Big Sound Temple
Japan
Martial Artists Q - Z
Rhee, Jhoon Goo
Very few martial artists can claim to have taught Bruce Lee anything, yet it was, by all accounts, the ‘Father of American Tae kwon do’, Jhoon Rhee, who gave the up-and-coming film superstar a few tips on his kicking techniques. (Muhammad Ali was also more than happy to have Rhee advise him on how best to punch.)
Seventy-six at the time of writing, Rhee has a daily exercise regime that would cause most men half his age to collapse – at least 1,000 push ups, with a similar number of sit ups. (He performs these exercises even when travelling on a plane, cabin crew permitting.) A lifelong teetotaller and non-smoker, he eschews meat in favour of a diet which is rich in water, fish and vegetables.
Coming from
Sde-Or, Imrich
The founder of the much-lauded Krav Maga fighting system, Imrich Sde-Or was born in
Imrich trained so diligently that in 1928 he won the Slovakian Youth Wrestling Championships, triumphing just one year later in the adult division too.
During the mid 1930s, some dark clouds began to gather over
Well aware that his life was in continual danger, however, Sde-Or was at last persuaded, aged 30, to board a ship that was carrying a mass of refugees from central Europe to Palestine.
From 1944, he started training anyone who wanted to learn in various fighting techniques; and in 1948, when the State of Israel was founded, he was appointed Chief Instructor of Krav Maga.
Sde-Or continually sought to refine his martial art, stripping everything back to the bare basics that a person (who may not have any particular physical ability) requires to deal with an armed or unarmed encounter.
Sde-Or passed away on 9 January 1998, having seen his fighting art becoming popular right across the globe for its no-nonsense style and simple, effective techniques.
Sukune, Nomi no
The Nihon Shoki (‘Chronicles of Japan’), finished in 720, records a fight-to-the-death that took place in front of the Emperor Suinin around 23 BC.
Taima no Kuyehaya was one of the fighters; a huge, arrogant man fond of boasting about his ability to break the horns off cattle and straighten out iron hooks.
‘If only I could meet another man of equal strength and fighting ability, how happy I would be,’ he sighed, little suspecting that his wish was soon to be granted. Though whether he was happy or not at the moment of death is another matter.
At the Emperor’s specific request, a man called Nomi no Sukune was found to challenge Kuyehaya. Little background information surrounds Sukune, except for the fact that he was considered ‘valiant’, but in any case Sukune quickly succeeded in kicking Kuyehaya to death, with the Emperor enthusiastically watching on.
By way of reward, all of the deceased man’s land and property was confiscated and given to the fight’s victor, who then disappeared back into history.
Some view this fight as being the first recorded account of unarmed combat, while others go further, classing Taima no Kuyehaya (that great bull of a man) as a rikishi, or sumo wrestler, and Nomi no Sukune (the kicker) as being the practitioner of something broadly similar to ju-jitsu.
Thompson, Geoff
An English ‘reality’ martial artist and BAFTA award-winning writer, born in 1960, who conquered a fear of violent confrontation by working as a doorman on one of
During his time at ‘Busters’ (the name of the club, though by no means the only establishment where he was employed), Geoff Thompson stood shoulder-to-shoulder with men who’d never done a day’s martial arts’ training in their lives – but who still had much they could teach him. Thus in real-life, flesh-and-blood battles, Thompson quickly learnt that much of what is learnt in the dojo is, at best, ineffective in real life.
Thompson has taken his experiences ‘on the door’ and turned them into one of the most realistic types of training it is possible to receive. In his classes, videos and seminars, expect swearing, ‘role-play’ (aggressor/victim) and lots of advice on how to conquer man’s oldest and perhaps worst enemy – his own fear.
Thompson’s experiences are well recounted in his autobiography, Watch My Back. He has also published many other books, a number of which – based upon Thompson’s own battles with depression, agoraphobia and anxiety – have a distinct ‘how to help yourself’ theme. An expert in, amongst other disciplines, karate, kung fu and judo (he has been instructed in the latter by former World Champion Neil Adams), he has since 1993 been joint Chief Instructor of the British Combat Association with Peter Consterdine.
Tiger King, The
Long ago, Phra Chao Sri Sanpetch, the 29th king of Krung Sri Ayutthaya, was overseeing a ‘golden age’ in his kingdom where every soldier was trained in Muay Thai kickboxing.
The king himself was considered very good at the martial art, and trained daily. There was, however, just one problem – hardly any man could be found to train with him, and those that did ensured that they always lost a match without landing even one blow.
‘Why is this?’ pondered the king one day, somewhat vexed at his lack of sparring partners.
A courtier delicately cleared his throat.
‘Perhaps, your Majesty,’ suggested the courtier, ‘it’s because just to touch you is to be put instantly to death.’
The king nodded solemnly.
‘It seems to me that you speak the truth,’ he agreed. ‘What I must do is to go somewhere nobody knows me, and there seek out a challenge from a champion fighter.’
Soon enough, the king heard of a fair that was taking place at a temple some distance away. So off he went with a few trusted followers, donning a disguise just in case. (It is not said what this disguise consisted of, though presumably it wasn’t a false nose and a pair of spectacles.)
