The female martial arts action hero is here to stay and has actually been around in both the east and west from much longer that we’d imagine. After all, who can resist a woman who is beautiful, well dressed and can kick the crap out of a bad guy if he steps out of line! Lesley Jackson looks at her choice top ten female martial arts stars....
Yu So Chow – Born in 1930 and introduced to the tough Peking Opera School when she was 7, she made her first Wuxia and kungfu films in 1948. She has led a distinguished career in martial arts films until her retirement in 2004, making at least 170 wuxia films.
Cynthia Rothrock – Dubbed the ‘Queen of Martial Arts Films’ she is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Taekwondo, Wushu, Eagle Claw and Northern Shaolin; and between 1981 and 1985, she is the undefeated Karate forms and weapons world champion. She is one of the first Caucasians to appear in a Chinese film as a good guy and has a long film career in both Chinese and Western action films.
Michelle Yeoh – Michelle’s rise to fame started by winning beauty pageants and she has had no formal martial arts training, despite being famous for her martial arts skills in films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and as the Bond heroine in Tomorrow Never Dies. To perform her stunts, she relies on her dance and gymnastic training.
Zhang Ziyi – Another actress who starred in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon she trained at the Beijing Dance Academy and draws on this knowledge for the martial arts sequences in her films.
Connie Chan Po-chu – Introduced to the Cantonese Opera at the age of five and then the Peking Opera. She made over 230 films and was a prolific wuxia film actress. Some of these films included her playing the leading male role!
Sarah Michelle Geller – This petite blond had the power and speed to fight the vampires in her most famous part of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which she played for seven years. A fighting style that appears to be mostly Taekwondo inspired, she could kickbox any bizarre supernatural being into submission.
Uma Thurman – She played ‘The Bride’ in both parts of Kill Bill and who can forget her yellow suit, katana skills and slash fest as she whirled her way through Japan’s underground. Ironically played a modern day Emma Peel in the 1998 flop of The Avengers.
Honor Blackman – A trail-blazer of British television and the western female action hero, she played the Judo throwing role of Dr Cathy Gale in The Avengers from 1962 to 1964. Also famous for her leather fighting gear and for playing Pussy Galore in the Bond film Goldfinger.
Diana Rigg – The replacement for Honor Blackman in The Avengers, she played Emma Peel for two years from 1965 to 1967. Emma differed in her fighting style to Cathy in that she used mostly Shotokan Karate to defeat the bad guys but still managed to save Steed from a few sticky situations, and look good to boot. Also played a Bond girl in ‘Her Majesty’s Secret Service.’
Lucy Lawless – The New Zealand actress who played Xena, Warrior Princess; she used a variety of martial arts in her fighting skills using both unarmed and weapons combat. Truly Amazonian in her range of fighting skills, and beautiful to boot!
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The female martial arts action hero is here to stay and has actually been around in both the east and west from much longer that we’d imagine. After all, who can resist a woman who is beautiful, well dressed and can kick the crap out of a bad guy if he steps out of line! Lesley Jackson looks at her choice top ten female martial arts stars.... 
Yu So Chow – Born in 1930 and introduced to the tough Peking Opera School when she was 7, she made her first 
Cynthia Rothrock – Dubbed the ‘Queen of Martial Arts Films’ she is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Taekwondo, Wushu, Eagle Claw and Northern Shaolin; and between 1981 and 1985, she is the undefeated Karate 
Michelle Yeoh – Michelle’s rise to fame started by winning beauty pageants and she has had no formal martial arts training, despite being famous for her martial arts skills in films such as 
Zhang Ziyi – Another actress who starred in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon she trained at the Beijing Dance Academy and draws on this knowledge for the martial arts sequences in her films. 
Connie Chan Po-chu – Introduced to the Cantonese Opera at the age of five and then the Peking Opera. She made over 230 films and was a prolific wuxia film actress. Some of these films included her playing the leading male role!
Sarah Michelle Geller – This petite blond had the power and speed to fight the vampires in her most famous part of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which she played for seven years. A fighting style that appears to be mostly Taekwondo inspired, she could kickbox any bizarre supernatural being into submission. 
Uma Thurman – She played ‘The Bride’ in both parts of Kill Bill and who can forget her yellow suit, katana skills and slash fest as she whirled her way through Japan’s underground. Ironically played a modern day Emma Peel in the 1998 flop of The Avengers.
Honor Blackman – A trail-blazer of British television and the western female action hero, she played the 
Diana Rigg – The replacement for Honor Blackman in The Avengers, she played Emma Peel for two years from 1965 to 1967. Emma differed in her fighting style to Cathy in that she used mostly 
Lucy Lawless – The New Zealand actress who played Xena, Warrior Princess; she used a variety of martial arts in her fighting skills using both unarmed and weapons combat. Truly Amazonian in her range of fighting skills, and beautiful to boot!
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