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Originally Posted by Ferox13
DIdn't know about Roosevelt - I do know Abe Lincoln was a wrestler though (Greco-Roman I think). James Caan was meant to a high grade in Karate but after seeing Killer Elite, I'm not sure..
Guy Ritchie is another famous Judoka.
Do you train or are you just a fan?
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Caan actually trained with Tak Kubota who was also featured in the Killer Elite. While not terribly visually impressive, most actual martial arts are not. Having seen a few demonstrations on things like the Tonight Show he is a serious martial artist but still a long ways from being Donn Draeger. With celebrities you always need to take Yudansha grades with a grain of salt, kind of like Elvis and his 8th Dan grade under Ed Parker.
I have been involved with martial arts for about 35 years now. Primarily Okinawan Te and Kobu systems, classical Japanese Budo and Bujutsu systems and Chinese boxing styles. I have studied approx. 40 systems in that time, I am a teacher of about 8 of those systems.
I'm also a huge movie junkie so I am also a fan of Chanbara / Jidaigeki films, Shaw Brothers classics and of course the late, great Bruce Lee who is responsible for my initial interest in the martial arts.