This week's Rule 5 competitor is:
Rayna Vallandingham (born January 18, 2003) is an American martial artist, actress, and social media influencer. Vallandingham was born to a mother of Indian origin, and a father of Dutch origin.
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. Her achievements are not in World Taekwondo official championships and her name is not found in Taekwondo Data or any official WT posts.
Over her career, Vallandingham has earned 13 American Taekwondo Association titles, excelling in both traditional combat and weapons forms such as the bo staff and nunchaku. After winning the XMA Forms world championships, Vallandingham flew to Los Angeles to start her acting career at the age of 10 on Underdog Kids as Leticia Hernandez, directed by six-time taekwondo black belt and actor Phillip Rhee. 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" by Shawn Mendes, featuring Khalid, demonstrating her martial arts skills.
In 2024, Vallandingham starred in her first television show on Netflix's martial arts series, Cobra Kai. She plays a supporting antagonist in the final season, portraying Zara Malik, a cocky, high-maintenance, social media influencer, and skilled martial artist, as a co-captain under the dojo Iron Dragons, starring besides Lewis Tan as Sensei Wolf and Patrick Luwis 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's Cobra Kai, Vallandingham took on her role as Zara Malik again, where she took her first defeat in competitive action against Tory Nichols, portrayed by Peyton List, in the Sekai Taikai girls finals.Linked at The Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: San Romero Knights and FMJRA 2.0: A Week of Wins! ready and awaiting clicks at The Other McCain. Linked at The Right Way in the weekly Rule 5 Saturday LinkOrama.
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