Page 13 of 31 FirstFirst ... 3111213141523 ... LastLast
Results 181 to 195 of 451

Thread: Celebrities studying martial arts?

  1. #181
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,947

    Evander Holyfield

    Check out our Shaolin Journeys thread.

    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  2. #182
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    North, strong and Free
    Posts
    838
    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    Couldn't have been that private a lesson if they got pics
    I thought Krav Maga was more H2H and weapons and less on the stomp the cat move. Where's the bubble over the cat that says, "Help Me!!".

  3. #183
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,947

    Kobe Bryant

    More like celebrities supporting martial arts. Wish Kobe would donate $25,000 to the magazine...
    Thanks to Kobe Bryant, students get a kick out of the martial arts
    The Lakers star's helped provide funding for classes by film fighter Hu Jianqiang at three schools.
    May 16, 2010

    The students at Richard Merkin Middle School in South Los Angeles had not heard of Hu Jianqiang before they met him.

    They hadn't seen the movie "Shaolin Temple," in which he performed with Jet Li.

    But one demonstration of his lightning-fast fists and the butterfly kick in which he throws his body off the floor light as a Frisbee and the Chinese kung fu master was a celebrity in their eyes — maybe even more than the person whose money helped bring him to them.

    Thanks to intercession from Kobe Bryant, a $25,000 donation pays for the two-time Chinese national champion in martial arts to teach students at this school and two others how to kick, punch and roll — and in the process speak some Mandarin.

    "Kobe has a particular affinity for China," said Doug Young, the spokesman for the Kobe Bryant Family Foundation. "The Beijing Olympics was a formidable experience for him. It magnified his interest in using sports as a way to foster cultural respect."

    The Lakers star is so popular in China, Young said, that his basketball jerseys are consistently top sellers there. And as someone who spent part of his childhood in Italy and speaks Italian and Spanish, Bryant particularly appreciates the growing importance of the Chinese language — and thinks inner-city kids should be exposed to it.

    "Martial arts seemed like an exciting way to get kids interested," said Young.

    The martial arts classes are part of a pilot program run by the nonprofit After-School All-Stars.

    "Our goal is to keep the kids on campus, so they will be in a safe environment to do their homework and engage with something that is interesting and meaningful," said Ana Campos, executive director of program's L.A. branch. "Mr. Hu is a real champion martial artist. We are lucky for him to be willing to take this project on."

    Hu, 51, began his career as a gymnast at age 10 and switched to wushu, Chinese for martial arts, because his teachers thought that's where his best promise lay.

    He won numerous awards as an all-around national champion famous for his speed, power and agility. His big break came with "Shaolin Temple" in 1982. Since then, he's appeared in more than a dozen martial arts movies.

    Hu and his wife, Zong Jianmei, a fellow wushu master, left China in 1992 and came to the U.S. after a stint in Buenos Aires.

    In 1997 they started their own martial arts academy, the Shaolin Wushu Center, in Connecticut. They opened one in L.A. in 1998.

    So far, about 100 students have signed up for Hu's after-school sessions.

    "Try it! It's fun! It's easy!" the students holler at first-timers as Hu asks for volunteers to roll around on the rug with their legs folded like pretzels.

    "He makes us laugh," said Eve Louis, 11. "He shows us how to do the windmill with our arms. It's really fun."

    When the students kick their feet in the air, or stretch their legs on the floor, they count out loud from one to eight in Chinese: "Yi er san si wu liu qi ba."

    Hu asks them to bend their legs into a horse stance — legs wide, knees bent as if on horseback — and then to hold the pose.

    "One more time!" Hu tells them just as they begin to collapse from the tension.

    "Zai lai yi ci!" the students repeat after him in Chinese.

    The students had a wide range of reasons for wanting to learn from Hu.

    "I want to take this class because me and my mom watch a lot of soap operas where men are mean to their wives" said Sari Hernandez, 11. "I think we should learn to defend ourselves."

    Cristal Cardona, 11, said it was great to learn a little Mandarin.

    "I want to be a doctor when I grow up," she said. "It helps me to know Chinese because in the hospital, if Chinese people come, I'd know what to say."
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  4. #184
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,947

    Jillian Michaels

    Jillian Michaels: How I lost 55 pounds doing martial arts (photos)
    June 16, 6:58 PM
    Celebrity Fitness and Health Examiner
    Samantha Chang

    The Biggest Loser star Jillian Michaels may be the picture of good health now, but the 5'2" fitness trainer was once a 175-pound couch potato!

