Benny “The Jet” Urquidez
Road House – The Real Deal
Anybody remember the Patrick Swayze movie “Road House”?
You know the one in which he plays a professional “cooler” (i.e. specialized doorman, or bouncer) with a mysterious past who is enticed from his current job in New York City by a club owner to take over security at his club/bar.
I agree that this was not one of the finer specimens presented on the Big Screen, but at one time or another in our lives we just want to watch a couple of fight scenes, right?!
Did you know that martial arts great, Benny “The Jet” Urquidez, was actually the fight choreographer? Really ….
But there’s another martial arts great I wanted to tak about who is also known as “Road House” and for me he is the Real Deal.
I’m talking about Grand Master Steve Sexton, 8th degree Hapkido black belt.
He is a street fighting legend in the San Fernando Valley area of California who has been in real combat situations. On a regular base, Master Sexton is one of the few martial artists who uses traditional Hapkido techniques in real life self-defense situations.
Master Sexton has over 25 years experience as a professional Bouncer and his Hapkido skills have kept him safe in countless dangerous street fighting encounters against all kinds of aggressive people out to do bodily harm.
On the night club circuit he has experienced every type of assault from one-on-one confrontations to multiple attackers. He’s been shot at and has disarmed numerous knife, bottle and club wielding crazies. He attributes his survival to the hightly effective self-defense techniques of Korean Hapkido which includes striking, kicking, throwing, joint locking, chokes, ciruclar movements, angle attacks, weapons disarming techniques, leveraging, redirecting your attackers force against himself and much more.
Remember that Patrick Swayze movie “Road House”? Well, then you’ve got a glimpse of the Legend of Steve Sexton, hence the nickname “Road House”.
And if you think a cane can only fulfill one purpose, think again:
Emil Farkas, “Sensei To The Stars” And A Lot More
Having taught, among others: Herb Alpert, Fred Williamson, Dennis Hopper, Lalo Schifrin, Sherry Caffaro, Mike Connors, Peggy Lipton, Raymond St. Jacques, Irene Tsu, Peter Fonda, Linda Blair, Al Ruddy, Lou Adler, Paul Williams, Ted Mann, James Cann, Phil Spector, Barry Gordy, Jeff Barry and Lorenzo Lamas, our featured martial artist has been dubbed “Sensei To The Stars”.
Research shows that Emil Farkas is more than that. A lot more.
Hungarian-born American martial arts instructor, author and fight coordinator Emil Farkas started his martial arts career while still a youngster, and before age 20 he had earned his black belt in both Judo and Karate.
Both his parents were Holocaust survivors, and young Emil was born in the Hungarian town of Munkacz right after World War II, and grew up in an Orthodox home.
When he was 7, young Emil started getting into fights with some of his Hungarian classmates and he decidedto study judo at the local sports club.
In 1956, after Soviet tanks crushed a short-lived uprising, the family fled and ended up in Toronto.
Farkas quickly learned that anti-Semitism had preceded him across the ocean and so he was driven to put all his energy into his judo classes and trained almost every night.
Several years later, the first karate instructors arrived from Japan and Okinawa and Emil Farkas was immediately taken by the athletic kick ing and punching techniques. He became so proficient that he earned his first black belt in judo at 17, and in karate at 18.
In the mid-1960s, the Farkas family moved to Los Angeles and 19-year-old Emil looked for a job to support himself while attending college. He became a bodyguard to music industry mogul, Phil Spector.
In 1970, Farkas’ career really started to take off. That’s when he founded his own school, the Beverly Hills Karate Academy, which he still runs today. The timing was also good to attract Jewish parents and their kids, especially after the Israeli military victory in 1967.
Working for Phil Spector helped Farkas meet actors and screenwriters in Hollywood. As martial arts movies started to become popular, Farkas was in constant demand as a stunt and fight coordinator, training stunt doubles, and working with cinematographers on “choreographed action” or fight scenes, in Easy Rider, Killer Elite, Mannix, Spiderman, The Hulk, Mission Impossible and The Fall Guy, just to mention a few.
Sensei Farkas used the long waiting time on the movie sets to write books on the martial arts. He has co-authored numerous books, including the authoritative “The Original Martial Arts Encyclopedia: Tradition, History, Pioneers.”
As a martial arts instructor, Farkas now focuses mainly on “street-effective self defense” through Shotoka, a branch of karate that Farkas developed.
Today he is one of America’s most respected martial arts instructors and is without a doubt internationally recognized as a leading authority on the martial arts.
