Who is Monique Ricardo?

Monique Ricardo, http://www.bodybuilding.com/

On August 13th and 14th at the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas Texas they will be holding the 2010 IFBB Europa Supershow.
And of course as part of that, they will be holding the IFBB Europa Supershow Bikini competition.
Among the competitors will be Amanda Latona, Nathalia Melo, Sonya Vecchiarelli, Brandy Leaver and a name you should all recognize...Monique Ricardo.

Who is Monique Ricardo?
Well it's our very own Monique Minton.
(I don't know why I keep saying "our very own", she isn't "ours")
Anyway, Monique got married and now she is known as Monique Ricardo.
I wonder if that means I'll have to go back and change all by posts?

Monique has already qualified for the Olympia, and the Europa Supershow will be in her own backyard, so cross your fingers and let's see how she does.
Earlier this year at the 2010 IFBB MuscleContest Pro Bikini, Momo came in second, right behind Sonia Gonzales.

You can find out more about the 2010 IFBB Europa Supershow here.



Who is Monique Ricardo? posted to http://barangabru.blogspot.com/ on August 10th, 2010

Asian Women Wrestlers

If you check out my profile you will see that I do a lot of fitness blogs and wrestling blogs.
Now I know that pro wrestling is scripted, but you take a lot of abuse in and outside of the squared circle. And to do that day in and day out, you have to be in shape.
So I thought today I would combine by love or wrestling and my love of fitness and profile some of today's asian women wrestlers that have made an impact on the industry.
Starting out with....



Gail Kim
Gail has wrestled for the WWE, TNA and some Indy promotions before that.
Gail was always athletic and before wrestling she was into basketball, volleyball, soccer, baseball, and badminton.
She also studied kinesiology at the University of Toronto, and nutrition at Ryerson University.



Lena Yada
Another young lady that worked for the WWE is the lovely Lena Yada.
Before the WWE, Lena was the first runner-up in the 2002 Ms. Venus Swimwear International pageant, Miss Hawaiian Tropic Japan and she competed in the quarter finals of the 2007 World Title of Tandem Surfing.



Angela Fong
Angela Fong currently works for the WWE using the ring name "Savannah".
Although Angela is currently working as an interviewer, she has made great progress with her wrestling skills.



Ayako Hamada
Now know as simply "Hamada" in TNA, Ayako is the daughter of the legendary Gran Hamada.
Hamada may look a bit out of shape now, but this young lady has been wrestling since her debut in 1998.
And most of that time was in Japan and Mexico, and if you know anything about Lucha Libre or Joshi, you know wrestling is a LOT tougher there.



Su Yung
Independent female wrestler Su Yung is making quite a name for herself in Memphis Ladies Wrestling where she is the MLW Champion and 2008 Rookie of the Year.



Sumie Sakai
Sumie is another Indy wrestler that has been around quite awhile and really paid her dues.
She debuted in 1997, and is not only a pro wrestler, but an MMA fighter as well.
Before wrestling, Sumie was into Judo.



Jade Chung
Another Indy wrestler, Jade started out as a valet, but made her way into the ring.
She has worked for Border City Wrestling, IWA Mid-South, the National Wrestling Alliance, Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.


posted to http://barangabru.blogspot.com/, Sept 10th,2009

IFBB Figure Pro - Akane Nigro Ismeal

Akane Nigro Ismeal is an IFBB Figure Pro.
This 5'1, 110 pound beauty is of Japanese and Italian decent.
Akane is a former softball and soccer player.
She is married to bodybuilder Malik Ismael, who she met at a gym in 2005 and the two became workout partners.
The couple does training and nutritional advice and they offer posing routine and instructional sessions.
You can find out more at their MySpace page here:
http://www.myspace.com/the_ismeals

