KyokushinKarateMan
Train hard, fight easy
whats his fighting background anyways?
I am proud to say that Michael Jai White is a former Kyokushin fighter. It is also the first of quite a few styles of martial arts in which he earned a black belt in.
Read the article below for further info..
The Kyokushin Karate Roots of Michael Jai White
by Sandy Howlett
- Kyokushin karate — the fighting art founded by Mas Oyama, a man who battled live bulls, occasionally lopping off their horns with his knifehand strike — has a reputation for toughness, including full-contact sparring with minimal safety gear.
But that never scared off Michael Jai White, a lifelong martial artist and actor who’s part of the Victory Dojo & Fitness family. In fact, Michael Jai White has always enjoyed the physicality and discipline of the art, calling it his “savior.”
“I had a lot of angst growing up, and martial arts just felt natural to me,” said Michael Jai White, who holds black belts in seven styles. “I enjoyed fighting when I was a kid. I used every excuse I could to fight.” He began studying shotokan karate at age 7, then switched to kyokushin under *Shigeru Oyama.
The latter was the art in which he received his first black belt while still a teenager. -
*interesting side note, Soshu Shigeru Oyama was also MY instructor's teacher, and is often regarded as one of the most feared Kyokushin fighters in our history. Osu!
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