Minnesota girl shows off martial arts skills on French talent show

(FOX 9) - A girl from Lino Lakes, Minnesota got the chance to show off her martial arts skills on French television.

After studying martial arts for the last 10 years, Samantha Mitling is a third-degree black belt and a world champion in musical weapons.

But this real-life karate kid is also head over heels over a recent appearance on her biggest stage yet.

"It's amazing. I always dreamed of doing stuff like that when I was younger and now that I actually get to do it. It's crazy."

After seeing one of her training videos on Instagram last April, someone from the French version of Game of Talents sent Mitling a direct message asking if she wanted to be on the show. The next thing Mitling knew, she and her mom were on a 10-day all-expense paid visit to Paris to show off her skills.

"A lot of it was because I don't look like a martial artist," she explained. "I have blond hair. I don't look like a martial artist. I'm more of a shyer person too. When it doesn't come to karate."

The goal of the game show is for celebrity contestants to guess the performer's secret skill. At first, Mitling came out wearing a jean jacket and skirt and gave a short introduction.

"They thought I was in a vegetable orchestra or a drone dancer," she explained.

Then she came back out dressed like the bride in the movie "Kill Bill" and performed a two-minute routine with her bo staff and plenty of pyrotechnics.

"They couldn't believe it because I was this really shy girl then I came out screaming and shouting and there is this blood splattering and yeah they were pretty shocked."

Mitling had to keep her performance a secret until the show aired in France at the end of August. Now that it has she says her once-in-a-lifetime experience is nothing to shake a stick at.

"It's still kind of hard to wrap my mind around that I went to Paris and appeared on a game show. but it was such an amazing feeling and I would love to do something like that again," she added.