Kathy Long has been called "The Princess of Pain", "The Countess of KO", "The Queen of Mean", and "The Punisher." Inside the ring, she's her opponent's worst nightmare, outside, she's one of the nicest women you'd ever want to meet. A long time practitioner of the martial arts, Kathy received her first black belt in aikido when she was seventeen, and was awarded another black belt in gee yau bok gik at the age of twenty two. Long took up kickboxing when she accepted the challenge of a 195lb woman who needed somebody to fight against in an exhibition match. After training for only nine days, Long handily beat the much larger woman. Kathy's opponent decided to retire after their match, but Kathy continued on to become a five time World Kickboxing Champion.
Renowned for the intensity of her training, Kathy ensured victory by being harder on herself than her opponents could ever hope to be. Long's conditioning includes countless hours of running, push-ups, crunches, and bag drills. Kathy spars exclusively against men because women just don't hit hard enough. She conditions her body by placing her hands behind her head and allowing male sparring partners to hit her full force in the gut (kathy052-53) and by allowing them to throw bowling balls at her stomach. She strengthens her legs by running up stadium steps with a 150lb man on her back, and then tortures herself by doing calf raises to failure (kathy048).
Kathy's indomitable will and dedication to her training have made her incredibly strong and tough. Though she is only 5'5" tall, and 125lbs, Kathy claims to be able to bench press 210lbs. She considers amateur boxing matches with men to be "loads of fun." As a professional fighter, Kathy has paid the price to be the best. Though she has never been injured in a fight, she is injured frequently during training. She has had her nose broken a couple of times, broken several ribs, both hands, her thumb, fractured her chin, and suffered countless torn muscles and black eyes. But as she says, it's an occupational hazard.
Pictures kathy057-60 are from the World Martial Arts Challenge where Long fought Japan's Kyoko Kamikaze for the WMAC featherweight championship. Long administered a vicious five round pounding to her opponent before coming away with her fifth belt. Kamikaze, who didn't remember anything after the first round, was knocked down twice and suffered a broken rib and bruised kidneys for her trouble.
Since retiring from kickboxing, Kathy has enjoyed a successful movie career, working both as an actress and a stunt woman. Her movies include "Knights" (kathy008 - 009), "The Stranger" (kathy007), and "Under the Gun". She owns a kickboxing gym where she helps train a stable of male fighters and conducts seminars all over the world. Kathy currently lives in Los Angeles, is single, and has an Alaskan Malamute for a pet. She likes to relax by listening to music, drawing at her art table, and riding her horse.
Though still a young woman, Kathy Long has accomplished more than most people could hope to do in a lifetime. Recently, Kathy was honored for her achievements by being inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame. There have been many rumors of Kathy making a comeback as a professional boxer, but regardless of whether she ever fights again, Kathy Long will be remembered as one of the greatest female martial artists of all time.
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