The diver from California punched the shark so hard, she hurt her hand in the process

Nov 1, 2012 14:34 GMT  ·  By

Diver Mariko Haugen suffered a shark attack in Hawaii, while she was on holiday with her husband. The beast was 12 ft (3.7 meters long), but Mariko wasn't intimidated.

The woman from Folsom, California, managed to escape the attack with no bites, all because of her knowledge of Tae Kwan Do.

The Sun notes that, as she stood face to face with a tiger shark, the black-belt owner started punching its snout. Her hand needed 60 to 70 stitches after it came in contact with the shark's teeth.

“My Tae Kwan Do prepared me to learn how to punch. I punched it twice. I punched it this way, and that one contacted. But this (punch) kind of hit the side and slid into the mouth,” she describes.

The woman plans to visit Hawaii again, and isn't giving up on scuba diving.

“Getting bitten by a shark is one in 4 million to visitors to Hawaii, so we should not have to worry at all,” she says.