I would like to share information about 4 martial artists that I most
admire for their accomplishments.
Although there are a lot more than just four of them, these are the
ones that stand out for me.
The one thing that they all have in common is that they are all legitimate
black belts and not movie
fabrications. They are also actors but they flourished in the
martial arts world first.
Cynthia Rothrock (pictured above) is the only female on my list but
her accomplishments are
even more noteworthy because she succeeded in a "man's world".
She began studying Tang Soo Do Karate when she was a teenager growing
up in Delaware and she
quickly found out that this was her passion. Cynthia not only
received a black belt in Tang Soo Do,
but she also holds black belts in Tae Kwon Do, Eagle Claw Kung Fu,
Wushu and Northern Shaolin
Kung Fu. Taking her skills into the tournament world, mainly
the forms and kata divisions, she has
amassed 5 consecutive forms championships from 1981 until she retired
in 1985. That record is still
held today and keep in mind there were no women's divisions back then
so she competed with men
and women.
After retiring from the tournament scene she decided to take up acting.
She made several films in
Asia including her most successful one which was called "Rage and Honor".
Working in Asia, mostly
Hong Kong, was very rough on her. She performed a lot of her
own stunts and was always getting
"banged up". Finally American audiences got to see this unknown
woman action star and she went
on to star in such films as "China O'Brien 1 and 2, Martial Law 1 and
2, Lady Dragon among many
others. In my opinion she is the only female action star that
can really deal out the justice to the bad
guys and if you haven't seen her in action, you need to, trust me!!
Jeff Speakman (pictured above) began his martial arts journey by studying
Gojo-Ryu karate under
Lou Angel. Taking Lou's advice he sought out Ed Parker, who was
teaching a system called
American Kenpo karate out in California. Jeff was very impressed
with kenpo and began serious
training right away at one of Mr. Parker's schools. Although
Jeff has made teaching and promoting
American Kenpo his life, he still maintains contact with gojo-ryu karate
and Mr. Angel.
He currently holds a 5th degree black belt in American kenpo and also
a 6th degree black belt in
gojo-ryu karate.
Jeff received some instruction from Mr. Parker himself and the two became
very close, like father
and son. When Speakman got into acting and was offered his first
major role, Ed Parker was there
to guide his "star student". Mr. Parker knew that if kenpo could
be displayed on film the way he
wanted it to be as a flowing and lethal system then Speakman was the
one who could do it.
Jeff made his debut in "The Perfect Weapon" in which he plays a kenpo
expert in the film. The action
sequences are breath taking and Mr. Parker was well pleased with the
film. Speakman went on to
make several more films and still uses only kenpo in the fight scenes.
After Ed Parker died in 1990, the American Kenpo followers all went
their separate ways. Some
promoted themselves to grandmasters and started their own system of
what they had learned while
others tried to carry on what Mr. Parker had tried to teach them.
Jeff currently runs his own
organization called "American Kenpo Systems" and he has been trying
to unite all the kenpo
practitioners and to show the value in all the different kenpo systems.
The man pictured above is Chuck Norris and he is a class martial artist
and role model as well.
Chuck was introduced to the martial arts while in the Air Force and
stationed in Korea. While
studying Judo over there he injured his shoulder and decided to learn
karate while it healed. The
system he began was Tang Soo Do and it was the prominent Korean system
at that time. The
Koreans didn't think much about American students so Chuck had to train
very hard to win their
approval. After very intense and daily training, Norris earned
his black belt.
When he arrived back in the states, he began teaching what he had learned
to students in his back
yard. Eventually he opened his first school but he had no recognition
so he began to compete to get
his name out there.
Chuck dominated the tournament scene and was the middleweight champion
from 1968-1974 and
his schools began to grow immensely. After he retired from competition
he took up acting and
although some of his early films were "chop-socky", he persisted and
eventually made some very
successful films with his younger brother Aaron as director.
Norris learned that if you put your mind
on something then you can accomplish anything.
His currently has his own TV series called "Walker, Texas Ranger", he
recently set a record in a
speedboat race, and he became the first westerner to earn an 8th degree
black belt in Tae Kwon
Do, which is the sister art to Tang Soo Do. He also is the author
of two best selling books, "The
Secret of Inner Strength" and "Zen Solutions to Everyday Problems",
which I have read and strongly
recommend. Chuck Norris is probably most proud of his "Kick Drugs
Out Of America" foundation
in which children and teenagers are taught martial arts so they can
build strong moral values and self
esteem and learn to be in control of their lives. In a time where
everyone is trying to discredit
someone or something, Chuck Norris doesn't have a bad word to say about
anyone, "What A Guy"!
The imposing man above is Steven Seagal. Although a lot of martial
artists don't like him for one
reason or another, he deserves our respect. Steven started out
learning karate and later switched to
aikido. Aikido, which is said to be one of the harder martial
arts to learn, became Steven's passion.
After graduating from high school, he moved to Japan to study with
the masters. Although he had a
difficult time at first, he eventually became a very skilled aikidoist.
In 1975, after he received his
black belt, he became the first American to operate an aikido school
in Japan. Naturally, this upset
the other Japanese martial artists and Seagal had daily battles with
the underworld, but he always
came out on top.
He decided to come back to the United States after nearly 14 years in
Japan to open an aikido
school here. One of his early students happened to be affiliated
with a motion picture company and
urged Steven to give a demonstration to the producers. After
witnessing Seagal's mastery of aikido
he was hired on the spot for a film that would later be called "Above
The Law".
Seagal, with his whirlwind skills, trademark pony-tail, and intimidating
presence, quickly became a
superstar. He went on to do more action films such as "Hard To
Kill", "Under Siege 1 & 2", "Fire
Down Below" and his most recent "The Patriot".
Besides acting in his films, he has directed, produced, choreographed,
and even wrote and
performed songs for some of them.
Currently Steven is a 7th degree black belt in aikido and also holds
a black belt in kenjutsu, which is
a sword art. Although he sometimes says too much and gives people
the wrong impression, he has
earned his place with all the top martial artists in the world.
