Karate popular by Hollywood
Billy Jack, Bruce Lee, David Carradine’s “Kung Fu,”
Chuck Norris, the Karate Kid, Ninja Turtles, and a host of others have made
karate very popular in America. The martial arts were already popular in the
Far East when Hollywood glamorized the fighting techniques with a string of low
budget but successful movies. Although highly fictionalized, they found an
eager audience in the western world. We westerners took an immediate shine to
the seemingly indestructible karate practitioner as portrayed in the movies. He
was independent, quiet spoken, self-confident, fearless, and capable of defeating
a veritable army almost singlehandedly. Karate schools, called “Dojos” sprang up
in cities across the U.S., and hundreds of thousands of Americans began their
quest for the coveted “Black Belt,” worn only by the martial arts Master.[i]
Chuck Norris, the Karate Kid, Ninja Turtles, and a host of others have made
karate very popular in America. The martial arts were already popular in the
Far East when Hollywood glamorized the fighting techniques with a string of low
budget but successful movies. Although highly fictionalized, they found an
eager audience in the western world. We westerners took an immediate shine to
the seemingly indestructible karate practitioner as portrayed in the movies. He
was independent, quiet spoken, self-confident, fearless, and capable of defeating
a veritable army almost singlehandedly. Karate schools, called “Dojos” sprang up
in cities across the U.S., and hundreds of thousands of Americans began their
quest for the coveted “Black Belt,” worn only by the martial arts Master.[i]
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