Your 2 Martial arts heroes

Hey guys

I was wondering If people could post who their 2 main martial arts heroes, I know for some there are many more than 2 ( I could add at least 10 more to this list), but I mean if you had to pick 2. They can be from any art, style, field in martial arts at all. They can be competitors, teachers, founders, actors or non confirmed legends. As long as its a serious admiration, please no nameing of kiai masters or proven frauds as a joke Please hilarious as that might be:evil: I am just interested in who they are and why you admire them.

Mine are

1. Bas Rutten: For me Bas "el gaupo" Rutten is everything a martial artist can be, He has the competition credibility having competed in Pancrase, Pride and UFC events and won, He has the Real world fighting cred (on Teh Str33tz) from his days as a bouncer. And both back each other up. Dont beleive he would kick ass in real life? Just watch his ring fights, some of which are in the no weight class and kicks to a downed opponent class of competition, so are pretty damn close to real brawls. Add to that his tireless devotion to his art and the spread of it, his great colour comentary and great (though limited) acting credits and the fact he had a hand in revolutionising MMA to the sport we see today and you have why I like him. LIVER SHOTS!!!

2. Mas Oyama: The founder of the style of karate I have enjoyed the most. Legends about him aside, he was instumental in the bringing of realism and pressure testing to Karate, and his contribution has spawned many offshoots that have resulted in some of the hardest and best styles (in my opinion) of karate. "God hand" Oyama built a martial arts legacy that will be remembered as long as there are practioners of full contact knockdown karate, call it Kyokushinkai, Kudo or anything in between.

So guys what about you?

2.

 

Fedor Emelianenko

Saw him defeat the giant Hong Man Choi. I believe the first to do it. Immediately had massive respect for him. Possibly the greatest fighter the world has ever known. Have watched various fights with him and think they are mostly epic.

Mirko Filipović - cro cop

The very first K1 fight i ever saw involved Mirko Cro Cop. Flicking through the channels and came across him on Eurosport - saw him dismantle Bob Sapp with a left hook to drop the big guy. He also has the coolest nickname - Cro Cop (Croation Cop)

Baza

Edited as i really should have given some reasons

 

Was sort of hoping you would say the reasons why, but oh well.

 

1. Bill Wallace. Greatest kicker who has ever lived (a title I hope to usurp from him one day). First true kickboxing champion who retired undefeated. Could do more with one leg than everybody else could do with two. His system of front leg fighting has influenced thousands of martial artists all over the world, in a variety of styles ranging from karate to taekwondo.

2. Joe Lewis (RIP). First ever karate champion to win kumite and kata titles in the same event. Pioneer of full contact who became the first ever world heavyweight champion. Twice voted greatest fighter in karate history. Vietnam vet. Genuine embodiment of the word "warrior."

 

Oooh! This is a tricky one...

1. Guro Inosanto - the man who has probably forgotten more than I will ever know and the person single handedly responsible for keeping JKD alive. Guro Dan is also a perpertual student and has absolutley no ego whatsoever. Truly one of a kind

2. Gene Lebell - talk about someone who has done it all! He beat the Japanese at Judo when that was unheard of, had the first televised MMA match, stuntman and teacher of Bruce Lee and trained in CACC alongside Lou Thesz, Ed Lewis and all the others. Also the worst joke teller in the world - legendary!

 

1) Dan Inosanto. He's been a huge influence on me, even though I've only met him four or so times over the course of 25 years. He inspired me to pursue most of my training opportunities, incl. kali (the only style in which I actually have teaching credentials). He's an amazing source of information, flows better than anyone I've seen at any age, and does it all with this quiet, unassuming demeanor. I dare say he wouldn't like the label "hero" much. "Role model" might work better.

2) My JKD/kali teacher (who seems to value his low profile, so I'll keep it that way). Quite simply, he's everything I admire about Guro Dan [Inosanto], with the added benefit of my knowing him personally.

 

Pretty much exactly the same as this.

If half the things I hear about Guru Inosanto are true then I have so much to aspire to be at that age!

