role as the headstrong Jen in the phenomenally successful Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for which she won the Independent Spirit's Best Supporting Actress Award and the Toronto Film Critics' Best Supporting Actress Award.

Her first appearance in an American movie was in Rush Hour 2, but as she didn't speak English at the time, Jackie Chan had to translate everything the director said to her. In that movie, her character's name, "Hu Li" translated from Mandarin Chinese is "Fox".

After this she went on to make Hero with her early mentor Zhang Yimou, which was a huge success in the English-speaking world and an Oscar and a Golden Globe contender. Her next film was the avant-garde drama Purple Butterfly by Lou Zhe which competed at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. She went back to the martial arts genre with House of Flying Daggers, which earned her a Best Actress nomination from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

For her next drama 2046, directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring many of the best-known Chinese actresses (from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland), Zhang as the female lead won the Hong Kong Film Critics' Best Actress Award and the Hong Kong Film Academy's Best Actress Award.

Showing her whimsical musical tap-dancing side, Zhang starred in Princess Raccoon directed by 82-year-old Japanese legend Seijun Suzuki who was honored at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2005, she landed the lead role of Sayuri in the film adaptation of the international bestseller Memoirs of a Geisha. For the film, she reunited with her 2046 co-star Gong Li and with her Crouching Tiger co-star Michelle Yeoh. For the role, she received a 2006 Golden Globe Award nomination.

Zhang has also been known to sing, and was featured on the House of Flying Daggers soundtrack with her own musical rendition of the ancient Chinese poem Jia Rén Qu (The Beauty Song). The song was also featured in a scene in the film.

On June 27, 2005, it was announced that Zhang had accepted an invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), placing her among the ranks of those able to vote on the Academy Awards.

In May 2006, Zhang became the youngest member to sit on the jury of the Cannes Film Festival.

In the fall of 2006, Zhang' most recent film was released, a new drama set in the Tang Dynasty of China called The Banquet .

Most recently she provided the voice of Karai in the TMNT movie that was released on March 23, 2007. She has recently finished filming a movie called Horsemen with Dennis Quaid.

technorati tags:mixed martial arts ,mixed martial art ,mixed martial arts fights ,mixed martial arts fighting ,mixed martial arts news ,female mixed martial arts ,martial arts karate ,martial arts ,martial art ,japanese martial arts ,filipino martial arts ,shaolin martial arts ,chinese martial arts

Michelle Yeoh - Martial Arts

Dato' Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng ( born August 6, 1962) is a Malaysian actress and dancer, well known for performing her own stunts in the action films that brought her to fame in the early 1990's.

Born in Ipoh, Malaysia, she is based in Hong Kong and was chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World in 1997.

She is credited as Michelle Khan in some of her earlier films.

Michelle Yeoh was born to an ethnic Chinese family in Ipoh, Malaysia on August 6, 1962. She was very sporty when she was young and had a passion in dance. She started to study ballet at the age of four years old. At the age 15, her parents accompanied her to England and enrolled her at a boarding school there. Later Yeoh entered London Royal Academy of Dance, majoring in Ballet. But a spinal injury ended her dream of being a prima ballerina, and she consequently had to switch her focus away from dance to choreography and other arts. She later received a B.A. degree in Creative Arts with a minor in Drama.

It was at the age of 21 when Yeoh became the winner of the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant in 1983. She was also Malaysia's representative at the 1983 Miss World pageant in London. From there, she appeared in a television commercial with Jackie Chan which caught the attention of a fledgling film production company called D&B Films.

Yeoh's career in Hong Kong started with a few commercials for Charles Jourdan, opposite action movie heroes Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-Fat before being offered a film contract. The Charles Jourdan brand was handled by D&B Group in Hong Kong, run by Yeoh's future husband, Dickson Poon. In 1988, she retired after marrying Poon. Three years later, the couple divorced, and Yeoh returned to acting in 1992. Her first movie after the comeback was Police Story 3, which was partly shot in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Yeoh started her film career acting in action and martial arts movies such as The Heroic Trio in 1993, and the Yuen Woo-ping films Tai Chi Master and Wing Chun in 1994. Yeoh has had no formal martial arts training and she relies on her dance training and instructors, and does many of her own stunts.

