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Gary Edward Daniels (born May 9, 1963) is a British kickboxer, martial artist, and martial arts actor^[1]. Daniels appears mostly in action-oriented B-movies. Daniels has been in over 50 films since his start as an extra in an episode of the 1980s television series Miami Vice. He is best known for playing Kenshiro in the live-action version of Fist of the North Star. He will next been seen in the upcoming live-action Tekken movie, based upon the popular fighting game, in which he will portray Bryan Fury. He will also be seen in Sylvester Stallone film The Expendables as 'The Brit' who helps 'General Garza'.^[2].

Personal life

Gary Daniels was born in London, England. By his own account, he had always been "enamoured with the world of superheroes", and was inspired to study martial arts after having seen a trailer for Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon, saying "this was like a real-life superhero, that's something you can actually do." Daniels went on to master a multitude of different martial arts, and eventually entered the pro kickboxing circuit. Daniels is married to Mericine, Gary and Mericine have five children

Fighting career

Kickboxing

Gary "DangerMan" Daniels began his martial art's career in England, after watching the movie Enter the Dragon starring Bruce Lee. According to a 1993 article in IKF Presents, Daniels said he began studying martial arts at age 8 (page 5, IKF Presents, August 1993). At the age of 16, he earned his 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and decided to enter tournaments in London. Daniels competed in tournaments sanctioned by the British Amateur Full-Contact Association (Formed in 1979 with Steve Babbs as chief instructor). His aggressive style didn't sit-well with British officials, and he lost 2 fights by disqualification^[3]. His trainer for these fights was Mickey Byrne, reportedly a former British Army boxing Champion (page 5, IKP Presents, August 1993).

Daniels decided to "venture" into full-contact competition because his fighting style was more suited for the United States, so in 1980, he traveled to Florida in the United States to continue his career.

In his first U.S. fight, Daniels defeated Sherman "Big Train" Bergman on the opening night of the Sunshine State Tournament in Coconut Grove, Florida^[3][4][5][6]. However, in the semi-finals, Daniels lost a decision.

At the Tampa Golden Open Championship in Tampa, Florida in September 1983, Daniels placed third in black belt forms. In America, Daniels went on a barnstorming tour fighting in Texas, California, and Florida.

In Orlando, Florida Daniels knocked out Tim "Night Life" Williams in 18 seconds at a WKBA event^[1]. At a P.K.A. (Professional Karate Association) promotion, Daniels knocked out Calvin Brown in 2 rounds^[7].

Daniels trained with Peter Cunningham, Jim Graden, John Graden, and former World Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion Joe Lewis. In 1988, Daniels trained under sifu, Winston Omega.

Soon after, Daniels travelled to California. In November 1990, Daniels won the WKBA California State Light-Heavyweight Championship. That same month, he won the WKBA Light-Heavyweight Kickboxing Title. Later, Daniels went on to win the Professional Karate Association Light Heavyweight Kickboxing Championship. In 1993, after compiling a 22-4 (21 knockouts) kickboxing record^[7], Gary Daniels retired and turned his career to the acting and motion picture profession.

In 1992, in trained with Jackie Chan in Hong Kong for four months while making the movie, City Hunter.

Film career

Movie

Daniels began his film career in the Philippines, appearing in two low budget films. His first starring film role was in the David Huey film Capital Punishment in 1991. He played a villain alongside Richard Norton in the film adaptation of City Hunter starring Jackie Chan. By 1996 Daniels had begun working on projects as a producer. His first producer credit occurred in the Joseph Merhi film Rage. Throughout his career he has also served as a fight coordinator. He can also be seen in the Steven Seagal project Submerged, directed by Anthony Hickox. He is still best known for portraying the heroic Kenshiro in the live-action American version of Fist of the North Star.

Among Daniels's fans, films that stand out include American Streetfighter, White Tiger, Bloodmoon, Recoil, Rage, Firepower, Heatseeker and Cold Harvest. Fist of the North Star also holds a considerable cult following.

He will next portray Bryan Fury in the upcoming film version of the popular video game series Tekken, which is released next year. He has just completed filming in Thailand.He is also going to star in Sylvester Stallone`s The Expendables (2010 film) as The Brit.

Daniels was once considered for the role of Johnny Cage in Mortal kombat and as Connor MacLeod in Highlander:The Series (The series initially planned to be about Connor).

Martial arts

Compared to martial arts actors such as Jet Li or Steven Seagal, Daniels's fighting style is much less classifiable. He has studied muay thai, karate, taekwondo, aikido, judo, and several forms of kung fu. In his films, he employs a mixed martial arts style, leading with strong, sweeping kicks and sometimes engaging in close quarters fights with complex hand to hand choreography. As he mentions on the commentary track on the Fist Of The North Star DVD, his main discipline is the hybrid kung fu art, Sillum Wong Gar Kune (Shaolin Wong Family Fist), which he studied under Sifu Winston Omega, who also served as fight choreographer on Fist Of The North Star. Interestingly enough, Daniels can be seen as more of a general action star as he employs the use of guns as much as Steven Seagal (martial arts) or Bruce Willis (dramatic action). His trademark handgun is most often a Beretta, as showcased in such films as Recoil and Witness to a Kill.

Kickboxing record

Date	Opponent	Result	Method	Event
03/05/1980	Sherman Bergman[7][8]	Won	Knockout 3 rounds	Sunshine State Tournament
??/??/1980	Tim Williams[1]	Won	Knockout 1 round	World Karate Association Event
??/??/1980	Calvin Brown[7]	Won	Technical Knockout 2 rounds	Professional Karate Association Event
11/??/1990	opponent current unavailable	Won	Knockout ? rounds	WKBA California Light-heavyweight Kickboxing Championship

See also

• List of male kickboxers

References

External links

• Filmography: Gary Daniels at the Internet Movie Database