5 Reasons Why the Aikido Stylist is a Box-Office Hit

The short, but phenomenal, film career of aikido and kenjutsu black belt Steven Seagal has written a new chapter in the book of Hollywood success stories. Seagal has become one of the hottest stars on the silver screen.

His debut in Above the Law was also aided by the directing skills of action movie specialist Andrew Davis, who had directed Chuck Norris' most critically acclaimed film, Code of Silence, and who would later direct Seagal's highest-grossing movie to date, Under Siege.

Perfect timing: When Above the Law was released in 1988, action movie fans were in the midst of a feeding frenzy. They simply couldn't get enough big-screen action to satisfy their bloodlust. At the time, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Norris were all competing for supremacy in the action film market. Jean-Claude Van Damme, with his starring role in the 1987 hit Bloodsport, was also beginning to make noise in the industry. But movie fans were craving for still more action heroes, and Seagal quickly filled that void.He was the perfect choice to assume the role of martial arts movie hero because Norris was beginning to de-emphasize martial arts in his pictures in an attempt to attract mainstream movie audiences. The time was right for a new star who was not afraid to show his martial arts prowess on the screen.

Natural mystique:. Seagal possesses an air of mystery, fueled by rumors of his onetime involvement with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as well as stories of his battles with the Japanese yakuza (underworld) while teaching aikido in Tokyo. There has never been any positive confirmation that Seagal worked for the CIA, but the actor does nothing to discourage the notion and seems to almost encourage the circulation of the rumor.

 Legitimate black belts in aikido and kenjutsu: Good timing doesn't last forever, and mystique generally fades as actors become more familiar to audiences and reveal more about themselves to moviegoers. Powerful backers are also a nice advantage, but does not necessarily translate into success at the box office. In the end, Seagal's meteoric rise to stardom is due to the fact that he is an excellent martial artist. There are no easy martial arts, and if there were, aikido, the so-called "way of harmony," would not be among them. Whether or not Seagal performs true aikido in his movies is beside the point. The crucial factor is that his martial arts skill translates resoundingly well in his movies. His fight scenes, regardless of whether they feature complete realism, which is nearly unattainable on film, have been some of the most exciting and provocative ever put to celluloid.

Powerful friends and talented directing: While living and teaching aikido in Japan, Seagal worked as a technical adviser for the film The Challenge, starring Scott Glenn and Toshiro Mifune. However, his big break did not come until he moved back to the United States and opened a martial arts school in North Hollywood, California, where he taught a number of business executives.One of Seagal's students was Michael Ovitz, who was then the head of International Creative Management and was considered by many insiders to be the most powerful man in Hollywood. It was Ovitz' belief that Seagal had the look and presence necessary to be an effective leading man in action pictures, and he helped open what would otherwise be closed doors for the aikido stylist in the film industry. It wasn't long before Seagal had contracts with both Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox studios...

Screen presence: What Ovitz saw in Seagal other than the aikido black belt's exceptional ability as a martial artist was an individual with tremendous screen presence. Ovitz realized that Seagal had an innate ability to command the attention and respect of an audience. Screen presence is a quality that adds to and sometimes transcends acting ability. Many people can develop acting ability after gaining experience, but screen presence is derived naturally, and can be just as important if not more so than acting skill.

Steven Seagal may not be the most loved person in Hollywood, or in the martial arts community, for that matter. In fact, the list of those whose toes he has stepped on is a lengthy one indeed. But the fact remains that he is second only to Arnold Schwarzenegger in box-office returns over the past seven years. More importantly, as far as martial artists are concerned, Seagal's success has helped to increase interest and awareness in the martial arts. And that alone is a worthy accomplishment..

"O-Sensei (Uyeshiba) had this huge force, like a big force field," Seagal claims. "It was frightening and it was magnificent. No one can do aikido like that." Yet, Seagal is working at it. He lived in Japan for 15 years, and was the first Caucasian who had the guts-and training-to open a school in Tokyo. He has since relocated to California, where he runs the Aikido Tenshin Dojo in West Hollywood. Although he recently starred in his first motion picture, Above the Law, and is working on a second film, he still teaches and trains regularly, and claims he always will.

"I heard stories about how O-Sensei could take on five people at the same time and defeat them," Seagal notes. "But if you take ten things out of all the amazing things O-Sensei could do, when you first start training in aikido, you know in your mind that you'll never be able to do any of them. Then you train for years and realize you can do six of the ten. And you hope that maybe someday O-Sensei's magic will become an understanding that belongs to you. "My mission in life is to be a good, strong human being, help those who need help, and to use the martial arts as a path of healing. The martial arts is really a path of always striving to perfect our spiritual selves, to become better people, so we can help other people to make the world a better place. O-Sensei used to say 'It is better to enlighten your opponent than to fell trim.' We should be thinking that way. To me, a great warrior is somebody who can almost always avoid trouble."