Steven Seagal Martial Arts

Martial arts

Martial arts or fighting arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for combat. Martial arts all have a very similar objective: defend oneself or others from physical threat. In addition, some martial arts are linked to beliefs such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism or Shinto while others follow a particular code of honor. Martial arts are considered as both an art and a science. Many arts are also practiced competitively, most commonly as combat sports, but may also take the form of dance.
The term martial arts refers to the art of warfare (from Mars, the god of war). It comes from a 15th-century European term for fighting arts now known as historical European martial arts. A practitioner of martial arts is referred to as a martial artist.
In popular culture, the term martial arts often specifically refers to Asian fighting styles, especially the combat systems that originated in East Asia. However, the term actually refers to any codified combat system, regardless of origin. Europe is home to many extensive systems of martial arts, both living traditions (e.g. Jogo do Pau and other stick and sword fencing and Savate, a French kicking style developed by sailors and street fighters) and older systems of historical European martial arts that have existed through the present, many of which are now being reconstructed. In the Americas, Native Americans have traditions of open-handed martial arts including wrestling, and Hawaiians have historically practiced arts featuring small- and large-joint manipulation. A mix of origins is found in the athletic movements of Capoeira, which African slaves developed in Brazil based on skills they had brought from Africa.
While each style has unique facets that make it different from other martial arts, a common characteristic is the systematization of fighting techniques. Methods of training vary and may include sparring (simulated combat) or formal sets or routines of techniques known as forms or kata. Forms are especially common in the Asian and Asian-derived martial arts.


Steven Seagal began training karate at the age of 7 under Fumio Demura, and later began practising aikido in the late 1960s at the Orange County Aikikai in California under Harry Ishisaka.
Seagal Sensei received his 1st Dan from Koichi Tohei in Orange County in the summer of 1974 and traveled to Japan shortly thereafter at the tender age of 19. Seagal separated from Tohei's organization and assumed direction of the Aikikai-Hombu affiliated Tenshin Aikido Dojo in Osaka which was owned by his Japanese wife's parents.

He was rapidly promoted to 5th Dan in consideration of his position as chief instructor of the dojo, and his natural aptness in the art, and was eventually awarded his 6th Dan.

Steven Seagal currently holds a 7th Dan granted by the Aikikai and trains out of his home with his senior students, who in turn operate the dojos in Los Angeles and Taos. Seagal Sensei also has a school in Ventura, California under Larry Reynosa Sensei. Reynosa Sensei has trained with Steven Seagal for 11 years, holds the rank of Yondan (4th degree black belt) and is a direct disciple of Steven Seagal Shihan. He has sworn his allegiance, loyalty, and love to him and his style of Aikido. Ten years ago, Seagal Sensei honored Reynosa Sensei with the name "Makato" which means "sincere heart" in Japanese. Therefore, the school is also called Makoto Dojo. Seagal Sensei is a priest of the Omoto-Kyo sect, as was O'Sensei. Seagal Sensei's name in Aikido circles is Take Shigemichi, meaning pathway to Prosperity.

Aikido - 合気道

Aikido is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying (with) life energy"[1] or as "the Way of harmonious spirit."[2] Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attacker from injury.
Aikido is performed by blending with the motion of the attacker and redirecting the force of the attack rather than opposing it head-on. This requires very little physical energy, as the aikidōka (aikido practitioner) "leads" the attacker's momentum using entering and turning movements. The techniques are completed with various throws or joint locks.[3] Aikido can be categorized under the general umbrella of grappling arts.
Aikido derives mainly from the martial art of Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu, but began to diverge from it in the late 1920s, partly due to Ueshiba's involvement with the Ōmoto-kyō religion. Ueshiba's early students' documents bear the term aiki-jūjutsu.[4] Many of Ueshiba's senior students have different approaches to aikido, depending on when they studied with him. Today aikido is found all over the world in a number of styles, with broad ranges of interpretation and emphasis. However, they all share techniques learned from Ueshiba and most have concern for the well-being of the attacker. This attitude has been at the core of criticisms of aikido and related arts.
History Morihei Ueshiba, founder of aikido.
Aikido was created by Morihei Ueshiba (植芝 盛平 Ueshiba Morihei, 14 December 1883–26 April 1969), referred to by some aikido practitioners as Ōsensei ("Great Teacher").[12] Ueshiba envisioned aikido not only as the synthesis of his martial training, but also an expression of his personal philosophy of universal peace and reconciliation. During Ueshiba's lifetime and continuing today, aikido has evolved from the koryū (old-style martial arts) that Ueshiba studied into a wide variety of expressions by martial artists throughout the world.
Ueshiba developed aikido primarily during the late 1920s through the 1930s through the synthesis of the older martial arts that he had studied.[13] The core martial art from which aikido derives is Daitō-ryū aiki-jūjutsu, which Ueshiba studied directly with Takeda Sokaku, the reviver of that art. Additionally, Ueshiba is known to have studied Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū with Tozawa Tokusaburō in Tokyo in 1901, Gotōha Yagyū Shingan-ryū under Nakai Masakatsu in Sakai from 1903 to 1908, and judo with Kiyoichi Takagi (高木 喜代子 Takagi Kiyoichi, 1894–1972) in Tanabe in 1911.

The art of Daitō-ryū is the primary technical influence on aikido. Along with empty-handed throwing and joint-locking techniques, Ueshiba incorporated training movements with weapons, such as those for the spear (yari), short staff (jō), and perhaps the bayonet (銃剣 jūken?). However, aikido derives much of its technical structure from the art of swordsmanship (kenjutsu).
Ueshiba moved to Hokkaidō in 1912, and began studying under Takeda Sokaku in 1915. His official association with Daitō-ryū continued until 1937 However, during the latter part of that period, Ueshiba had already begun to distance himself from Takeda and the Daitō-ryū. At that time Ueshiba was referring to his martial art as "Aiki Budō". It is unclear exactly when Ueshiba began using the name "aikido", but it became the official name of the art in 1942 when the Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society (Dai Nippon Butoku Kai) was engaged in a government sponsored reorganization and centralization of Japanese martial arts.
After Ueshiba left Hokkaidō in 1919, he met and was profoundly influenced by Onisaburo Deguchi, the spiritual leader of the Ōmoto-kyō religion (a neo-Shinto movement) in Ayabe.[15] One of the primary features of Ōmoto-kyō is its emphasis on the attainment of utopia during one's life. This was a great influence on Ueshiba's martial arts philosophy of extending love and compassion especially to those who seek to harm others. Aikido demonstrates this philosophy in its emphasis on mastering martial arts so that one may receive an attack and harmlessly redirect it. In an ideal resolution, not only is the receiver unharmed, but so is the attacker.
In addition to the effect on his spiritual growth, the connection with Deguchi gave Ueshiba entry to elite political and military circles as a martial artist. As a result of this exposure, he was able to attract not only financial backing but also gifted students. Several of these students would found their own styles of aikido.
Aikido was first brought to the West in 1951 by Minoru Mochizuki with a visit to France where he introduced aikido techniques to judo students.[18] He was followed by Tadashi Abe in 1952 who came as the official Aikikai Hombu representative, remaining in France for seven years. Kenji Tomiki toured with a delegation of various martial arts through fifteen continental states of the United States in 1953.[17] Later in that year, Koichi Tohei was sent by Aikikai Hombu to Hawaii, for a full year, where he set up several dojo. This was followed up by several further visits and is considered the formal introduction of aikido to the United States. The United Kingdom followed in 1955; Italy in 1964; Germany and Australia in 1965. Designated "Official Delegate for Europe and Africa" by Morihei Ueshiba, Masamichi Noro arrived in France in September 1961. Today there are aikido dojo available throughout the world.

