Most influential martial artists

[alsey]

itosu changed karate drastically. he basically changed it from the okinawan combat system to the karate we usually see today. funakoshi then went on to popularise the new karate-do in japan. they were both very influential, but itosu had a greater affect on the art itself.

[bushido_man96]

itosu changed karate drastically. he basically changed it from the okinawan combat system to the karate we usually see today. funakoshi then went on to popularise the new karate-do in japan. they were both very influential, but itosu had a greater affect on the art itself.

It appears that Funakoshi kind of carried the torch. Funakoshi also did a very good job of nationalize the art of Karate for Japan.

[Jiffy]

er, i think you will find that ralph macchio was the karate kid. joe esposito was in power rangers (no i didnt know that i looked it up, well i knew the ralph macchio part)

Oh yeah.... oops.

[Zorbasan]

im not sure im a fan of his influence in the MA (esposito), i saw an article in some magazine, and i wasnt impressed by some of the things said.

[Jiffy]

I'm not so much impressed by him personally as I am impressed at how much attention and respect his movies brought to Martial Arts and Karate in particular.

I have no idea what he has done since. Judging by IMDB, not a lot.