    Michaels, who stars on her own reality show, Losing It with Jillian, says a dysfunctional home life led her to an unhappy, sedentary youth of overeating and self-hatred.

    'I HAD A THERAPIST BY AGE 5'

    Jillian, who describes herself as a "really disturbed kid," began therapy at age 5.

    "You know how kids have night terrors? Mine were really bad," Michaels, 36, says in the July issue of Redbook.

    She recounts: "I thought sharks were coming out of the drain in the bathtub. I couldn't sleep at night, every night, waiting for aliens to come. I'm not kidding you: I. Was. Traumatized. And mom got me into therapy."

    'I WAS TEASED FOR BEING FAT'

    Michaels, 36, says she began a rapid downward spiral into overeating and gaining weight at age 12, when her parents decided to split.

    "Being big as a kid was pure hell," says Jillian. "I spent all of eighth grade in my classroom because God forbid I ever left. I was terrorized."

    Michaels was stunned when her mom kicked her out of her home when she was 17. "They were kind of midlife-crisis-ing, and I was sort of the afterthought," Jillian recounts. "I became pretty angry -- no one wanted to deal with me -- so when I was 17, my mom was like, 'You're not living here.'"

    Being on her own helped Michaels to become more independent and introspective.

    "I learned a lot being on my own," she says. "I grew up. I had to make money. I learned how to make decisions that are right for me."

    'KARATE CHANGED MY LIFE'

    One of those "right decisions" was taking a martial arts class -- something which literally changed her life.

    "Karate saved my life," she says. "It all stopped the day I broke two boards with a kick."


    Armed with a newfound self-confidence and a fitter physique, Jillian became a certified fitness trainer, and auditioned for The Biggest Loser. After starring on the hit reality TV show since 2004, Michaels branched out by writing fitness books, releasing her own fitness DVDs and starring in her own spinoff, Losing It With Jillian. [see slideshow below]

    Michaels, who's now helping other people transform their lives, confesses there are still lots of things she'd like to change about herself.

    "I'm impatient," she says. "I'm demanding. I'm neurotic. I'm high-stress. High-anxiety. Perfectionist to the point of impossibility. Nothing's ever good enough. I'm never happy."
    It's not up on the REDBOOK site yet. The Examiner reporter made a slideshow using one of Jillian's FB photos, but there's no pic of her doing karate.

    Martial arts for weight loss. If anyone can push that, it's Jillian. And once people put that one together, our economy could really grow.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  5. #185
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,947

    Gen. Stanley McChrystal

    From the devastating Rolling Stone interview.
    He carries a custom-made set of nunchucks in his convoy engraved with his name and four stars, and his itinerary often bears a fresh quote from Bruce Lee. ("There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.")
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  6. #186
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,947

    Nancy Walzog

    Yea, I didn't know who she was either until I read the article.
    Middlesex Oscar winner, Nancy Walzog, shifts to martial arts with Satori Academy
    By CHRIS ZAWISTOWSKI • STAFF WRITER • July 8, 2010

    MIDDLESEX COUNTY — When Nancy Walzog left her Emmy- and Academy Award-winning television and film career to take over two local martial arts academies, the reactions were predictable.

    "They thought I was nuts," said Walzog, 47, of Little Silver. "Most people thought I was absolutely crazy."

    But in the end, sensei knows best. In Walzog's two and a half years as owner, her Satori Academy's of Martial Arts in Edison and East Brunswick have seen a jump in enrollment from 130 to 400 students despite the economic downturn.

    "It's a cool thing just to finally find something that you love so much that you want to upset your life and just go for it," she said.

    Although she started in martial arts in the late 1980s, Walzog said she took a hiatus to work on her career and start a family.

    The pinnacle of that career was an Academy Award for her work on the 2008 documentary "King Gimp," the story of a young artist with cerebral palsy, and two Emmys for Outstanding Children's Series for "Assignment Discovery" and "Greatest Inventions with Bill Nye."

    With the success, came more and more stress. After attending a free Mother's Day class with her then 3-year-old son, Walzog said she found herself once again hooked on martial arts, especially as a way to escape the pressures of work.

    Soon after she earned her black belt in mixed martial arts in 2004, she became a volunteer instructor at a local martial arts school. When the opportunity came about to purchase the two New Jersey Satori Academies, she took it.

    "I was kind of thinking it was time for a change," Walzog said. "Things come to you for a reason — I am a big believer in that."

