So says Marco Ruas, one of the most successful MMA competitors in the early days of the sport.

Ruas started training in the martial arts when he was a young buck of 12 growing up on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “I studied taekwondo, boxing, capoeira and then judo with a famous judoka who went to the Olympics twice,” he says. “Then I trained in luta livre, which is very famous in Brazil. It’s like jiu-jitsu, but you never wear a gi. You wear only shorts.”

Ruas also trained in muay Thai kickboxing when it arrived in Brazil in the mid-1970s. Additional grappling skills came from wrestling workouts.

“I took the best things from each art and created the Ruas vale tudo style,” he says. “The best way to become a good fighter is to train in arts that give you what is good for you. That’s because there are no complete fighting arts. Thai boxing is good standing. Jujitsu and luta livre are good on the ground. I created Ruas vale tudo to give students everything they need — on the ground, standing up, wrestling — to become a complete fighter.”

Practice, Practice, Practice

If you’re thinking about following in Marco Ruas’ footsteps, hold your horses a minute: Studying a variety of arts to learn the best parts of each does not mean jumping from dojo to dojo every three or four months.

“You should spend three or four years doing each art,” he says. That can quickly add up to decades of training and testing before you’re ready to found a new self-defense system like he did.

Contrary to what his nickname “King of the Streets” may have led the public to believe about the martial artist or the martial art, Marco Ruas didn’t get in a lot of street brawls when he was a kid.

“‘King of the Streets’ is Marco’s nickname because his last name, Ruas, is very close to rua, the Portuguese word for ‘street,’” says Pedro Rizzo, Ruas’ top student and a successful MMA fighter in his own right. “One day people just started calling him ‘King of the Streets.’”

Giving Back

In Brazil, Marco Ruas was known for helping underprivileged people who want to learn the martial arts. “He let poor people train for free at his gym, which was located in the slums,” Pedro says. “He recognized the value of getting people interested in sports.”

“Bringing people into the gym gets them off the streets,” Ruas says. It’s much better than having them continue their life of delinquency or start a life of crime, he insists.

Marco Ruas now lives in Southern California, where he teaches the art he created. He’s enthusiastic about the potential of American students.

“Ruas vale tudo is a real sport that’s good for everyone,” he says. “In class, you don’t have to use strength to crunch or punch your opponent. All you need is technique. American students like to compete, so that is good, too,” he says.

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His rickety biplane lifted, then suddenly began vibrating. In a matter of moments, the craft plummeted back to earth and flipped end-over-end into a heap.

“Even now I don’t drive a car very well,” Osamu Ozawa said in an effort to make a joke out of a not-so-funny situation. “When I woke up, I was in the hospital. My body was all broke.”

I watched as Osamu Ozawa’s memories whisked him back to that terrible time. He continued to speak, but his eyes were locked onto images I could not imagine. His voice cracked as he told of how there was almost no medical help, so he was strapped to his bunk to prevent him from injuring himself.

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Unable to move, he watched as his friends committed suicide one by one. This ritual of death was considered more honorable than being captured alive by the enemy. Osamu Ozawa would have joined them if he could have untied himself, but as I said, the winds of fate had other plans for him.

Osamu Ozawa: Life After World War II

“When the war ended, I went home,” he said. “Thinking that I had died, my parents already had held a funeral service for me. They were glad I was alive; however, I was alive with dishonor, and for me that was like hell.”

Sometimes surviving a war when your comrades don’t can be worse than death. Why me? Why them? Honor and duty, which were rigidly instilled and sometimes beaten into Ozawa from the time he was a kid, plagued him night and day. The proud samurai looked to the heavens for an answer that never came.

Then one day a priest said: “Ozawa-san, you can die today — now, even — but for what? I believe you are alive because Japan needs you.”

Trusting in a force greater than anything that guides us on earth, Osamu Ozawa returned to Tokyo to finish college. “I had no money, so with my friend Shinkai I took a job sweeping floors in an American post exchange.

“I had not been there quite a week when about six American women came in. I moved out of their way, but Shinkai accidentally touched a lady’s shoe with his mop. Shinkai instantly dropped to the floor, bowing and apologizing again and again. The woman screamed and cursed him over and over. She then kicked him full in the face as he bowed. His glasses went flying, and blood splattered the floor.

“Acting on pure reflex, I grabbed the woman and hit her hard. The American military police came in with their guns drawn. We thought they would shoot us right there, but they took us to jail. Much to our surprise they gave us wonderful food, and of course we assumed this was to be our last meal. Although we could not understand the American prisoners, they seemed to be congratulating us. Later we learned that the woman we had affronted was the unpopular wife of a captain.”

Fortunately for Ozawa and his friend, one of the women who had been present gave a true account of what happened. They were released unpunished. However, they lost their jobs at the PX.

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Osamu Ozawa continued to train under Gichin Funakoshi while attending college, and in 1948 he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in economics and a second-degree black belt in shotokan.

While working as an interpreter for the U.S. armed forces at Camp Kobe, Gichin Funakoshi appointed Osamu Ozawa chief instructor for the fledging Japan Karate Association (JKA) in Kobe, Osaka and Kyoto.

“Hidetaka Nishiyama was under me,” Osamu Ozawa recalled. “He was much younger and began his training after the war. I was teaching thousands and thousands. The goal of Funakoshi sensei was to create a national style of Japanese karate. This we did with the permission of the government. However, there were those who did not want the JKA to succeed.”

