Nicole Kidman
Martial Arts Stunt Performer Extraordinaire From Down Under
What usually comes to mind when somebody mentions Australia?
How about, Down Under, Outback, Sydney, kangaroos, koala bears, Great Barrier Reef, Olivia Newton-John (if you’re over the age of 30, ha!), Nicole Kidman, Melbourne and the Australian Open (if you’re at all interested in tennis)?
But how about Bradley James Allan?
Anybody?
If not, well, that’s about to change (I think).
You might have even seen him and/or his work on the Big Screen without even knowing who he was.
Brad Allan was born in Melbourne and at the age of 14 he started studying Wushu under two of Jet Li’s compatriots.
Besides being an outstanding gymnast, Brad is also trained in aikido, boxing, karate and kickboxing and it really shows in his breathtaking on-screen performances.
After brief appearances in the Jackie Chan movies, “Mr. Nice Guy” and “Who Am I?”, Brad was invited to join Jackie Chan’s prestigious stunt team and thus becoming the first non-Asian to do so and subsequently taking on the role of team leader. Now, that’s impressive to me.
Brad Allan has appeared in numerous films such as Avatar, Ninja Assassin, Shanghai Knights, Shanghai Noon, Rush Hour 2, just to name a few. But he has also been able to show his talent as a stunt choreographer and coordinator in movies such as Disney’s A Christmas Carol, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, The Chronicles of Riddick, and even Rush Hour 3.
Enough said about this bundle of creative energy.
Let’s have look at a Brad Allan Action Reel, which of course includes at least one fight scene with the one and only, Jackie Chan:
TKD Gold Medalist Dana Hee And Change “I Can’t” To “I Can”
I am pretty sure that most of you will agree that the Korean martial art of Taekwondo is one of the most popoular and well-known styles.
Interesting to me is the fact that it was not really developed and introduced until after WWII ended in 1945. That’s not that long ago.
While Japan was occupying their country for decades, Koreans were not allowed to practice martial arts. Except only when in service for the Japanese military.
After the war, that all changed for countless individuals striving to improve themselves through Korean martial arts and Taekwondo in specific.
Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee as well as many other Korean instructors and former U.S. military service members returning from the Far East paved the way for Taekwondo to widespread acceptance, especially in the United States.
Another boost for Taekwondo in the U.S. certainly took place in the realm of the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.
And our featured martial artist today, Dana Hee, played a pivotal role.
Some of you reading this post might not be old enough or you simply did not follow the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul to the degree to remember her name.
Let me share some very intriguing insights about Dana Hee and what an inspiration she was then and still is today.
Dana was born in 1961 in Louisiana and based on what I found out about Dana, she had to endure a rather crappy childhood, to say the least.
Growing up with divorced and alcoholic parents, Dana had to go through what no child should experience, namely despair, abuse and being abandoned.
Over years, Dana was passed between orphanage, suicidal family members, halfway houses, and finally a foster home.
As you can probably imagine that took its toll on her self-esteem and led to a major fear of failure.
At the age of 25 and way too many years of having been programmed with the “I Can’t” mindset and running from her fears, Dana was finally able to make a decision to commit to change her life forever.
Through her agonizing, against-all-odds process of this struggle, Dana Hee transformed from the young woman with low or no self-esteem in a such profound way that changed “I Can’t” to “I Can”.
Dana trained vigorously and competed for several years, pushing past her self-doubts and fear of failure to finally win the Olympic Gold Medal on the U.S Olympic Taekwondo Team that consisted of 8 men and 8 women. Team USA Taekwondo won another 3 gold medals in Seoul.
I will add that Takewondo was a demonstration sport in Seoul and became an official Olympic discipline in 2000 in Sydney.
After her Olympic success, Dana has moved on to become a leading Hollywood stuntwoman and double for leading actresses including Nicole Kidman, Uma Thurman, Gwynneth Paltrow, Renee Russo, and Jennifer Garner in big budget movies such as Independence Day, Terminator III, Charlie’s Angels, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Demolition Man, Lethal Weapon 4, Swordfish, The Long Kiss Goodnight, plus an ongoing list of television shows like Star Trek Voyager, The Pretender, VIP, and the X-Files.
With her life experience and unwavering persistence to succeed Dana Hee is high in demand as a motivational speaker for dozens of clients including Hewlett Packard, IBM, United Way, and United Airlines.
I would like to leave you with a quote by Henry Ford:
“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right. ”
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