masterd48
Member
[on the West’s ignorance of the martial arts]
“Yes I think the west is very ignorant about the martial arts but as is usually the case, ignorance comes about from lack of knowledge. Its that failure of knowing about the unknown that leads people to just assume and presume. Before Bruce Lee came along no one had popularized kung fu or karate like he did, but it was treated as if it was something new and something from outer space. The same is with aikido, when I first brought my experiences of aikido to the US, many people thought I had invented it and were shocked to find out it was the brainchild of a little Japanese man back before the second world war. If I can bring education to peoples perception of aikido and make them seek out the practitioners and the shihans who developed it as an art form, then you know, ive done my job, and I can be satisfied at that”
[on making action movies] “I think they are stupid. People want entertainment for their buck and they have to be straight ahead fun, not too deep and overlong. Im trying to add more layers to that genre you know because while some people like your stallones and your schwarzneggers can clone those kind of movies because they sort of invented it, I cant. I have to sort of make my own way you know, sort of make myself unique, which is why I go for something more grounded and earthy”
[On Under Siege] “The important thing about a film like this one is that it takes me out of my niche, which is the action picture, people will go to see this film and not expect a martial arts movie, not a steven seagal picture, but just something just that entertains. And afterwards they might want to see my earlier pictures and other stuff I will do in the future. It gets you currency which is important if you want to be taken seriously as an actor who happens to be in action movies. I don’t want to be known as a martial artist who acts a bit, but hopefully one day as an actor who happens to know martial arts”
“Yes I think the west is very ignorant about the martial arts but as is usually the case, ignorance comes about from lack of knowledge. Its that failure of knowing about the unknown that leads people to just assume and presume. Before Bruce Lee came along no one had popularized kung fu or karate like he did, but it was treated as if it was something new and something from outer space. The same is with aikido, when I first brought my experiences of aikido to the US, many people thought I had invented it and were shocked to find out it was the brainchild of a little Japanese man back before the second world war. If I can bring education to peoples perception of aikido and make them seek out the practitioners and the shihans who developed it as an art form, then you know, ive done my job, and I can be satisfied at that”
[on making action movies] “I think they are stupid. People want entertainment for their buck and they have to be straight ahead fun, not too deep and overlong. Im trying to add more layers to that genre you know because while some people like your stallones and your schwarzneggers can clone those kind of movies because they sort of invented it, I cant. I have to sort of make my own way you know, sort of make myself unique, which is why I go for something more grounded and earthy”
[On Under Siege] “The important thing about a film like this one is that it takes me out of my niche, which is the action picture, people will go to see this film and not expect a martial arts movie, not a steven seagal picture, but just something just that entertains. And afterwards they might want to see my earlier pictures and other stuff I will do in the future. It gets you currency which is important if you want to be taken seriously as an actor who happens to be in action movies. I don’t want to be known as a martial artist who acts a bit, but hopefully one day as an actor who happens to know martial arts”