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Thread: Celebrities studying martial arts?

  1. #61
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    RZA, obviously. Don't most of the Wu Tang Clan dudes train or have trained?

  2. #62
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zenshiite View Post
    RZA, obviously. Don't most of the Wu Tang Clan dudes train or have trained?
    no, actually only the rza and ghost face killer have said anything about training in the martial arts.

  3. #63
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    How could I forget RZA?



    Does Gilles Marini count? Probably not.
    'Dancing With the Stars': Waltz on
    06:34 AM PT, Apr 7 2009
    Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke. And rightfully so. Their perfect-30 tango from the week before set the bar exceedingly high, but they surpassed it with their caliente pasodoble. Honestly, I thought this dance, set to Bizet’s “Carmen,” had more emotion and was better paced than last week’s. Gilles’ martial arts background helped him attack the routine. And he got extra cute points for bringing his son to the Wushu martial-arts center during rehearsal (“You’re going down, papa!”). I loved Gilles' scruff and eyeliner. And his long body suited the leaned-back bullfighter stance perfectly. His shirtless stint at the beginning of the routine didn’t hurt, either. Carrie Ann called the dance “breathtakingly … passionate,” and a decidedly less-spray-tanned Bruno declared it “more than a dance — it was a battle for supremacy!” Len, however, stricken with what Tom called “pec envy,” peckishly thought it was a little too hectic and docked them a point for a total of 29.
    BTW, y'all caught my last RZA interview, right?
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  4. #64
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    Does Nur Khan count?

    ...only if we're trying to get into his bar...
    The Gig is Up! Rose Bar's Kung Fu Master Nur Khan Whips Out His Rock Star Rolodex
    By Chris Shott and Max Abelson
    April 7, 2009 | 5:31 p.m

    Nightlife impresario Nur Khan was bummed that rock singer Chris Cornell had pulled the plug on him.

    “Am I upset that we’re not doing the gig tonight? Yeah, it would’ve been really cool,” Mr. Khan told the Daily Transom. “But we’re going to shoot for something in May.”

    The charismatic 42-year-old operator of the artsy Rose Bar at Ian Schrager’s posh Gramercy Park Hotel had been planning one of his “stealth gigs” on Monday, April 6, an impromptu concert featuring the former Soundgarden frontman Mr. Cornell and the British musician–turned–Calvin Klein model Jamie Burke.

    But Mr. Cornell was already booked for back-to-back nights at Webster Hall and his handlers were worried about further straining his voice.

    Plan B? “The Dandy Warhols are coming in tonight,” said Mr. Khan, “so maybe we’ll do a spontaneous gig with them.”

    Since opening his seminal Soho bar Wax in 1995, Mr. Khan has long catered to the city’s “musically literate crowd” and has the rolodex to prove it.

    “The type of music that I’ve played in my bars has attracted a lot of musicians,” said Mr. Khan, who described himself as a rock ’n’ roll fanatic.

    He dresses like a rock star, sporting multiple shiny rings, a Lazaro Diaz–designed bracelet encrusted with black diamonds and his trademark black snakeskin jacket, which he proudly created himself in collaboration with the designer Michael H. (“It’s nine pythons,” he noted.)

    And he rolls like one, too. Former Wax partner John Jacobson once described the guy as “an imposing figure with a reputation for getting into fights.”

    “I’ve calmed down in my old days,” said Mr. Khan, also a noted martial arts enthusiast who once took kung fu lessons from Shaolin monks in China. He chalked up his past dust-ups to an overall grittier downtown vibe in the mid-to-late 1990s.

    From time to time, he likes to call on his rocker buddies for favors. “I’ve developed a lot of relationships where I can make a call and have someone come in here and do a special gig without having to have a big corporate name behind me,” Mr. Khan explained. “They can come jam and then sit around the table for the rest of the night and have a good time. They know I’m going to put a good crowd around them. If someone’s got a record coming out, I can create a little buzz. The record industry’s in shambles right now. Anything we can do to help the artists and keep this place poppin’—all parties benefit.”

    The gigs can be tricky. Rose Bar lacks the proper sound system for a show, so he rents one, pushes a few tables aside and sticks a small stage in front of the fireplace. “We try not to burn the drummer,” he joked.

    Since opening Rose Bar in 2006, Mr. Khan has hosted such illustrious acts as Velvet Revolver, the Kooks and Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction fame.

    On March 15, former Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando joined Gibby Haynes of the ******** Surfers onstage for a brief but sweet four-song set.

    “You ****y-ass mother****ers can suck my ****ing ****,” Mr. Haynes told the crowd of pretty men in velvet jackets and handsome ladies in slinky black dresses, who seemed largely disinterested in the music that night. “Pay attention to Evan Dando!”

    The Daily Transom spotted the filmmaker Jim Jarmusch and actor Clive Owen in the audience. “Jim is actually friends with Evan and Gibby,” Mr. Khan later noted. “Clive just happened to come in—he’s a regular.”

    Eventually, Mr. Khan would like to take his Rose Bar sessions on the road, possibly doing private shows at Coachella and other music festivals in the future.

    For now, he’s got a list of local shows he’s dying to do. “Wait till you see what other ones I have up my sleeve,” he said.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  5. #65
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    stupid article...

    ...so stupid I can't resist posting it. Jet Li? Oh really? Jackie Chan? No fooling? Chuck Norris? For real?