Osamu Ozawa was confronted with everything from bribes to verbal threats, and on two occasions attempts were made on his life. “It was late, and I was walking home,” he said. “I had been drinking sake and was in a very good mood. A man was hiding behind a telephone pole with a sword. When I came close, he stepped from the shadows and tried to chop my neck. I saw him in time and did a quick rising block. My block should have hit his hands where he held the sword, but because of the sake, it struck the blade just forward of the sword’s hand guard. His blow nearly cut off my arm.”

At this point Osamu Ozawa stopped to indicate a long gash in his forearm. “See?” he asked. “This is where the blade struck. I was very fortunate.”

The old karate master took a long sip of beer, then continued with his story. “Anyhow, I got him right under the nose with a side snap kick. He was in the hospital for two months.”

I anxiously awaited Ozawa’s next story, about the second attempt made on his life, but it never came. Instead, he assured me that karate organizations no longer use such tactics against each other. He merely said: “That was the way things were back then. It is different now.”

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Once again, Osamu Ozawa became one with his memories. I watched as his eyes traveled into yesterday. I wanted to ask what he was thinking about, but I sat silently, taking another slice of pizza and waiting for a sign that it was OK to continue with the interview.

Suddenly Ozawa returned from wherever it was he had gone, and with a good-natured smile he asked, “Did you know I was a television director?”

“No, I didn’t,” I replied.

“One night a man came to my dojo and asked me if I would like to join a new television network,” he said. “At that time, television was becoming very popular in Japan. But it was a new thing, and nobody had any experience. So they hired people with guts. I became director of the network station in Osaka, and I made 700 programs.”

Osamu Ozawa’s programs were big hits — and because he was one of the few Japanese employees who could speak English, he worked with American celebrities when they came to Japan. As a result, he became good friends with people like Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.

“[Sinatra and Davis] told me I should come to America and direct movies,” he said. “They said they would help. So I quit after working there 12 years. I was 38 when I resigned. Unfortunately for me, the stars who said they would help me in the United States did not.”

In 1964, Osamu Ozawa formed a film company and tackled Hollywood on his own. His first film was about the martial arts, but the Japanese director was unable to get distribution, and his project never really got off the ground.

“Things did not work,” Osamu Ozawa said. “For three years I did a few small projects but nothing big. And I had to eat, so I began teaching karate at night and continued to try to work in TV during the day.”

The Gichin Funakoshi Disciple Switches Gears

By this point Osamu Ozawa was a fifth-degree black belt and had a successful dojo, but he continued to look for other business opportunities. He found that opportunity in the form of pachinko, a Japanese game that’s a cross between pinball and a slot machine. Ozawa ordered $100,000 worth of machines and introduced the game to America. However, the California court ruled that his pachinko parlors were considered illegal gaming, and he was raided and shut down.

“I found out later that the pinball industry, which was run by [organized crime], decided to shut me down,” he said. “They used their political influence to put me out of business.”
Ozawa then moved to Las Vegas, where games of chance are legal, and opened pachinko parlors there. Once again, he said, the mob feared that his popular game would compete with the casino slot machines, and more pressure was brought down on Osamu Ozawa.

In addition to being stuck with more than $100,000 worth of pachinko machines, he was robbed. Someone backed a van up to his Las Vegas home and stole everything he owned, from the samurai sword which had been in his family for generations to the living room sofa.

Desperate Material Times, Rich Martial Progress

Things got so bad for the former TV executive that he had to reach up to touch bottom. By the mid-1970s Ozawa had to pawn his watch for food and eked out a meager living by playing poker. He eventually went to work for the Hacienda as a dealer, which paid $21 for a full day’s work.

“I was asked by my boss to teach his son karate,” Osamu Ozawa said. “But I had no place to teach. So he let me use an empty building to teach his son and other students.”

Osamu Ozawa continued to work for the hotel and teach karate until he could made a living teaching full-time.

In 1986 Osamu Ozawa was promoted to eighth-degree black belt, the highest shotokan rank in the Western world. “There are perhaps two ninth degrees alive today,” Osamu Ozawa said. “We may have awarded a 10th degree, but I think only after the person’s death.”

Ozawa told of how he was awarded his eighth degree by a Japanese prince, and we ordered a second pizza and began to talk about movies. “Karate Kid was a good film: Wax on, wax off,” he said laughing. “I liked that. [Daniel-san] learned good values and learned karate from the mind, which made his spirit strong.

“In ninja films, they jump 20 feet straight up in the air,” he continued. “Of course, that’s impossible. And in [other] movies, someone will defeat many men at a time. In real life, it is very difficult to knock out even one person. But Karate Kid was ichi bon (No. 1). That movie showed discipline and taught karate in a very educational yet entertaining way. That’s the kind of karate movie I would like to see more people make.”

Osamu Ozawa’s Perspective on Masters in the History of Karate

The next topic was somewhat deeper: I asked the respected master who of all those he has studied under was the greatest martial artist of all. He quickly replied: “Oh, that’s easy. Funakoshi sensei, naturally. Funakoshi was No. 1. Why he is No. 1 is not technical and not because he was my teacher. He was not the best technician, and some people will be angry that I have said that. But I am telling the truth. Funakoshi sensei was very intelligent, a self-educated man who made many sacrifices to bring karate to Japan. It was a great honor to have trained under him.”

