Hello
Does anyone know what stephen segals martial arts background is (if any!)
Neil
Aikdio, which means (depending on how you translate it: “the soft way.”
It is different from Karate in that it relies on re-directing your opponent’s motion and using his energy against him, rather than blocks and strikes.
An Aikido student will be along in a moment to tell you more.
I worked in Kyrgyzstan with a very tough old British ex-soldier who was working in corporate security. We were roomies for a while and he used to work out every day in a Japanese shorty robe, with wooden swords. He may have been 65 years old but I saw him go over a six foot high courtyard wall like a cat. He said he’d trained with Steven Segal at an Aikido (spelling?) school in Japan and he had been a guest at Segal’s (first?) wedding.
If you look at the IMDb entry for Steven Seagal (NOTE SPELLING), you’ll find this information. You can also go to the official website of Seagal that’s linked there.
thanks for the replies 
Segal has legitimate martial arts credentials. I believe he was one of the first caucasians to open an Aikido school in Japan. He has a fairly high degree black belt in Aikido.
A lot of his other claims don’t pass the smell test, however. Being a CIA agent, etc. He’s a blowhard, and likes to massage the truth to suit his own ends.
Concur with Stone. From everything I’ve heard, the man is a high-level and disciplined Aikido expert, and the part about him being the first/only Occidental to open a martial-arts school in Japan is at least true enough I haven’t run across any debunks of it.
He’s also apparently proficient with handguns, and those that have taken classes from Seagal say he knows his stuff as far as gunhandling.
The rest is hyperbole. No one seems to have been able to confirm a real CIA connection, or any other government work.
One other interesting tidbit- When he was up here in Alaska lo those many years ago, filming that pile of steaming activist-wannabe career-death crap called On Deadly Ground, it was revealed that Seagal is extremely claustrophobic.
The typical Native Alaskan parka, which his movie company had made by local native craftsman, is a slip-on affair, like a sweatshirt. It seems Steve couldn’t stand slipping that over his head, and so his coats were designed and made with a hidden zipper.
There was also a funny newspaper article on the filming, which went on at length about Seagal continually falling off the dogsleds during takes. It seems he didn’t want to take advice from little 'ol 5-foot-4 Susan Butcher, the Iditarod Dogsled champion. 
All I know is:
"Although he looks like a pudgy white guy…he can probably rip your throat out and snap your legs before you can say “ouch!”
He’s the real deal
Does he teach Aikido?
-
He’s a real dickhead.
-
He got the crap kicked out of him by a stuntman on a movie set, after he (the stuntman) got sick of hearing the asshole (Seagal) being abusive to everyone on the staff. (The poor guy couldn’t get a job for about 10 years after that. Go figure, he should have gotten a medal)
From watching his horrible movies, I’d say he’s got the maturity of a 10-year-old, and he’s just as bad at martial arts as Van Damme.
He does do seminars occasionally, but AFAIK he does not have a dojo where he teaches routinely anymore. Note that my information comes from hearing other aikidoka talk about him and I haven’t looked into it personally.
If you’re interested in studying the same type of style he practices, note that not all aikido is the same. There are huge variations in the style. Aikido is built on Aikijujutsu roots but the founder of aikido (O’Sensei Morihei Uyeshiba) softened it a great deal as he aged. Aikido schools which follow O’Sensei’s post-war teachings are generally soft, large-circle techniques emphasizing non-confrontational philosophies. Seagal’s style, at least as portrayed in his movies, is much harder and linear like its aikijujutsu and jujutsu roots. Any aikido/jujutsu school is likely to teach the same core techniques, but they can have a distinctly different flavor depending on the style.
Another thing to consider… In Karate we have a saying, “Karate is like boiling water - you must keep a constant fire under it.”
In other words, if you stop actively training, your skills deteriorate rapidly. Speed, flexibility, coordination, and reflexes all go to hell.
So while Seagal may have been death on wheels when he was training 8 hours a day at age 25, that says very little about how tough he is pushing 50, after putting on forty pounds of flab and living the posh Hollywood life for a couple of decades.
Chuck Norris, on the other hand, could probably kick Seagal’s ass without breaking a sweat - because Norris still trains at least two hours a day, and he’s 63 years old now.
