Michael Jai White Flashback

8/10/2019 Michael Jai White Flashback

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Michael Jai White Flashback

The Kyokushin Karate Expert’sEarly Days in Hollywood

by Sara Fogan | PhotoGRAPHY by Rick Hustead and PHOLLYWOOD-SIGN IMAGE BY DAN BRECKW



2 BLACK BELT blackbeltmag.com

DISCLAIMERBLACK BELT COMMUNICATIONS, an Active Interest Media Publication, as publisher, does not endorse and makes no representation, warranty or guarantee concerning the safety or effectiveither the products and services advertised in this magazine or the martial arts or other techniques discussed or illustrated in this document. The publisher expressly disclaims any and all liabrelating to the manufacture, sale or use of such products and services and the application of the techniques discussed or illustrated in this document. The purchase or use of some of the productservices or techniques advertised or discussed in this document may be illegal in some areas of the United States or other countries. Therefore, you should check federal, state, and local laws pto your purchase or use of these products, services or techniques. The publisher makes no representation or warranty concerning the legality of the purchase or use of these products, servicand techniques in the United States or elsewhere. Because of the nature of some of the products, services and techniques advertised or discussed in this document, you should consult a physiciabefore using these products or services or applying these techniques. Specic self-defense responses illustrated in this document may not be justied in any particular situation in view of all of circumstances or under applicable federal, state or local law. Neither Black Belt Communications nor the author makes any representation or warranty regarding the legality or appropriatenesany technique mentioned or depicted in this document. You may be injured if you apply or train in the techniques illustrated in this document and neither Black Belt Communications nor the auis responsible for any such injury that may result. It is essential that you consult a physician regarding whether or not to attempt any technique described in this document.

Editor’s Note: This piece was originally published as “Man of Action,” the cover storyfor the February 2002 issue of Black Belt. In the interest of this being a“ashback” to Michael Jai White’s start in movies, all time-based referenceshave been preserved except where noted.

Cover Photo by Doug Churchill


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Michael Jai White is not your typical actionstar. Although he has more than 20 years

of experience in the martial arts and ownsblack belts in six styles, he has never capital-ized on his ghting skills to land a part. And hedoesn’t need to: Most of his lm and televisioncredits have been purely dramatic roles, andhe has received critical acclaim for more thana few of them, including his portrayal of Mike Tyson in HBO’s 1995 biopic Tyson.

But when White does ght on-screen,watch out. He kicked some major un-

derworld butt in 1997 in Spawn. Hedazzled moviegoers with his

ghting prowess when hefaced off with Jean-ClaudeVan Damme two yearslater in Universal Soldier:The Return. And in 2001he was almost too muchfor Steven Seagal tohandle in Exit Wounds.

Whether he takeson drama, action orcomedy, you canbe sure Michael JaiWhite will shinewith a stellar per-formance.






Martial BeginningsWhite was born in Brooklyn, New York. A

natural athlete, he took up the martial arts tocombat his insecurity, he says. When he was

7, he started practicing shotokan karate un-der Shigeru Oyama, the former head of theUnited States Kyokushin Karate Association.Soon after that, the youngster also startedtraining in kyokushinkai karate. He earned hisrst black belt in shotokan several years later,and today the Los Angeles resident also hasdan rankings in tang soo do, goju-ryu, kobudo and taekwondo.

An avid competitor, White participated inevery martial arts tournament he could enterwhile he was growing up. “I went anywhereand fought anyplace,” he recalls. He countstitles in the U.S. Open and a North Ameri-can Japan Karate Association tournamentamong his competition accolades.

Although White’s martial arts skills contin-ued to improve, other aspects of his life be-

came more difficult. He moved with his fam-ily to Bridgeport, Connecticut, when he was12, but by the time he was 14, the headstrongyouth was living on his own, working as an as-sistant instructor for a men’s kyokushin classat a local YMCA, he says. By that time, he al-ready stood 6 feet tall and looked much olderthan his age; many people believed he wasan adult and treated him like one. Some of

the sensei in the karate class had come from

Michael Jai White plays the title character in Spawn. >>

<< Michael Jai White earned his rst black belt in shoto-kan karate, which he studied under Shigeru Oyama.

4 BLACK BELT

Photos cCourtesy of Michael Jai White



Japan, and because he was so muchtaller than they were and looked somature, they would give him their carkeys and send him on errands, Whiterecalls. “I learned how to drive with-

out them really knowing; they justthought I was older,” he says. “It wasmy little secret.”

White graduated from high schoolwith honors, but his early academicperformance was not exemplary. De-scribing himself as a member of thenerd class, he often picked ghts withbullies. “One of my favorite things in

the world was ghting,” he says. “Icouldn’t stand bullies, so I’d challengethem. It wasn’t a praiseworthy thing; Iwent after bullies because they’d giveme better ghts and I could justifykicking somebody’s behind. I lookedfor an excuse because I had this angstin me and I wanted to ght that off.Bullies were the logical target.”

White attributes the angry stagethat characterized his early adoles-cence to the fact that he did not havea traditional nuclear family and was jostled between an impoverished life-style and a middle-class lifestyle. Themartial arts became his only solace. “Iwas very sensitive. I was building up afortress just to protect myself. Inside,

I was really feeling the harshness ofmy reality.”