Once again, Ozawa drifted from the pizza parlor, and although I could not see where his mind had taken him, I was sure he was visiting his old friend and honored teacher.

During my long drive back to San Diego, I tried to imagine what Osamu Ozawa had seen when he drifted away during our interview.

His eyes had locked onto history, and I could only turn the pages for him. But for a little more than four hours, I watched, listened and learned from a man who has come full-circle with his destiny — and from his stories my foundation as a martial artist grew stronger and wiser.

The experience reminded me of an old adage: The path to understanding and learning in the martial arts is a never-ending road that many will travel only as long as there are those who are willing to keep the road open.

Osamu Ozawa was one such person.

Another highlight of the Aaron Banks hit parade was a show that pitted Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis, Mike Stone and Thomas LaPuppet against a group of Asian fighters.

The Americans won the contest, taking four of the six bouts and proving to the nation that Westerners could defeat Asians at their own game.

No. 7
Beginning His Tournament-a-Month Competition Calendar in 1969

It ran in the same venue, the Sunnyside Gardens Arena in Queens, once a month for three years. “Those tournaments drew the strongest schools and the toughest martial artists who ever existed, including George Cofield, Joe Hess, Moses Powell, Frank Ruiz, Tom LaPuppet, J.T. Will, Jerry Piddington, Nick Cerio and Joe Lewis,” Aaron Banks said.

“I would give my speech at the beginning of each event and tell the competitors that the only way to get the media involved was to have a respectable tournament. If there was a street-fight type environment, they would run out, and sometimes there was too much violence and they did leave. So I had to be visible on the front lines. Whenever anything went wrong or people got out of hand, I was there to get things under control.

“I give a lot of credit to those fighters because they really worked hard. When they won, they really felt it. If they lost, they would go back to their school and train to come back next month and try to win. The fights were real battles.”

No. 8
Touring the USA in 1973

Aaron Banks took his Oriental World of Self-Defense on the road, touring a reported 25 states before heading to Europe. He introduced hundreds of thousands of spectators to the ways of the warrior.

The highlight of it all came four years into the crusade, during a trip to Great Britain. After entertaining large crowds in cities like Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester, he and the rest of the team found themselves scheduled to appear at London’s world-famous Royal Albert Hall.

“Chuck Merriman did kata and sword, Ernest Hyman broke ice and performed the nunchaku, and I did my famous ‘skeet-shooting’ board-breaking routine (throwing them into the air one at a time and smashing them). The exhibition turned out to be a command performance with the Queen of England looking on.”

No. 9
Attracting 19,000 Spectators in 1974

Aaron Banks’ Oriental World of Self-Defense show, which moved to Madison Square Garden in 1972, attracted 4,000 people the first year it was held. Within two years, that number had risen to almost 20,000.

That meant maximum exposure for the biggest names in the martial arts — from traditional karate stylists like Thomas LaPuppet and Chuck Merriman to kung fu experts like Kam Yuen (David Carradine’s teacher and fight choreographer for the Kung Fu TV series). Everybody who was anybody participated at one time or another.

No. 10
Pulverizing 58 Boards in 60 Seconds in 1982

On behalf of the martial arts, Aaron Banks appeared on a gamut of talk shows — including those hosted by Merv Griffin, Dick Cavatt, Tom Snyder and Johnny Carson. But he always said the most memorable one involved his hand turning to mush while breaking 58 boards in 60 seconds during a demo of his skeet-shooting routine on the Mike Douglas Show.

Obviously, the power and discipline of the martial arts continued to amaze Americans in 1982 — even after many thought they had seen it all.

End of an Era

While engaged in his customary session of light weightlifting in 1981, Aaron Banks woke up lying on the floor with the weights on top of him. He had blacked out. His doctor told him he’d been burning the candle at both ends and if he didn’t slow down, he would be dead in three to six months. Insisting that he still had a mission to give the public a better understanding of the martial arts, Banks eased up a bit but refused to quit. He handed the reins of his 600-student New York Karate Academy to his black belts, but the television appearances and martial arts shows continued, albeit at a slower pace.

But Aaron Banks never abandoned the love of his life — not until May 8, 2013, the day it’s believed he passed away alone in his New York apartment. He can rest in peace, however, knowing that he took the American people on one magical martial arts adventure after another.

Resources
Read Part 1 of this article here.

Born in Japan, Chinen’s Okinawan father died at the end of World War II. His mother then moved back to his native land of Okinawa, eventually settling in the village of Naha.

Chinen’s father and family were actually from the village of Shuri, and were a family of martial artists that practiced what was then known as shuri-te. From his grandfather to his uncles, they all practiced Okinawa-te, as karate was called in those days.

Watch this exclusive video discussing the life of the karate techniques master and his place in the history of karate:

GOJU-RYU KARATE VIDEO
The Story of Karate Techniques Master Teruo Chinen

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Chinen was immersed in karate from birth — and by this point he was living next door to the famous Miyagi sensei, as mentioned in the history-of-karate video above.

Thomas J. Nardi, Ph.D. wrote about the meeting of Teruo Chinen and Chojun Miyagi in a 1985 issue of Black Belt magazine:

The young Okinawan boy waked nervously to his neighbor’s house. His neighbor had always scared him; the man always had a stern, serious look about him. And the neighbor’s reputation in the martial arts was known throughout the community.

