Toni McSorley Becomes First Woman Inducted Into Martial Arts Hall of Fame

Toni McSorley started taking martial arts classes at a small dojo in her neighborhood after becoming good friends with the instructor's middle daughter. She was only 13 years old at the time. Forty six years later, she has now received welcome and deserved notoriety for her prowess by being inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

McSorley currently has her own studio called Arts of the Samurai in Knoxville, Tennessee where she teaches Agedo Karate and Toyama Rwu Kendo. She notes that Toyama Rwu Kendo is "an old battlefield art that is very simple and to the point."

Receiving the honor in Richmond, Virginia a few weeks ago seems to have meant a lot to her. "Women are still second-class citizens in a lot of respects," she says. "The first year we showed up for state competition, they took me off the floor for opening ceremonies, because they didn't want a woman in the picture," Toni says. "The first year I coached at nationals they sent a man to help me. . . This one really meant something special (the induction), because when I started, if you were a woman or a kid and you showed up at a martial arts school, normally the first thing they did was try to get you to quit because they didn't want you there."

Well, no one is attempting to get her to quit anymore. That would be foolhardy. Congratulations to her on a great honor.