Steven Seagal's coordination?

[dissolved]

I know Seagal is an awesome martial artist. . However, is it just me or does he lack a little smoothness & coordination? He seems kinda sluggish. I'm not talking about the newly gained weight. I'm talking about always.I know several interviewers have said he runs like a girl etc... which is what I'm getting at. Was he a lanky teenager or something. Seems like he would be without the muscle/weight etc...

[martialartsresearcher]

steven segal is an awesome martial artist with good coordination. however, he needs some serious training in his acting. anyways, see ya.

[equaninimus]

Lousy MA, lousy actor, lousy person.

[TomanGaidin]

Lousy MA? Nowadays, maybe, but back when he was running his aikido dojo, before he got into movies, he was good. The black belt tests for his students involved a three on one attacker scenario, and it was essentially NHB. He also did live knife training. He used to be exceedingly good. Now, though... he's just /strange/.

[Davison]

lousy MA?i cant belive you said that!

[White Warlock]

No kidding. Seagal is one of the few 'legitimate' martial arts movie stars. As to his ability, he still practices regularly and he's no slouch. 8th degree BB in aikido, last i knew. In his movies, he demostrates the harder techniques of Aikido. By harder, i mean the atemi-waza... or strikes associated with aikido.

 

He's not too bad an actor either, although definitely one-dimensional. As to being a lousy person, i've heard rumors from unscrupulous snooty sorts in the movie industry, and comments from a woman scriptwriter i know in Hollywood that says he's a 'typical' Japanese guy. She should know, as she's American-born Japanese. As to whether being a 'typical' Japanese is 'lousy,' I suppose if you hold to the idea that Japanese are conceited, ruthless, and respectful of women... as objects, then i suppose. However, if you view a 'typical' Japanese as considerate, respectful, and open, again.. i suppose. All in your predispositions I suppose.

 

Returning to the original post, i've always found his stance to be quite... tall. Lanky might be a good word for it. I have seen his early pictures and that would be about right. Aikido instructs you to maintain a relatively straight back and to bend at the knees when attempting to lose height, thus ensuring your center of balance is maintained... even strengthened. So... I would have to say that it is a combination of the fact he is tall, has a long torso and practices a system that encourages him to maintain a straight back that poses him as being somewhat... lanky and is probably something that contributes to his odd running style.

 

As to the contention that he "lacks a little smoothness & coordination," or that he "seems kinda sluggish," I would have to charge that to the movie industry, and not to him. Movie directors insist that some things be performed slowly, but for a true practitioner... that isn't too easy to do, while still looking good. Seagal prefers to perform his techniques at or near the speed of implemention. Because of this, directors insist upon playing back his actions in slow motion. Doing so pulls out the 'tiny' flaws that occur when a technique is implemented at 'speed.'

 

The old saying that, most everything works at 1/2 speed, some things work at 3/4 speed, and nothing works at full speed, applies here as well.

 

Because Seagal performs his movie stunts at full speed, or near to full speed, it is not perfect. But the fact that he can apply it at that speed indicates a tremendous amount of skill that should not be dismissed arbitrarily. It is wholly unfair to compare it to the guys that perform their actions in slow motion and have the film developers speed things up (Jet Li) or slow them down even further (Van Damme) so they look good (or at least better than they truly are).

[kungfumaster]

what are you talking about man they have to slow down the camera for jet like they had to with bruce

[White Warlock]

*smiles politely*

[spinninggumby]

Movie fighting and choreography is obviously completely different from real-life or street fighting or self-defense. What's the problem here is the complete inability of Steven Seagal to entertain the audience in any way regardless of how good of a fighter he is. I mean, you can be the most well-trained street fighter in the world and suck onscreen, and if you're not gonna entertain the audience onscreen, why are you exactly doing movies in the first place?

[White Warlock]

I mean, you can be the most well-trained street fighter in the world and suck onscreen, and if you're not gonna entertain the audience onscreen, why are you exactly doing movies in the first place?

Umm... for the money.

 

Entertainment is a 'means' to an end, not the end in and of itself. As long as his movies sell tickets, videos are being purchased, and stations are paying for reruns, there's money in it.

 

Seagal sells tickets, bottom line.