Sam Stone writes:
> . . . that says very little about how tough he is pushing 50 . . .
Seagal turns 52 on Thursday. (Check the IMDb. He was born April 10, 1951.)
Flying_Monk,
I don’t doubt you on this, but what is the source of your information? Who was the stuntman? And, what does “bad at martial arts” really mean? Van Damme, while also supposedly a real prick, and did get his ass kicked by Chuck Zito, is still a good martial artist, from what I understand.
E3
Screw this “who fights better” stuff, I want to hear more about Segal’s alleged assholery. Some of the stories sound really juicy. Is there a website out there devoted to slandering him?
I’ve often wondered about this. Would it be at all possible that a, say, 95 year old guy, who is in good shape, trains everyday, etc., could possibly beat up a completely flabby, untrained, out-of-shape younger guy (say a guy in his 20’s or 30’s)? [An image of Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid movies, beating up scores of much younger guys, inevitably pops into my head at this point :)]
Is there an scientifically-established age at which diminishing returns start applying in where no matter how much rigorous daily training a much older person would get, the age of this older person (affecting such aspects as bone and muscle mass, motor reflexes, etc.) would just be too much to overcome? Or does it strictly depend on the physiology of the persons involved?
Oh no, there’s a big difference. Little people, children, and old people are at a significant disadvantage, no matter how skilled they are.
My point was actually that Norris would probably beat Seagal despite being 11 years older, because he trains every day and has remained fit. I believe that would overcome the age difference. Plus, Norris was actually an undefeated kickboxing champion for years, and is one of the most successful martial artists in history. He has a proven record, and Seagal just has a big mouth and some good paper credentials. How he would react in a real fight is unknown, especially since he’s gotten all flabby and slow.
I would make a distinction between someone being 60 years old and someone being 70 or 80. The body deteriorates rapidly after 60. Chuck Norris at 63 still looks like he’s 45 or 50, and still has most of his muscle mass and speed. That’s because he has continued working out religiously and hasn’t let his muscles atrophy. But Chuck Norris at 73 will be a very different person.
Oh no, there’s a big difference. Little people, children, and old people are at a significant disadvantage, no matter how skilled they are.
My point was actually that Norris would probably beat Seagal despite being 11 years older, because he trains every day and has remained fit. I believe that would overcome the age difference. Plus, Norris was actually an undefeated kickboxing champion for years, and is one of the most successful martial artists in history. He has a proven record, and Seagal just has a big mouth and some good paper credentials. How he would react in a real fight is unknown, especially since he’s gotten all flabby and slow.
I would make a distinction between someone being 60 years old and someone being 70 or 80. The body deteriorates rapidly after 60. Chuck Norris at 63 still looks like he’s 45 or 50, and still has most of his muscle mass and speed. That’s because he has continued working out religiously and hasn’t let his muscles atrophy. But Chuck Norris at 73 will be a very different person.
“I don’t doubt you on this, but what is the source of your information? Who was the stuntman? And, what does “bad at martial arts” really mean?”
Fair enough questions. I believe I heard the story on the Howard Stern show (where I also heard the Chuck Zito story) from someone claiming to be the stuntman. (I think) It seemed at the time that Howard & Robin either knew him or believed him. Of course, this is anecdotal, and I’m not positive the story is true.
By “bad”, I mean in a cinematic sense. You just can’t compare a Van Damme or Seagal movie with say, a Jackie Chan movie.
The book Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-La from the Himalayas to Hollywood has a fantastic chapter on Hollywood.
Essentially, the book says that Seagal has made claims that the Dalai Lama gave him a special blessing after discerning that Seagal is, in fact, the reincarnation of an ancient and important lama. IIRC, Seagal gave an interview to the author in which he went on and on about how the Dalai Lama had such high respect for him, they were such good friends, spiritual soulmates, etc.
So the author goes to some event in LA, where the Dalai Lama was a keynote speaker. Sitting around His Holyness were the likes of Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, et al. Mr. Seagal? Sat in the audience with the rest of the schmucks. I guess even a reincarnated lama can’t get a seat on the dias when there’s A-list types around, no matter what the Dalai Lama’s pull may be.