Contest History:
2007 NPC California Championships - Figure A, 3rd place
2007 NPC Contra Costa (CA) Championships - Figure A, 2nd place
2007 NPC San Francisco Championships - Figure A, 1st place
2007 NPC Steel Rose - Figure A, 2nd place
2007 NPC Tournament of Champions - Figure A, 3rd place
2007 NPC USA Championships - Figure A

2008 NPC Junior National Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships
2008 NPC USA Bodybuilding & Figure Championships - 2nd place

2009 NPC USA Bodybuilding & Figure Championships - 1st place
Thanks to her win at the 2009 NPC USA's, Akane is a IFBB Figure Pro.




posted to http://femalefitnessfigurebodybuilders.blogspot.com/ , Sept 4, 2009

Tanji Johnson Updates

I said in my last entry on the beautiful IFBB fitness pro Tanji Johnson that even though her American Gladiator name was Stealth, I bet you wouldn't have a hard time seeing her.

Well I was right, at the 2009 IFBB Arnold Classic, Tanji came in 16th place.

And the website LA Muscle TV has a two part feature up on this young lady that you can see here:
http://www.lamuscle.tv/player/hollywoodextra/70

Watching her practice her routine in the second part of that feature, I couldn't help but think what a MMA fighter she would make.
Of course right now her plate is full enough as a personal trainer and fitness coach.
But how awesome would Tanji Johnson versus Gina Carano be?

Michiko Nishiwaki

Michiko Nishiwaki (Nishiwaki Michiko) , was born on November 21, 1957 in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan.
She is a former female bodybuilder, powerlifter, actress, fitness trainer, stunt woman, martial artist and fight choreographer.
Michiko started out, as a lot of fitness stars did, in gymnastics.
She looked into bodybuilding when she noticed how large her legs were when compared to her upper body, hoping that weightlifting would give her better symmetry.
Michiko became a powerlifter, Japan's first female powerlifting champion and eventually Japan's first female bodybuilding champion.
This was very unusual for a woman in Japanese society at that time.
She also opened three fitness clubs with her brother.
Michiko began her acting career in 1985 when she caught the eye of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. (How many careers has Jackie Chan launched?)
She appeared in his film "My Lucky Stars" a Hong Kong martial arts/comedy film as a Japanese fighter.
Michiko landed several roles in Hong Kong movies after that, usually playing a villain or a femme fatale.
After that, she returned to Japan, but then went to Thailand and made a few more films.
Eventually she landed in the US and began a career as a stunt woman appearing in a lot of movies you may have seen, but had no idea that she was in.
As a stunt woman she appeared in Blade, Man on the Moon, Charlie's Angels, Rush Hour 2, The Scorpion King, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, Memoirs of a Geisha and Resident Evil: Extinction.
She also worked on 2009's Afro Ninja as Yuko.
Michiko has stunt doubled for Lucy Liu in four films and Kelly Hu in one.

Here she is in a clip from her first movie, "My Lucky Stars"...



You can find out even more about Michiko at her website here:
http://www.geocities.com/michikonishiwaki/index.html

Karen Pang, Another Look

Here is another photo of fitness competitor, fitness model and swimsuit model Karen Pang.
And her great abs of course.
Karen is 5'2 and weighs 107 pounds.
She just recently came in second at the WBFF BC 2009 (Bikini) in Vancouver, Canada.

You can see more of this beautiful young lady here:
http://www.misskarenpang.com/

And of course at her MySpace page here:
http://www.myspace.com/karenpang

Dale Tomita

This fitness competitor from Hawaii was very popular in the 90s.
She was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1964 and is of Japanese-American descent.
This 5 foot 2 inch, 116 pound beauty graced the cover and insides of the major fitness mags.
And like several other fitness competitors, Dale started out in gymnastics until an injury forced to give that up.

