Who
are your main martial arts influences?
If you’re like me, you spent your Saturday mornings
growing up in the 80’s watching “Kung FU Theater” on the USA Network. I can
remember sliding the dial on the cable box as soon as the cartoons were over!
Watching all the martial arts movies with English dubbed over the voices of the
Hong Kong actors was the highlight of my weekend. Nothing would compare to
Bruce Lee…his movies were light years ahead of the others. Not only were the
movies better but his fighting style seemed way better-even though I knew
nothing about “Jeet Kune Do” at the time. Bruce Lee was my first influence.
Next up….”The Karate Kid”. Who can remember doing a
Crain Kick when watching the movie on HBO?( It seemed to be replayed ten times
a day) I think I broke a vase or two in the house (Sorry Mom). Sweep the leg
Johnny! The Cobra Kai, and Mr. Miagi…such a great movie that talked about the
real benefits of the martial arts… like discipline, dedication, and being
focused.
Then in the late 80’s an actor with a completely different
kind of martial art grabbed my attention….Steven Seagal. What was this? He
seemed to throw people with no effort. He would break joints and strike from
close quarters. What was this art? Japanese Aikido. I would later find out that
Seagal’s Aikido was much rougher than traditional main stream Aikido. In fact,
it seemed more like Daito Ryu Aiki-Jujistu . Regardless, Seagal was a huge influence
and prompted me to seek out a Hapkido Dojang that I found in the Yellow pages.
Taking the first steps into a martial arts school is always a hard thing to do,
everyone feels a little nervous. I’m glad that I did!
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