Slowly, with unsure steps, the youngster entered the neighbor’s backyard. Glancing about, his eyes suddenly met those of the stocky, powerfully built man. Instantly, the boy bowed respectfully.

“Good morning, Master Miyagi,” he managed to say.

Thus marked the fateful meeting between Teruo Chinen and Chojun Miyagi, the founder of goju-ryu karate. It was to change Chinen’s life forever. It was the beginning of a journey of more than 30 years into the essence of goju-ryu, a journey that led Chinen to Japan, South Africa and finally Spokane, Washington, where he established a traditional dojo (training hall) to teach the original goju-ryu as taught by Miyagi.

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However, by that point, the elder karate techniques master was in failing health. In 1953, Chojun Miyagi passed away. His legacy was passed on to Eiichi Miyazato, with whom Chinen studied karate techniques for many years to come.

Teruo Chinen of goju-ryu karate is a man honored and deeply respected by his peers in martial arts, and by all who come to know him and learn from him.

For more information about this master of goju-ryu karate techniques, visit Chinen’s Wikipedia entry and this article posted at Goju.com.

Banks quickly developed a reputation for pulling off the unimaginable. For example, in 1964 he brought Chinese kung fu, Korean moo duk kwan, Japanese and Okinawan goju-ryu karate, judo and boxing under the same roof in his New York Karate Academy. High-ranked instructors from goju-ryu, Banks’ base style, phoned to express their dismay that he allowed all those systems to be taught at his school.

Aaron Banks’ answer was unassailable: “If you go to the market for bread, you have a variety to choose from. The same should go for the martial arts.”

Annoyed that the arts were being taught mostly in back alleys and low-end health clubs, Banks became intent on having them viewed as an art form. He began holding exhibitions in cultural centers that hosted opera, ballet and other manifestations of classical art. Many an eyebrow was raised in response, but he persevered in his effort to educate Americans, many of whom had received their only exposure to the martial arts via movie clips of Sean Connery and James Cagney executing the occasional judo move.

Banks took it upon himself to show the world what the martial arts were all about and, if he was lucky, he might get some people hooked. It didn’t matter what system or style they chose — as evidenced by the multicultural nature of his New York dojo. What was important was that they got involved so they could enjoy the same benefits of improved physical and mental health he derived from his practice.

During the ensuing years, he promoted more than 370 karate tournaments, organized more than 250 martial arts shows and conducted more than 1,000 demonstrations. He also operated a karate school for 30-plus years, guiding more than 200,000 people on the martial path. The following is a list of 10 events that were among the most memorable for Banks and the most pivotal for the martial arts community:

No. 1
Earning a Black Belt in 1962

After attaining the coveted rank, Aaron Banks opened his first dojo. Almost from the start, muggers and thugs would stop by on a regular basis to try to goad him into proving his skills. “There were challenges almost every day,” he recalled. “I would show them a death certificate and say: ‘If you can read, sign this and please indicate where to ship your body. We’ll go into the back room and that’ll be it.’ As mean and vicious as many of those people were, no one ever did sign.”

To bolster his skills, Banks expanded beyond the scope of his first art, shotokan karate as taught by John Slocum, and trained with moo duk kwan instructor Richard Chun. He then studied under goju-ryu’s Peter Urban and Gonnohye Yamamoto. Somewhere along the line, he found time to pick up the soft styles, including southern praying mantis kung fu and tai chi. That cross-training cultivated Banks’ well-rounded nature and augmented his desire to promote all the arts in their infinite variety.

No. 2
Organizing His First Karate Demo in 1963

The 41st Street Theatre served as the venue for Aaron Banks’ first commercial karate demonstration. For all his hard work, he netted three bologna sandwiches and a couple of cokes. Nevertheless, it was a start, and the experience provided him with some essential advertising and promotion on-the-job training.

The same year — and during the following two — he demonstrated karate at the Jerry Lewis Telethon, bringing much-needed national exposure to the Asian arts.

No. 3
Launching the Oriental World of Self-Defense in 1966

The venue was the Town Hall in New York City. “Back in those days, many martial arts were all locked up and done underground,” Aaron Banks said. “My way of thinking was, They should be for all people. My show gave people the opportunity to see all those different systems performed by various masters of jujitsu, aikido, kung fu, taekwondo, iaido and so on.”

Countless Americans learned that the Asian arts of self-defense included much more than karate and judo.

No. 4
Organizing the East Coast vs. West Coast Team Competition in 1967

The Manhattan Center was where Ed Parker’s West Coast Team (Steve Sanders, Jerry Taylor, Joe Lewis and Chuck Norris) faced Aaron Banks’ East Coast Team (Tom LaPuppet, Joe Hayes, Louis Delgado and Kazuyoshi Tanaka). More than 3,800 spectators turned out.

Although the West Coasters emerged victorious at the end of the day, all martial artists benefited from the rising popularity of the sport and the emergence of new fighting icons.

No. 5
Holding the First Professional Karate Championship in 1968

Aaron Banks organized it so four men would emerge as world champions. Aside from the fact that it was perhaps the first professionally run martial arts event in which the scorekeepers, timekeepers, officials and competitors were paid, it was important for another reason. “Because karate now had its first professional world champions — in four categories — it gave the media something significant to write about and brought competitors some well-deserved recognition,” Banks said.

