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Michael was trained in Kung Fu

etoile 37

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I knew Michael had received a black belt in karate, but then I saw someone mention that he also did kung fu, so I did some research and here's what I could find. If you have more info on Michael doing any type of martial arts, please share!

Training with Lyang Kam Yuen:

It was not the first time that Liang Kam Yuen was going through this trance; formerly he had also suffered the loss of another famous pupil, Michael Jackson. For a time, Master Yuen was the teacher of the Jackson Five:
“I instructed the Jackson Five in the Northern Shaolin for five years, of course, when their commitments allowed them. I taught the four of them, but especially Jermaine, who put a lot of interest. But Michael being very disciplined and fast, stood over his brothers and because of his natural coordination he was the best of them all…”

Source: https://issuu.com/budoweb/docs/martial_arts_magazine_budo_internat_cf2a7d9eb789e9/24
&
https://issuu.com/budoweb/docs/martial_arts_magazine_budo_internat_cf2a7d9eb789e9/26


Matt Fiddes interview (I don't know how reliable this info is however, since this was during the time he was pretending to be Blanket's father... but I guess it is possible that he talked kung fu with Michael while he was holding his umbrella...)


How did you come to be involved with Michael?

I had massive success with starting up martial arts schools when I was 17. I was living in Barnstaple in North Devon, and I gained 600/700 members in three months. The media started to report about me – “bullied boy become millionaire”, and I got onto loads of TV shows like Trisha and GMTV. Out of the blue Uri Geller wanted to meet me, because he wanted to do a fitness video with me. I went to see him at his house, and we ended up being really close friends. One night, at about three in the morning, he phoned me up and insisted I come over. I arrived and Michael Jackson was there. Michael was obsessed with martial arts. He was already a black belt in Kung Fu, and wanted to continue his training. Uri knew I was already a millionaire and that I didn’t want anything from him, that I’d be a friend to him and that I could look after the security side too. We really hit it off, and we become solid friends for over ten years.

How was Michael in terms of martial arts?

He was one of the best martial artists I’ve ever seen. People might laugh at that because of the image he projected, but he was very sharp. Martial arts is very similar to dance. He was one of the best dancers in the world, and he could bring that across to his martial arts. He was also a very goal driven, ambitious person – he’d wake up with a goal in mind and work towards that.


Tito talking with Matt Fiddes about how he took Kung Fu classes with his brothers:

At 6:45:
[video=youtube;r3vVinMj0IM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3vVinMj0IM[/video]

At 24:20:
[video=youtube;RslbSGHEcv0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RslbSGHEcv0[/video]


And here's some info about Michael's black belt in karate:
160324020030976156.jpg
 
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I didn't know that Michael Jackson took Martial Arts! I'm happy that he got up to a black belt in such a short period of time. For many people it takes years of training to get there. Michael learns things so quickly. I wish that I would have continued with my Tai Kwon-Do training, but dropped out within a month. I wonder what other Martial Arts training he did. This is very interesting indeed!!!
 
His black belt was honourary, he didn't earn it. I think that quote in the picture is made up. He was taking lesions at this time, but nothing came of it. They actually announced at this tournament that he would perform some moves at the next one, which of course never happened.
 
I know MJ was a big fan of marital arts and Bruce Lee in particular, but I think his black belt was honorary. And I don't trust anything Matt Fiddes says. He lies a lot. His relationship with MJ wasn't as close as he claims either. He was basically a bodyguard of his for a couple of days in London and that's it. He makes up a "10-year-old solid friendship" of that. LOL. He is a liar, plain and simple.
 
Daikaku Chodoin, 68, is the founder and president of the United World Karate Association, which combines all five iemoto (the traditional branches of the martial art) with an estimated 50 million practitioners around the world. A kyuudan (9th degree black belt) of Goju-ryu, one of Okinawa’s “hard-soft” karate styles, Chodoin is a fearless fighter who thrives on going to battle both on and off the dojo floor. His winning streak began in his 20s: He first struck gold with shipbuilding and later made a killing with real estate and stocks. He has used his vast fortune to fight racial discrimination and supported revolutionary movements in Africa, South America and the Middle East. In 1985 Chodoin established the World Black Congress in order to unite Africans and that same year he created the Society of International Outer Space Law to draw up a legal framework that would give all nations equal right to space. Chodoin’s desire to heal and save the world struck a chord with Michael Jackson: Since their first meeting in 1997, The King of Pop and the King of karate got along royally. In 1998, Chodoin presented Michael with the Honorary Chairmanship of the United World Karate Association and a godan (fifth degree) black belt.

