Black Belt Magazine

Malia Bernal

Forty-five years ago, the martial arts world was largely a boys club. Almost all the instructors were male, almost all the famous competitors were male and almost all the martial artists everyone talked about — like those who got featured on the cover of Black Belt — were male.

Then a tournament competitor from Northern California, at the time known as Malia Dacascos, became the first female champion to grace the magazine’s cover. Dacascos, who’s now known as Malia Bernal, was not only the No. 1–ranked woman in the country in both forms and fighting for several years running, but she competitor in the United States in the men’s division, as well.

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