Steven Seagal
The biggest aikido organisation is the Aikikai Foundation which remains under the control of the Ueshiba family. However, aikido has many styles, mostly formed by Morihei Ueshiba's major students.[17]
The earliest independent styles to emerge were Yoseikan Aikido, begun by Minoru Mochizuki in 1931,[18] Yoshinkan Aikido founded by Gozo Shioda in 1955,[19] and Shodokan Aikido, founded by Kenji Tomiki in 1967.[20] The emergence of these styles pre-dated Ueshiba's death and did not cause any major upheavals when they were formalized. Shodokan Aikido, however, was controversial, since it introduced a unique rule-based competition that some felt was contrary to the spirit of aikido.
After Ueshiba's death in 1969, two more major styles emerged. Significant controversy arose with the departure of the Aikikai Hombu Dojo's chief instructor Koichi Tohei, in 1974. Tohei left as a result of a disagreement with the son of the founder, Kisshomaru Ueshiba , who at that time headed the Aikikai Foundation. The disagreement was over the proper role of ki development in regular aikido training. After Tohei left, he formed his own style, called Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido, and the organization which governs it, the Ki Society (Ki no Kenkyūkai).[21]
A final major style evolved from Ueshiba's retirement in Iwama, Ibaraki, and the teaching methodology of long term student Morihiro Saito. It is unofficially referred to as the "Iwama style", and at one point a number of its followers formed a loose network of schools they called Iwama Ryu. Although Iwama style practitioners remained part of the Aikikai until Saito's death in 2002, followers of Saito subsequently split into two groups; one remaining with the Aikikai and the other forming the independent organization the Shinshin Aikishuren Kai, in 2004 around Saito's son Hitohiro Saito.
Today, the major styles of aikido are each run by a separate governing organization, have their own headquarters (本部道場 honbu dōjō?) in Japan, and have an international breadth.


Steven Seagal


Judo

Judo (柔道 jūdō?), meaning "gentle way", is a modern Japanese martial art (gendai budō) and combat sport, that originated in Japan in the late nineteenth century. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an opponent to submit by joint locking the elbow or by executing a choke. Strikes and thrusts (by hands and feet)—as well as weapons defences—are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms (kata) and are not allowed in judo competition or free practice (randori).
Ultimately, the philosophy and subsequent pedagogy developed for judo became the model for almost all modern Japanese martial arts that developed from "traditional" schools (koryū). In addition, the worldwide spread of judo has led to the development of a number of offshoots such as Sambo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Practitioners of judo are called jūdōka.
History Kano Jigoro
The early history of judo is inseparable from its founder, Japanese polymath and educator Jigoro Kano (嘉納 治五郎 Kanō Jigorō, 1860–1938).[citation needed] Kano was born into a well-to-do Japanese family.[citation needed] His grandfather was a self-made man: a sake brewer from Shiga prefecture in central Japan.[citation needed] However, Kano's father was not the eldest son and therefore did not inherit the business.[citation needed] Instead, he became a Shinto priest and government official, with enough influence for his son to enter the second incoming class of Tokyo Imperial University
Kano was a small, frail boy, who, even in his twenties, did not weigh more than a hundred pounds (45 kg), and was often picked on by bullies. He first started pursuing jujutsu, at that time a dying art,[4] at the age of 17, but met with little success. This was in part due to difficulties finding a teacher who would take him on as a student. When he went to university to study literature at the age of 18, he continued his martial arts studies, eventually gaining a referral to Fukuda Hachinosuke (c.1828–c.1880), a master of the Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū and grandfather of Keiko Fukuda (born 1913), who is Kano's only surviving student, and the highest-ranking female jūdōka in the world. Fukuda Hachinosuke is said to have emphasized technique over formal exercise, sowing the seeds of Kano's emphasis on free practice (randori) in judo.
A little more than a year after Kano joined Fukuda's school, Fukuda became ill and died. Kano then became a student in another Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū school, that of Iso Masatomo (c.1820–c.1881), who put more emphasis on the practice of pre-arranged forms (kata) than Fukuda had. Through dedication, Kano quickly earned the title of master instructor (shihan) and became assistant instructor to Iso at the age of 21. Unfortunately, Iso soon took ill, and Kano, feeling that he still had much to learn, took up another style, becoming a student of Iikubo Tsunetoshi (1835–1889) of Kitō-ryū. Like Fukuda, Iikubo placed much emphasis on free practice. On the other hand, Kitō-ryū emphasized throwing techniques to a much greater degree than Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū.

Judo: "The way of gentleness".
The word "judo" shares the same root ideogram as "jujutsu": "jū" (柔?), which may mean "gentleness", "softness", "suppleness", and even "easy", depending on its context. Such attempts to translate jū are deceptive, however. The use of jū in each of these words is an explicit reference to the martial arts principle of the "soft method" (柔法 jūhō?). The soft method is characterized by the indirect application of force to defeat an opponent. More specifically, it is the principle of using one's opponent's strength against him and adapting well to changing circumstances. For example, if the attacker was to push against his opponent he would find his opponent stepping to the side and allowing his momentum (often with the aid of a foot to trip him up) to throw him forwards (the inverse being true for pulling). Kano saw jujutsu as a disconnected bag of tricks, and sought to unify it according to a principle, which he found in the notion of "maximum efficiency". Jujutsu techniques that relied solely on superior strength were discarded or adapted in favour of those that involved redirecting the opponent's force, off-balancing the opponent, or making use of superior leverage.
The second characters of judo and jujutsu differ. Where jujutsu (柔術 jūjutsu?) means the "art", "science", or "techniques" of softness, judo (柔道 jūdō?) means the "way" of softness. The use of "dō" (道?), meaning way, road or path (and is the same character as the Chinese word "tao"), has philosophical overtones. This is the same distinction as is made between Budō and Bujutsu. Use of this word is a deliberate departure from ancient martial arts, whose sole purpose was for killing. Kano saw judo as a means for governing and improving oneself physically, mentally, emotionally and morally. He even extended the physical principle of maximum efficiency into daily life, evolving it into "mutual prosperity". In this respect, judo is seen as a holistic approach to life extending well beyond the confines of the dojo.
Judoka (practitioner)
A practitioner of judo is known as a judoka or "judo practitioner", though traditionally only those of 4th Dan or higher were called "judoka". The suffix -ka, when added to a noun, means a person with expertise or special knowledge on that subject. For example, Benkyo-ka means "scholar". Other practitioners below the rank of 4th dan were called kenkyu-sei or "trainees". However, today the term judoka is used worldwide to refer to any practitioner of judo without any particular level of expertise being implied.
A judo teacher is called sensei. The word sensei comes from sen or saki (before) and sei (life) – i.e. one who has preceded you. In Western dojos it is common to call any instructor of dan grade sensei. Traditionally, that title was reserved for instructors of 4th dan and above.

