When you think of the typical action hero, the image that immediately leaps to mind is undoubtedly that of a bloody, bandana-clad dude with a massive gun, or a rouge tough guy cop, or perhaps a macho kung-fu master. In other words…males. While action is a genre long dominated by men, there have been a few notable (read: 100% ass-kicking) action heroines that have left their own indelible mark: Sigourney Weaver in Aliens, Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2, and Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. To that list, we must now certainly add Gina Carano, star of Steven Soderbergh’s recent action thriller Haywire. Gina however had the advantage of being a certified badass long before throwing her first punch on screen. She is a longtime student of Muay Thai, a former champion MMA fighter, and was in fact involved in some of the first sanctioned female fights in MMA history. With knockout after knockout Carano, an undeniable knockout herself, proved that beauty and strength were far from mutually exclusive. Her work in Haywire, coupled with her successful MMA career, inspired the head honchos at ActionFest to create a new award for which she will be the first recipient. The Chick Norris Best Female Action Star Award, playfully adapted from the name of fest founder (and action legend in his own right) Chuck Norris, celebrates the contribution women have made and continue to make to action cinema. We got a chance to talk to Gina about the award, about Haywire, and, oddly,

Tai gets out of jail thanks to bail money from his twin brother who is sadly in a coma from all the money-raising/underground mob activity he’s engaged in. So, Tai goes underground and joins a Fireball team as well to avenge his brother’s coma.

Pinkaew continues his ravaging of the martial arts world with another flick starring Jija Yanin. This time, she seems to even have all her mental faculties in order!

An autistic girl born from two rival gang families discovers she’s got a knack for muay thai fighting. How the hell could we resist something like that?

Get ready for flying fruit, knives, and fat kids… there’s a ton of ass-kicking coming out of Thailand.