Mike Miles: Can you tell me a little bit as to how you became involved in the Martial Arts?

Kathy Long: As a teenager, I had a friend that was studying Aikido. She invited me to a class and I started doing it and I fell in love with the Martial Arts ever since. I then met Eric Nolan and trained in Kung Fu with him. I started out as a white belt and I have my Black Belt under him. About five years ago I got into Kickboxing.

Mike Miles: How did you change to Kickboxing?

Kathy Long: There was a girl in town who studied Karate as well as Kickboxing. She had done Kickboxing for a couple of years and she had a hard time finding opponents to fight. The reason was she was 190 lbs. and she stood only five feet four inches tall. She was very tough and had fast kicks. We knew each other and she called me up ten days before an event and she asked me to do an exhibition with her. I'd never done boxing or Kickboxing or anything like that. For the heck of it, I agreed to do it. We had the bout and though there was no winner announced we had a very good fight. She ended up retiring afterwards and I discovered something that was really great so I just kept doing it.

Mike Miles: What did you like about Kickboxing?

Kathy Long: I liked the one-to-one competition.

Mike Miles: There is no one to rely on except the trainer in the corner.

Kathy Long: Exactly. But if there is anything that is going to be done, it is going to be done by you. It's up to you to win period.

Mike Miles: Have you ever worried about getting hurt?

Kathy Long: I have been hurt a few times so I guess I am used to it. In training, I have had my hands broken and my shin fractured. I've had my ribs broken and I have had my nose broken. After awhile, you realize it comes with the territory.

Mike Miles: As a woman, what was it like starting out in the Kickboxing field?

Kathy Long: There are not nearly as many women as there are men in the sport. I started out fighting people who had several years experience in the sportand they had pretty good records. Once you fight these women, then it is hard to find women of that calibre or higher.

Mike Miles: Did these tough fights help you?

Kathy Long: Oh, I think it did quite a bit.

Mike Miles: What is your present fight record?

Kathy Long: 18 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw.

Mike Miles: Who is your loss to?

Kathy Long: It was to Lisa Howarth in England. That was early in my pro career. She is a very good fighter. During this fight they changed the rules. I would love to fight her under Kickboxing rules, over 12 rounds. I think this would be great.

Mike Miles: Who was your toughest fight to?

Kathy Long: I have had several tough fights. My first World title fight against Bonnie Canino in Florida was very tough. Another tough fight was Dany Roca in France. It is hard to say which of these fights was the toughest. I've had several tough fights.

Mike Miles: Your most recent fight was against Kyoko "Kamikaze". How do you feel about this fight?

Kathy Long: I was more focused in that fight than I have been in previous bouts. I was definitely on that night. It was one of those nights where everything works wonderfully for you and nothing can go wrong.

Mike Miles: She saw you at the weigh in and once you flexed, she just kind of melted. I think she was psyched out by the time the bout took place.

Kathy Long: I had seen tapes of her fighting other women before and she was very aggressive and very mean. She looked unstoppable yet in our fight it was the exact opposite way.

Mike Miles: Do you feel she could have hurt you at all?

Kathy Long: She is a very good fighter but honestly, I do not feel she could have. I really did not have much of a problem with her. Once your adrenaline starts flowing, you do not feel things.

Mike Miles: You work very hard on your conditioning. Can you tell us a little about it?

Kathy Long: I do. I believe the more conditioned fighter is going to win. I do a lot of various types of roadwork. An easy run is a five mile run up a mountain.

Mike Miles: Give us an example of a hard run.

Kathy Long: I call this run 'Hell Day'. I will get out on the track and I will sprint 880's with a minute rest in between. I'll do 5 to 6 of those. When I am finished those, I will run up and down the bleachers for a period of time. I'll get someone onto my back and I will carry them up which will condition my legs. When I am finished these, I will go back to the center of the football field and I will run wind sprints back and forth. I have started running with a 20 lb. weight vest. It really is very difficult.

Mike Miles: Is this done before you go to the gym?

Kathy Long: Yes, I do this in the morning. Sometimes I will even run at night as well. Usually a long 45 minutes or so. When I get to the gym, I will usually hit the bag for about 12 rounds. I then hit the focus mitts with excellent drills from my coach. I work on new tools as well keeping the basics sharp but adding in new things as well. I'm never allowed to feel complacent about what I am doing.

Mike Miles: Do you do a lot of sparring?

Kathy Long: Yes, I have male sparring partners. Recently, we have had some pretty good girls to train and spar with but I do all my serious sparring with men. I'll usually spar 8 to 10 rounds.

Mike Miles: Do you spar every day?

Kathy Long: Every day or every other day depending on the availability of sparring partners. Sometimes they are hard to find.

Mike Miles: What is some of the other things you do to train daily?

Kathy Long: I do a lot of stomach exercises including crunches and leg lifts where I lay on my back and my partner will throw my legs down and to the side. Sometimes I will put my hands above my head and my partner will wear bag gloves and punch my belly. I also lift free weights.

Mike Miles: Do you do a lot of repetitions or do you go for bulk?

Kathy Long: I go for explosiveness increasing the weight while decreasing the amount of repetitions.

Mike Miles: Typical question, but do you not feel that weights will diminish your speed?

Kathy Long: Not at all, I feel my speed is increasing at the same time as my strength. It's wonderful!

Mike Miles: Can you tell us anything about your Muay Thai involvement or training?

Kathy Long: I fought Lisa Howarth. That was my first fight allowing knees. My training in Muay Thai has been informal with my coach.

Mike Miles: How did you do with Lisa?

Kathy Long: It was my only professional loss and I would love to rematch her to avenge this loss.

Mike Miles: Have any of your skills come out of Muay Thai?

Kathy Long: Absolutely. The concept of going through the target opposed to snapping kicks is a major difference.

Mike Miles: Who else have you fought that understood Muay Thai principles?

Kathy Long: I fought Pixie Elmore but the fight was only under low kick rules not allowing knees.

Mike Miles: Any preferences on the kind of fight you could set up yourself?

Kathy Long: If I could I would make sure it was with low kicks and would love to use knees. But only allowing knees to the body.

Mike Miles: Elbows?

Kathy Long: I have not worked on elbows very much so I do not know if I would like to fight with them.

Mike Miles: You have fought under Full Contact rules before.

Kathy Long: Yes I have. It was very tempting to throw a low kick but... I like leg kicks because they can set up other things and that is fun. I like to make them think I am going to kick them in the leg and then kick them in the face. Strategy is what attracts me the sport.

Mike Miles: Kickboxing for self defense?

Kathy Long: I would definitely add elbows and knees. I have had to use it for a situation once.

Mike Miles: What happened?

Kathy Long: Driving home from a movie I was working on, traffic was backed up. I went from the slow lane to the fast lane and some guy in front of me did not like the way I was behind him. He gestured to me to pull over and I did. A stupid thing because he could have had a gun or a knife. I tried to talk to him and he swung at me. It ended up that I kneed him in the solar plexus and he went down to the ground. I was amazed as I had never seen anyone drop that fast. I told him to calm down and relax and then he would be able to breath. At that point I left.

Mike Miles: Where do you think women's kickboxing stands right now and what do you see for the future?

Kathy Long: It is huge in Europe. I would like to see the sport overall as popular as boxing with everyone making comparable money.

Mike Miles: Movies or kickboxing?

Kathy Long: I love kickboxing but movies can be very lucrative. I will have to wait and see.

Mike Miles: In closing, anyone you would like to fight?

Kathy Long: I would like to fight Holland's Lucia Rijker. She weighs moiré than me though. Many have told me that this would be a dream match. Maybe it will happen.