For the record, Joe Lewis defeated Vic Moore for the heavyweight title, Mike Stone bested Bob Tiani for the light-heavyweight championship, Chuck Norris beat Louis Delgado for the middleweight title and Skipper Mullins triumphed over Kazuyoshi Tanaka to secure the lightweight championship.

“The thing that sticks out in my mind is the fight between Chuck Norris and Louis Delgado,” Banks said. “They were such fierce competitors, and they went at it with such emotion. It was supposed to be semi-contact. At one point, Delgado fouled Norris, almost knocking him out with illegal contact. Norris picked himself up, shook himself off and with unrelenting determination went on to win the fight.

“I said to myself: ‘That Norris is one tough martial artist, not just physically but mentally, too. With the way he stays focused and in control, there is nothing he won’t be able to accomplish if he sets his mind to it.’ ”

(To be continued.)

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Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon officially unites Hong Kong and Hollywood under the parasol of kung fu. In this $500,000-budgeted gasp of fresh air in Tinseltown, Bruce Lee plays secret agent Lee. He’s sent by the British to break up a suspected drug ring organized by the inscrutable Han (Shiek Khan), who uses martial arts tournaments to recruit bodyguards and lackeys. The idea of the tournament is actually based on the ancient Chinese sport lei tai, which first appeared during the Song dynasty (960 to 1279). The tournament winner would either become the emperor’s bodyguard or a martial arts instructor for the imperial army.

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When the film came out, Westerners had no idea about the pedigree of the Hong Kong cast. Shiek Khan had done more than 400 films, and most of them were martial arts movies that featured him as the villain. And with 18 films under her hapkido black belt, Angela Mao Ying was attaining cult status as a kung fu heroine, so the fights she did in Enter the Dragon were a walk in the park for her and her Vietnamese karate champion co-star, Bolo Yeung, a veteran of 28 kung fu films. By 1973, Sammo Hung had fought in 42 kung fu films and had been the head martial arts instructor for 17 of them.

It’s impossible to deny that Enter the Dragon is a great film, but the fights are very Hollywood. Although I respect John Saxon, he did not possess the martial savvy to fight convincingly against Bolo Yeung. There are also problems with the choreography, such as the dungeon scene when Bruce Lee is flexing his back while trying to open the elevator doors. He suddenly steps, turns around and is accosted by a handful of attackers. Talk about close-up — you can’t see what anyone is doing, and a bad guy falls in the opposite direction after Lee throws his last sweeping backfist. Also, Lee’s handspring and flip after the film’s beginning fight scene with Sammo Hung were not performed by Bruce Lee but by Lam Ching-ying, who found fame with his one-eyebrowed priest character in the Mr. Vampire films.

Then there’s the final Hollywood glitter mirror room fight between Han and Lee. It has always been funny to me that director Robert Clouse never re-shot the scene when Lee throws the coat stand into the mirrors and no mirror breaks. A person could argue it shows how tough the mirrors are, so when Lee breaks them with his hands and “feet” (a hand in the shoe on close-up), we can feel his power. However, it’s an awkward-feeling moment, though it is quickly replaced when Lee does his patented hunchbacked creeping walk around the mirror set. Bruce Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, once told me that she remembers often looking at the spear from that final Shiek-a-bob shot resting in the corner of her home as a child.

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In 1972, the United States was in the middle of the Vietnam War, and anti-Asian sentiment had not been so high since World War II. Each week, racial tension was finding a new way to twist the psyche of a country floundering in gas lines and cold war. Traditionally, whenever the United States was at war, Hollywood would create characters and storylines based on the heroic efforts of the American soldier, trying to use films as a way to boost the country’s morale and confidence that the troops were righteously defending the realm against the evils of the world.

But during the Vietnam War, America was in no mood for war heroes. Furthermore, when you look at the five top-grossing films in descending order from 1972 — The Godfather; The Poseidon Adventure; What’s Up, Doc?; Deliverance and Deep Throat, with the brunt of the Academy Awards going to The Godfather and Cabaret — it was evident that the definition of the American cinematic champion of justice was undergoing a huge transition away from the glory of riding off into the sunset.

Additionally, keep in mind that back in those days, to most Americans, someone who used their feet during a fight was considered a sissy. So for all intents and purposes, it was not only the wrong time for any Asian actor to make a mark in Hollywood, but it was also the wrong time for the hero to win a fight by kicking.

Yet Bruce Lee came along, and with his dynamic facial contortions, rapid-fire punches, greased-lightning kicks and high-pitched phoenix screeches, he single-handedly gave Chinese martial arts cinema legitimacy and the Chinese people an identity. Bruce Lee has done more for spreading the word of martial arts throughout the world than anyone else in history. He was also the first martial artist to make mainstream the concept of cross-training and combining the best attributes of many martial arts into one.

One neat thing about watching Enter the Dragon (and in fact, all Bruce Lee movies) is being able to recognize many of the Chinese faces in the background — faces that are famous and recognizable to Chinese martial arts cinema fans. (Yep, Jackie Chan dies twice in the film.) I still don’t know who the laughing guy was in the background after Lee kicks the same guy four times (similar to Bruce Lee kicking Chuck Norris in Way of the Dragon) in the final disorganized courtyard brawl. How did that sneak by Robert Clouse, the director of photography and the editor?

