Marilyn Fierro - Jewish Martial Artist

Seventh-degree black belt and the world's highest ranking woman in Isshinryu Karate

Growing up in the East Bronx in the 1950s, Marilyn Fierro was far from the athletic type. It wasn't until she was in her early 30s that she began to explore the world of martial arts, first with Tae Kwon Do and eventually with Isshinryu Karate, an Okinawan form of karate.

After studying Isshinryu Karate for more than a quarter century, Fierro is now the highest ranking woman in the world and a seventh-degree black belt. She also is also highly accomplished in Kobudo (weapons).

Fierro has been a karate instructor since 1976 and has run her own karate school in Smithtown, New York, since 1978. She brought a karate team to the Maccabi games in 1992.

In 1998, she was the 2nd woman to be inducted into the New York Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the first for Karate. In 2002, she taught a program at Hofstra University called "Personal Development Through the Martial Arts."

She has taught extensively in women's "attack prevention" and her methods are taught in several Long Island schools.

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