Contest History:
1995 IFBB Olympia, 4th place
1996 IFBB Olympia, 4th place
1997 IFBB Arnold Classic And Internationals, 4th place
1997 IFBB Czech Pro Fitness, 1st place
1997 IFBB Ms. Olympia, 5th place

Denise Paglia

Another former ESPN beauty, Denise Paglia.
Denise was very popular in the fitness magazines in the 90s, and her fame has carried over to today.
As popular though as this beautiful lady is, I really cant find much info on her.
I read that she was of Japanese and Italian descent.
She is sometimes listed as Denise-Paglia-Cole.
Denise is a Certified AFAA Fitness Trainer.
Besides Fitness Beach, she appeared on Cyberfit and Bodyshaping.
As female fitness competitor, Denise placed in the 1992 and 1993 Fitness America National Pageants, and she came in 5th at the 1995 Fitness Olympia.
She was on the cover of the very first issue of the fitness magazine Muscle & Fitness Hers.
Sadly, I can't find a MySpace page for her.

Angela Fong

Angela Fong is a Canadian model, actress, professional wrestling valet and female wrestler.
She was born on February 3, 1985 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Another beautiful woman from Canada.

Angelina started out appearing in model and bikini contests, she got some minor roles in movies and TV, and she was a B.C Lions Felions Dance Team Cheerleader.
So fitness is second nature to her.
She was in the 2007 WWE Diva Search, and even though she didn't place, the WWE signed her to a developmental contract in February 2008.

Angelina was sent to the WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) and started out as a valet, having catfights with some of the girls there.
But soon she began to develop actual wrestling skills and was moved into real matches there.
She is the current Queen of FCW.

Jung Dayeon

The woman who kick-started the "momjjang" (hot body) fad in Korea, Jung Da-yeon.
This young lady transformed herself through exercise, and is known as an expert on physical training and exercise now.
She has released a popular fitness book, a DVD called "Momjjang Diet" and even been in a K-drama (in Korea) called "Aquarius".
Jung played a fitness instructor.
She has her own website, http://jungdayeon.com/ that is in Korean and Japanese.

And here are some clips from her TV show FIGUREROBICS from YouTube:

Satoko Shinashi

This entry is different from our usual fitness models, bodybuilders and physical trainers.
Satoko Shinashi is a female Japanese mixed martial arts fighter.
Of course no one doubts that MMA fighters are fit, a lot of the fitness models here and on my other fitness blogs use MMA training as one of their ways to stay in shape.

Satoko was born on January 29, 1977 in Tokyo, Japan.
(Hmmm...thats me, Liza Kampstra and Satoko all born on January 29th.)
She uses Judo, Sambo, and jiu-jitsu in her matches, and is known for her armbars.
Actually she is 28-2- 2 ( her website lists her record at 30-2-2 ) in fighting with 22 of those wins being via submission and 17 of those submissions were armbars.
Pretty much if she gets an armbar locked in, it's over.
Her two losses were to Mai Ichii by decision and Hisae Watanabe by knockout.



You wont be seeing her in the ring anytime soon though.
Back in January, it was announced that Satoko is pregnant.

You can visit her website here:
http://www.shinashi.com/

And here is a video of her in action against various opponents.

Krissy Chin - IFBB Figure Pro

photo: Michael Eckstut

Krissy Chin is a IFBB Figure Pro, The Co-Host Muscle Girls Inc., a Physical Therapist, a Fitness Model and a member of Team Pro Tan.
She is five foot four and weighs 124 pounds.

Female Fitness Competitions:
2007 NPC Gaspari Nutrition Jr. USA Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure Championships - 2nd Place
2007 NPC Junior Nationals Bodybuilding, Fitness And Figure Contest - 2nd place
2007 NPC Team Universe Bodybuilding, Fitness And Figure Championships - 1st place
2007 IFBB Houston Pro Figure Contest - 7th place
2007 IFBB Europa Super Show - 16th place
2008 IFBB Houston Pro Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Contest - 7th place
2008 IFBB Jacksonville Pro-Figure / Dexter Jackson Classic - 4th place
2008 IFBB New York Pro Figure - 14th place
2008 IFBB Atlantic City Pro - 6th place
2009 IFBB Border States Pro Figure - 3rd Place
2009 IFBB Olympia - 16th Place
2009 IFBB Houston Pro Figure - 4th Place
2009 IFBB Europa Super Show & Supplement Expo - 2nd Place
2009 IFBB Jacksonville Pro - 4th Place
2009 IFBB California State Pro Figure Championships - 9th Place
2010 IFBB Arnold Classic, Ms. International, Fitness International & Figure International - 15th Place

You can visit Krissy's website here:
http://www.krissychin.com/



Krissy Chin - IFBB Figure Pro, posted to http://barangabru.blogspot.com/, 4-8-2009

Female Fitness Competitor Lyen Wong

Yeah I know I have done entries on Lyen Wong twice before, but who's counting besides me?
This lovely fitness competitor and personal trainer is worth more than one look.
And besides, it gives me a chance to do a better rundown of her contest history:

2005
1st place Miss Fitness, regional West German championships NAC, Rheinbach/Germany
2nd place Miss Fitness, German championships NAC, Schwerin/Germany
1st place Miss Fitness, Festival del Fitness, Rimini/Italy
1st place Miss Fitness, Fitness World Contest, Graz/Austria
1st place Miss Fitness, Intl. German championships NAC, Rheinbach/Germany
1st place Miss Fitness, Intl. German championships NAC, Salzgitter/Germany
1st place Miss Universe Shape N.A.B.B.A. Intl. Inc. Aachen/Germany

2006
1st place Miss Fitness, NAC German championships, Korntal/Germany
3rd place N.A.B.B.A. Intl. Inc. world championships, Benidorm/Spain, Fitness Shape category

2007
3rd place Miss Sexy Bikini at Mr. Olympia, Las Vegas/USA
2nd place Miss Fitness, Intl. German championships NAC, Ludwigsfelde/Germany
2nd place Miss Universe Fitness, NAC International, Hamburg/Germany

She took a break in 2008, only showing up at the FIBO 2008 trade show.
But her website promises that she will be back in competition in 2009.
You can check out her website here:
http://www.lyenwong.de/

Katherine Painter

Filipina-American fitness model, fitness and figure competitor and certified personal trainer, Katherine Painter.
This 5 foot tall, 100 pound lady is aptly nicknamed "Rocket Girl".
She was born in Santa Cruz, Laguna on October 2nd, 1973.

Contest History:
2003 FAP Capital Classic Fitness Regionals, 1st Runner Up
2006 FAME Fitness Model Golden State Championship, 7th place
2006 NPC Los Angeles Figure Championship, 4th place

You can visit ner MySpace page here:
http://www.myspace.com/love2bfit

Monique Minton

This beautiful young lady is female fitness model and female figure competitor Monique Minton.
I did a write up on this lovely half filipinia, half polish model over at one of my other fitness blogs, but I wanted to include her here as well.
She's the cover girl for the 2009 March-April Muscle & Fitness Hers magazine, and she racked up an impressive list of contests finishes in 2008.
1st place at the The 2008 NPC John Sherman Classic Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships, 3rd place at the The 2008 NPC USA Bodybuilding & Figure Championships, 4th place at the 2008 NPC Team Universe Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure National Championships, 5th place at the 2008 NPC National Bodybuilding & Figure Championships and 1st place at the 2007 NPC Gateway Classic.
"Stunning" seems to be the term a lot of people apply to this competitor, and with good reason.
"Momo" has a website in the works, but at the time of this entry, it's not up yet.
But here's the link in case you'd like to bookmark it and check back....
http://www.momofitness.com/

Christine Wan, Another Look

Photo: Mark Mason, http://www.ifbbpro.com/

Here's another look at Christine Wan, IFBB Pro,personal trainer and photographer.
In the last entry I only touched on her contest history, but here is an updated list of the Pro events she has taken part in:

2003 IFBB Masters Olympia And Jan Tana Pro, 7th place
2004 IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Figure, 16th place
2004 IFBB California Pro Figure, 17th place
2004 IFBB New York Pro Figure, 17th place
2005 IFBB San Francisco Pro, 9th place
2005 IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Figure, 12th place
2005 IFBB Atlanta Pro Figure, 8th place
2005 IFBB Europa Super Show, 7th place
2006 IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Figure, 8th place
2006 IFBB Motor City Pro Figure, 6th place
2006 IFBB Europa Super Show, 8th place
2007 IFBB Arnold Classic, 9th place
2007 IFBB Jan Tana Women's Bodybuilding And Figure Contest, 8th place
2007 IFBB Palm Beach Pro/Am, 10th place
2008 IFBB Jacksonville Pro-Figure / Dexter Jackson Classic, 17th place
2008 IFBB Atlantic City Pro, 1st place
2008 IFBB Kentucky Pro Figure, 10th place

Natalie Minh, Another Look

Here's another look at the lovely WNSO FAME Euro Fitness Model Champion, Natalie Minh.
This Vietnamese-American fitness competitor seemed pretty popular last time, so I thought another picture wouldn't hurt any.

Despite coming in 1st Place in the Ms. Bikini division at the 2008 Muscle Mania/Fitness Universe Italian Championships, winning 1st Place Fitness Model, and 2nd place Bikini Model at the 2008 FAME European Championships and 3rd Place Swimsuit in the swimsuit division at the 2008 FAME World Championships, this lady is way more than just a pretty face.
She is a a Structured Finance Analyst for a Fortune 100 financial services company, she has a a BBA with dual major in Management Information Systems and Management, a MS in Finance, and a MBA, all from the University of Michigan.
AND she was a UNIX Systems Administrator specializing in CAD/CAE environments for six years.
To paraphrase Monty Python, "She could think you under the table!".

You can see more of Natalie at her MySpace page here:
http://www.myspace.com/motownnat

Lisa Cheng

The beautiful Lisa Cheng is a bodybuilder and rock climber (her nickname is “Hong Kong Spider Woman”).
Here are a couple of links so you can see how pretty this lady really is.

Picture of Lisa with the trophy after winning the Ms. Bodyfitness competition at the 2008 Hong Kong Bodybuilding And Fitness Championships on April 20, 2008.
http://www.jamd.com/image/g/80792271

Picture of Lisa posing during the competition
http://www.jamd.com/image/g/80792275

See? She's beautiful.
And besides her win at the Ms. Bodyfitness competition in 2008, she has competed in the 2007 Asian Championships, Ms. Fitness 4th place and Ms. Body Fitness, 7th place.

And Lisa is also considering a shot at female MMA as you can see in this video here:

Tanji Johnson, Another Look

Here's another couple of pictures of fitness competitor Tanji Johnson.
These are both in her American Gladiators gear.
Even though American Gladiators will no longer be seen on NBC-TV, there is a rumor the show may be picked up by another company.
And even if Tanji is no longer associated with the show, the certified personal trainer, NPC promoter and writer will have lots of avenues to keep busy.
Despite her name, I doubt you'll have a hard time seeing more of "Stealth".

Mona Liza Reyes, Another Look

I did an entry on Filipino figure athlete Mona Liza Reyes awhile back.
But what I didn't know was that this lovely lady is involved in Knock Out Dog Fighting, an anti-dogfighting campaign dedicated to stopping cruelty and abuse.
As a person that does animal rescues I really appreciate what these people are doing.
We've rescued a few Pits ourselves.
In addition to that, she is a volunteer coach with "Girls on the Run". The Girls on the Run program is a 12- week training course which targets 8 – 11 year old girls.
So i thought I would do another entry on this lady who not only beautiful on the outside, but on the inside as well.

You can learn more about Knock Out Dog Fighting here
And you can visit Monica's website and get some free fitness tips from the lady herself here.