Swell Digs: Twana Barnett-Ferguson

From Temeluca in California, Twana Barnett-Ferguson has been married to Mike Ferguson for over 15 years, and together they have three lovely daughters.

But, though her family are clearly the part of her life she cherishes the most, there is, it seems, a little bit more to Twana than that. Just a little.



Dug up this old picture of me tattooing, she posted with the above on her Instagram. Her and hubby Mike run their own tattoo place, 1st Amendment Tattoo (good name!) in Temeluca. She's listed as the company's Owner/President, so I guess we should add BUSINESS OWNER or ENTREPRENEUR to her list of skills as well.



Twana is a Krav Maga black belt and instructor. What's Krav Maga? Click on the link. Or maybe just settle back and watch this demo from Twana's You Tube channel. Perhaps, "settle" is not quite the right word to use here, but anyway, enjoy.





I would have guessed that when you are a woman who looks as good as Twana undoubtedly does (mother of THREE, remember), walking past a mirror without checking your fine self out must be a tad difficult. So it's not especially surprising that Twana is a bit of a one for the "Ain't I lookin' fine?" selfie, more than ever when she's in contest countdown mode, as she was when she posted the above and below.



So I'm out running errands & the bathroom is empty. My 1st thought... was to take a selfie!!! she writes. Really though, can you blame her? I mean, WOW!




And this self-confessed selfie addict has got some serious muscle. And for the last couple of years, she has been taking that muscle on stage in the physique division, most recently at the NPC USAs (pics), where she finished 5th in her class.




This was her second time at the USAs - she finished 6th last year.



It's so funny when people try to "alert" me to my size, she says, like the "All Around Badass" she describes herself as. I look at myself everyday especially at the gym where I work very hard to look the way I do. So THANK YOU for your concern, now please GO AWAY I have a set to finish.



I'm swooning, really.

And I don't want to get disrespectful here. Seriously. Her husband seems like a really cool guy, and their home life appears to be genuinely loving and full of fun as well. Check out this little home-made gem from the Fergusons.

A bit weird, a lot goofy, and (ultimately) very very sexy all in just 14 seconds!



No disrespect, then, just admiration. Really. What a woman! The "New Mavi Gioia" as some are calling her, and it's not so hard to understand why, is it? Both have a kind of natural sexuality that comes across when their in front of the camera (whether it is theirs or someone else's). Both are just drop dead gorgeous, and both, interestingly, are mothers who keep their families at the centre of everything they do.



Ah, whatever! I think I could overdo it (probably have overdone it already) on the comparison between the two. Twana is, quite clearly, her own woman, and a very unique individual at that. And maybe that's the reason why I can't help swooning all over her (sorry, Mr Ferguson!). It's not the looks at all, it's the total "badass" strength and confidence she projects that's really doing it for me.



[though the looks probably don't hurt though, do they? - ed.]



Enjoy!

Around the World: Myanmar

Around the World will be an occasional series celebrating the female bodybuilders of a particular country, and examining any issues peculiar to muscle women there.



Imagine you finally get yourself off to a bodybuilding show. You sit through all the male classes with everything appearing to be quite normal, but as the female contestants take to the stage, your excitement quickly turns to horror. All of them are wearing shorts and vests. And not very short shorts and not very revealing vests at that! Sure, they strike a few poses, but having most of their physique covered, the range of poses worth doing is somewhat limited - no abs and thigh because, well, you can't even see their abs. They do their lat spreads and you have to imagine the muscle beneath their modest vests. Something's very very wrong here, you think to yourself...

Well, that's exactly what you'd see if you happened to be in Rangoon and decided to rock up at a bodybuilding show - very very little of the women indeed!

However, for those women on the stage, the not very short shorts and the not very revealing vests represent something of a triumph. Yes, that's right, a TRIUMPH!

If you'd been at that show in Rangoon before 2012, you would have seen even less. No posing. No muscle. You would have simply seen the "female bodybuilders" parading across the stage in their "longyi", the traditional attire for Myanmar women.



This state of affairs had existed from 1948, when Myanmar gained its independence, right up until just two years ago, when the shorts and vest revolution took place, and women like Myanmar's most successful international female bodybuilder, Aye Aye Soe (pics), were finally allowed to show some (if not all) the muscle.



Abroad, women have been taking part in bodybuilding contests for a long time, she says. But here we were only allowed to join in 2012. It’s quite late if you compare it with other countries. We have to work hard to keep up with them. "Quite late"?! Gentlemen, I think we need look no further for the Understatement of the Year...




Nevertheless, the late start hasn't stopped Aye Aye picking up medals in south-east Asian competitions over the past couple of years. And, as the contests are outside Myanmar, she gets to wear a posing suit while doing so. The 24-year-old only started lifting weights four years ago after she had graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering. I worked as a clerk at the Myanmar Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Federation, she says. There, a [male] bodybuilder encouraged me to join the sport. When female bodybuilders get older, they still have a beautiful body and they still look like young women. I gradually grew interested in it. Her biggest success so far was winning something called the "Women's Athletic Physique contest" in Singapore last month. I feel satisfied, she says. The success represents Myanmar.



