Rapper and entrepreneur Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson couldn’t resist chiming in when a clip of Japanese kickboxer Mona Kimura swept throughout social media this week. Within the temporary video, Kimura unleashes a collection of rapid-fire kicks and head kicks which have drawn comparisons to the “Hyakuretsukyaku” barrage from the traditional Chun LI in Road Fighter video games.
50 Cent is Impressed
On social meda, 50 Cent quipped, “Road Fighter vibes – I’d simply maintain hitting the sq. button within the arcade. LOL”.
Who’s Mona Kimura?
Mona Kimura, 23, has been turning heads since incomes All-Japan novice boxing honors in 2022. She made her skilled kickboxing debut earlier this yr beneath the banner of Okay-1 GYM MEGURO TEAM TIGER and has since racked up three wins, all by TKO. In her most up-to-date outing at Korakuen Corridor on June 27, she overwhelmed veteran Satoko Ozawa with precision kicks that opened cuts round Ozawa’s proper eye, prompting a referee stoppage simply 1:08 into the second spherical.
What makes Kimura a social-media phenomenon is the way in which she blends a background in conventional karate and boxing into her kickboxing arsenal. She fights from a southpaw stance, utilizing her attain to pepper opponents with straight punches earlier than closing in with facet kicks that snap heads again and depart rivals struggling to seek out their guard.
Observers have noted that her signature transfer – delivered with near-mechanical rhythm – mirrors the texture of an arcade fighter’s particular assault, and that comparability has change into a viral motif amongst followers and fellow combat-sports figures alike.
Even past the movie star endorsement, Kimura’s rise speaks to a broader pattern in girls’s kickboxing, the place fighters are constructing private manufacturers by way of stylistic aptitude as a lot as by way of their data. She is energetic on Instagram, the place she posts coaching clips and behind-the-scenes glimpses into her routine on the Meguro Tiger health club.
