Posted on 12/02/2009 9:46:11 AM PST by Drew68
An egomaniac who’s lousy acting means he cant find any other work?
A few years ago there were articles describing his attempts to ingratiate himself with the mob & getting himself into a spot - some petty mobsters trying to extort money from him, etc.
I've thought through his possible reactions and I retract my query.
A few facts. He was the only “Round Eye” at the time to have his own Akido Dojo in Japan at the time. The mafia tried to extort money from him. He went to the police and the Mafia had a hit out on him for a while. OH he is the real deal alright.
He also maintains a very impressive collection of vintage guitars.
Seagal is famous for having tons of sketchy "facts" on his resume. A Spy Magazine article (http://www.american-buddha.com/SPY.seagal.htm) addressed those claims you cited:
Seagal has often bragged that he was the first and only Occidental to own and run a dojo in Japan. In fact, the dojo, which was founded by Fujitani's father, a noted aikido black belt, was owned by his mother-in-law and managed by his wife, herself a black belt. Seagal has also boasted of his courage in battling criminals. Sometimes the thugs are members of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia; other times, they are mere garden-variety criminals. "I jumped right in their faces," Seagal told Movieline. "I was a tenacious motherf*cker, man, and I was fearless."
"It is a lie," Fujitani told Spy. "He once chased a few drunks away from the dojo but never was involved with Yakuza." She also has some insight into Seagal's distinction as the first Occidental to receive an aikido black belt. "The only reason Steven was awarded the black belt was because the judge, who was famous for his laziness, fell asleep during Steven's presentation," she says. "The judge just gave him the black belt." And while Seagal has since risen to the sixth level of black belt, martial-arts buffs scoff at his prowess because he has never competed.
The article also addresses his history of making up stories about his covert actions, or more accurately, taking other people's stories and making himself the star of them:
In an interview with Spy, Goldman says he had long known that Seagal tends to tell grandiose tales about himself. Late in 1988, a former soldier of fortune and treasure hunter named Randy Widner invited Seagal, Goldman and another man to hunt for treasure off the coast of Barbados. At that time, Seagal had been telling Goldman that he'd been a U.S. Navy SEAL. Evidently this was one frogman who did not take well to water. As Goldman recalls, "Randy was driving [a Zodiac raft] in circles while Steven and I carried the gear out to him. The surf was unbelievable, really tough... He started screaming and panicking and was sure he was going to die and all that crap." Goldman says Seagal had to be helped onto the vessel. "Widner had to pull Seagal by his hair; I pushed his ass onto the boat with my shoulder." Later that evening, Goldman says, he realized that Seagal could not read a compass or a map. (Seagal describes himself as "autistic with numbers.") With that, Goldman says, he totally dismissed the notion that Seagal had ever been involved in any covert operations. In his letter to the Times reporter, Goldman wrote that Seagal "would surely die of starvation if he was given a compass and a map that led to a restaurant five miles away."
I don't know what's true and what's not, but I am not about to take any claims Seagal makes at face value.
Most of his stories are bull***t but he is a legitimate aikido black belt and good at that art. Aikido people don’t really compete like judo, karate and jujitsu. I know one of his students, an American who trained with Seagal in Japan and can vouch for his skill in the art.
Yes, Aikido is wonderful for learning how to dance. Fighting, not so much.
I’ve always been suspicious of anything he claimed...Particularly since he has to always use his movies (the world of fiction) to brag about the size of his penis...
Probably truer by comparison to anything I have heard from Seagal or ALGORE on AGW for that matter!
Sammo Hung, one chubby short guy I wouldn't fight...
And, do not, under any circumstances, underestimate these fellows...
He is similar to Ed Parker - now I don’t say that lightly Ed Parker was near the top of all martial artists but he was deceptively dangerous...extremely dangerous in a fight and so is Seagal.
Both men share many of the same traits and quite frankly a similar path through their martial arts experience.
If you don’t know about Ed Parker search him out on the web, watch his videos and research the history of Seagal you will see just how similar these two are and just how lethal either one of them could be.
LOL...it was a staged move when Seagal claim he was impervious to the judo choke hold...nobody is...Seagal was a fool to make that boast.
In a street fight Seagal would most likely have the upperhand on LeBell...nothing against LeBell just different styles.
So would I but SEGAL would probable start with taking the firearm of an honest law abiding citizen like me and I presume that goes for you. It's the PC thing to do.
Stay well.
There’s a huge possibility that I’ll never see this show.
I don’t think you understand the art of Kayfabe. Seagal’s a carny so it is OK for him to embellish. The actors who were true heroes (Don Adams, Mel Brooks, Ed McMahon, Jimmy Stewart, etc) didn’t talk about it. That’s how you know.
When an actor talks about how awesome they are, I assume they are just staying in character.
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