Martial arts - show some respect

[KillerBJJ 10]

Let's talk about the great of martial arts. People who've trained hard, progessed, got some belts and really achieved something. And lets, for once, show some respect...

 

Jean Claude Van Damme -- a true Belgian hero. Then he fought and defeated Bolo Yeung in the kumité, he showed a generation of young, aspiring, lyrca wearing ballet dancers (see:

) they could reach the highest levels of martial arts stardom. Kickboxer, Bloodsport, Nowhere To Run, Universal Soldier.

 

Steven Segal -- martial arts wunderkind turned Hollywood hero, Segal has it all. Hand speed, wrist-breaking akido, a pony-tail, respect in Japan and cooking skills. Most people think of Segal as the ex-special forces chef in Under Siege, but I think of him as Nico, a cop so tough he'd soon as bounce your face off an interview desk as throw your down a flight of stairs. Segal has reached the highest levels of his sport and is surely an inspiration to all young martial arts fans. (The jury is still out on whether akido actually works against anyone other than 19th century samurai.)

 

Chuck Norris -- he took Tae Kwon Do and Tang Soo Do to a new level. Chuck Kwon Do. Before he went off the religious deep end and got himself caught up in an ego trip, he was the man. Red in beard and pointy cowboy boot. The man invented one of the most important developments in American martial arts -- elasticated denim. Seen that bit at the end of Mission In Action 2: The Beginning where he rips that dudes ribcage apart? Gnarly. Vet of the year in 2000, 6-time US karate champ, respected BJJ practitioner. A legend.

 

Billy Blanks -- Blanks was Snipes before Snipes was Snipes. He worked closely with the D.A.R.E. programme to keep kids off drugs and won several major US martial arts competitions before moving into films and personal fitness. Having revolutionised martial arts, he invented Tai-Bo. An essential compontent in any martial arts fitness regieme.

 

Wesley Snipes -- before making it on the big screen, Wesley Snipes must of hard some kind of martial arts training. Seen those action sequences in Blade? I don't know whether he did ninjitsu, but he must have done something.

 

Other notables: the dudes from Best of the Best, American Samurai and maybe David Carradine. But he didn't actually know any martial arts, did he?

[Rich 12]

David Carradine? Ugh, Bruce Lee should've been in Kung Fu, the whole thing was his idea to start with, an Eastern Western!

 

Speaking of Bruce Lee, you CANNOT compile a "who's who" of martial arts movie stars without him IMO, he was the man who single handedly brought Chinese made martial arts movies to the Western world.. Big Boss? Enter the Dragon? I personally still regard ETD as one of, if not THE best martial arts movie ever made.

Edited March 16, 2009 by Rich

[BJJMAN 10]

LOL!! Im sat at work laughing like i've just kidnapped my foreign foes mrs and done unspeakable things with her!!

[Horus 10]

OMG!! KillerBjj I thought I had too much time on my hands during my holiday wind down!! Still respect to Billy Banks I watched loads of his films but can't remember a single title. That's how good he is!! He is the only thing you remember about any of his films!! He outshines everything else!

[DaFoot 10]

You missed Jackie Chan :-

Circus performer to MA superstar

[ShotoKarate 10]

You missed Taimak!!!!!!!

[Rich 12]

You also missed Jet Li.

[Horus 10]

Also Thomas Ian Griffin!! There that threw you didn't it?

[blackerz 10]

chuck norris now he wer hard

[blackerz 10]

jackie chan wernt bad eiva

[blackerz 10]

but i think jason statham is the best these days

[BarraGergus 10]

dont forget arnold, he has a black belt in austrian bodybuilding-fu