    At first, Walzog continued her television work, while running the two schools, but eventually gravitated full time toward her passion for martial arts — 12 to 13 hour days are not uncommon for her at the Satori Academies. She said she never has looked back.

    "There has never been a day I said I made a huge mistake," Walzog said. "I love it here."

    The Satori Academies teach traditional martial arts techniques and values with a blend of contemporary styles, such as Brazilian jiu jitsu and mixed martial arts tactics, Walzog said.

    Yet the school's teachings go way beyond fighting, she said.

    Satori tries to teach all of its students, which range in age from 3 to 61, to broaden the definition of self-defense to include things, such as being environmentally responsible and trying to live a healthier lifestyle, Walzog said. Along the way, the program also develops self-confidence and a positive mindset.

    The school also runs a quarterly project to benefit the community, such as this summer's forthcoming beach cleanup at Sandy Hook.

    "It's really a philosophy of using martial arts to become a better person," Walzog said. "We are all good fighters, but we also use martial arts as a way of personal growth."
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  7. #187
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Central Florida
    Posts
    1,671
    A Black Belt in mixed martial arts? How does that work?
    When seconds count the cops are only minutes away!

    Quote Originally Posted by wenshu View Post
    Sorry, sometimes I forget you guys have that special secret internal sauce where people throw themselves and you don't have to do anything except collect tuition.

  8. #188
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    NW Arkansas
    Posts
    1,392
    Quote Originally Posted by Yao Sing View Post
    A Black Belt in mixed martial arts? How does that work?
    ******. You beat me to it...

  9. #189
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,947

    Piper Perabo

    Piper Perabo Ready To Be Action Heroine On 'Covert Affairs'
    by Steve Baltin, posted Jul 7th 2010 3:00PM

    Piper PeraboSince bursting on the scene in 'Coyote Ugly' a decade ago, Piper Perabo has proven her versatility as an actress, doing everything from horror films ('Carriers') and romantic comedies ('Imagine Me And You') to blockbusters ('The Prestige') and family fare ('Cheaper By The Dozen 1 and 2').

    About the only thing Perabo hasn't done is kick some ass as an action star. Now she's ready to do that as CIA spy Annie Walker in the new USA series 'Covert Affairs.'

    Turns out that's the role Perabo has been waiting for. "I really like action movies. It's really more like my personality," she told TV Squad. "I've always been a tomboy and so I get to show a lot more of kind of who I am in real life."

    As a hardcore action movie fan, what are some of the flicks she would have loved to have been in? "I would have died to have been in 'Fight Club,' except Helena Bonham Carter did such a good job how could you ever replace her? But I think 'Fight Club' is a perfect film; it's in my top three," she said. "I really like 'Hit Man,' people get up on me about that, but I thought Timothy Olyphant is like the perfect mix of that unemotional detachment and sort of hawk-like focus that is really fun to watch. I thought 'Mr. And Mrs. Smith' was a great film; it's a great combination of comedy and action and they do them both really well. I think the first 'Die Hard' is incredible. Bruce Willis has like the perfect mix of humor, but the stakes are really high. It's really hard to do."

    So it may be too late for those, but on 'Covert Affairs' she gets to kick some serious ass and she's taking that very seriously. "I started training four weeks on my own before I even got up to Toronto and then we did four more weeks of training just getting into choosing what the fight style of the show would be because [executive producer] Doug Liman comes out of the Bourne world, 'Bourne Identity,' he likes really close, messy hand-to-hand combat," she noted.

    What did they finally settle on? "It's a combination of Krav Maga, which is the Israeli army style of street fighting and Wing Chun, which is the martial arts style developed for nuns during the Samurai period," Perabo explained. "Wing Chun is mostly deflection technique so that you can take the oncoming energy of your attacker and move it past you and then get hits in as they go past."

    Perabo is not a fighter in real life, though. "The last time I was in a fight was about 48 hours ago on set," she said. "Before the show, in real life, I think it was maybe fourth grade." But is she gonna be tempted to use her cool new skills? "Actually my Wing Chun teacher keeps saying, 'Don't think that now that I've taught you this you can get all mouthy when you go out and fight people,'" Perabo laughed. "She said, 'I'm teaching you to fight for camera, not for real life. So don't get all over confident.'"

