Austrian Goddess

Austrian karateka Paulina Steiner (pictured here) studied Goju-Ryu karate under Sensei Nakimoto in Osaka, Japan from 1949 to 1953. While still a Brown Belt, she developed a reputation as a fierce fighter in kumite across much of Western Europe. At a karate competition in Vienna in April 1952, she broke three ribs on a male competitor during a mixed kumite match with a vicious yoko geri kekomi and knocked out a French female karateka with a devastating roundhouse kick the following year.