Kendo
Kendo (剣道 kendō?), meaning "Way of the Sword", is a modern Japanese martial art of sword-fighting based on traditional Japanese swordsmanship, or Kenjutsu[2]. Kendo is a physically and mentally challenging activity that combines strong martial arts values with sport-like physical elements.
Kendō at an agricultural school in Japan around 1920



Since the earliest samurai government in Japan, during the Kamakura period (1185-1333), sword fencing, together with horse riding and archery, were the main martial pursuits of the military clans. In this period kendo developed under the strong influence of Zen Buddhism] The samurai could equate the disregard for his own life in the heat of battle, which was considered necessary for victory in individual combat, to the Buddhist concept of the illusory nature of the distinction between life and death.

Those swordsmen established schools of kenjutsu (the ancestor of "kendo") which continued for centuries and which form the basis of kendo practice today.[citation needed] The names of the schools reflect the essence of the originator’s enlightenment. Thus the Ittō-ryū (Single sword school) indicates the founder’s illumination that all possible cuts with the sword emanate from and are contained in one original essential cut. The Mutō-ryu (swordless school) expresses the comprehension of the originator Yamaoka Tesshu, that "There is no sword outside the mind". The Munen Musō-ryū (No intent, no preconception) similarly expresses the understanding that the essence of kenjutsu transcends the reflective thought process.[citation needed] The formal kendo exercises known as kata were developed several centuries ago as kenjutsu practice for warriors and are still studied today, albeit in a modified form.[citation needed]
The introduction of bamboo practice swords (shinai) and armour (bōgu) to "ken" training is attributed to Naganuma Sirōzaemon Kunisato during the Shotoku Era (1711-1715). Naganuma developed the use of kendo-gu (bogu) (protective equipment) and established a training method using the shinai.[6]
In addition, the inscription on the gravestone of Yamada Heizaemon Mitsunori's (Ippūsai) (山田平左衛門光徳(一風斎), 1638 – 1718) third son Naganuma Sirōzaemon Kunisato (長沼 四郎左衛門 国郷, 1688–1767), the 8th headmaster of the Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū Kenjutsu, states that his exploits included improving the bokuto and shinai, and refining the armour by adding a metal grill to the men (head piece) and thick cotton protective coverings to the kote (gauntlets). Kunisato inherited the tradition from his father Heizaemon in 1708, and the two of them worked hard together to improve the bogu until Heizaemon's death.[6][7]
This is believed to be the foundation of modern kendo. Kendo began to make its modern appearance during the late 18th century.[citation needed] Use of the shinai and armour made it possible to deliver strikes and thrusts with full force but without injuring one's opponent. These advances, along with the development of set practice formats, set the foundations of modern kendo.
Concepts such as mushin (無心 むしん?), or "empty mind", are borrowed from Zen buddhism and are considered essential for the attainment of high-level kendo.[citation needed] Fudōshin (不動心 ふどうしん?), or "unmoving mind", is a conceptual attribute of the deity Fudo Myo-O, one of the five "Kings of Light" of Shingon Buddhism. Fudōshin, implies that the kendoka cannot be led astray by delusions of anger, doubt, fear, or surprise arising from the opponent’s actions. Thus today it is possible to embark on a similar quest for spiritual enlightenment as followed by the samurai of old.[citation needed]
The Dai Nippon Butoku Kai was established in 1895 to solidify, promote, and standardise all martial disciplines and systems in Japan. The DNBK changed the name of Gekiken (Kyūjitai: 擊劍; Shinjitai: 撃剣, "hitting sword") to kendo in 1920. Kendo (along with other martial arts) was banned in Japan in 1946 by the occupying powers. This was part of "the removal and exclusion from public life of militaristic and ultra nationalistic persons" in response to the wartime militarization of martial arts instruction in Japan. Kendo was allowed to return to the curriculum in 1950 (first as Shinai Kyougi "Shinai Competition" and then as Kendo from 1952).[8] [9]
The All Japan Kendo Federation (AJKF or ZNKR) was founded in 1952, immediately following the restoration of Japanese independence and the subsequent lift of the ban on martial arts in Japan.
The International Kendo Federation (FIK) was founded in 1970, it is an international federation of national and regional kendo associations and the world governing body for kendo. The FIK is a non-governmental organisation, and its aim is to promote and popularise kendo, iaido and jodo.
The World Kendo Championships are an FIK event and have been held every three years since 1970.




