Rodrigo
Lucky Member
Steven Seagal 1988 Co-Instructor of the Year
Steven Seagal has the look you don't want to know better.
What's more, he has the martial arts ability to back up the look.
A black belt in aikido and kenjutsu, with training in karate, judo and jujitsu as well, Seagal is not to be taken lightIy. The first things you notice about this strapping six-foot-four, 200-pound" plus fighting machine are his low forehead and intense dark eyes, which project an air of "I can kick your butt, so please don't force me to." Then there is the voice quiet, but direct, and oh so sinister. He is seemingly a powder keg ready to explode at the slightest provocation.
But he rarely does. Just knowing that he can, and that he is willing to fight to the death if need be, are enough for most people who happen to cross him. They know the look is onIy the exterior of a deeply committed, highly talented martial artist.
For Seagal (pronounced Say-gall), 38, it all started when, as a child in Japan, he was fortunate enough to see the late Morihei Uyeshiba, founder of aikido, teach a class. From that day forward, Seagal committed himself to the martial arts, first karate, and later aikido and kenjutsu.
"O-Sensei (Uyeshiba) had this huge force, like a big force field," Seagal claims. "It was frightening and it was magnificent. No one can do aikido like that."
Yet, Seagal is working at it. He lived in Japan for 15 years, and was the first Caucasian who had the guts-and training-to open a school in Tokyo. He has since relocated to California, where he runs the Aikido Tenshin Dojo in West Hollywood. Although he recently starred in his first motion picture, Above the Law, and is working on a second film, he still teaches and trains regularly, and claims he always will.
"I heard stories about how O-Sensei could take on five people at the same time and defeat them," Seagal notes. "But if you take ten things out of all the amazing things O-Sensei could do, when you first start training in aikido, you know in your mind that you'll never be able to do any of them. Then you train for years and realize you can do six of the ten. And you hope that maybe someday O-Sensei's magic will become an understanding that belongs to you.
"My mission in life is to be a good, strong human being, help those who need help, and to use the martial arts as a path of healing. The martial arts is really a path of always striving to perfect our spiritual selves, to become better people, so we can help other people to make the world a better place. O-Sensei used to say 'It is better to enlighten your opponent than to fell trim.' We should be thinking that way. To me, a great warrior is somebody who can almost always avoid trouble."
With that look, and his martial skills, Seagal has been able to adroitly sidestep trouble as easily as he side-steps an opponent in the dojo. BLACK BELT is proud to name him 1988 Co-Instructor of the Year.
http://www.blackbeltmag.com/archives/halloffame/1988/instructor2.html
Steven Seagal has the look you don't want to know better.
What's more, he has the martial arts ability to back up the look.
A black belt in aikido and kenjutsu, with training in karate, judo and jujitsu as well, Seagal is not to be taken lightIy. The first things you notice about this strapping six-foot-four, 200-pound" plus fighting machine are his low forehead and intense dark eyes, which project an air of "I can kick your butt, so please don't force me to." Then there is the voice quiet, but direct, and oh so sinister. He is seemingly a powder keg ready to explode at the slightest provocation.
But he rarely does. Just knowing that he can, and that he is willing to fight to the death if need be, are enough for most people who happen to cross him. They know the look is onIy the exterior of a deeply committed, highly talented martial artist.
For Seagal (pronounced Say-gall), 38, it all started when, as a child in Japan, he was fortunate enough to see the late Morihei Uyeshiba, founder of aikido, teach a class. From that day forward, Seagal committed himself to the martial arts, first karate, and later aikido and kenjutsu.
"O-Sensei (Uyeshiba) had this huge force, like a big force field," Seagal claims. "It was frightening and it was magnificent. No one can do aikido like that."
Yet, Seagal is working at it. He lived in Japan for 15 years, and was the first Caucasian who had the guts-and training-to open a school in Tokyo. He has since relocated to California, where he runs the Aikido Tenshin Dojo in West Hollywood. Although he recently starred in his first motion picture, Above the Law, and is working on a second film, he still teaches and trains regularly, and claims he always will.
"I heard stories about how O-Sensei could take on five people at the same time and defeat them," Seagal notes. "But if you take ten things out of all the amazing things O-Sensei could do, when you first start training in aikido, you know in your mind that you'll never be able to do any of them. Then you train for years and realize you can do six of the ten. And you hope that maybe someday O-Sensei's magic will become an understanding that belongs to you.
"My mission in life is to be a good, strong human being, help those who need help, and to use the martial arts as a path of healing. The martial arts is really a path of always striving to perfect our spiritual selves, to become better people, so we can help other people to make the world a better place. O-Sensei used to say 'It is better to enlighten your opponent than to fell trim.' We should be thinking that way. To me, a great warrior is somebody who can almost always avoid trouble."
With that look, and his martial skills, Seagal has been able to adroitly sidestep trouble as easily as he side-steps an opponent in the dojo. BLACK BELT is proud to name him 1988 Co-Instructor of the Year.
http://www.blackbeltmag.com/archives/halloffame/1988/instructor2.html
