Griss and I may be seated on different sides of the stands when it comes to football, but we cheer in sync whenever UFC matches come on air on TV. One of our favorite UFC contenders is none other than the absolutely arresting Ronda Rousey, who is a knockout winner in and out of the ring.
If you’ve seen The Expendables 3 (or as I like to call it by its alternative title, Grandpa’s Hip Replacement Adventure: Electric Boogaloo), you would have most certainly enjoyed all the ass-whooping dished out by Ronda, the only woman in the ensemble cast. The 27-year-old California native is the first woman to win the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championships — and she remains the undisputed champion of that title at the time of writing.
You’re familiar with UFC, right? It stands for Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is basically the premier mixed martial arts competition. It’s the Mortal Kombat of mixed martial arts.
But even before she found fame in the UFC cage, Ronda was already an established judo athlete. She started her judo training when she was 11 and represented Team USA at the 2010 Olympics in Athens, back when she was just 17 years old. She took home a bronze medal from that Olympics, and her judo career has seen her win bronze, silver, and gold medals in prestigious international championships.
Watch Ronda train and talk about her Hollywood ambitions in this video:
There’s no doubting that Ronda is one tough-ass chick. It takes a lot of focus and discipline to achieve the success she has accomplished in her field, and she does not hold back any cockiness or swagger while doing it. I love watching her fights; she circles the UFC cage like an apex predator coolly biding time until she takes her prey down.
If you want a body like Ronda’s, you’ll need some serious mixed martial arts (MMA) training. It’s a full-contact discipline which hybridizes various forms of martial arts, and looks a lot like a cross between boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Nearly anything goes in this sport and you can use every part of the body to take the opponent down: fists, feet, elbows, and knees are all fair game.
To keep the opponent down on the ground, competitors must also have extensive knowledge of how the human body works. They need to be familiar with pressure points on the body that are most sensitive to pressure and pain, so they can take down the opponent with as little effort as possible.
If the idea of grappling and wrestling someone to the ground in a cage is a little off-putting, you can always try other combat-based strength and cardio workouts thatare popular in gyms, like muay thai or Bodycombat. But to achieve the muscle tone you see on your girl Ronda here, you’ll have to resort to resistance training: nothing builds muscle like some quality time with good old weights.
We love Ronda Rousey’s hard work, dedication, and attitude to her craft. She definitely counts as a Woman of Worth in my books, which is why I’d nominate her if she qualified for the Women of Worth campaign!
Are you familiar with Women or Worth? L’Oreal Paris is looking for an Indonesian woman who cuts an inspiring figure: someone who aspires to make the world around them a better place through their work. If you know someone who is lights up the people around her through her words or actions, nominate her here, so the rest of the country can come together to celebrate her! To learn more about the Women of Worth campaign,check out this article; and once you’re ready to nominate the ten most inspiring women in your life, you can do so in this link.