Once you learn how to keep secrets, you will hear many. I arranged everything for Michael’s visit. When his plane landed, we had a car drive up to it on the tarmac and rode straight into Tokyo. He stayed in a hotel but was usually at my office. We talked and did karate for three days. Nobody knew he was here, and he loved this fact.

A phone call should not be longer than 10 seconds. That is enough time to say hi, thinking of you, me too, great, bye, bye. Michael has been calling me for 13 years, a couple of times a year. I’m sorry he’s gone. We won’t be talking anymore, but we’re still connected.

It is rich people’s duty to support artists. Michael was a genius in art and business. When he said he was in a jam, I felt like when you stand by a Shinto shrine, happy to throw money into the altar. For me, he was a messenger of the universe. I gave him about 20 million dollars in seven installments, and it never occurred to me that I would ever see that money again. My contribution was a fraction of what others gave him.

Karate, like other sports, eliminates discrimination. Regardless of color, race or gender, all people who do karate respect each other’s strength and ability. Michael asked me to show him some karate moves. He could do them immediately, totally perfectly. He could have been a brilliant athlete. I asked Michael to help me put karate into the Olympics Games. He talked to International Olympic Committee chairman, Juan Antonio Samaranch and we were told that if we could unite all the sects of the martial art, karate had a chance to be an Olympic sport. Hopefully 2016 will be our year.

Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/20...ion-president-daikaku-chodoin-2/#.VvQLrLDbIdV
 
From when Michael's bodyguard Bill Whitfield was answering questions from fans on Facebook:

Question: Hey Mr Whitfield, while you were with Michael, did he ever practice Martial arts while you were working for him?

Answer: He trained in the art.


Matt Fiddes interview (He didn't say anything tabloidish in this interview, but still take into account that he is not a reliable source as he has told many lies before.)

Question: Aside from the personal training, you were also the personal bodyguard to Michael Jackson – what was that like?

Answer: Mike was a close friend for ten years. I miss him dearly and his lengthy phone calls and motivation. I trained him to a 2nd degree black belt in tae kwon do. Its sad to see the lies wrote about him. He was a true legend and a humble man.

Source: http://www.musclefood.com/martial-arts-matt-fiddes/


Here's a funny story someone posted about Joe on a Kung Fu forum:

Joe Jackson (Michael Jackson's dad) was a student of my CLF Sifu, Frank Primicias, for a short while way back in the 'Jackson 5' days, when Sifu had his school in L.A. Sifu told me that Joe Jackson was NOT a good student. Among other things, every time Joe came to class, Sifu had to tell him to remove all his jewelry. And each time he'd act like he'd forgotten he can't wear jewelry during training, when in fact he was just showing off. He had to leave all the jewelry in a basket(?) or something during class, and he wore a lot of it.
Sifu mentioned this to me only once, many years ago when I was at his house, and footage from a Michael Jackson concert was showing on the TV.

Source: http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?41233-Celebrities-studying-martial-arts/page21


Will Smith says Michael kicked over his head, at 2:05:

[video=youtube;fB0St5GXZps]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB0St5GXZps[/video]


Will Smith says he saw Michael doing some black belt stuff, at 0:15:

[video=youtube;2j5xLOfxokQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j5xLOfxokQ[/video]


Will Smith interview with Teen Hollywood in August 2002:

"The persona that is created of Michael Jackson is very different when you're in a room with him, when you're talking to him. He's very funny. He actually fights. I was surprised. He's like a blue belt in Tae Kwan Do or something. I'd just done 'Ali,' and I felt that Michael Jackson might be able to hurt me. That dude looks sharp. He's a fast mover. You see how somebody could dance and move that good and do those spins. That takes strength man."
 
Run Run Shaw

On a related note, here's a photo with Run Run Shaw, who was over the Shaw Brothers movie studio in Hong Kong.
tumblr_o4zcogeWoQ1v6w3juo1_540.jpg

 
I wish that Michael and Will Smith would have made a song together.
 
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