Tang Soo Do

During the 70s and 80s while living in Germany, it was a real challenge to get my hands on American karate magazines. But whenever I did, it sure felt like Christmas and I devoured every page of information and inspiration. Especially articles and reports on Linda Denley.

For those of you who have never heard of her, let me warn you in advance. After this post you will be impressed. Very impressed, with this true living martial arts legend.

A native of Houston, Texas, Linda Denley grew up one of 12 children and as a teenager she excelled at just about any sport she took up, such as track and field, in which she even qualified for the Olympics in 5 events!! She couldn’t go to the Olympic Games simply because of her professional karate winnings.

Basketball was another example of her natural athleticism, in which she could have played semi-professional for the Houston Angels, but didn’t because of her karate career.

Linda Denley was THE female competitor to beat for many years.

Her aggressive fighting style earned her the nickname “Texas Terror” and boy, did she back that up with a record that is unheard of.

Starting with Tang Soo Do karate in 1973 under Master Robert Torres, she earned her black belt within 5 years, all while collecting trophies at tournaments.

Get this: Linda Denley was the top rated female kumite competitor from 1973 until 1996. That’s right, for 23 years. I am in awe!

She fought for nine years and did not lose a match. That’s just crazy stuff.

If you’re at all familiar with prestigious karate tournaments in the U.S., then you will appreciate this piece of information, too:

Linda Denley won the Battle of Atlanta not once or twice, but eleven times. Yes, that’s right, eleven times!

The other big-time tournament on the West Coast, simply known as the Long Beach Internationals, she won an impressive four times.

She really left “a path of destruction” in countless other tournaments. At least that’s what it probably felt like for her competitors in those days.

For all her accomplishments on the karate circuit, Linda Denley has been acknowledged in so many remarkable ways such as “Competitor of the Year” and not surprisingly “Instructor of the Year 1999″.

In 1980, she was the very first female to be inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame!

Her fighting skills did not go unnoticed by the TV and movie industry either:

Linda Denley worked with Jackie Chan in “The Armour of God” and Chuck Norris in an episode of “Walker, Texas Ranger”.

Today, 6th dan Linda Denley owns the Texas Black Belt Academy in Houston and has dedicated her time and energy to helping kids reach their full potential not only inside the dojo, but in whatever they do in life.

And here, I believe Linda Denley, Karate Superwoman from Houston, Texas, is paving “a path of inspiration” for many.

Technorati Tags: Battle of Atlanta, black belt, Chuck Norris, fighting, Jackie Chan, karate, kumite, Linda Denley, Long Beach Internationals, Tang Soo Do

Tags: Battle of Atlanta, black belt, Chuck Norris, fighting, Jackie Chan, karate, kumite, Linda Denley, Long Beach Internationals, Tang Soo Do

Monday, February 8th, 2010 Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan, Martial Arts, fighting, karate, kumite, martial art, martial artists 1 Comment

Cynthia Rothrock, “The Queen Of Martial Arts Films”

In a recent post just several days ago I referred to Gina Carano as “The Face Of Women’s MMA”.

Today I would like to introduce Cynthia Rockroth, “The Queen Of Martial Arts Films”.

She was once quoted, “throughout my life, I’ve been opening the door for other women to get involved with martial arts films. I was the first woman to be on the cover of a karate magazine and the first woman to win a men’s championship.”

Quite an accomplishment!

I myself became aware of Cynthia Rothrock while flipping through a martial arts publication, I guess it was Black Belt Magazine, probably in the very early 80s when she was on the West coast demo team.

Between 1981 and 1985 Cynthia Rothrock was a five-time (and undefeated) World Karate Champion in forms and weapons.

Remarkably, these categories were open to both male and females at the time.

She currently holds an astonishing five Black belts in numerous Far Eastern martial art styles such as Tang Soo Do, Tae Kwon Do and Wu Shu.

She most probably was the first Caucasian actress that ever had a lead role in a Chinese film as a heroine.

Rothrock became one of the few Caucasian performers to achieve big-time stardom in the local Hong Kong film industry having starred with Michelle Yeoh, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, even before achieving success in the U.S.

Reportedly, she set a record of becoming the very first non-Chinese westerner to carry an action movie single-handedly in Hong Kong. Cynthia departed from Hong Kong as one of the most celebrated action stars in Hong Kong’s movie history!

She has starred in countless movies here in the U.S. since returning from Hong Kong in the late 80s.

Probably best known for starring in “China O’Brien” and “Guardian Angel”, Cynthis Rothrock has added the fact that she is an inductee to the Black Belt Hall of Fame and Inside Kung-Fu Hall of Fame to her long list of outstanding accomplishments.

Even after all her major achievements off and on the Big Screen, Cynthia has also become certified as an instructor of Fighting Chance Combat Systems, a reality based, self defense system against armed assaults.

Cynthia Rothrock – Queen Of Martial Arts Films