Check out Katharina’s Xen-Do Journey:

I remember the moment after my trial class with Xen-Do like it was yesterday: I sat on the floor, covered in sweat, feeling every bone in my body. My thoughts: damn it, why can’t I do this? I was a champion swimmer in my past, why is this so hard?

When the Sensei ask me: So! Wanna sign up? I wanted to say Hell, no! But instead I just nodded and heard myself saying: Yes.

If you asked me now: Any regrets? I would shout: No! Xen-Do Martial Arts changed my life as an artist tremendously. I am an international actress; I performed in Germany, Poland, Greece and Turkey, but London is by far the toughest city. There is so much competition here, so expensive and Brexit is not helping either. As a freelance actress you need to be strong to survive. Xen-Do kickboxing makes me strong. When I am on the Dojo, I forget everything around me. As soon as I step on this mat I am in the moment. I don’t care what was before or will be. I listen to my Sensei, I do my combinations, I fail, I succeed, I respect my colleagues, I learn, I listen and I sweat. Kickboxing is an active meditation for me that feeds my mind and my body. And speaking of body: I also realized how my body changed. I have an athletic figure by nature but thanks to kickboxing my body is even more toned, I have more muscle and… the best butt I ever had in my life, hahaha. Having this body gives me confidence and, believe me, confidence is what you need as a freelance actress because you get judged every day and that can be so painful. I have the feeling that thanks to kickboxing I can deal better with this pain of rejection and can defend myself better in this very male dominated industry I am working in. „Metoo“ is not just a hash tag for me…

I decided during my training at Xen Do that I want to become an action actress. I want to get cast in action movies, be the kick-ass lady, live up to my casting type. I wanted to learn how to fight. I wanted to learn how to spar, but: Although I felt more confident, stronger and more flexible with every belt I gained I was super scared of sparring.

Having traumatic experiences from my childhood with getting hit I thought I could never overcome this fear. Thanks to Sensei Judah, who helped me tremendously in taking that fear by leading me step by step through sparring techniques, I proudly can say: Yes, I am a woman and I do sparring. And I am happy to have my female sparring buddies: Monica, Jurgita, and Jessica, just to name a few of them.

I am very happy that Sensei Paul, Sensei Walter, Sensei Joe and Sensei Judah at Xen-Do Marylebone are supporting me on my journey of becoming an action actress because I couldn’t have done my kickboxing reel without them.

Thank you Senseis!!!

There is one last thing I would like to mention:

I am turning 40 this year and I think this number is a bit scary for us women. A lot of my friends went on a trip far away or where throwing a party, get drunk and sunburned to make them forget the number. I am lucky because there is a black belt grading scheduled on my actual birthday…

new goal: #blackbeltatfourty. Ouss!

Watch Kickboxing reel Katharina Weithaler on Vimeo: vimeo.com/268404939