Martial EthicsAs White made peace with those

issues, his priorities began to shift,and developing himself as a martialartist became more important thanghting, he says. “I had a room full of

MJW FilmographyToxic Avenger, Part II ............................... 1989

Tune in Tomorrow …................................ 1990

The Krays ................................................ 1990

True Identity ............................................ 1991

Universal Soldier ..................................... 1992

Full Contact ............................................. 1993

Living Single ........................................... 1994

Ring of Fire III .......................................... 1994

Tyson ...................................................... 1995

Ballistic ................................................... 1995

NYPD Blue ............................................... 1995

2 Days in the Valley ................................. 1996

Captive Heart: The James Mink Story ...... 1996

City of Industry ........................................ 1997

Spawn ..................................................... 1997

Ringmaster ............................................. 1998

The Bus Stop ........................................... 1998

Mutiny .................................................... 1999

Thick as Thieves ...................................... 1999

Universal Soldier: The Return .................. 1999

Breakfast of Champions .......................... 1999

Freedom Song ......................................... 2000

Wonderland ............................................ 2000

Exit Wounds ............................................ 2001

Boston Public .......................................... 2001

Soul Food ................................................ 2001









gotten me where I am, but Idon’t consider myself to beanywhere near to where I wantto wind up.”

Martial SuccessWhite took drama classes incollege, but he never expectedto make a career out of acting.Indeed, he was a junior highschool teacher before he ul-timately sought work in Hol-lywood. “In school, I kept tak-ing acting courses because I

enjoyed it, but I didn’t think I’dmake a living at it,” he says. “Butthere came a time when it be-came obvious that I owed it tomyself to really see it through.”

His rst roles included partsin off-Broadway theater andcommercials, and a spot ad-vertising soup in Japan with

Steven Seagal. White landedhis rst feature-lm gig in1991’s True Identity. He did notinitially disclose his martial artsprowess or seek roles in ac-tion lms, nor did he perceivean automatic connection be-tween his acting and his karateskills. Later, when studio big-

wigs found out about his past,they offered to commissionwriters to create ght lms forhim, but White steered clear ofthe genre.

“I want to be considered anactor rst because it’s some-thing that I studied and made aliving doing,” he explains. “I’ve





In His Own WordsYou know Michael Jai White as an actor and martial artist, but he’s also a budding screen-

writer. “I’ve written a romantic comedy, straight drama and two martial arts screenplays,”he says. “One of them is like a modern-day Karate Kid. It pays homage to all martial artistsand the essence of the martial arts. A lot of lms just use the martial arts as eye candywhen they are really something that galvanizes a certain type of individual. When welook at ghters as the only representatives of the martial arts, we miss a lot.”

picked until now to guard the action part ofit because as far as Hollywood is concerned,the powers-that-be rst see me as the guythat played Tyson. The major networks seeme only as an actor; they have no idea aboutthe action quotient.”

Although White drew on his combat skillsfor the boxing scenes in Tyson, the producershad no idea their leading man was an accom-plished martial artist. When he appeared ina lm with Van Damme, Hollywood mogulswere left wondering who did White’s ghting.

Now that he has established himself as anactor, he feels free to do more action lms.He also plans to choreograph more of hismartial arts scenes. “The thing is to be tal-ented enough to pull myself out of [the ste-reotype],” he says. “Well, I’ve already provedthat part, which is why I’ve chosen now to goahead with the action stuff.”

One project he has in the works is a re-make of Jim Kelly’s 1974 classic Black Belt Jones. Two additional lms — Six and Mad, the latter being a semi-autobiographicalstory penned by White — are also on the ta-ble. “I’ve let it be known that I’m going to dosome martial arts–type [stories],” he says. “Iwant to put something out there that hasn’tbeen seen for a long time and bring back the‘martial’ part of the martial arts. There is a lotof art out there, but it’s not always martial.

“I like things that concentrate on the moreimportant aspects of the martial arts. Ofcourse, there’s the entertainment aspect ofit — the ghting — but sometimes we haveghting for no apparent reason. [Hong Kong–style cinema] certainly had its place with TheMatrix and things of that nature, where it’skind of a heightened reality. But it wouldbe good for the martial arts if we got backto some of the basics — like when someonehas a technique that’s sharp enough to looktotally effective without camera tricks.”

Many modern martial arts movies empha-size the ash rather than the aspects of train-ing that help a person build character, hesays. “Quality in some cases has taken a backseat to fanfare, and that’s unfortunate.”

With recurring roles on Fox’s Boston Publicand Showtime’s Soul Food, plus several major lm projects in the works, you can be sureyou have not heard the last of Michael JaiWhite. He brings a professionalism and ma-turity to every part — and he doesn’t need toscore a punch or land a kick to nail his perfor-mance. Even when his ghting skills are notshowcased on-screen, you can sense that themartial arts are always center stage in his life.

To read about Michael Jai White’s kyokushinkarate roots and watch him in action in the dojo,visit blackbeltmag.com/mjw .


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Michael Jai White Flashback