Reaching the temple, the king sought out the promoter who was arranging that day’s entertainment – Muay Thai kickboxing – and informed the man that he’d gladly be put against any fighter, any size.
The king won his first fight, and then his next – and, it is claimed, lived until his dying day fighting regularly but never once losing.
Ueshiba, Morihei
The founder of modern-day aikido, Ueshiba (1883–1969) was frequently sickly as a child, which caused him to stay indoors and develop his mother’s love for poetry and literature. It was only when he witnessed a gang of thugs inflict a violent assault upon his father that Ueshiba realised the benefits of physical activity – in this instance, the martial arts.
During the Russo–Japanese war (1904–1905) Ueshiba attempted to join the army, but was rejected on account of his height. (He stood barely 5 foot tall.) So dejected was Ueshiba by this that he went into a forest and hung from the branch of a tree in an attempt to make himself taller. By all accounts he was successful – in any case, the army accepted him when he went and applied for a second time.
The freezing climate of northern Manchuria took a severe toll upon Ueshiba’s health, and following the end of the war he returned to his parents’ farm to recuperate. There he found a ju-jitsu instructor, and through training recovered his previous vigour and stamina.
He then moved with his wife to Hokkaido
In the midst of his grief, Ueshiba – who was something of a spiritual man – did some serious thinking about the martial arts and life in general. In particular, he realised that budō (‘the warrior’s way’) was not actually about fighting – but more about harmony and love.
In other words, meet violence with violence and chaos and discord are the only things that can result; but counter an attack with a move that absorbs such violence, thus neutralising its negative energy, and you will always emerge the victor.
Thus aikido began to emerge; as something that can be studied both as a general way of life, as well as a martial art.
Van Damme, Jean-Claude
The ‘Muscles from Brussels’ (Van Damme has declared that he doesn’t mind this nickname, stating that it is at least better than being called ‘the idiot from Brussels’) was born in 1960, and from childhood studied various martial arts as well as ballet. He competed in his first kickboxing tournament aged 16, and would spend the next half-decade pursuing an impressive fighting career before deciding to try and make it in films.
(Later, after Van Damme had become famous as an actor – and with some questioning whether he had been as successful in the ring as he claimed [as it transpired he had] – Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson offered him a $100,000 ‘bounty fight’. Van Damme declined, however, stating that it was nothing more than a publicity stunt.)
Aged 21, he moved to
Changing his last name from Van Varenberg to Van Damme failed to bring him any more acting work (he’d so far scraped by with a couple of bit-parts), and in the end the man who would also become known as the ‘King of the Belgians’ decided that drastic times called for drastic measures.
So, the very next day, according to legend, a film producer called Menahem Golan was surprised when – leaving a restaurant – a young man suddenly appeared from nowhere to perform a lightening 360-degree kick a mere inch away from his face.
Instead of calling the police, Golan merely requested that Van Damme call by his office the following day, where he presented the young would-be actor with his first proper script.
Bloodsport was a huge success, and was quickly followed by a succession of other action movies – Double Impact, Legionnaire – that made Van Damme a household name during the late 1980s and 90s. Having confessed to struggling with cocaine addiction in the early 1990s – a problem caused partly by his volatile personal life – Van Damme also revealed that intensive exercise and martial arts’ training had been his way of dealing with what was eventually diagnosed as bipolar depression. This has been effectively treated with sodium valproate – a common medication for this type of mental illness – referred to by Van Damme as ‘that simple salt’.
Vigny,
‘Active’ (for want of a better word) towards the end of the nineteenth century – but with apparently no record existing of when he was born or died – Pierre Vigny was a specialist in the French stick-fighting discipline known as ‘la canne’. Coming to
But Vigny was most taken with the stick or cane; for it was this that corrected any discrepancies – say, for example, in size and weight – that could occur in a ‘physical altercation’. Indeed, declared Vigny, if a man knew how to wield a stick correctly, he had no need to fear even ‘a bigger and stronger man, though similarly armed’.
In 1903 he opened his own training establishment, based at
Wong, Fei Hung
A Chinese folk hero born in 1847, Wong was trained in martial arts by his father when still a child. So poor were his family that father and son were frequently obliged to travel around the country, performing martial arts’ demonstrations and selling traditional medicines.
By the time Wong was in his teens, however, he’d become expert at the Southern Chinese kung fu form known as Hung Gar. This emphasised a low, ‘horse-saddle’-like stance, and boasted moves with such names as ‘Angry Tiger Fist’ and ‘No Shadow Kick’ (something at which Wong is said to have been particularly proficient).
He also became a respected healer, well known for his skill in acupuncture. By all accounts a compassionate man, he attempted to treat all those who came to him for help, regardless of whether or not they had the means with which to pay him.
Wong also joined the Chinese army to fight against the Japanese in
Yamaguchi, Gogen
Born in
Fiercely patriotic, Yamaguchi (who stood little more than 5 feet tall) had a shadowy role in
Later captured by the Russians, Yamaguchi spent two years in a Mongolian slave-labour camp, somehow surviving appalling conditions (and, according to his autobiography, on one occasion killing a tiger with his bare hands) to return to Tokyo in 1947.
Yamaguchi was devastated by the damage his beloved country suffered during the war. Further considering that