Currently, Sensei Farkas holds a 7th degree Black Belt in Karate, 4th degree Black Belt in Judo and a 4th degree Black Belt in Ju-Jitsu.
Not surprisingly, he is also an accomplished expert in realistic street combat, having worked as a bodyguard for many years.
In 2000, Farkas and Benny “The Jet” Urquidez founded the Los Angeles Film Fighting Institute, which was one of the first schools of its kind in the United States to teach martial artists the intricacies of stunt work.
In 1995, Farkas founded his own federation, The United International Martial Arts Federation, whose goal is to promote traditional martial arts worldwide.
Emil Farkas has shared his vast martial expertise as a Hand-to-Hand combat instructor to the Canadian Army as well as Women’s self-defense instructor at UCLA.
He has been on the cover of all major martial arts magazines including Black Belt Magazine, Karate Illustrated, World Karate, Inside Kung Fu, Combat, Fighters, Official Karate, Combat Karate and Budo.
In 2000, Farkas was inducted into the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame.
Hats off to Sensei Emil Farkas! ”You have come a long way since your childhood days in the Hungarian town of Munkacz.”
Joe Lewis, The World’s Greatest Karate Fighter Of All Time
Whenever I ask people, who aren’t involved in martial arts and karate in specific, about the greatest karate fighter they will in most cases name Bruce Lee and/or Chuck Norris.
Joe Lewis? Not really.
That got me thinking.
Without a doubt, Bruce Lee was and Chuck Norris still is a formidable martial artist and fighter.
The exposure both of them received through television and movies made them household names, worldwide.
Again, Joe Lewis? Nope.
What amazes me about Joe Lewis is that as a U.S. Marine stationed in Okinawa in 1965 he started studying Shorin-Ryu Karate at the youthful age of 18 and reportedly attained his black belt in only 7 (seven!) months.
After his military service Joe Lewis returned to the United States and in 1966 he began his unmatched tournament karate career.
At times, he trained with martial arts legend Bruce Lee, who by the way did not compete in any tournaments.
During 1966 to 1974 Joe Lewis competed on the tournament circuit as well as a professional kick-boxer winning national and world titles as a heavyweight fighter. He is considered the “Founding Father of Kickboxing in the Western Hemisphere”.
Throughout his career he fought famous fighters such as Allen Steen, Thomas LaPuppet, Louis Delgado, Skipper Mullins, Victor Moore, Joe Hayes, Benny “The Jet” Urquidez and yes, Chuck Norris.
Joe Lewis was an original member of the U.S. World Karate Team that also consisted of Mike Stone, Skipper Mullins, Chuck Norris and his friend and student, Bob Wall.
Joe Lewis starred in a number of action-adventure movies such as “Jaguar Lives” and “Force Five” and has received numerous awards for his achievements in and out of the ring.
In 1983, karate living legend Joe Lewis was chosen by his peers and fellow fighters as “The World’s Greatest Karate Fighter Of All Time”.
Fighting Legend Benny “The Jet” Urquidez Offers Great Advice
Here’s another real treat for you!
Fighting Legend Benny “The Jet” Urquidez offers great advice to any serious
martial artist.
For those of you who don’t remember or who have never heard of “The Jet”:
Benny Urquidez was a true force in professional full-contact kick-boxing,
especially in the 70s. His record was something like 58 wins – 0 losses!
He even fought the toughest fighters in Thailand and Japan at their own
rules and walked away victoriously.
What I didn’t know until recently, was that “The Jet” has actually been
a Mixed Martial Artist for the longest time and living up to one of his
own principles:
Keep an open mind and apply what works.
After ending one of the most successful professional careers ever,
Benny Urquidez has been teaching here in the U.S. and overseas.
Besides teaching, “The Jet” has appeared in a number of movies,
starring with big names such as John Cusack, Jackie Chan, Joe
Lewis, Shannon Lee (daughter of the legendary Bruce Lee!).
Still don’t believe me?
Check out this clip with “The Jet” and Jackie Chan. This is considered
by most the second-best movie fight of all times:
Further, his vast expertise as a fight scene choreographer is always
in demand in Tinseltown.
His fan base continues to grow even many years after leaving the
professional fighting circuit.
Listening to Master Benny “The Jet” Urquidez and applying what works
might just “jet” propel you, too.
Check it out and let me know what you think!
And don’t forget his must-have training manual:
Training and Fighting Skills
by Benny “The Jet” Urquidez
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