Date of birth: November 21, 1984
Age: 22
Place of birth: Charlottesville,Virginia, USA
Residence: Roanoke, Virginia, USA
Ethnic origin: Caucasian, African-American, Italian and Indian
Style: American Freestyle Karate
School: Super Kicks - Roanoke
Instructor: Sean Elliott
Year started in martial arts: 1992
Year received black belt:
1996 - TKD
1998 - Kempo
2000 - American Freestyle Team: DDX since 2004
Sport karate coach: Sean Elliott
Favorite technique: Side kick and drop spin roundhouse kick
First national win: 2002 Dixieland Nationals
Toughest forms/weapons opponent: Casey Marks and Louis Clay
Toughest fighting opponent: Regena Thompson
Sport karate titles:
2006 - Women’s Featherweight Point Sparring World Champion
2006 - Women’s Featherweight continuous sparring World Champion
2005 - Women’s Featherweight Point Sparring World Champion
2004 - Women’s Team Sparring World Champion
2003 - Women’s Flyweight Point Sparring World Champion
2003 - Women;s Team Sparring World Champion
Sport karate career highlight: Wining her first NBL title in 2003 and first continuous sparring title in 2006
Martial arts goal #1: To be known as one of the best females fighters ever
Martial arts goal #2: To be remembered as a great fighter and champion
Martial arts goal #3: To be a positive example and role model for future champions
Non-martial arts goal(s): To star in action movies
Favorite tournament: Super Grands
Favorite Super Grands: 2003 winning her first title and 2006 when everyone on Team DDX won a title
Favorite sport karate players:
Past forms: Casey Marks
Present forms: Jerico Catura
Past fighting: Sean Elliott
Present fighting: Regena Thompson
Most admired martial artists: Regena Thompson, Julayne Shifflet, Larry Tankson, Sean Elliott and Jon Brittan
Most admired persons: Her mom, Linda Insalaco
Favorite food: Crab legs, steamed shrimp and steak
Favorite movie: Stomp the Yard and Kings of Comedy
Favorite actor: Tyler Perry and Bernie Mac
Favorite magazine: Sport Karate Magazine
Favorite music: R&B and Hip-Hop
Favorite hobby: Basketball, karate and shopping
Address: 5135 G. Overland Dr., Roanoke, VA 24018
Phone No: (540) 293-8668
Email: glowworm22@cox.net

Blame it all on her dad! As an eight year old “runt”, as she referred to herself as, Gina Thornton never gave martial arts any thought as she was challenged by a gang of girls that constantly picked on her and beat her up. But her problem-solving dad (James Thornton) did as he enrolled her in Tae Kwon Do classes in her hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia. Gina took to the lessons faithfully and developed martial arts skills, but more importantly, confidence. Meanwhile her father coaxed her to leave the gang of girls alone unless the time came where she couldn’t tolerate it any longer. As things progressed the lead girl did go one step too far and Gina fought back and beat her up. That was the last of her being picked on by the gang, but the father didn’t stop with the push of martial arts training however. He encouraged her to forge ahead in less confrontational tournament forms competition. Gina excelled, eventually attending the TKD Junior Olympics at 12 years old, but she still hadn’t found her niche in fighting, hated the TKD no face punch rule and found the Junior Olympics’ strict traditional forms rather boring.

Finally at age 16, dad forged ahead to find her a sparring coach. At about the same time in 2001 Gina attended her first NBL event and was enthralled with the entirely different competitors as well as a completely new system of competition. There she could chose creative as well as traditional forms and face points were legal.

After having been through five schools to find her a fighting trainer, her father kept hearing about a fighting coach named Sean Elliott of Lawrence Arthur’s Super Kicks schools in Lynchburg, Virginia. Despite the hour and fifteen minute drive each way, nothing was too good for his little girl so dad started her in lessons with Elliott where a bond between the coach and student quickly developed. Dad was now stuck with five hour trips sometimes as many as three times a week until Gina could drive herself.

She became a member of the regional Team Unity that Jimmy Sherman developed and sponsored in the Virginia/Carolina area with Elliott as the team coach. Here she learned the value of team support and comradely and she still appreciates the opportunity to have been a member.

It was on Team Unity that Thornton realized the tenacity of her coach when she was losing a match 5 to 0. Elliott took her aside and “cursed her out” to get serious and think about her sparring. She claims to have been so embarrassed that she just had to go back and save face. She did, winning the match 6 to 5.

Gina credits Elliott with developing her skills as a fighter and helping her obtain goals. Her father however set the goal to win an NBL world title in 2003 where Elliott kept her on track to actually win it. It was that year with the win of two titles that coach Elliott petitioned the newly formed national DDX Team to consider putting her on their roster. As a West Coast acclimated team she may not have been given much consideration if it hadn’t been that both Elliott and DDX Team member Troy Whaley knew each other as team members on the old Force One Karate Team. Whaley respected his old buddy’s judgement and convinced the team sponsor, Denise Jensen to include Thornton on the fledgling team. Thornton has not disappointed them with four additional point, continuous and team sparring world titles since then, Thornton looks at the team as her second family even though she rarely sees them during the competition season as her work schedule prevents her from attending the west coast events that DDX frequents the most.

Thornton takes competition seriously and while she goes out on the town occasionally at home she says that travel to tournaments is “to get the job done and go back home”, so she’s rarely found amongst the tournament party scene or social gatherings other than the team meetings and dinners.

After winning six world titles she and her coach discussed a goal of being on the cover of Sport Karate Magazine and what it would take. But before any plan of action that has become a reality so her new goal as of late is to slowly earn the distinction as one of the most revered women fighters in history. She admires the tenacity of famed point fighters Larry Tankson and Regena Thompson for the amount of titles that have earned and the longevity of their reign.

For now her martial arts career consists entirely of competition but with the eventual idea of having her own school, another of dad’s goals for her. For now she has secured a job as an exercise physiologist for a local physical therapist in her present hometown of Roanoke, Virginia. This job, like so many other events in her life, happened by chance as she was introduced to the therapist after having torn her ACL in 2005 and the therapist wound-up hiring her.

And her story wouldn’t be complete without a final anecdote. She reports that despite her main job as a physiologist she retains a part time job at the “Foot Locker”. Why? Because she says she loves shoes and wants the employee discount. She says she has between 200-500 pair of shoes. How many??