Actors - Steven Seagal

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	Actors - Steven Seagal

Steven Seagal (born April 10, 1951) is an action movie actor, musician, holy man, 7th-dan black belt in aikido, and founder of Steven Seagal Enterprises. He is also known by three other names: Takeshigemichi, The Great One, and Chungdrag Dorje.

Overview

The popularity of Steven Seagal is a complicated subject; people are generally very partial in their opinion. His fans have called him "The Great One", and consider him to be one of the best martial artists and most underrated action stars of today, while his critics belittle his acting talent, his weight gain later in his career, his extensive use of body doubles in the fight scenes of his most recent movies, and his character, calling him a womanizer with Mafia connections and having a habit of embellishing the truth. The facts speak to both sides of the debate—Hollywood visionary, career exaggerator, holy man, or martial arts avenger; Seagal has certainly earned his fame one way or another.

Early years

Steven Seagal was born on April 10, 1951, in Lansing, Michigan to a Jewish father Stephen (a high school math teacher), and Irish Catholic mother Patricia (an emergency room technician). In his youth, he relocated to Fullerton, California and began studying the martial arts under the direction of renowned shito-ryu karate master Fumio Demura and aikido under Rod Kobayashi, the President of the Western States Aikido Federation. This was the beginning of his life-long focus on Asian phenomena, with a particular emphasis on Japan. In his late teens, Seagal became part of Demura's Karate Demonstration Team and performed daily demonstrations in the former , in Southern Californina. In 1974 he was promoted by Kobayashi Sensei to Shodan in Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido.

As far as other information from his early years, he graduated from Buena Park High School in Buena Park, California, and held one of his first jobs at a Burger King. Some sources say that he attended college at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California, as well as Fullerton College in Fullerton. This information contradicts other sources, which say Seagal left America for Japan at the age of 17 to study aikido. Whatever actually happened remains unclear, due to Seagal's secrecy on the matter.

Aikido in Japan

During a seminar in [[Southern It is confirmed that Seagal moved to Japan around the time of his marriage, and changed affiliation from Koichi Tohei's Ki Society and Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido to the Hombu Aikikai. Sensei Seagal did factually battle the yakuza (Japanese mafia) over the rights to the Tenshin Dojo, which his wife's father lost in a gambling game. Older students such as Jimmy Berkley and Nick Scoggins have verified Seagal's encounters with mafiosi who would come to the dojo looking to intimidate him. The debt eventually went away, and Seagal was eventually promoted to go-dan (5th degree). He was the dojo-cho (chief instructor) of the dojo until he left in 1982, after spending about 10 years in Japan.

Seagal initially returned to Taos, New Mexico with senior student and later stuntman Craig Dunn. He opened a dojo, but was gone much of the time, pursuing his film career and other unknown business. Dunn stayed in New Mexico and is there to this day, still running the dojo. Seagal returned to Japan, and came back to the U.S. with senior student Haruo Matsuoka in 1983.

The two opened an Aikido dojo. This school was initially located in Burbank, California, but later moved to the city of West Hollywood. Seagal left Matsuoka in charge of the dojo, which he ran until the two parted ways in 1997.
Film career
Beginnings
Seagal's first venture into the film industry occurred when he was hired as the stunt co-ordinator for the 1982 film The Challenge, starring Toshiro Mifune
and Scott Glenn
.

Inspired by his inclusion in the film, Seagal returned to the United States more than a decade after he left, in order to pursue a career in the film industry. Following The Challenge, he worked as a stunt co-ordinator for the 1983 James Bond film, Never Say Never Again.

Seagal's acting career took off when, by chance, Michael Ovitz, the then president of one of the most powerful talent agencies in Hollywood, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), came to Seagal's Aikido Studio in Burbank, California and became his student. Ovitz, who was very supportive of Seagal’s acting ambitions, personally financed a screen test for Seagal around 1987. Warner Brothers Pictures, who was looking to capitalize on the profitability of action stars at the time, were impressed by what they saw and signed him to a 4-picture contract.
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Actors - Steven Seagal

Overview

Early years

Aikido in Japan

Film career

Beginnings

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