Which martial art movie star do you like best?

[MantisWarrior]

My favourites are :

 

Steven Seagal(Aikido)

 

Jet-Li (kung-fu)

 

Chuck Norris(Karate)

 

Jackie Chan(Kung-fu)

 

And of course Bruce Lee!

 

wasn't Chuck Norris tkd

[Guy_Mendiola]

Yes, Chuck Norris was in TKD but he competed in a lot of Karate Tournaments.

[battousai16]

actually, i always thought he was tang soo do...

[Guy_Mendiola]

I saw in one of the Black Belt Magazines that Chuck Norris was a 1st dan or 2nd dan I think is was in Tae Kwon Do but he might have took up Tang Soo Do also.

[Mink]

Bolo Yueng .....not sure how he spells his last name

[MichiganTKD]

Bruce Lee: Amazing ability, especially in Enter the Dragon, to fluidly go from style to style without looking forced or incompetent. Only person I ever saw able to do that.

 

Don Wilson: Unwatchable. I physically cannot watch his films, and I can watch about any martial arts movie around. Is he capable of acting in a film without "Blood" in the title?

 

Jet Li: Amazing. A little too wushu-ish for me though.

 

Van Damme: Decent technique. Victime of horrible editing. Needs to speak better English so he can play characters besides Frenchmen.

 

Chuck Norris: I'm sure he's a nice guy. But he can't act and he makes horrible films. Technique never impressed me.

 

Jackie Chan: Amazing to watch, stunt-wise. Tries to be too funny and cute.

 

Martial arts films are about excitement and fantasy. They aren't supposed to be real. Who'd pay $6.00 to watch a guy use one kick and the fight's over? One other thought: If it weren't for martial arts films, how many of us would be practicing in the first place?

[battousai16]

"If it weren't for martial arts films, how many of us would be practicing in the first place?"

 

bingo, though i don't think anybody will be putting the ninja turtles or the power rangers as their favorite martial artists...

[MichiganTKD]

I used to watch Bruce Lee films with a friend of mine who was also a Black Belt in our class. We used to go through his fight scenes frame by frame to marvel at Lee's speed and technique. We didn't use Bruce Lee films as instruction manuals like so many uneducated "students" who thought they practiced martial arts, we just watched them to marvel at the way they were done. For instance, when Lee was fighting Chuck Norris in the Colliseum, my friend made me watch one scene about 20 times because he couldn't believe Lee was that fast and wanted to see exactly what he did. Still, it beats the times he made me rewind the home videos he was in so he could admire himself.

 

Always makes me laugh whenever someone claims to be a martial arts student because they've seen all of Lee's films, all the ninja films, and read Black Belt or Tae Kwon Do Times Magazine

 

[White Warlock]

Hehe Michigan.

 

Well, even though i find Jackie Chan not to be a very good comedian in English, i appreciate what he has offered to the martial arts community. An incredibly strong message on being humble. In most of his movies he emphasizes humility and striving to avoid confrontation. He's constantly throwing out that he is just your "average guy" who happens to be "okay" at martial arts and stunts. His attitude is refreshing and his presentations on using just about everything around you, rather than just limiting yourself to your physical body, is astounding.

 

Oh, and on Chuck Norris. It was tang soo do.

 

Continuing... Chuck Norris, has what is called a 'flat affect,' which means his expressions and emotions do not easily transfer to his facial muscles. It is presently being mildly debated in the psychiatric circles as to whether 'flat affect' is due to a synaptic disorder or if it a personality disorder (i.e., whether it is physiological or psychological). But, in either case... it limits Chuck Norris' acting ability. I, personally, give much respect to the guy. He's made a lucrative career in a field he, by all rights, should have failed miserably in.

 

Steven Seagal. I've heard lots of 'rumors' about how he's an * in Hollywood. But, you have to realize the sources. There are a lot of lifetime-* in Hollywood, and i'm sure a strong personality like Seagal is going to rub a lot of chain-smoking, prick-lipped losers the wrong way... especially when 'they' think they're the *. Seagal actually 'is' the *. I am not aware of any other occidental that has achieved 8th dan in Aikido and he is well respected in the Japanese community. His acting... always the same character.

 

Jean Claude Van-Damme. Now that's an *. There are sufficient police reports to validate this. With his wife-beating, girlfriend beating, and employee abuses, it's no wonder he's become popular in Hollywood. I never met the guy, nor am i interested in doing so. His 'showoff' martial arts stuff doesn't impress me. I jokingly refer to him as a 'dancer.'

 

Jet Li. Nice stuff, nice guy. Hard to see exactly how good he is, as he's always in these movies with lots of special effects and rope tricks. Still, i like his off-camera attitude.

 

Don Wilson. Needs a better agent.

 

Cynthia Rothrock. ditto (i think they have the same agent).

 

Bruce Lee. That's a tough one to criticize. I think his two greatest contributions were 'off-screen.' He helped to generate an acceptance of occidentals in Chinese martial arts training and he created the idea and initial script for the series, "Kung Fu," which ... I think ... was the best damn martial art series in television history and really helped lots of people to understand Asian philosophies.

 

Bruce Lee's on-screen performances I found to be just a tad too macho for my taste. His technical showing was interesting, but also not to my taste. His acting was so-so, in that he pretty much played the same character everytime.

 

What I would really like to see in film again is Benny "the Jet" Urquidez. That guy can really put on an intense performance on-screen.

[MichiganTKD]

What Lee helped do through his screen performances was open the doors for Westerners to learn directly from Orientals. I think before that time, MA was still more or less below ground. It hadn't really caught on in the mainstream. After Lee appeared, and Westerners really created a demand for MA instruction, Oriental teachers were forced to open their doors to them. Before, I think it was harder, especially for Kung Fu students, to find a Chinese teacher willing to teach non-Chinese.