    I'm surprised she didn't mention Bruce Lee....

    Famous people who study martial arts
    April 18, 2:54 PM

    Did you know that President Obama trained in Tae Kwon Do, a traditional Korean martial art?

    Some other famous martial artists are:
    Criss Angel, a magician with a hit television show, trained in Karate, Tae Kwon Do and Kung Fu.
    Actor James Cagney was a black belt in Judo.
    Singer Elvis Presley studied Kempo.
    Former Soviet Union President Vladimir Putin is a black belt in Judo.
    Actor Robert Downey, Jr. trains in Kung Fu.
    Action adventure star Steven Seagal is a black belt in Aikido and the first westerner allowed to open a school in Japan.
    Actor Jet Li has studied Wushu and Fan Zi Quan.
    Jackie Chan, comedic and action adventure actor, is a very talented product of the Beijing Opera--who train students in martial artistry and weapons.
    Tang Soo Do is what Chuck Norris is most known for. He has taught it to Steve McQueen, Priscilla Presley and Donny Osmond.
    Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and spent some time studying kickboxing.
    Ed O'Neill, from “Married with Children”, has a black belt in Brazilian Jujutsu.
    And, to bring it full circle with U. S. Presidents, Did you know that President Theodore Roosevelt studied Judo and Jujutsu?
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  6. #66
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    Look at a list of instructors in Southern California.

    Half of em have trained one celebrity or another, lol.

    I met Robert Downey Jr. at one of William Cheung's Traditional Wing Chun Seminars back in 02 or 03. I believe he still practices with Sifu Eric Oram.

  7. #67
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    I heard that Catherine Zeta-Jones and Nicholas Cage had studied BJJ for a while.

    I'm surprised the article didn't mention that the following celebs had trained for varying amounts of time under Bruce Lee:
    Roman Polanski
    James Garner
    James Coburn
    Steve McQueen
    Joe Hyams
    And on the set of The Wrecking Crew, Bruce had trained Sharon Tate for her fight scene with Nancy Kwan. I assume that BL also prepared Dean Martin for his fights against Ed Parker, Joe Lewis, and Chuck Norris (this was Chuck's first movie appearance). And I think Mike Stone was in it, too.

  8. #68
    Quote Originally Posted by Jimbo View Post
    Ed O'Neill - BJJ.

    The guy who played The Highlander in the TV show did CLF and Hung Gar.
    Adrian Paul

  9. #69
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    kareem abdul jabbar was known to study with bl

    kobe bryant supposedly studies jkd

    but thats just the tip of the sport celeb list that could be populated.

    there are numerous pro NFL, NBA, etc players that study seriously, as part of a complete physical package.

    from some of the stories i have read, every one of them attribute martial arts to be a bonus to their professional games.
    For whoso comes amongst many shall one day find that no one man is by so far the mightiest of all.

  10. #70
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimbo View Post
    And on the set of The Wrecking Crew, Bruce had trained Sharon Tate for her fight scene with Nancy Kwan.
    Proof that Kung-Fu is no good for self-defense?
    ------
    Jason

    --Keep talking and I'm gonna serve you dinner...by opening up a can of "whoop-ass" and for dessert, a slice of Lama Pai!

    God gave us free will. Therefore he is pro-choice.

  11. #71
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    No, as far as I can tell, she (and probably Nancy Kwan) was only trained enough to do the fight scene, which wasn't good at all, if you see The Wrecking Crew. And what he was teaching her was his theatrical version of JKD, not Wing Chun.

    Though I did hear that James Garner actually had studied under BL as a student, and he famously got beaten up in the early '80s during a road rage incident. I don't think it's a critique on the effectiveness of KF; most of BL's celebrity students were likely private students and were not fighters.

    Even if the art was karate, TKD, kali, BJJ, or silat, I don't think would have made a difference for Sharon Tate. Besides not being a fighter, Tate was pregnant and at the mercy of (I believe) 4 crazed stone-cold killers. Admittedly, I was probably stretching it a bit by including Tate in a thread about MA-trained celebrities, unless she had also studied along with her husband Roman Polanski privately as well.

  12. #72
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    just found out nicolas cage does wing chun. he even has a dummy on set.

  13. #73
    Trying to keep a straight face at the thought of facing down Donny Osmond across the mat.....

    The moment they ask us to choose between two different paths, the implicit message is that we can only follow one. -Daniele Bolelli, On The Warrior’s Path

  14. #74
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    A long time ago, I remember Danny Bonaduce was into karate; don't know if he was a black belt or not. This was late '70s, early '80s, way before his celebrity boxing days. I remember reading back then that he was trying to produce a karate movie called Belts.

    Eric Estrada was also a karate practitioner.

    Though not an American celebrity, I heard that HK actor Anthony Wong, known for his excellent, non-MA dramatic roles, is a practitioner of Tai Shing Pek Kwar.

    It's well-known that Tony Danza was once a professional boxer.

    Erin Gray (Grey?) is a taiji practitioner.

    Jonathan Ke Quan (sp?) from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies trained TKD under Tan Tao-Liang, himself a former TKD champ and KF film star.

  15. #75
    Quote Originally Posted by Taryn P. View Post
    Trying to keep a straight face at the thought of facing down Donny Osmond across the mat.....

    Do you know anything about him other than being a pop singer? I don't.

    While you're laughing away he just might slap the taste out of your mouth!

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