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Enter the Dragon Movie Facts

Director: Robert Clouse

Starring: Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly, Shiek Khan, Bolo Yeung, Peter Archer, Sammo Hung, Tony Liu Yung, Ahna Capri, Angela Mao Ying

Titleography: Dragons and Tigers Fight; Iron Hand; Operation Dragon; Deadly Three; Blood and Steel; Han’s Island. Translation of alternate titles: Dragons and Tigers Fight. “Dragons” refers to Lee and his men, and “Tigers” refers to Han and his men. Iron Hand refers to Han’s iron hand and other attachments. Operation Dragon, Deadly Three (Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly), Blood and Steel, and Han’s Island were all at one point considered as alternative titles, and it is easy to see how they were created. What’s the point of even trying to rename this film?

Our Bruce Lee Movies List

1969: Marlowe

1971: The Big Boss

1972: Fist of Fury

1972: Way of the Dragon

1973: Enter the Dragon

1978: The Game of Death

Rickson Gracie: I have two ways to train: One is when I’m just teaching and trying to maintain my level. The other way is when I’m preparing for a fight. That’s when I increase the intensity and the rest periods so I can recover and reach maximum performance.

When you’re not training for a fight, what does a typical day consist of?

Rickson Gracie: It always has some kind of recreational activity — like surfing, bike riding or some kind of cardio. And then I teach and eventually spar.

Do you consider teaching a workout?

Rickson Gracie: Yes. It’s not a very stressful workout or something I need to recover from, but I always break a sweat and get my blood circulating. I definitely get something from it.

Do you lift weights?

Rickson Gracie: Sometimes prior to a fight, I exercise with weights.

Is most of your sparring grappling, or do you also practice stand-up?

Rickson Gracie: I do a little bit of everything. But I always try to establish a purpose for my secondary training: to bring something to my abilities. I don’t try to be the best in every segment of the martial arts.

In a previous interview, you said you have no favorite technique — that you use the openings your opponent gives you. Is that still true?

Rickson Gracie: Definitely.

Do you have a favorite way of ending a fight?

Rickson Gracie: As quickly as possible. (laughs)

Spectators might not like that because they won’t get a chance to see a demonstration of Brazilian jiu-jitsu techniques.

Rickson Gracie: Yeah, that’s a problem. (laughs)

What effect has your family had on the status of Brazilian jiu-jitsu around the world?

Rickson Gracie: There has been an explosion of jiu-jitsu. The exposure it has today is 100 times more than it had eight or 10 years ago. That has a lot of positive elements because Brazilian jiu-jitsu has such a good reputation and good credibility.

But there are also negative elements, such as when people think only of the effectiveness of jiu-jitsu so they can display their power and superiority. They don’t know that being a true warrior means you don’t need to beat people or prove you’re better. Because of them, some people think Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighters are like animals who don’t understand the true martial arts. Personally, I am very concerned with balancing those two elements: the Zen aspect of the martial arts and the effectiveness of jiu-jitsu.

A few years ago, everyone thought Brazilian jiu-jitsu was unbeatable. But now some people are defeating the best Brazilian fighters. Has that affected the state of the art?

Rickson Gracie: Always it is the individual that wins or loses. A fight is not won because of a technique or specific drill. It is won because of the physical, strategic, emotional and technical qualities of the fighter.

At one point, Brazilian jiu-jitsu was so unpredictable for other fighters that it was easy to win because no one knew what to expect. Now everyone knows. Now everyone trains in Brazilian jiu-jitsu — even if they are boxers or karate experts or wrestlers. They develop a sense of where the danger is, and that brings the fight to a higher level.

Fighters who practice Brazilian jiu-jitsu now have to develop their other senses: their [strategy], their heart, their emotional control. Sometimes those elements — if they have been developed so much during a fighter’s life — will allow even a guy who has not trained a lot in Brazilian jiu-jitsu to succeed without being technically superior. Now that the raw techniques of Brazilian jiu-jitsu are not a secret anymore, you have to prove yourself as a fighter in a more general way.

If a big wrestler on steroids acquires a basic understanding of jiu-jitsu — enough to avoid leaving his arm to be trapped in an armbar, for example — is that a great advantage for him?

Rickson Gracie: Just being big and well-prepared is already a great advantage for him. That makes the smaller guy the underdog no matter what he does. I still believe it’s possible for the smaller guy to win because a fight is not decided by the prevention of one technique. He has to create a nightmare, create smoke, then all the elements must be pushed to the limits. Even if he gets tired and confused, he has to be able to make quick decisions because that’s when the opportunities start to pop up. It’s hard to win quickly against a tough opponent.

Do you think all MMA fighters — even those who deny it — train in jiu-jitsu?

Rickson Gracie: They definitely have a sense of the positions they need to avoid, and to develop that physical sense they have to practice.

How do you plan on contributing to the rise of the sport after you retire? Will you start an event of your own?

Rickson Gracie: Anything is possible. Right now, I don’t think about the day after tomorrow; I’m too busy thinking about today, about the projects I have going on now. But I do plan to be involved not just in Brazilian jiu-jitsu but also in the positive development of the martial arts. That’s my mission in life — to give people a sense of how the warrior spirit can make them more peaceful.

Resources
To read Part 1 of this interview, go here.

For more information about Rickson Gracie, visit his official website.

When you’re considering taking a fight, what’s important to you?