And part two would of course be my instructor Rick Young, who embodies Guru Inosantos philosophies and character. Having possibly the best martial artist in Britain is a huge benefit to me IMO


Want to throw in Erik Paulson in as an honourable mention. He's unbelievable ;3

 

Not heros ("they're all useless") or role models but the closest thing to that would be

Dan Inosanto - For skillz, knowledge and generally being an all around humble guy. Martial Arts need more people like him. Sadly he really is one of a kind.

Nakai Yuki - 'Cause he's ace. Little guy with a big heart and a perfect gentleman with it.

Paulson and Rick Young deserve a mention too.

 

Some great responses so far!

If I was to be honest, for me the guys that I actually really think to myself " I hope I can be like that guy one day" are people no one here has heard of . They are just older guys (60's to maybe even 70's) that just didn't know when to quit, and I still see showing up. There are a few guys like this where I do KF - they still look pretty sharp to me - they are certainly a lot better than me at forms. There is a guy who shows up where I take MT - he doesn't do the actual classes, but he runs laps, kicks the wavemasters and does some exercises. He has to be close to 70 if not over 70, so I'm pretty impressed by him with that in mind.

 

1) Chang Tung Sheng - He was the strongest person that I have ever met in my life. He could crash a metal grip testing tool with his monster grip. He used to ask his students to bite on his arm muscle, none of his student's teeth could sink into his arm. While he visited Morocco, the Morocco king's body guard challenged him in front of the king. With 1 strike to the kidney area, he had knocked the king's body guard unconscious. He competed in 1933 in the 5th National Kuo Shu Tournament (also called the "All China Full Contact Tournament") and won the heavyweight division over several hundred other practitioners.

http://www.changshuaijiao.org/eng/chang_tung_sheng.htm

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfSEjcm6y4E"]Grand Master Chang Shuai Jiao Demo 3 - YouTube[/ame]

2) David C. K. Lin - He is the only person that without fighting him in person, I would admit that he is better than me. Onetime someone challenged him. He told that guy, I'll take you down 3 times. If you can stand on your feet for more than 3 seconds in any one of my attacks, you win and I lose. In all 3 attacks, his opponent was down within 3 seconds.

http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/m...chniques-for-black-belt-magazine-photo-shoot/

 

Man wish I had your self assurance, I can think of a few people on this WEBSITE that I think are probably better than me without fighting them.

 

It's an interesting thing. I think it's more common with fighters/competitors than self defence orientated guys. I know I say some crazy stuff to myself just before I'm competing, and during fight camps.

 

im not really one or the other, I have done sports stuff and SD stuff. wouldnt put myself in any camp really.

 

Aleksandr Karelin - Soviet and Russian heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler went 887 - 2 in his career. Karelin's defeat by American Rulon Gardner at the 2000 Olympic Games marked the first time that anyone had scored a point on him in more than 10 years.

According to The Slate, "Karelin’s icy gulag death stare during the medal ceremony is one of the most terrifying sights in Olympic history"

6'3'' and 286 pounds a truly awesome wrestler.

 

Forgot about Karelin. Fantastic athlete.

 

This rings a bell. There was a man in his 80s who I met a few times when I started off. Every time it was the same process: he would show up to practice and genially announce that this time he was too old and would just sit off to the side and observe. He would then get progressively grumpier and grumpier, finally lose his temper, and walk out on to the practice floor to tear weapons out of the hands of (usually quite senior) people to show them how it was meant to be done. If I ever match his skill, let alone at his age, I will be quite pleased with myself.

 

You should not make such assumption until you have met that person in the ring or on the mat. It's your best skills against your opponent's best skills. Until you have tested your opponent out, any assumption will be meaningless.

 

Hmm, I don't really follow MMA or kickboxing so don't really know anyone from those areas.

I only really have one martial arts hero, and he was more of a small time (maybe big time) movie star so I don't think he has as much credibility as others. Hwang Jang Lee "the silver fox" probably single handedly responsible for me starting up in Tae Kwon Do.