Who's Your Mt. Rushmore?

[bushido_man96]

If you could pick the faces for the Mt. Rushmore of Martial Artists, who would you pick? Who do you believe has had that kind of an impact on the Martial Arts world?

This is not intended to be a "who's the best" type of conversation, but instead a recognition of those who either changed things or impacted the progression of the Martial Arts.

I think mine would be Gichin Funakoshi, Jigoro Kano, Morehei Ueshiba, and Helio Gracie. I think these four individuals did quite a lot for the advancement of various styles of Martial Arts.

Who would be on your Mt. Rushmore? Again, I picking this forum because I'm looking for Martial Artists from all over different disciplines. I think we could do another for each section, like a Mt. Rushmore for Karate, and for TKD, Chinese styles, etc.

[Zaine]

That's an interesting question. I think I would have Itosu Anko, Funakoshi Gichin, Kano Jigoro, and Matsumura Soken. Mine is very karate centric, with a nod to Kano for the way we rank things in karate. I imagine that it is incorrect, as well. There are just so many things that I don't know that it's difficult to pick 4.

[Fat Cobra]

Bruce Lee, Steven Seagall, Jean Claude Van Damme, Sho Kosugi

[aurik]

That's an interesting question. I think I would have Itosu Anko, Funakoshi Gichin, Kano Jigoro, and Matsumura Soken. Mine is very karate centric, with a nod to Kano for the way we rank things in karate. I imagine that it is incorrect, as well. There are just so many things that I don't know that it's difficult to pick 4.

I'd probably go with Gichin Funakoshi, Kanei Uechi, Jigoro Kano, and possibly Morihei Ueshiba

[sensei8]

WOW!! I'll need a much bigger mountain. Picking 4 of impactful MAists might be a monstruous task, and even when I pick the 4, I'll not be satisfied with my choices.

However, and not to be too repetitive in the names, here's my list...

Gichin Funakoshi

Masutatsu Oyama

Bruce Lee

Jigoro Kano

[Wado Heretic]

As a karateka first and foremost I would have to state Funakoshi Gichin as a definite on my Mt. Rushmore. Although there were other pioneers we must consider, and show due respect, with regards to getting Tode Jutsu from Okinawa to Japan, I would say Funakoshi has had the most wide-reaching implications. Konishi Yasuhiro, a direct student of Funakoshi, was instrumental in getting Karate Do recognised alongside other forms of Budo in Pre-War Japan. Funakoshi’s students, through the JKA, became global pioneers in spreading Karate to the World. Ōyama Masutatsu was the father of Full-Contact Karate, and he first discovered Karate through Funakoshi’s teachings. From karate come both American and Japanese forms of kick-boxing. Many among the first generation of Tang Soo Do and Tae Kwon Do also credit their training to the Shotokan. The world of Martial Arts could be very different if there had not been a Funakoshi Gichin.

Second would be Kano Jigoro. He began the revolution of how Martial Arts was taught in Japan, and his innovations have been far reaching. A belt ranking system is used in most modern Japanese Martial Arts, but also Chinese Wushu, Korean Arts such as Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido, and Western Arts descending from Japanese ones such as Brazilian Jujutsu and many forms of American and European of Kempo and Jujutsu. The Judogi, as the first development of a formal keikogi, led to the creation of the Karategi. Both the Judogi and Karategi are used throughout the world, or have derivatives used in other martial arts. The Judo mentality of Randori has also had a deep effect philosophically on the martial arts, with Karate and other forms of Budo which otherwise eschewed formal competition developing competition rules, as a direct result of Judo being the prototype of the modern martial art in Japan. This has been carried forward into BJJ and SOMBO which are directly descended from Judo, but also some branches of Aikido, because their founders were also Judoka, included competition in an Art otherwise bereft of it. The pioneers of Kakuto Karate were generally accomplished Judoka as well as Karateka.

Third would be Donn F Dreager. Primarily because he is the father of Hoplology and set the foundations for the anthropological study of Martial Arts. But he also helped a lot of people heading to Japan in the 60s for training, who have in turn become leading experts or have had a huge influence on their respective arts. Without him a lot of Westerners would have missed out on opportunities, and in turn, a lot of people would have missed out on them bringing their knowledge to their respective home countries. Dreager’s work also helped promote, and likely helped preserve, a number of arts which would otherwise likely be lost to history with his work too.

My fourth I have struggled with but I have decided to settle on Rorion Gracie. Although the business mind behind the UFC was Art Davie, the architect of the event was in many ways Rorian Gracie. It was his work that laid the foundations for the first UFC to be conceived of as a concept through his Gracie Challenges, and working in a lot of film and television and making connections. Without his work there would not have been a UFC 1, and without that event, Modern MMA and by extension modern combat sports and fighting arts would likely not be the same. There was an emerging fighting scene in Japan, however, it was mostly hybrid systems such as Daido Juku and Shooto which had very restrictive rules, or it was rooted in Shoot-Wrestling and often blurred works with real shoot fights. UFC 1 prompted Satoru Sayama to create Vale Tudo Japan which in turn led to Pride, and the late 90s MMA boom which gave the sport a lot of the momentum it needed to survive and thrive.

I did consider Jack Dempsey for fourth place, as I consider him the first boxer to box in a manner similar to modern and current boxers. He was also an early advocate of cross-training, and an early writer on fighting methods. I also considered Mitsuyo Maeda because without him there would be no Brazilian Jujutsu, and by extension no Rorian Gracie as the world knows him to help kick-start the MMA revolution. Another was Antonio Inoki for his inter-style matches, and setting the stage for the hybrid fighting systems that emerged in Japan in the 80s.

[DarthPenguin]

This is a surprisingly tough question! For me the 4 would be :

- gichin funakoshi

- jigoro kano

- masatatsu oyama

- helio gracie / carlos gracie*

I put both of the brothers as you hear conflicting stories from different people as to who came up with bjj! Most people say Helio but i have heard plenty say Carlos did.

Hopefully the others are self explanatory enough. My main debate was on including Mas Oyama but i decided that kyokushin has had enough of an impact on martial arts that i thought i had to include him

[Spartacus Maximus]

Mine would also be specific to a particular ryuha: Takahara, Sakugawa, Matsumura, Itosu, Chibana

[KarateKen]

Hmmmm....

Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee would have to be on mine for sure, those two are no brainers. Otherwise, I'd have to think about the other two.