Rayna Vallandingham (born January 18, 2003) is an American martial artist, actress, and
social media influencer
A social media influencer, or simply influencer (also known as an online influencer), is a person who builds a grassroots online presence through engaging content such as photos, videos, and updates. This is done by using direct audience intera ...
.
Early life
Vallandingham was born to a mother of Indian origin, and a father of Dutch origin.
Martial arts career
She began practicing taekwondo at the age of 2, encouraged by her grandfather, who played an instrumental role in her early development. By the age of 8, she won her first American Taekwondo Association world championship, becoming one of the youngest black belts to achieve this feat.
Over her career, Vallandingham has earned 13 American Taekwondo Association titles, excelling in both traditional combat and weapons forms such as the
bo staff
Bo or BO may refer to
Arts and entertainment
*Box office, where tickets to an event are sold, and by extension, the amount of business a production receives
*'' BA:BO'', 2008 South Korean film
* ''Bo'' (film), a Belgian film starring Ella-June ...
and
nunchaku
is a traditional East-Asian martial arts weapon consisting of two sticks (traditionally made of wood), connected to each other at their ends by a short metal chain or a rope. It is approximately (sticks) and (rope). A person who has pract ...
.
Acting career
Early career
After winning the XMA Forms world championships, Vallandingham flew to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
to start her acting career at the age of 10 on ''
Underdog Kids
''Underdog Kids'' is a film directed by Phillip Rhee that premiered on July 7, 2015.
Plot
At the Mid-County Community Center, a coach quits teaching a ragtag team martial arts. Community Center leader Charlie is looking for a new coach when form ...
'' as Leticia Hernandez, directed by six-time taekwondo black belt and actor
Phillip Rhee
Phillip Rhee (born September 7, 1960) is a South Korean martial artist, actor, director, screenwriter, and film producer, best known for his role as Tommy Lee in the 1989 American martial arts film '' Best of the Best'', and its sequels '' Best ...
. The movie was released on July 7, 2015. Vallandingham made an appearance in her first music video role in 2018, starring as herself in "
Youth
Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...
" by
Shawn Mendes
Shawn Peter Raul Mendes ( , ; born August 8, 1998) is a Canadian singer. He gained a following in 2013 when he posted song covers on the video-sharing platform Vine (software), Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manage ...
, featuring
Khalid
Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal". It also appears as a surname.
, demonstrating her martial arts skills. and include
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...
,
Anne-Marie
Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson (born 7 April 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. She has attained various charting singles on the UK Singles Chart, including Clean Bandit's " Rockabye", which peaked at number one, as well as "Alarm", " Ciao ...
and
Coi Leray
Coi Leray Collins (born May 11, 1997) is an American rapper and singer. The daughter of rapper and media executive Benzino, she began her musical career in 2018 with the release of her debut mixtape, ''Everythingcoz''. She signed with Republic ...
appeared in 2023 song
Baby Don't Hurt Me
"Baby Don't Hurt Me" is a collaborative single by French DJ David Guetta with British singer Anne-Marie and American rapper Coi Leray. It was released on 6 April 2023 through What a DJ and Warner UK. The song prominently interpolates Haddaway ...
''Cobra Kai''
In 2024, Vallandingham starred in her first
television show
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...
on
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
's martial arts series, ''
Cobra Kai
''Cobra Kai'' is an American Martial arts film, martial arts comedy drama television series created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and distributed by Sony Pictures Television. It serves as a sequel to the first three ''The K ...
''. She plays a supporting
antagonist
An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.final season, portraying Zara Malik, a cocky, high-maintenance,
social media influencer
A social media influencer, or simply influencer (also known as an online influencer), is a person who builds a grassroots online presence through engaging content such as photos, videos, and updates. This is done by using direct audience intera ...
, and skilled
martial artist
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the pres ...
, as a co-captain under the dojo Iron Dragons, starring besides
Lewis Tan
Lewis Singwah Tan (born February 4, 1987) is an American actor, martial artist and model. He is known for his roles as Kung Jin in '' Mortal Kombat X: Generations'', Cole Young in '' Mortal Kombat'', Rusty Shatterstar in '' Deadpool 2'' and ' ...
Patrick Luwis
Patrick Luwis is an American actor known for his roles as Axel Kovačević in the Netflix series ''Cobra Kai'' and as Ivar in Zack Snyder's ''Rebel Moon'' franchise. He has appeared in several prominent television series and films since beginn ...
as Axel Kovačević. Malik was introduced during the Sekai Taikai tournament as the defending champions and as an undefeated rival team. In the third part of
Season 6
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...
's ''Cobra Kai'', Vallandingham took on her role as Zara Malik again, where she took her first defeat in competitive action against
Tory Nichols
This list of ''The Karate Kid'' and ''Cobra Kai'' characters reflects fictional Character (arts), characters from The Karate Kid (franchise), ''The Karate Kid'' franchise.
Overview
* An indicates an appearance through pre-recorded material.
* ...
, portrayed by Peyton List, in the Sekai Taikai girls finals.
Filmography
Film
Television
Music videos
Personal life
As an advocate for women in sports, Vallandingham seeks to challenge stereotypes in martial arts, a field traditionally dominated by men. She embraces the phrase “kick like a girl” as a positive expression of strength and skill.