who are your heroes?

MartialIntent

Black Belt
Joined
Nov 24, 2005
Messages
516
Reaction score
6
Location
UK
Another very good question BMA! It'd be very easy to sound pompous but here goes. There are many characters I admire that influence how I am and how I train and fight but I have only one hero who can do the same...

If we're talking fictional then Edmund Dantes [best fiction ever written IMO] because of his incredible perseverence and strength of will and his highly calculated vengefulness. Some people say there's no place for vengeance in society, let alone on the mats. I disagree.

In the real world, I've got huge respect for most of the great revolutionary and subversive thinkers from Sugmund Freud through to the visionaries of punk: Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren. I mean, I'm drawn to people who break molds and that's how I try to work my martial art in the smaller sense [on the mats] and in the bigger sense [outside the dojo] even though at work I'm still part of the big, corporate, battery-chicken mold, but I do my bit within those confines...

Anyway, my hero is Muhammad Ali for his integrity through his many lifelong trials, for his astuteness and his dogged, positive attitude both in and out of the ring and of course for his indomitable fighting. An icon of our time.

Respects!
 

Slihn

Purple Belt
Joined
Apr 2, 2006
Messages
310
Reaction score
2
Location
Southeast United States
1.Jesus Christ for teaching me the way of love and peace and giving me true happiness in my heart,all of my power comes from him.Whenever I have needed him,he has always been there;even when Ive done wrong,he is always ready to forgive me,he has never turned his back on or have forsaken me;I hope to one day have love like his.

2. Miyamoto Musashi (and the Code of the samurai in general); he was a loner,an outcast of society,who,through his own training,became the most well known Samurai of all time.Because death was a true reality in his time, he possesed a realistic,non-egotistical approach to training.His book,
"Book of Five Rings" will forever be imprinted in my heart and in my philosophy of training.

3. Royce Gracie, in highschool,he made me proud for being a Jiu-jitsu fighter(even though I did Japanese version).I always had a small frame and had to defend myself with people over twice my size.I always felt that I had to prove Jiu-jitsu worth to my family and those who challenged me.I had alwayed believed in the effectiveness of Jiu-jitsu but I didntknow ANYONE else who was a sucessful Jiu-jitsu fighter until someone told me about the Gracies.I saw a few Royce Gracie fights(actually the first time I had eve seen Jiu-jitsu in action outside of my Dojo) and I was VERY impressed!I thought it was awesome that he and I had a very simlar build and he went undefeated in UFC.After I got introduced to him my Jiu-jitsu craze sky rocketed!!Without a doubt he is my number one Jiu-jitsu insperation!

4-6.Vanderli silva ,Remy Bonjasky ,and Ramon Dekkers are without a doubt, my greatest Muay Thai inspired fighters.
Vanderli Silva for his aggression and strong-will determination,he is like Terminator,he attacks and attacks and attacks until his opponet his fallen.
Bonjasky if a highly sophisticated fighter whose kicks and flying knees are unmatched,he was the first Muay Thai fighter that I saw in K-1.
Ramon Dekkers,even though he is retired he was poetry in motion!EVERY technqiue he did was textbook perfect,every technique was extremly peowerful and executed with perfection.To see any of his fights is to witness Muay Thai displayed in pure perfection.

7. Mirko Cro Cop for his clam and focus demeanor in the ring.He is so calm,yet extremly powerful,his entire way of being is an inspiration for me as a fighter.
 

terryl965

<center><font size="2"><B>Martial Talk Ultimate<BR
MTS Alumni
Joined
Apr 9, 2004
Messages
41,259
Reaction score
340
Location
Grand Prairie Texas
My Mother and Father for giving me the good sense I have today.
Terry
 

Kacey

Sr. Grandmaster
MTS Alumni
Joined
Jan 3, 2006
Messages
16,462
Reaction score
227
Location
Denver, CO
My students at school, who, despite learning disabilities, peer pressure, and (for way too many) other teachers telling them how stupid they are, show up every day, work hard, and enjoy school.
 

HKphooey

Senior Master
Joined
Mar 6, 2006
Messages
2,613
Reaction score
18
Location
File Cabinet
The men and women of the Armed Forces.