Karate
Karate Is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) from indigenous fighting methods called te (手 literally: "hand"?) and Chinese kenpō.[1][2] Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands (karate chop). Grappling, locks, restraints, throws, and vital point strikes are taught in some styles.[3] A karate practitioner is called a karateka (空手家?).
Karate developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom prior to its 19th century annexation by Japan. It was brought to the Japanese mainland in the early 20th century during a time of cultural exchanges between the Japanese and the Ryukyuans. In 1922 the Japanese Ministry of Education invited Gichin Funakoshi to Tokyo to give a karate demonstration. Keio University became the first Japanese university to open a dojo (training hall); by 1932, all Japanese universities had a dojo. In this era of escalating Japanese militarism,[4] the name was changed from 唐手 ("Chinese hand") to 空手 ("empty hand") – both of which are pronounced karate – to indicate that the Japanese wished to develop the combat form in Japanese style.[5] After the second world war, Okinawa became an important United States military site and karate became popular among servicemen stationed there.[6]
The martial arts movies of the 1960s and 1970s served to greatly increase its popularity and the word karate began to be used in a generic way to refer to all striking-based Oriental martial arts.[7] Karate schools began appearing across the world, catering to those with casual interest as well as those seeking a deeper study of the art.
Shigeru Egami, Chief Instructor of Shotokan Dojo, opined "that the majority of followers of karate in overseas countries pursue karate only for its fighting techniques...Movies and television...depict karate as a mysterious way of fighting capable of causing death or injury with a single blow...the mass media present a pseudo art far from the real thing."[8] Shoshin Nagamine said "Karate may be considered as the conflict within oneself or as a life-long marathon which can be won only through self-discipline, hard training and one's own creative efforts." [9]
For many practitioners, karate is a deeply philosophical practice. Karate-do teaches ethical principles and can have spiritual significance to its adherents. Gichin Funakoshi ("Father of Modern Karate") titled his autobiography Karate-Do: My Way of Life in recognition of the transforming nature of karate study.
Today karate is practiced for self-perfection, for cultural reasons, for self-defense and as a sport. In 2005, in the 117th IOC (International Olympic Committee) voting, karate did not receive the necessary two thirds majority vote to become an Olympic sport.[10] Web Japan (sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs) claims there are 23 million karate practitioners worldwide.
Karate began as a common fighting system known as te (Okinawan: ti) among the Pechin class of the Ryukyuans. After trade relationships were established with the Ming dynasty of China by King Satto of Chūzan in 1372, some forms of Chinese martial arts were introduced to the Ryukyu Islands by the visitors from China, particularly Fujian Province. A large group of Chinese families moved to Okinawa around 1392 for the purpose of cultural exchange, where they established the community of Kumemura and shared their knowledge of a wide variety of Chinese arts and sciences, including the Chinese martial arts. The political centralization of Okinawa by King Shō Hashi in 1429 and the 'Policy of Banning Weapons,' enforced in Okinawa after the invasion of the Shimazu clan in 1609, are also factors that furthered the development of unarmed combat techniques in Okinawa.[2]
There were few formal styles of te, but rather many practitioners with their own methods. One surviving example is the Motobu-ryū school passed down from the Motobu family by Seikichi Uehara.[12] Early styles of karate are often generalized as Shuri-te, Naha-te, and Tomari-te, named after the three cities from which they emerged.[13] Each area and its teachers had particular kata, techniques, and principles that distinguished their local version of te from the others.
Members of the Okinawan upper classes were sent to China regularly to study various political and practical disciplines. The incorporation of empty-handed Chinese wu shu into Okinawan martial arts occurred partly because of these exchanges. Traditional karate kata bear a strong resemblance to the forms found in Fujian martial arts such as Fujian White Crane, Five Ancestors, and Gangrou-quan (Hard Soft Fist; pronounced "Gōjūken" in Japanese).[14] Further influence came from Southeast Asia— particularly Sumatra, Java, and Melaka[citation needed]. Many Okinawan weapons such as the sai, tonfa, and nunchaku may have originated in and around Southeast Asia.
Sakukawa Kanga (1782–1838) had studied pugilism and staff (bo) fighting in China (according to one legend, under the guidance of Kosokun, originator of kusanku kata). In 1806 he started teaching a fighting art in the city of Shuri that he called "Tudi Sakukawa," which meant "Sakukawa of China Hand." This was the first known recorded reference to the art of "Tudi," written as 唐手. Around the 1820s Sakukawa's most significant student Matsumura Sōkon (1809–1899) taught a synthesis of te (Shuri-te and Tomari-te) and Shaolin (Chinese 少林) styles. Matsumura's style would later become the Shōrin-ryū style.
Ankō Itosu
Grandfather of Modern Karate
Matsumura taught his art to Itosu Ankō (1831–1915) among others. Itosu adapted two forms he had learned from Matsumara. These are kusanku and chiang nan. He created the ping'an forms ("heian" or "pinan" in Japanese) which are simplified kata for beginning students. In 1901 Itosu helped to get karate introduced into Okinawa's public schools. These forms were taught to children at the elementary school level. Itosu's influence in karate is broad. The forms he created are common across nearly all styles of karate. His students became some of the most well known karate masters, including Gichin Funakoshi, Kenwa Mabuni, and Motobu Chōki. Itosu is sometimes referred to as "the Grandfather of Modern Karate."[15]
In 1881 Higaonna Kanryō returned from China after years of instruction with Ryu Ryu Ko and founded what would become Naha-te. One of his students was the founder of Gojū-ryū, Chōjun Miyagi. Chōjun Miyagi taught such well-known karateka as Seko Higa (who also trained with Higaonna), Meitoku Yagi, Miyazato Ei'ichi, and Seikichi Toguchi, and for a very brief time near the end of his life, An'ichi Miyagi (a teacher claimed by Morio Higaonna).
In addition to the three early te styles of karate a fourth Okinawan influence is that of Kanbun Uechi (1877–1948). At the age of 20 he went to Fuzhou in Fujian Province, China, to escape Japanese military conscription. While there he studied under Shushiwa. He was a leading figure of Chinese Nanpa Shorin-ken at that time.[16] He later developed his own style of Uechi-ryū karate based on the Sanchin, Seisan, and Sanseiryu kata that he had studied in China.
Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan karate, is generally credited with having introduced and popularized karate on the main islands of Japan. Actually many Okinawans were actively teaching, and are thus equally responsible for the development of karate. Funakoshi was a student of both Asato Ankō and Itosu Ankō (who had worked to introduce karate to the Okinawa Prefectural School System in 1902). During this time period, prominent teachers who also influenced the spread of karate in Japan included Kenwa Mabuni, Chōjun Miyagi, Motobu Chōki, Kanken Tōyama, and Kanbun Uechi. This was a turbulent period in the history of the region. It includes Japan's annexation of the Okinawan island group in 1872, the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), the annexation of Korea, and the rise of Japanese militarism (1905–1945).
Japan was invading China at the time, and Funakoshi knew that the art of Tang/China hand would not be accepted; thus the change of the art's name to "way of the empty hand." The dō suffix implies that karatedō is a path to self knowledge, not just a study of the technical aspects of fighting. Like most martial arts practiced in Japan, karate made its transition from -jutsu to -dō around the beginning of the 20th century. The "dō" in "karate-dō" sets it apart from karate-jutsu, as aikido is distinguished from aikijutsu, judo from jujutsu, kendo from kenjutsu and iaido from iaijutsu.
Gichin Funakoshi
Founder of Shotokan Karate
Masters of karate in Tokyo (c. 1930s)
Kanken Toyama, Hironori Ohtsuka, Takeshi Shimoda, Gichin Funakoshi, Motobu Chōki, Kenwa Mabuni, Genwa Nakasone, and Shinken Taira (from left to right)

Funakoshi changed the names of many kata and the name of the art itself (at least on mainland Japan), doing so to get karate accepted by the Japanese budō organization Dai Nippon Butoku Kai. Funakoshi also gave Japanese names to many of the kata. The five pinan forms became known as heian, the three naihanchi forms became known as tekki, seisan as hangetsu, Chintō as gankaku, wanshu as empi, and so on. These were mostly political changes, rather than changes to the content of the forms, although Funakoshi did introduce some such changes. Funakoshi had trained in two of the popular branches of Okinawan karate of the time, Shorin-ryū and Shōrei-ryū. In Japan he was influenced by kendo, incorporating some ideas about distancing and timing into his style. He always referred to what he taught as simply karate, but in 1936 he built a dojo in Tokyo and the style he left behind is usually called Shotokan after this dojo.
The modernization and systemization of karate in Japan also included the adoption of the white uniform that consisted of the kimono and the dogi or keikogi—mostly called just karategi—and colored belt ranks. Both of these innovations were originated and popularized by Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo and one of the men Funakoshi consulted in his efforts to modernize karate.
In 1922, Hironori Ohtsuka attended the Tokyo Sports Festival, where he saw Funakoshi's karate. Ohtsuka was so impressed with this that he visited Funakoshi many times during his stay. Funakoshi was, in turn, impressed by Ohtsuka's enthusiasm and determination to understand karate, and agreed to teach him. In the following years, Ohtsuka set up a medical practice dealing with martial arts injuries. His prowess in martial arts led him to become the Chief Instructor of Shindō Yōshin-ryū jujutsu at the age of 30, and an assistant instructor in Funakoshi's dojo.
By 1929, Ohtsuka was registered as a member of the Japan Martial Arts Federation. Okinawan karate at this time was only concerned with kata. Ohtsuka thought that the full spirit of budō, which concentrates on defence and attack, was missing, and that kata techniques did not work in realistic fighting situations. He experimented with other, more combative styles such as judo, kendo, and aikido. He blended the practical and useful elements of Okinawan karate with traditional Japanese martial arts techniques from jujitsu and kendo, which led to the birth of kumite, or free fighting, in karate. Ohtsuka thought that there was a need for this more dynamic type of karate to be taught, and he decided to leave Funakoshi to concentrate on developing his own style of karate: Wadō-ryū. In 1934, Wadō-ryū karate was officially recognized as an independent style of karate. This recognition meant a departure for Ohtsuka from his medical practice and the fulfilment of a life's ambition—to become a full-time martial artist.
Ohtsuka's personalized style of Karate was officially registered in 1938 after he was awarded the rank of Renshi-go. He presented a demonstration of Wadō-ryū karate for the Japan Martial Arts Federation. They were so impressed with his style and commitment that they acknowledged him as a high-ranking instructor. The next year the Japan Martial Arts Federation asked all the different styles to register their names; Ohtsuka registered the name Wadō-ryū. In 1944, Ohtsuka was appointed Japan's Chief Karate Instructor.
Isshin-ryū is a style of Okinawan karate founded by Shimabuku Tatsuo, a student of Motobu Chōki, and named by him on January 15, 1956. Isshin-ryū karate is largely a synthesis of Shorin-ryū karate, Gojū-ryū karate, and Kobudō. The name means, literally, "one heart method." The style, while not very popular in Okinawa, spread to the United States via the Marines stationed on the island after they returned home, and has also spread to other countries. After the passing of Shimabuku, many variations of the system formed and exist to this day.
A new form of karate called Kyokushin was formally founded in 1957 by Masutatsu Oyama (who was born a Korean, Choi Yeong-Eui). Kyokushin is largely a synthesis of Shotokan and Gōjū-ryū. It teaches a curriculum that emphasizes contact, physical toughness, and full contact sparring. Because of its emphasis on physical, full-force sparring, Kyokushin is now often called "full contact karate", or "Knockdown karate" (after the name for its competition rules).

all about Steven Seagal

Steven Seagal


Date Of Birth:
10 April 1952


Birth Location:
Lansing, Michigan, USA

Height:
6ft 4inches

Education:
Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, California.
Fullerton College, Fullerton, California.

Occupations:
Martial Artist, action star, musician.

Significant Others:
Wife: Miyako Seagal (née Fujitani); born 1948; married 1975; divorced 1987.
Wife: Adrienne La Russa. (filed for annulment when Kelly LeBrock became pregnant)
Wife: Kelly LeBrock, model, actress; met in Japan; top Dior model; filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences, November 1994.
Others: Arissa Wolf; born 1975; former nanny to Seagal's and Kelly LeBrock's children.
Family:
Father: Stephen, math teacher.
Mother: Patricia, nurse.
Sisters: Has three; one older, two younger.
Son. Kentaro (aka Justice Seagal) actor, model; born 1976; mother, Miyako Fujitani.
Daughter: Ayako Seagal; mother, Miyako Fujitani; born 1980.
Daughter: Annaliza Seagal; born 1987; mother, Kelly LeBrock.
Son: Dominic San Rocco Seagal; born June 21, 1990; mother, Kelly LeBrock.
Daughter: Arissa; born July 24, 1993; mother, Kelly LeBrock.
Daughter: Savannah; born September 1996; mother, Arissa Wolf.



Steven Seagal is an American action movie actor, producer, writer, martial artist, guitarist, energy drink entrepreneur, and deputy sheriff. He belongs to a generation of show action hero actors who were featured in many blockbuster action films of the late 1980s and 1990s, such as Sylvester Stallone, Jeff Speakman, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Christopher Lambert, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Seagal was born in Lansing, Michigan, where he lived until he was five years old. His mother, Patricia (1930-2003), was a medical technician,

and his father, Samuel Steven Seagal (1928-1991), a high school math teacher. His mother was Irish American and his father was Jewish. The family relocated to Fullerton, California, where Seagal attended Buena Park High School in Buena Park, California..
Seagal initially returned to Taos, New Mexico, with his student—and later a film stuntman—Craig Dunn. There, they opened a dojo, but Seagal spent much of his time pursuing other ventures. Dunn stayed in New Mexico and continued to run the dojo. After another period in Japan, Seagal returned to the U.S. in 1983 with senior student Haruo Matsuoka. They opened an aikido dojo, initially in Burbank, California, but later moved it to the city of West Hollywood. Seagal left Matsuoka in charge of the dojo, which he ran until the two parted ways in 1997. It was during that period that Seagal first found himself in contact with Hollywood. Initially, he worked as the martial arts co-ordinator for the films The Challenge (1982) starring Scott Glenn and Toshirô Mifune, and Never Say Never Again (1983) starring Sean Connery.

Trivia:
As a kid growing up in Michigan, he was frail and asthmatic. A move to a dryer, warmer California helped.
In high school, Seagal worked at an Orange County, California, Burger King.
A letter to Movieline magazine in 1989, written by a high school classmate, remembered him, in the writer's opinion, as "a bully, a thug and a coward."
After mastering aikido in the United States, Seagal became one of the very few Westerners to teach the art in Japan, much less own a dojo.
The essence of aikido [one translation: "The Way of Harmony of the Spirit" is to become one with the motion of the universe. It's less about kicking and punching, more about using your enemy's own motion against him.
"If you look at him run, he runs like a woman," John Connolly, who wrote a scathing profile of Seagal for Penthouse, tells THS.
When he wed Adrienne La Russa in 1984, Seagal was still married to Miyako Fujitani, who was living in Japan.
According to the book she wrote, Seagal's last words to his first wife, the daughter of an aikido master, were: "You are crazy; I want a divorce."
Before he hit it big on the screen, Seagal's aikido dojo in West Hollywood attracted industry hotshots, including superagent Michael Ovitz.
He has a large gun collection.
He campaigned on behalf of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) to improve the life of stray dogs in Taiwan, where they are, according to PETA, "gassed, starved, electrocuted and beaten to death."
He's a vegetarian.
A hard-core environmentalist, Seagal is a spokesman for Save the World Air, Inc., and he does ads encouraging you to recycle engine oil.
Seagal directed himself in On Deadly Ground, about a renegade taking revenge on a ruthless oil baron.
He plays guitar and has had an album in development for years. Wyclef Jean was, at one point, supposed to be producing a track.
Seagal is a reincarnated 17th-century Tibetan monk named Chungdrag Dorje [pronounce that: khyung brag rdo rje].
Responding to inquiries about how his ultraviolent movies mix with his coziness with Buddhist bigwigs like the Dalai Lama, Seagal once told a reporter: "A lot of great lamas and gurus I know really enjoy my films."
Witnesses in defense of a reputed wiseguy accused of trying to squeeze millions out of Seagal testified Monday saying that the actor is a delusional liar – When asked to describe Seagal’s reputation in the movie world, Canadian Filmmaker Damian Lee said the star’s ability to be truthful is questionable.(February 26, 2003)
Seagal has been accused of trying to lie his way out of a $500,000 debt -- prosecutors plan to call the actor as a reluctant witness in the case against Peter Gotti and other alleged members of the Gambino family, who are accused of loan-sharking and racketeering. (January 20, 2003)
Seagal is vehemently denying allegations that he paid a private detective to threaten an L.A. Times reporter who was investigating the actor's purported relationship with Mafia figures -- according to an FBI informant cited in court papers, ex-con Alexander Proctor told him that Seagal hired him to intimidate Times reporter Anita Busch via high-profile private detective Anthony Pellicano. (November 26, 2002)
Seagal and a Los Angeles private detective were linked Friday to a bizarre harassment episode against a Los Angeles Times reporter probing alleged links between Seagal and the Mafia -- Anthony Pellicano, private eye to the stars, was charged Friday with possessing illegal weapons after the FBI searched his Los Angeles office for evidence that he hired an ex-convict suspected of threatening Times reporter Anita Busch in June. (November 23, 2002)
Seagal’s case keeps seeming more and more like a bad mobster movie -- prosecutors say that producer Julius Nasso menaced Seagal's former assistant in order to get him to testify against the action star. (October 16, 2002)
A judge has refused to expel a $60 million lawsuit against Seagal that alleges the action film star backed out of movie projects on the advice of his Buddhist spiritual adviser. (September 30, 2002)
The reporters who dished about the Mafia extorting money from him are apparently getting a little more action than they bargained for.
He is the first foreigner ever to own and operate an Aikido dojo in Japan. Known as Master Take Shigemichi, he was the chief instructor at the Aikido Tenshin Dojo in the city of Osaka.
His Santa Inez home includes 200 acres planted with cabernet grapes, which he contracts a winery to distill.
Arrissa, his youngest child with LeBrock, was named after the family nanny. Seagal then got involved romantically with the nanny who then became pregnant with his child.
Steven Seagal's business partner claims the actor broke a contract to star in four movies after falling under the spell of a Buddhist spiritual advisor.

Quotes:
I am hoping that I can be known as a great writer and actor some day, rather than a sex symbol.
(On what he thinks are the most important lessons that one should strive to live by in Aikido) Try to find the path of least resistance and use it without harming others. Live with intregrity and morality, not only with people but with all beings.
In life you never stop learning
An only son, Seagal has three sisters, one older and two younger. He owns a dude ranch in Colorado and a home in the Mandeville Canyon section of Brentwood, a wealthy neighborhood in Los Angeles. He has adopted many animals from shelters, including the cats Sylvester and Gap, and the dogs Gruff, Cole, Tyson, Hamlet, and Chaos. Seagal travels back and forth to a home in Eads, Tennessee, a rural unincorporated area located just east of Memphis, Tennessee.
After Seagal left his first wife Miyako Fujitani to go back to the United States, he married former Days of our Lives actress Adrienne La Russa, despite his divorce to Fujitani not yet being finalized. During his marriage to La Russa he met actress/model Kelly LeBrock, with whom he began a relationship and who eventually became pregnant with his child. When news of this emerged, Seagal's marriage to La Russa was annulled and he then married LeBrock on September 5, 1987. In 1994, LeBrock filed divorce papers citing "irreconcilable differences". During this time it emerged that Seagal was having an affair with Arissa Wolf, who was hired to be a nanny to Seagal and Lebrock's children.
Seagal has six children from three relationships. With Miyako Fujitani, he had a son, model and actor Kentaro Seagal, and a daughter, writer and actress, Ayako Fujitani.
MIYAKO FUJITANI

Miyako Seagal (née Fujitani); born 1948; married 1975; divorced 1987

Son: Take Kentaro- 1976, actor,model
Daughter: Ayako Fujitani- 1979- actress.
Miyako Fujitani, holds the rank of 7th dan. Her rank was conferred to her by the "Tokyo" Aikikai in Osaka, Japan. Miyako sensei has been practicing the art of aikido for 45 years. She received her shodan (first degree black belt) from the founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba. She married Steven Seagal in 1975 when Seagal was in his twenties. Her mother owned the building in Osaka where the aikido dojo was housed.
Aikido is a Japanese martial art that developed in the early 20th century. Aikido literally means "The Way of Harmony with Energy," and the essence of its practice is the cultivation of ki (internal power, mental/spiritual energy). Although it does use weapons such as swords or spears, Aikido is not an offensive fighting technique but an art committed to peaceful resolution of conflict. Its basic technique places great emphasis on circular motion and the dynamics of movement.
Miyako Fujitani, a pioneer female Aikido instructor in Japan, stresses that the most important factor in the art of Aikido is not physical strength but the skill to control the flow of energy. Ms. Fujitani, Head Instructor of
Aikido Tenshin Dojo in Osaka, Japan, which she co-founded in 1976, discusses the history of Aikido, its spiritual/philosophical background, its connection with other traditional Japanese arts, her own techniques and style, and her experiences for more than 20 years as a leading female figure in a profession which, by tradition, has been dominated by men.
The Tenshin Dojo has recently opened a new branch in the LA area; the chief instructor is her son, Kentaro Seagal. Kentaro Take holds a 4th dan black belt in Aikido and shodan in Hokushin Itou Ryu Kenjitsu. He was raised at the Tenshin Dojo in Japan with the sound of Aikido ukemi on tatami mats never far away. He is an artist by nature
Justice Kentaro
Take-Seagal; Kentaro Take; Kentaro Seagal; Kentaro Fujitani

Kentaro Take holds a 4th dan black belt in Aikido and shodan in Hokushin Itou Ryu Kenjitsu.He was raised at the Tenshin Dojo in Japan with the sound of Aikido ukemi on tatami mats never far away.He is also an artist by nature, so he looks forward to creating art and teaching aikido as the head instructor of the Tenshin dojo in America.
Born October 3, 1975 in Juso, Osaka
Stats
6 ft 3 (192 cm), 154 lbs (70kg)
Brownish green eyes and brown hair
Family
Yin Tze (wife)
Shotaro (eldest son)
Suzuka (daughter)
Miyako Fujitani (mother) Steven Seagal (Father)
Ayako Fujitani (sister)
Education
Brewster Academy (graduated with Summa Cum Laude)
University of Southern California - Fine Arts (drop out)
Career Highlights