Rickson Gracie: Of course, money, location and opponent, as well as the size of the event. But mainly what I look for is an event that will show the sport as a beneficial and positive influence for others. I am concerned about how the event presents itself, the goal behind the fight and the values of the organizers. I believe the Zen aspect of the martial arts is very important — including respect among fighters and the way an event is run.

You want to be involved only with people who promote fighting in a positive way, not in a violent way?

Rickson Gracie: Exactly.

Some Brazilians have told us violence is a big part of the jiu-jitsu scene in Brazil. They said the art’s status used to be very high there, but now people think it is just a tool of street thugs. Is that true?

Rickson Gracie: Jiu-jitsu is the fastest-growing sport in Brazil because everybody wants to be a fighter. Many students now think they have to fight to prove themselves. They train at a jiu-jitsu school and go out to nightclubs to fight. That’s been a big problem for Brazilian society. It’s because a lot of gang members, tough guys and problem kids have jiu-jitsu techniques put into their hands, and they become like little supermen. They beat everybody, and they create a lot of problems. This is the negative side, the wrong use of the power of jiu-jitsu. Now in Brazil, people say, “Oh, anyone who trains in jiu-jitsu normally creates problems.”

But that’s not exactly what happens. Professionals who are involved in jiu-jitsu try to develop the positive side of the art. Only the people who study jiu-jitsu to cause trouble on the street bring this kind of bad image. But the police understand it’s not a jiu-jitsu thing; it’s a criminal thing. It’s the same as the way a lot of people use guns to commit crimes. Jiu-jitsu training gives a sense of power, and people sometimes use it the wrong way.

Have you noticed similar problems in the United States?

Rickson Gracie: No, because it’s much harder here to solve disagreements by fighting. You can get sued, and the criminal-justice system is much more effective here. In the United States, if you make a problem, you definitely will pay for it.

Is it true that there’s a rivalry in Brazil between jiu-jitsu and luta livre?

Rickson Gracie: Yes and no. Yes because you can say there’s even a kind of rivalry between jiu-jitsu and jiu-jitsu. We all compete with each other, but because we are practitioners of the same sport, this rivalry only goes to one level. Jiu-jitsu people don’t have that kind of thought for luta livre people. They don’t think, “I’d like to beat him, but he is a nice guy because he practices the same sport as I do.” Because it is only a similar sport, there is competition between jiu-jitsu and luta livre practitioners.

But things used to be much worse than they are. Now it’s more respectful, and the students are starting to compete together in important international events. Things will get better until the problem disappears.

Why has Kazushi Sakuraba been so successful against Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylists?

Rickson Gracie: He doesn’t make many mistakes. He’s very calm … the kind of fighter who waits for you to make a mistake and then capitalizes on it. I saw fights where people kept pressure on him — like when he fought Kimo [Leopoldo] — and he got beat up pretty easily.

I saw fights where he didn’t really win — like with Royler [Gracie]. Sakuraba stayed outside and kicked Royler’s legs and punished him, and because of the weight difference, he got the advantage.

I saw him fight Royce [Gracie], and Royce had the advantage in the first rounds. And then he just got tired and could not keep the pressure on Sakuraba. He could not finish the fight before he got tired.

And I saw him fight Renzo [Gracie]: He was always very calm, waiting for Renzo to give him the space to create new options for himself.

Basically, Sakuraba’s not a destroyer; he’s not a guy who has a great expertise in anything. But he’s very smart and very tough. He’s not afraid of getting beat up, and he plays with the crowd and makes a mess in his opponent’s head.

How does a person acquire that kind of mindset? Could a fighter consciously develop his mind to use those same tricks?

Rickson Gracie: I think you can develop that kind of mind, but some people are born with it. It’s just that in every match Sakuraba has won, it was not a victory he could put over his shoulders [to display]. Of course, he deserved to win — he’s a tough opponent — but he never made the victory. A lot of people allowed him to slip through their fingers. Nobody who lost to him says, “That guy is really good; he kicked my butt.”

So you don’t see much technique in Kazushi Sakuraba’s fights?

Rickson Gracie: Of course he has technique, but I don’t see anything that impresses me. The mental aspect of his game is the most valuable possession he has.

Do you feel any pressure to fight Kazushi Sakuraba — to protect the Gracie name, if for no other reason?

Rickson Gracie: I don’t feel pressure to fight anybody because I don’t have a commitment to myself to prove anything or to my family to protect the name. The family will always be respected. I don’t think winning one more time or losing one more time will shake it. But in my heart, I really think Sakuraba deserves to get beat because it’s like he’s lucky all the time. He’s just very slippery.

If you don’t fight him, who would have the best chance of beating him?

Rickson Gracie: A simple fighter can beat Sakuraba if he gets the “enlightenment” he needs to get the mental and psychological elements to guide him through the fight. Sakuraba is not a great puncher or a great submission fighter. He just stays calm and takes advantage of the openings. And if another fighter is calm enough to wait for his shot and tight enough to not give spaces and lose the opportunity, he can win.

(To be continued.)

Resources
For more information about Rickson Gracie, visit his official website.

For information about Jean Jacques Machado’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu books and DVDs, go here.

“I loved it,” C.S. Kim said. “We trained two or three hours a day for five days a week.”

When C.S. Kim received his green belt, he thought he knew everything and stopped attending class. Three months later, he started up again because he missed it. He worried that his master would be angry about his absence, but the old man welcomed the lost sheep back into the fold. “I never quit again,” C.S. Kim said.