    So, for the time being, she'll have to settle for busting heads onscreen. She's loving that, along with things like stealing a Ferrari in an upcoming episode and skydiving, which seems like the perfect show for a tomboy at heart. "Even fantasies that I never even had are coming true," she said. "This show is so extreme, you start doing things and you're like, 'Wow, this is pretty awesome. I don't know if I could've dreamt this up.'"
    There's video - follow the link. This show reminds me of Alias. She was good in Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  10. #190
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,947

    Angelina Jolie revisited

    Angelina bears repeating.

    Angelina Jolie flaunts sexy legs at L.A. premiere of Salt (photos)
    July 19, 11:26 PMCelebrity Fitness and Health ExaminerSamantha Chang
    July 19, 2010. (Getty Photos/John Shearer)

    Angelina Jolie showed off her toned legs in a sleeveless beaded black Emporio Armani dress at the premiere of Salt in Los Angeles July 19, 2010.

    Jolie, 35, was accompanied by a beardless Brad Pitt, 46, who looked dashing in a charcoal Tom Ford suit.

    'I'M THIN BUT I LOVE TO RUN AND JUMP'

    Angelina, who plays a CIA agent in Salt, got lots of cuts and bruises from doing her own stuntwork for the action thriller.

    “I’ve always been kind of slight, but I’ve always loved to run and jump around and be physical, so action roles are not a huge challenge for me," Jolie said at a recent press junket. "I enjoy them."

    Angelina, an Academy-Award winner, considers herself very lucky to be offered both action roles as well as dramatic parts.

    "I got really lucky early in my career that I got offered roles where I could train for fighting," she says.

    Jolie adds: "And then I met all these amazing stunt people who I've worked with for quite a few films, and so we've become kind of a family and they know the things I'm good at and they know the things that I complain about, but I end up getting through."

    Interestingly, the role of CIA agent Evelyn Salt in Angelina's spy thriller, was originally written for a man, with Tom Cruise cast in the lead. But after Tom dropped out of the project, studio execs rewrote the part to accommodate Jolie in the role.

    'SALT IS FRAILER THAN HER RIVALS SO I MADE HER MEANER'

    The slender Angelina modified the character's demeanor to convincingly play a gun-slinging super-spy. "The physicality had to change," she says. "I’m smaller than everybody, so how do I go up against a bunch of men without looking silly? How do I fight?"

    She adds: "We made her meaner than a guy, and dirty. She uses the walls, the fact that she’s lighter and can throw herself around. It’s the Chihuahua up against the big dogs.” Angelina_Jolie_brad_Pitt_Salt_Los_Angeles_premiere

    Jolie, who bounced back into peak condition following the birth of twins Knox and Vivienne in July 2008, underwent grueling martial arts training for her blockbuster action thrillers, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) and its sequel, Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life (2003).

    She also did fight training and took up gun-shooting practice for the 2008 hit Wanted and the 2005 blockbuster Mr. and Mrs. Smith (which co-starred Brad).

    'I LOVE MARTIAL ARTS'

    While Angelina gets bored by regimented workouts, the lanky Oscar winner stays slim by being active and encourages her six young children to be active as well.

    "I love martial arts," Angelina recently told OK! "They are ideal for children because they teach them discipline and perseverance. My son [Maddox, 8] is already starting to go to class."

    So when she does sit down to see a movie, what does Angie like to watch? "I like all of Bruce Lee's films; he was the best," she notes. "I also like Jackie Chan a lot—my kids are Jackie Chan fans."

    Salt, which co-stars Liev Schrieber, opens July 23.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  11. #191
    Angelina Jolie has dieted herself into a condition wherein her arm would snap like a toothpick the first time she tried to hit something.

    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

  12. #192
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    NW Arkansas
    Posts
    1,392
    I can't believe I ever thought she was attractive. Gah.

    Was she thicker in her older movies? I sure hope so because her current stick figure is creepin' me out.

  13. #193
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Ontario
    Posts
    22,250
    Angeling has never been my cup-of-tea, not enough ass and way to prone to being a "home wrecker".
    Psalms 144:1
    Praise be my Lord my Rock,
    He trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle !

  14. #194
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    new york,ny,U.S.A
    Posts
    3,230
    back in the day she did have that nice figure but now its like wth... she's just a pair of lips.

  15. #195
    It seemed like she had a little more muscle and curves on her frame back in the "Tomb Raider" era, but in the past few years she has just been shrinking away into a skeleton.

    I really can't take some of these female movie/TV stars seriously when they talk about training martial arts, and yet they are so emaciated that they look like they don't have the strength to lift a six-pack of Diet Coke without help.

    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

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •