They take their uke business very seriously.

Yea, Aikikai Aikido is known for that. Its a shame all Aikido doesn't look like Segal's. He got down right rough at times and the art would have a lot more respect if practiced in his style.

What is interesting to me was the choices he made back then... he trained kali's eskrima to improve hand speed and doing so he got an impressive te sabaki and atemi system. The grading system in wich segal got is ranking was aikikai but dont forget that he got teachers from all sides of aikido including from a very stiff and pratical isoyama sensei, actual keeper of the iwama jinja.

nice attacks and nice ukemi work, petty segal turned out to be such a .. "troubled" individual.

this is like cock-puncher all over again

Wow, uke was taking some seriously tough falls there....plenty on his neck.

I certainly wish we had Aikido in these parts that was as "affirmative" as that.

I'm surprised no one has brought up Gene Lebell yet.

May or may not be just a rumor but its too good to resist...

http://onthemat.com/wiki/index.php/Gene_LeBell

Ok here goes... (ive done this a few times..) from what i read on the web, including on gene's web site, the incident with segal really happened and in fact lebell got blacklisted by hollywood because of it, there is no mention of it on his site now because the case was subject to an agreement in wich lebell would never mention this again adn he would get back his hollywood gigs, thats why he took the story out of his site.

the incident itself was the sort of stuff that gives any martial art\artist a bad reputation (and one of the reasons i started to dislike segal) it seems he was bragging to the stuntmen that no choke would work on him because he could project his ki (his words..) and that he was so confident about it he would bet on it, lebell said he would take the bet and it was set up, has soon has he locked in the choke segal tapped and said he wasnt ready so lebell gave segal time to prep and has soon has segal gave the okay gene loocked in the choke, segal went for a low blow, gene sprawled and kept the choke... a few seconds later segal was convolsing and had relieved himself on the spot, had to be taken to his trailer, gene lost his job.

this his the most consistent version of the facts i have read on several places, about 3 years ago or so.


segal has a lot of flaws when it comes to his persona but he as a very efective, non florished style of aikido... unfortunatly that went to his head a lot... and got him a soiled pair of trousers...

Is Steven Segal still doing Aikido?

From what I heard he doesn't teach anymore. I guess he is too busy making terrible movies and music.

His son is teaching in Los Angeles and apparently wants to follow in his father's footsteps. How soon will we see a father/son action movie?

The aikido dojo where Segal (in his Japan days, 'c' gal', now c-gal') has a bit of a different reputation. One of their guys showed up at the dojo of a friend in Tokyo, every time someone touched him he cringed, waiting for the pain. There is simply no good reason to train that way, and a lot of reasons not to.

And if you're a foot taller than everyone in the room, as he probably was most of the time, iriminage is a great technique to hone.

You want effective aikido techniques rather than dancing, go find a decent Yoshinkan or good Shodokan dojo, which I guess can be hard in the US (not particularly easy in Japan outside of the major metropolitan areas.)

A judo instructor I used to train under when I lived in KC told me the same story, and said instructor talked to LeBell on the phone. Still, that's one mean irimi nage that Mr. Segal has, and I love his movies (well, not all of them).

StevenSeagal is controversial and has had many incidents off screen, while making movies,which he prefers to make and market himself without having them go to big screen, apparently. If you want to know more, I suggest you look up on the internet, his ex-wife(he's had several such, as has VanDamme) Miyako Fujitani, whose son and daughter by Seagal are apparently trying to make it in the martial arts and entertainment world. Miyako Fujitani has written a book on herself,etc. in Japanese, of which I have a personally autographed copy by her. She also appears in one issue of FILIPINO MARTIAL ARTS MAGAZINE,which has stopped publishing for the moment but which will sometime revive. You can see issues of the magazine at http://museum.hikari.us/ which is the website for the Hawaii Karate Museum. The president, Charles C. Goodin, has kindly set up a Filipino Martial Arts collection which you can view on the site. Mr. Goodin is a well-known martial arts scholar and writer and practitioner. Steven Seagal, I am told by friends who know, has had some problems with Dan Inosanto,who,if I recall, was in one of the movies Seagal made, or perhaps I am mistaken in this latter assumption. Seagal has had some controvery in his life and one magazine was sued by him for statements made about his mafia connections, CIA connections,etc. and whether fact or fancy(on Seagal's part) he has had some problems with Tibetan Buddhism(and these have been written in other magazines. Of course, a number of martial artists and movie stars,etc. have jumped on the Dalai Lama's bandwagon and posed for pictures with him,etc. to enhance their images,etc. apparently. At any rate, I must say I like Seagal's movies(those I've seen) and he will probably continue to be popular to those who like his 'aikido' style,which some say he doesn't do enough of but talks too much.

His first movie was his best. The next few were good but went down hill after the ship/train series. If he would stop wearing those ridiculous costumes, appear as a "normal person" and go back to basics like his first movie, he may be entertaining again. As for his skills, I'm sure he is legit/tough/etc. I would never give names, but was told by a reliable source that was present, that the LeBell incident was fact.

Hi Mr. Jones,

I have seen that his son Kentaro has been in a movie before.(I had read a small article about it before.) Also Dan Inosanto did have a short appearance in the movie Out for Justice as the charter "Sticks".

Whenever I watch Segal movies, I enjoy the action and appreciate his Aikido. But in the back of my mind I always wonder how much of what I see is Hollywood Production vs. real technique. My ignorance of Aikido further complicates the matter, since I do not have a trained eye to distinguish.

Gene Lebell also showed the late Bruce Lee a few things that Lee did not know about or doubted! Quite a few people have achieved a sense of reality at Judo Gene's hands! Some others like Gene have also given a few surprises to martial artists of all kinds. Yes, Dan was Sticks and made Seagal look good. Inosanto was also in Sharkey's Machine,THE STUNTMAN,& in one of Bruce Lee's.

I have always liked watching Segal practicing Aikido. I enjoy some of his movies, and the fight scene from On Deadly Ground in the bar is one of my all time favorites.

Christ almighty....I think I'm going to choke on the cheese.

Agreed

This fellow, and his affiliates, is relatively well known in military and police combatives circles for both refusing to do any kind of live training with resisting opponents, and cheap shotting (notorious groin kicker, not just the afore mentioned incident) folks he does do stuff with.

I would put serious money on the average rec green belt of his weight class kicking Mr. Seagals butt in any kind competition. Then again, I am not a big fan of Aikido to begin with.

Seagal is not acting that is his real personality and he delibrately enjoys injuring his stunt men. Untill, one day Gene Lebell taught him a lesson he won't forget.

"Ooh, that's disgusting - what is that, Halibut?"

To round this out, I suggest you all watch this movie, THE CHALLENGE, with, I believe, Scott Glenn for another take on aikido,etc. It is one of my favorite movies,so to speak. Check out the credits. Toshiro Mifune is in it, I believe.

Yeah - I read that somewhere too. He'd "prove" his toughness by wrist-locking or otherwise attacking someone out of the blue - like a sucker-punch.

Meh - he runs like a freaking girl and his tough-guy glare (no match for Clint Eastwood's) are at odds with his pissy little ponytail.

Hey! I have a ponytail!

Ok that's good but you must have an "attitude" as well...

Seagal is actually quite skilled.