TANG SOO DO SELF-DEFENSE MOVES VIDEO
C.S. Kim and Y.D. Kim Demonstrate an Elbow Break!

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Bend the Course of History

Training was tough. “Before my master got a school, we practiced outside in the dirt,” said C.S. Kim, who earned his black belt when he was 12. “If it rained, we couldn’t practice. We didn’t have any equipment, but sometimes we used a rice bag filled with sand as a punching bag.”

C.S. Kim and his classmates spent most of their time doing kicks, punches, forms, one-step sparring and free sparring — especially free sparring. “My master would have 20 people stand up, and each student would spar for five minutes with each person,” he recalled.

Tang Soo Do Self-Defense Moves: Then and Now

The skills C.S. Kim worked to perfect then are identical to the ones he and his instructors teach now. “I don’t believe in changing techniques,” he said. “Modern instructors may create new styles, but what’s going to be around in the future? The traditional martial arts. The world changes every day, but anything traditional should not. People need some stability in life, and traditional martial arts can provide that. As we grow old and die, traditional martial arts like tang soo do can last forever.”

Bringing a Traditional Martial Art and Its Self-Defense Moves to the World

To help promote traditional tang soo do to a wider audience, C.S. Kim left Korea in 1972. He had an opportunity to relocate to Europe but elected to settle in the United States instead. In 1973 he appeared on his first magazine cover. In 1974 he organized his first tournament, which attracted 700 people. Now based in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, he admitted that his federation’s teaching methods — but not its techniques or self-defense moves — have been modified a little to better deal with students’ busy schedules. Because of school activities and sports, children just can’t invest as much time in their training, he said.

The Positive Effects of Martial Arts Training

“But parents need to remember that martial arts can help academic studies,” C.S. Kim added. “I tell students what my master told me: On one side you have education, and on the other side you have martial arts. It’s the perfect balance.”

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For taekwondo grandmaster Jhoon Rhee, the time to do something is now, and he’s the man to get the ball rolling.

“Something is wrong with our society, and some institution must lead the reaction,” says Jhoon Rhee, the father of American taekwondo. “I have volunteered to do that — to mobilize all martial artists in one direction, to make this human society one where everybody is happy every day of their lives.”

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Jhoon Rhee contends that the best place to begin is at the beginning, and that means instituting dojang values into public schools. “People are a product of education,” he says. “If you are taught communism, you become a communist. If you are taught capitalism, you become a capitalist. If you are taught liberalism, you become a liberal, and if you are taught conservatism, you become a conservative. If you are taught to be honest, you will become an honest person. If you are taught to lie, then you will be a liar. Whatever we teach our children, they become. So why not teach them discipline?”

He has already taken the first step toward realizing his dream of disciplining millions of American youths via the introduction of his Joy of Discipline program in Washington, D.C.-area schools. Under the direction of Ken Carson, the program provides in-school martial arts training for students. It teaches them the three basic philosophical principles of Jhoon Rhee Tae Kwon Do: knowledge in the mind, honesty in the heart and strength in the body. Ken Carson and his instructors seek to exemplify what their grandmaster defines as the very essence of the martial arts: the lead-by-example action philosophy.

To Jhoon Rhee, discipline lies at the heart of achieving a happy life. Knowledge and strength obviously require discipline to be achieved, but honesty also comes from a kind of personal discipline. “Every one of us is created to pursue happiness, yet no one is happy,” he says. “Our only problem, ultimately, is dishonesty.

“What do I mean by honesty?” the 70-year-old asks. “To me, honesty is synonymous with philosophy. We should teach our children with martial arts philosophy, and martial arts philosophy is, at its best, no different from the best political philosophy, business philosophy or whatever philosophy there may be. When a student is honest, he is responsible to himself first. When you are responsible to yourself, how can you be lazy developing your knowledge? How can you be lazy giving up on your muscles?”

Whenever he’s met by a perplexed gaze from a listener, Jhoon Rhee shifts his philosophizing back into a lower gear. “The three basic human values are love, beauty and truth,” he explains. “When you are truthful, you are beautiful in the heart. When you are beautiful in the heart, everybody loves you. When everybody loves you, you are happy. On the other hand, when you lie, you become ugly in the heart. When you are ugly in the heart, everybody hates you. When everybody hates you, there’s no way you can lead a happy life.”

Lest the public-school indoctrination of Jhoon Rhee’s core values seem too small a task for a man with his drive and enthusiasm, his plan to bring them to the rest of America is even more ambitious. He’s confident the arts can offer a perfect blend of physical and mental training to teach students the virtues of hard work, honest living and honest expression. As behavioral psychologists have come to realize in recent years, the body and mind are inexorably linked, and students cannot hope to make significant improvements to one while neglecting the other. “Physiology dictates human emotion as much as emotion dictates human action,” he explains. “In other words, motion triggers emotion as much as emotion triggers motion.”

Jhoon Rhee is clearly a man on a mission. He’s determined to offer his unique vision of the martial arts as a panacea for society’s ills. “Throughout history, every significant change or contribution has been created by one man,” he says. “Then, our race expands upon it throughout the ages.”

Obviously, Jhoon Rhee believes he is that man. Judging by all he’s accomplished thus far, it’s possible he’s right.

For more information about Jhoon Rhee, visit his official website at jhoonrhee.com.