Mindy Kelly

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Mindy Kelly first stepped foot in the Dojo back in 1989 at the age of 4 in Dayton, Ohio. Mindy had already been kicking and punching on the side lines for a year while her older brother Mick was out on the mats. Now with nearly twenty years of martial arts under her belt, Mindy has matured into one of the most polished and respected forms competitor in the world. Mindy's ability to continually push the limits of creativity with her distinctive combinations and eclectic performance has made her a pioneer in women’s extreme martial arts.
Mindy received her Black Belt at age 10 and by age 12 she was no stranger to standing atop the first place podium. After a string of victories at top rated competitions like Diamond Nationals, US Open, and the Battle of Atlanta, Mindy finally made her debut appearance in the NASKA Night of Champions at Dennis Brown’s Capitol Classic in Washington, DC. Mindy was really on fire that day receiving straight 10s from her judging panel during the divisional competition and with Justin Castro still left to go in the competition. Mindy was extremely nervous getting up on the main stage for the first time, but she made an impressive showing leaving everyone with their jaw on the floor by her bent over backwards Scorpion Kick.
A young martial artist trying to make her mark, Mindy knew she would have to “go big” to make an impression on the crowd and judges. Being an elite gymnast with an arsenal of “tricks”, it seemed natural to incorporate her gymnastic skills into her open karate forms. So nearly a decade before ‘extreme” was officially added to the Sport Karate lexicon, Mindy began perfecting her signature moves and unique combinations of technical skills.
As an adult competitor, Mindy has created an eclectic performance, blending acrobatics, athleticism and choreography that are a cross between Fists of Fury and Cirque du Soleil. Mindy’s unforgettable style is silky smooth and as fluid as they come, yet explosive and rooted in clean martial art basics. This combination of originality, energetic personality, and sense of style has lead to an impressive record that places Mindy on a very short list of sport karate competitors.
Mindy currently has more than a dozen Women’s World Championship titles sanctioned by the most prestigious governing bodies in sport karate. She holds 6 International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) World titles, 5 North American Sport Karate Association (NASKA) World titles, and 4 Professional Karate Association (PKA) World titles. She has also been rated as the Best Overall Women’s forms competitor by NASKA and Ringstar ratings.
Since 2004, when the Extreme Forms Division was added to NASKA World Rated circuit, Mindy has owned the podium at every major contest that she has competed in, including an unprecedented string of 4 back to back ISKA Women’s Extreme Forms World Championships titles. Mindy has taken at least one grand champion title at each of the tournaments on the NASKA World Tour and is the recipient Compete Nationals Gold Medallion, Bluegrass Nationals Gold Watch, and Battle of Atlanta PKA Title Belt. At the top of her incredible list of World and Grand Champion wins, Mindy most recently won the women’s Form Grand Championship at the 2007 Diamond Nationals. This is regarded as one of the most coveted titles in Sport Karate and secures her spot in the Diamond Legacy Hall of Fame and sport karate history as the first extreme forms competitor to win this title.
Mindy’s world wide popularity in the martial arts has taken her to competitions and performance venues that span the globe. Mindy has taken the Women’s Forms Grand Championship at the Quebec Open and the National All-Star Cup in Paris, and has performed at the World Cultural Open in Seoul and Culture Choc Imua in Tahiti.
Mindy’s credits include working on projects with some of the biggest names in sport karate. Mindy has performed with Steve Terada, Rudy Reynon, Marcel Jones, Matt Emig, Marc Canonizado, James Solis and John Su. She has been the only female member of Team Extreme USA, Intl. Martial Arts Performance Team and TrickStep Martial Arts PerformanceTeam.
Mindy’s unique style and natural athleticism has enabled her to cross over into other performance venues where she is a featured break dancer in the Mim’s “Like This” music video and performed live with Fergie at the 2007 American Music Awards. Mindy was a dancer in Cha’nelle (I fell in love with the Dj) music video, Choreographer/Breakdancer in the Reebok (new school vs. old school) performance in Beverly Hills, Choreographer/Breakdancer in Glaceau Vitamin Energy Drink Release Party and acrobatic performer with experimental dance troop Lux Aeterna.
Always on a quest for new skills and avenues to channel her creative energies, Mindy got involved with some experimental dance performances where she met Whitney Shannon back stage at Carnivale: Choreographers Ball. Mindy and Whitney found that they had a shared vision and realized that they should capitalize on their diverse yet complimentary skills to create bold and powerful choreography for fitness, sports, and entertainment. A collaboration that would evolve into the Lab Rx, a West Hollywood based company committed on building an environment (LAB) for research and experimentation of body movement free from boundaries.
Whitney a professional choreographer and graduate from the prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Mindy a World Champion Martial Artist and "street skooled" professional break dancer. These versatile and vibrant ladies started training together sharing their ideas and blending their workout method and techniques into what has become Balete. A fresh, fun, and innovative fitness program Balete officially rolled out in January 2008 and has already received rave reviews from the fitness industry and has been featured in Fitness Magazine, Madame Figaro Japon, Harper Bazaar Japan, Shape Germany, American Fitness, LA DailyCandy.com, LA Times, KMIR TV and KTLA TV.
Mindy also provides customized personal training for her West Hollywood and Beverly Hills clients. Individually working with each client, Mindy focuses not only on getting them healthy, happy, and fit for life's daily challenges, but she is ready to address skill development in a wide range of activities for fun or fortune. Currently Mindy's clientele ranges from everyday people to Grammy winning recording artists. Mindy's celebrity clients not only want to be in peak shape for their up coming tour, but ready to lay down exciting moves in their performance.
APL.DE.AP from the black eyed peas Nokia theater June 7! watch him bust a move after his song!