1997
Tommy Jeans America Tour 2 week / 8 city cross country bus tour.
1999 - Seamless (USA)
Lead actor as JB, fashion store manager by day and DJ by night, who took in street kids to show them the right path of life. Shannon Elizabeth as co-actress.
1999 - Osaka Story (Japan)
Appeared as a toy seller in the movie.
2000 - Best Springs in the World, Festival of Sun and Flower at Cote D’zul (NHK, Japan)
Featured celebrity on this TV travel programme.
2000 - SOTOKOTO Magazine Teijin Life @ Safari (J-Wave station)
Featured celebrity DJ.
2000 - Emergency Hospital (Fuji TV Series)
Acted as one f the patients who is a talented painter.
2000 - Day Dream
Directed, produced, wrote and acted his very first movie.
2001 - The Bleep Brothers
Offbeat comedy where Kentaro played one of the brothers who enjoyed success as a dirty jokes comedian.

2001 - Dreams Come True
Appeared in this famous band’s MTV, song name 24/7.
2005 - Deathrance
Action movie based on a computer game, directed by a renowned director, Yuji Shimomura.
2005 - Sound Garage
Co-VJ in TV music programme that features up and coming indies rock bands.
2007
Tenshin Club, Los Angeles (Opening in late 2007).
2009
Tenshin Dojo,TORRANCE (Opening in May 2009).
AYAKO FUJITANI



Biography:
Ayako Fujitani was born on December 7, 1979 in Osaka,Japan.
Her father is action movie star Steven Seagal and her mother is an Aikido instructor.
She appeared in her first TV commercial at the age of 13 and made her film debut in 1993 in the Japanese monster movie "Gamera".
Her unique looks lead her to become a model regularly featured in "Young Jump", a popular weekly comic magazine.
After "Gamera 2", Fujitani moved to Hollywood to live with her father and to improve her English.
While attending school there, she began writing articles and reviews for japanese magazines about the Hollywood movies she watched.
She returned to Japan and continued her acting career, starring in "Shiki-Jitsu", which was based on her original novel "Touhimu".
The movie is directed by Hideaki Anno, of "Evangelion" and "Love & Pop" fame.
She acts aside Shunji Iwai, who is also a well-known Japanese director himself.
Aside from theatrical and cinema work as an actress, and a variety of performances as an artist, she is also an accomplished writer, regularly publishing essays and short stories in several magazines, and is currently writing her next novels.


At age 12, Ayako won the Asian Beauty Contest, held in commemoration of the Japanese release of the film Police Story 3. At age 13 she became the 6th girl to lead the prestigious Mitsui ReHouse advertising campaign. This sparked off her career as a model, featuring regularly in magazines and television commecials.
An avid fan of film, she made her screen debut and appeared in the sequels of the Heisei Gamera (1995-1999) series, after a chance meeting at a film festival with director Shusuke Kaneko. She worked again with him on an episode he directed of Ultraman Max.
Along with writer and director Hideaki Anno, Ayako co-adapted her own novella, Touhimu (Flee-Dream), into the film Shiki-Jitsu in 2000; it was the first non-animated feature released by Studio Ghibli under the Studio Kajino label. She also stars in the title role. Shiki-Jitsu won the Artistic Award at the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival and showed at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Other film roles include parts in the French film Sansa (2003) and in Michel Gondry's Interior Design segment of Tokyo! (2008).
In 2006 she directed a short drama for TV Tokyo's Drama Factory program. Ayako has also displayed musical talent, being a member of the band Father's Girls.
After spending a few teenage years in Los Angeles studying acting and English, Ayako began to write for the Japanese magazine Roadshow. Her literary skills became more evident with the publication of her coupled novellas Touhimu (Flee-Dream) and Yakeinu (Burnt Dog). The former is often incorrectly referred to as semi-biographical, though it is a completely fictional story of a young suicidal girl trying to make sense of life, death, family, and love. The latter is the story of the relationship between a man and the girl he has raised in his cellar.
Ayako has since established herself as an accomplished writer in Japan of both fiction and non-fiction, regularly contributing essays and short stories to various national publications. She is currently busy writing her next novels.
Hair:
BIack
Eyes:
Brown
Height:
5'4 ft (164cm)
Weight:
105 lb (47kg)
Filmography:
Tôkyô! (2008) .... Hiroko (Lead Actress)
Death of Domomata (2007) .... Hanada (Supporting Actress)
Captain Tokio (2007) .... Queen
Private Eye No. 5 (2006) .... Honjo Azusa
lkusa (2005) .... Kimo
Sansa (2003) (France) .... June (Supporting Actress)
Shiki-Jitsu (2001) aka Ritual (International title) .... No name (Lead Actress)
Maguro no Shippo : A Tuna Fin (2000) .... Hibiki Kajiwara
The Patriot (2000) (U.S.) .... McClaren's Assistant
Gamera 3 (1998) .... Aki Kusanagi (Supporting Actress)
Gamera 2 (1995) .... Aki Kusanagi (Supporting Actress)
Musashi (1995) .... Nurse Saki (Supporting Actress)
Gamera (1993) .... Aki Kusanagi (Supporting Actress)

Theatrical Works:
The Black Cat (based on Edgar Allen Poe's short story) (December 2008)
Kung Fu John (2007)
ROPE (2006)
Hiking for Human Life (2005)
Literary Works:
"Touhimu" Flee-Dreamer (novella, coupled with "Yakeinu" Burnt Dog)
"Roadshow" (movie magazine, "Hollywood Report")
"Pee Wee" (fashion magazine, "Hyougennsha Aruku" Expressionist Walking)
"Eiga Hihou" (movie magazine, "Fujitani Ayako no Eiga de Ponn!" Ayako Fujitani's Silver Screen Stuff)
"Re:S" (art magazine, regular short story column "Utsushiyo Hyakkichou" Memos on Life)
Special Skills:
Aikido(Japanese Martial Art)
Japanese: Standard & Kansai dialect

Adrienne La Russa

Born in 15 May 1948, Is a New York City-born Italian-American actress, most known for her role as Brooke Hamilton on Days of our Lives, which she played from 1975 to 1977.
She also made a few guest appearances on television in the late 70s and early 80s and she had a supporting role in the miniseries, Centennial. La Russa played Clemma Zent, the tempestuous daughter of series protagonists Levi and Lucinda Zent.
She was married to Steven Seagal (1984-1987) (annulled)

Kelly LeBrock
Born 24 March 1960 Is an actor, model, and 1980s sex symbol known for her acting debut in The Woman in Red, co-starring with comedian Gene Wilder, and the film Weird Science, directed by John Hughes.