The interest in bodybuilding here [among women] is not very high. Women are afraid that they will have bigger muscles and will no longer be feminine. It’s quite strange or alarming for some people here to see a female bodybuilder.



She estimates that currently there are maybe "a few dozen" female bodybuilders in the whole of the country, so we must see pretty much all of them in a 20-minute piece from Channel News Asia. The reporting style may not be to everyone's taste, but it's certainly the clearest picture you'll get of muscle women in Myanmar.

Apart from the early shock of the shorts/vest contest, the biggest jaw drop for me comes when we meet journalist Mya Kay Khine of the Myanmar Times. Mya Kay has been writing about her female muscle compatriots. I thought it was an important thing to write about, she says. Look out for the moment she reveals her true feelings though, about female bodybuilders and her take on gender equality in Myanmar in general. It is like listening to a voice from the past. The DISTANT past. Like the pre-electricity past. Even things I don't like can be newsworthy, she says. Indeed.

WATCH THE REPORT HERE.

I usually sign off by saying "Enjoy!", but in the circumstances perhaps "Support!" would be a better exhortation in this case. Support, however remotely. A good start might be to send Aye Aye Soe a message on her Facebook page.

There's plenty of reason to congratulate her.

FMS Faves @NPC USAs 2014

Today, not one, not two, but THREE of the most gorgeous muscular women in the world for your viewing pleasure, all of whom have been celebrated on FMS before. All three competed at the recent NPC USAs, and although none of them received their pro cards on this occasion, all finished in the top three of their respective classes.


THERESA IVANCIK
3rd, bodybuilding (heavyweight)
previously on FMS: Theresa Ivancik: Worth Celebrating




Outconditioned by runner-up Joella Bernard, and outsized (and outconditioned) by heavyweight and overall champ Aleesha Young, Theresa, sadly, will have to keep her pro dreams on ice for a little longer. Now, I'm no expert (far from it) but as far as I can see, size doesn't seem to be the issue - not upper body size, anyway. To me, she looks like she's going to be utterly unbeatable in her Instagram "countdown" shots, then, on the day, it's somehow not quite there on the stage.




Nevertheless, she's still relatively young for a female bodybuilder, and surely it's only a matter of time before she does, finally, nail it and get that pro card she so covets. Placing 3rd at a huge national show is such an honor and I couldn't be more excited! she told her Facebook followers after the USAs. Planning ahead to future shows is underway! She's wondering whether to take a break, and she probably deserves it. Or do the Nationals in November? There's a part of me hoping I'll get just one more sight of Theresa in her posing suit before the end of the year... Yes, indeed.




And you can see some USA heavyweight action on Theresa's YouTube channel.


BRIE EUBANKS
3rd, physique (D)
previously on FMS: Hot and Hard Countdown: 10 to 1




Known for her abs and extreme vascularity (not to mention some super-naughty webcam shows), Her Brieness is, as voted by FMS readers, the 5th Hottest Woman in the World, and I seriously doubt the images we have of her doing her thing on stage at the USAs are going to make anyone feel that she finished too high on that list. She's beautiful, no question, and was in great shape at the USAs, but there were other beautiful women in great shape on that stage with her. But Brie always seems to have that little indefinable extra. Maybe it's in the facial expressions, maybe it's just all in my head, but I just KNOW that when I see video of Brie from the show she is really going to "get my tap dripping", as a certain Mr. C. Moore Glootz would say.




She may not have won her class in Las Vegas, but I'm sure she won some hearts and minds among the female muscle headed members of the audience, and, as it turns out, she actually fared none too badly with the judges as well. So the scorecards have been released, she posted to her Iron Built blog, and not only did I miss 2nd by 1 point but I was ONLY 5 points shy of first! Now, she confesses, a part of me wants to go back to Vegas. Kind of want to own that show... but figured I should go where I haven’t been before. What do you think??? Comments will be considered...




Well, my considered comment is that Brie should appear at my house next.

Follow Brie on her blog, her YouTube channel, her Facebook and on Twitter.


SUSANNA HAND
2nd, bodybuilding (light-heavyweight)
previously on FMS: Susanna (Bet You Can't Keep Your) Hand(s Above the Table) @NPC Nationals 2013




We bemoaned her lowly placing at the NPC Nationals last year not because we thought it was unfair, but simply because it robbed us of another, say 20 to 30 images of Susanna, as 9th meant no evening show on that occasion. Luckily, there was no such problem here. Having finished 4th at the USAs in 2013, she was awarded runner-up in her class at this show, so the good news is we get to feast our eyes on this jaw-dropping muscular beauty in two posing suits this time. Hooray!




You may remember we reported that Susanna wasn't exactly gagging to get her pro card: I don't determine whether I am happy or feel successful based on that, she said before the Nationals last year. Still, she is getting closer all the time. Second represented her best finish at a national show ever at her fourth attempt - twice as a heavyweight and twice (including this time) as a light-heavyweight.



Perhaps next time will be fifth time lucky. She may not be hung up on winning that pro card, but the victors always get to hit a few more poses next to that trophy - so that would be another ten, maybe fifteen pics of Susanna for my enjoyment. So, good thing.


Enjoy!