Anytime I feel like my day is getting rough or tired in my training, I think of these great heroes and what their days may be like.

God bless them all.
 

evenflow1121

2nd Black Belt
Joined
Apr 15, 2005
Messages
846
Reaction score
16
Location
Miami Beach, FL
My dad has always been my hero. Man worked his *** off to see my sister and I become something. Was always faithful, and very hard working two great qualities very few people have these days. I try my best to be like him every day.
 

MMAfighter

Green Belt
Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
112
Reaction score
1
Location
MN
1. Godzilla- People can throw anything at you and come so close to beating you but you can still pull through
2. Hmong people fighitng in laos- never give up
3. my ancestors and grandparents- never give up
4. Genki sudo- you can mess aorund and still kick ***
5. parents- work hard
6. Bruce Lee- If you know something is true...Prove it
 

IcemanSK

El Conquistador nim!
MT Mentor
MTS Alumni
Joined
Nov 7, 2005
Messages
6,482
Reaction score
181
Location
Los Angeles, CA
I have many heros, but one helped me a great deal when I was having a tough time in my life. My dad was dying of lung cancer a few years ago. During that time I poured myself into training (probably to counter-balance his failing health) I lost 45 lbs, too. I had struck up a friendship with Bridgett Riley, the former women's pro boxing champ & 5 time kickboxing world champ. I gained a lot of strength from our conversations & letters. It was odd, but when I ran or hit the gym, it helped me to know she was training somewhere, too.

When my dad took a turn for the worse in the hospital, I was visiting Bridgett in LA. She got a call from my family on her way to meet me. My dad was getting bad & I needed to come home. I flew back to Chicago & was in the hospital room 3 hours before my dad died. Bridgett was quite a friend after my dad died.

She has been just one of the heros I've had in MA over the years.
 

MartialIntent

Black Belt
Joined
Nov 24, 2005
Messages
516
Reaction score
6
Location
UK
Hand Sword said:
After thinking about it, and now feeling so bad about it (I shouldn't have even had to think about it, or answer it any other way) , I would also say my Mother, far and away. :asian:
HS, for me, I never think of my mom and dad as anything other than that. My mom died four years ago after a protracted and courageous fight with cancer, my dad took a stroke last October but still tries his utmost to mobilize himself 6 months on. He's a fighter and I like fighters. But I see a hero as being someone for whom one has great admiration. I love my mom and dad both and very deeply but admiration doesn't come into it. I can't say since being a kid, I've ever thought regarding my mom or dad - "I really admire you." I love them for what they are as my mom and dad. Hero is an odd word for me in that regard. I can't quite get my head around that one - are you at liberty to elaborate any as I'm wondering if my attitude is borne of my odd familial situation...

:asian:Respects!
 

KenpoBruce2006

Yellow Belt
Joined
Apr 24, 2006
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
My parents first and foremost. My mother because of her character and love and her will(she fought cancer for four years before it took her) and my father because he never left her side.

MA heroes, Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, Jeff Speakman, Ed Parker, Jeremy Howden (a great instructor in the TRACO system, AKKA).

Fictional Heroes, too many to list.

Ciao,
KenpoBruce2006
 

phlaw

Purple Belt
Joined
Mar 24, 2003
Messages
337
Reaction score
3
Location
Fargo, ND
In life, my parents.

In martial arts... Mr. Miyagi for getting me started, Bruce Lee just because. Jeff Speakman for introducing me to Kenpo.

My Tae Kwon Do instructor for helping me to fall in love with the art again at a time in my life when I was ready to quit and walk away.
 

stickarts

Senior Master
MT Mentor
MTS Alumni
Joined
Jul 6, 2003
Messages
3,902
Reaction score
60
Location
middletown, CT USA
There are certain aspects of people that i find heroic.
Christopher Reeve and Muhammad Ali come to mind along with certain things about my dad.
The teacher that taught me my fight basics and lessons in life was also a hero in my life.
 

Randy Strausbaugh

Master Black Belt
Joined
May 13, 2003
Messages
1,049
Reaction score
16
Location
Ohio
For me, it's the guy who stood off the tanks in Tiananmen Square (sometimes identified as Wong Wei-lin). Best example I can think of as far as putting your beliefs on the line.
 
Top