Kelly LeBrock was born in New York City, New York but raised in London, England and in the countryside in Sussex. She is the daughter of a French-Canadian father who owned his own quicksilver mine and opened "The General Thurber", a 3-star Michelin restaurant in Lake Champlain, New York. Kelly's Irish mother, a former model, was the owner of fine antique stores in London.[1] LeBrock spent her early school days in a Montreal boarding school, gaining fluency in French, before moving to Great Britain. At the age of sixteen, Kelly returned to New York and started her career as a high fashion and beauty model. Her first marriage was to film producer and restaurateur Victor Drai in 1984, divorcing in 1986. Married to action star Steven Seagal from 1987 - 1996, LeBrock has three children, Annaliza (b. 1987), Dominic (b. 1990) and Arissa (b. 1993) Until recently, she had suspended her acting career in favor of family life on a ranch in Southern California and invested in real estate. She has since returned to acting while working on her autobiography.
LeBrock was the quintessential 80's sex symbol, frequently cast as the "perfect" or "fantasy" woman in films such as The Woman in Red (1984) and John Hughes' Weird Science (1985). In 1985, Kelly LeBrock was awarded the ShoWest award for "Female Star of Tomorrow". In 1990, she starred opposite then-husband Steven Seagal in Hard to Kill. LeBrock also appeared in Betrayal of the Dove (1993), Tracks of a Killer (1995), and Hard Bounty (1995).
After her divorce from Seagal in 1996, she continued living on the ranch outside Los Angeles.[3] She had roles in the film Wrongfully Accused (1998), The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2002), and the film Zerophilia (2005). In 2006, LeBrock starred in Gamers: The Movie. LeBrock is currently in the pre-production stage of the movie The Tambourine Mare as a co-author of the story.
Annaliza Seagal
Daughter of actor Stephen Seagal and actor/model Kelly LeBrock
Born in 1987
Son . Dominic San Rocco Seagal: born on June 21, 1990 and

Daughter Arissa Seagal: born on July 24, 1993




Arissa Wolf
Born Iin 1975, former nanny to Seagal's and Kelly LeBrock's children.
Arisa Wolf
1995 - Not married with Steven


Seagal and Arissa Wolf have one daughter, Savannah.
Savannah Seagal: Born in 2 september 1996.

Arrisa, Steven and Savannah.
In addition to his biological children, Seagal's Tibetan Buddhist beliefs have also placed him in the role of guardian to a Tibetan child, Yabshi Pan Rinzinwangmo. Rinzinwangmo, or "Renji", is the only child of the 10th Panchen Lama of Tibet. Renji studied in the United States at American University, and Seagal was her guardian and bodyguard.
In 1987, Seagal began work on his first film, Above the Law (titled Nico in Europe), with director Andrew Davis and reportedly as a favor to a former aikido student, the agent Michael Ovitz, who believed he could make anyone a star.[7] Following its success, Seagal made three more movies – Hard to Kill, Marked for Death, and Out for Justice – that were box office hits, making him an action hero. Later, he achieved wider, mainstream success in 1992 with the release of Under Siege (1992). That film reunited Seagal with director Andrew Davis, and was a blockbuster in the U.S. and abroad, grossing $156.4 million worldwide.[8]
Seagal then directed On Deadly Ground (1994). This film, in which he also starred, emphasized environmental and spiritual themes, signaling a break with his previous persona as a genre-ready inner-city cop. The film featured Michael Caine and a small role by Billy Bob Thornton.
Following the general critical disappointment of On Deadly Ground, [9] Seagal filmed a sequel to one of his most successful films Under Siege titled Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995) and cop drama The Glimmer Man (1996). In 1996, he had his first supporting role, in the Kurt Russell film Executive Decision (1996), which featured him in a starring role, but kept secret the fate of his character, who was killed in the film's first act. He subsequently made another environmentally-conscious film, Fire Down Below (1997), wherein he was an EPA agent fighting industrialists dumping toxic waste in the Kentucky hills, but the movie was commercially unsuccessful. This film ended his original multi-picture contract with Warner Bros.
The next year, Seagal made The Patriot, another environmental thriller which was his first direct-to-video release in the United States (though it was released theatrically in most of the world). Seagal produced this film with his own money, and the film was shot on-location on and near his farm in Montana.
After producing Prince of Central Park, Seagal returned to cinema screens with the release of Exit Wounds in March 2001. The film had fewer martial arts scenes than Seagal's previous films, but it was a commercial success, taking almost $80 million worldwide. However, he was unable to capitalize on this success and his next two projects were both critical and commercial failures. Ticker co-starring Tom Sizemore and Dennis Hopper, and filmed in San Francisco before Exit Wounds, went straight to DVD while Half Past Dead, starring rap star Ja Rule, made less than $20 million worldwide.

Steven Seagal
As of May 2008, all of the films Seagal has made since the second half of 2001 have been released direct-to-video (DTV) in North America, with only limited theatrical releases in the rest of the world. Seagal is credited as a producer and sometimes a writer on many of these DTV movies, which include Black Dawn, Belly of the Beast, Out of Reach, Submerged, Kill Switch, Urban Justice, Pistol Whipped, Against the Dark, Driven to Kill and The Keeper for a projected 2009 release.
Regarding his career, Seagal has stated, "I am hoping that I can be known as a great writer and actor some day, rather than a sex symbol."[10] Seagal has clarified the purpose of his films: "Above the Law was a politically conscientious movie. On Deadly Ground was environmentally conscientious so I want to keep making movies like that which are more geared with a certain entertainment value but also bring people forward into contemplation."[11]
Seagal has described his activism method as "shaming companies into changing," a theme that is visible in such films as On Deadly Ground and Fire Down Below. He has worked with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to discourage the fur trade, and has written to the Prime Minister of India to seek increased legal protection for cows. Seagal worked effectively towards saving dogs destined to drown in Taiwan.
In 1999 Seagal was awarded a PETA Humanitarian Award.[20] In 2003, Seagal wrote an open letter to the leadership of Thailand, urging them to enact law to prevent the torture of baby elephants.[21]
Outside of his film work, Seagal has volunteered, lending his voice as a narrator for an activist film project, Medicine Lake Video, which seeks to protect sacred tribal ground near his ranch in Siskiyou County.

Steven Seagal

MORE THAN JUST AN ACTION HERO...

He is an International Action Movie Star..

He is a Singer..

He is a Guitar Player..

He is a Composer..

He is a Song Writer...

He is a Grand Master of Martial Arts, 7th Dan in Aikido..

He is a Martial Artist..

He is a Martial Arts Choreographer & Coordinator..

He is a Screenwriter..

He is a Director..

He is a Producer..

He is Humanitarian..

He is an Environmentalist..

He is a Buddhist Teacher..

He is Extraordinary and a Great Human

He is Magnificent

STEVEN SEAGAL

He is a Legend..