Yeoh learned English and Malay before Cantonese, and cannot read Chinese characters. As she does not speak Mandarin, she learned the lines for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon phonetically.

Like many other Hong Kong stars, Yeoh has attempted to break into Hollywood. She starred in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies as Wai Lin (1997) and the popular Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Thereafter she was offered the role of Seraph in the two Matrix sequels, and she could not accept due to a scheduling conflict (the Matrix writers then changed Seraph into a male character and cast Collin Chou in the role). In 2002, she produced her first English movie, The Touch through her own production company, Mythical Films.

In 2005, Yeoh starred as the graceful Mameha in the film adapation of Memoirs of a Geisha, and she continued her English-language work in 2007 with Sunshine.




technorati tags:mixed martial arts ,mixed martial art ,mixed martial arts fights ,mixed martial arts fighting ,mixed martial arts news ,female mixed martial arts ,martial arts karate ,martial arts ,martial art ,japanese martial arts ,filipino martial arts ,shaolin martial arts ,chinese martial arts

Brenda Song - Tae Kwon Do and Kung Fu

Brenda Song (born March 27, 1988) is an American actress. She currently co-stars in the Disney Channel Original Series, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody as London Tipton. She has also made appearances in other Disney Channel original series and films.

Brenda holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, went into intensive Kung Fu training for the movie "Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior."

Lucy Liu - Martial Arts

" The 'Kill Bill' and 'Ally McBeal' actress practices martial arts, including kali/eskrima and silat."
http://www.your-martial-arts-resources.com/martial-arts-celebrities.html

"Her career took off when she auditioned for a supporting role in Andre Gregory's adaptation of "Alice in Wonderland", where she actually landed the lead role. Lucy's success was partly due to her fluency in Mandarin, and also because of her practice of Kali-Eskrima-Silat, an Indonesian martial art."
http://www.netglimse.com/celebs/pages/lucy_liu/index.shtml

" Lucy Liu practices the martial art of Kali-Eskrima-Silat (knife-and-stick fighting),"
http://people.famouswhy.com/lucy_liu/


Technorati Tags: Lucy Liu Kali-Eskrima-Silat martial art arts karate mma news female kung fu self defense tae kwon do judo black belt jiu jitsu kickboxing taekwondo muay thai

Morgan Fairchild - Martial Arts

Morgan Fairchild, a real-life student of Kung Fu, said she urged the producers to take the fight scenes over the top.
“Sometimes the producers would say, ‘Well, maybe we’ll just water it down a bit,’” she admitted. “And I was, ‘No, no, no! This is what people like! I can give you a good fight; let’s not do little girly pushy shovey stuff. Let’s do real fights.'”
http://telepixtvcgi.warnerbros.com/v2/news/1006/06/3/text.html

Article about Morgan training in Wu-Shu and Fu Jow Pai for 4 years.
http://www.morganfairchildtribute.com/profile.html

technorati tags:ufc, media, pride, japan, mixed martial arts, k-1, news, ifl, whaledog, boxing, martial-arts, karate, silat, health, movies, sports, self defense, thai, recreation

Kelly Kobold-Gavin - MMA Women

Nickname Blood Red
Height 5ft 6in (168cm)
Weight 150lb (68kg)
Fighting out of Team Bison
Town of birth Minneapolis, Minnesota
Fighting style MMA

Kelly Kobold-Gavin (sometimes written as Kobald) is a mixed martial artist. She began her training in June 2002, having had no previous martial arts experience. Her mixed martial arts record is 14 - 0 - 1.

Her last fight was a win by submission against Lisa Jo Fairbanks at EFX, on 3 May 2006.



technorati tags: ufc ,muay thai ,boxing kick ,pride fighting ,jiu jitsu ,mma,mixed martial arts ,brazilian jiu jitsu ,grappling ,ufc fighting ,fight ufc ,nhb