First name Billy Blanks became synonymous with the incredibly successful Tai Bo exercise system he developed.
But before Blanks became a famous fitness guru, whose video tutorials Tai Bo conquered the fitness world, he was a national karate champion and an action star. His collection includes films such as "Bloody Fist" (1989), "King of kickboxers" (1990), "Eagle claws"(1992) and"Cop 2000" (1993). His fans might also note that he starred in two films with the wrestling legend Roddy Piper: video rental hit "Back into battle"(1993) and"Cool and deadly" (1995). In the second half of the nineties, Blanks ended his career as a film actor to devote himself to the development of Tai Bo.
The first time I saw you on screen was in the movie "Driving Force", where you played the bad guy. I thought, "Who is this dude? He's cool!"
Oh thanks.
When did you become interested in martial arts?
When I saw "The Green Hornet" on TV. This series captured my childhood mind. Then I also decided to practice martial arts. But at that time, my family couldn't afford it. I went to a youth center in my area - it was called the Martin Luther King Youth Center. I joined a youth karate program. I received my black belt at the age of 16. Then he took part in the regional championship, where he won the title. This gave me a chance to join the USA Karate team and win a national title. Now I could travel all over the US with the team. For five and a half years, our team has probably traveled all over the world. I became a three-time world champion and then won several gold medals.
You became one of the most active and successful stars in the world of action cinema in the late 80s and early 90s. How did you get into cinema in the first place?
This has always been my dream. In the Philippines, I worked as a bodyguard for Catherine Bach, who played Daisy Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard. I was her trainer and bodyguard. At the same time, there was a casting for the film "Driving Force", in which Katherine was in the leading role. They asked me: “Would I like to play a role in the film?”, to which I replied: “Oh, yes, thank you, of course I would!” So I was in the right place at the right time. The creators needed someone skilled in martial arts, with the textured appearance of a villain, and I came up. My next film was Bloody Fist with Don Wilson. Both films were filmed in the Philippines.
Soon after this, "The King of Kickboxers" was released with Lauren Avedon, and a great fight between you. This was in the Philippines too, wasn't it?
This was a great opportunity to try my hand at cinema again. I returned to the Philippines. Not even that, they persuaded me to come, the creators again needed a real villain. They didn't even give me the script. They just asked me to show what I can do. Well, I showed them, after which I turned around to leave, but my agent caught up with me at the car shouting “You got the role!” Despite the similarity of my first roles, I was able to snatch a chance to show a different side of myself. For example, in "Tango and Cash" with Stallone. By the way, thanks to Sly my career took off.
Being an actor is one thing, but being a star is a completely different matter. What did being a star mean to you personally?
My dream was to do the same as Bruce Lee - to show myself as a fighter and actor, and this dream came true. I tried very hard to stay in great shape and to hone my martial arts skills. I took acting lessons. I know I haven't become the best actor in the world, but I'm a master at what I do. The best proof of this is Tai Bo. When I left the film industry, it was Tai Bo who gave me the impetus to move on. I helped people stay in good shape. Now I got a chance to act in a film. Honestly, I was waiting for this. For a long time I devoted myself to video courses on Tai Bo and did not film. So I'm looking forward to getting back into the action genre.
When I interviewed Roddy Piper a few years ago (may he rest in peace), he told me that while you guys were on the set of Tough and Deadly or Back to Fight, you were already developing Ty Bo, and he was a kind of observer. Was this the beginning of Tai Bo?
He really encouraged me. He once said: “Billy, you know what? When you love what you do, you have to give it your all!” His words were so encouraging. He gave me a boost. He showed me what he had to do to become one of the best wrestlers in the world. This was a good help for my system.
These two films were really good.
Well, thank you. Being around Roddy and watching him work was something, he was a real hard worker and a super athlete. I got the chance to work and train with him. We often sat and talked. He inspired me and at the same time challenged my capabilities. He often said: “A good job is not done with your sleeves down. If you have a dream, no smoking breaks, no thoughts of defeat.” This inspired me. I saw rowdy Roddy Piper on TV and it was hard for me to believe that here, right now, I was on the same set with my idol. And he kept repeating: “Believe in yourself. I’m the same as you. Difficulties only strengthen us and show our capabilities. Don’t be afraid of difficulties, and your work will pay off in spades.”
Very cool.
Yes, it was.
When he passed away a few weeks ago, Facebook exploded with news. Everyone was posting pictures of the two of you together with those movies. He will be greatly missed.
Roddy respected his fans. I wrote an article about him on Facebook, where I talked about how he supported me in my endeavors. Roddy helped me a lot with Tai Bo... He opened up a lot of interesting things for me. He said, "If I can help you, in any way, just let me know." One day he wanted to make me his wrestling partner. Roddy was going to return to wrestling, and he wanted me to become the team's secret weapon. I was going to do this, but something prevented me, and the moment was lost. So the dream of proving himself in WWE remained a dream. That would be funny!
On the big screen you seem to have met all the fighters and maniacs from the world of martial arts. For example, "Cop 2000" with Bolo Yen.
Yes, "TC 2000" with Bolo Yen... appearing on screen with a guy who starred with Bruce Lee and Jean-Claude Van Damme was a godsend. He was my mentor in this film. Bolo brought me to the peak of my form, although at the time I thought I was already good. He chased me and Jalal Merkhi, with whom I once sparred. So it was Jalal who offered me the role, like, “Hey Billy, I’m making a martial arts movie, do you want the lead role?” To which I replied: “I’m all for it!” I appeared in three of his films. One of them was “Eagle Claws”. Jalal is one of those who gave me a chance to prove myself on screen.
Which on-screen fight do you consider to be the best of your career?
I think my best on-screen fight was one on one with Lauren Avedon. It was fun. In the film, the fights were choreographed by several good choreographers from Hong Kong, who were able to show my strengths, in particular my footwork.
Who else would you like to work with in the film industry?
At one time I wanted to work with Tony Scott, which worked out for me. Remember the scene in The Last Boy Scout where the football player kills himself? It was me. I would also like to work with Antoine Fuqua. This is my dream. I trained him once. I hope one day I can work with him on set.
Tell me a little about how you developed Tai Bo as a new exercise system.
When I retired from the sport, I tried to find the best way to stay in good shape. In 1975 I won the United States National Karate title. As an experiment, I trained to music from Rocky. It turned out that I only had enough for two or three minutes and I was exhausted. But then I was the national champion. And if I couldn’t stay active for more than two minutes, then what kind of champion am I? So I started paying more attention to cardio training, accompanied by music, which became a good incentive.
I used strength training, karate, boxing, everything that would be useful to me in a fight. And I succeeded. I just turned on the player and had a blast. Most fighters said, "Billy, this won't work." They kept telling me this all the time, but deep down I knew it wasn't true. Then my wife (ex) said to me: “Billy, I think your method works for women too. It’s a great way to teach the fairer sex self-defense.” Then I went into the hairdresser and said to the women present there: “Girls, I have a wonderful fitness course for you, called Tai Bo.” Well, at that time I called him "karobika"
This was the beginning. More and more of the fairer sex wanted to study with me. Eventually I changed the name to Tai Bo. This turned out to be a good marketing ploy. The word is Korean. "Tai" - leg. The word "Bo" is boxing. Together it is also an abbreviation. "T" - "Total" (totally). "A" stands for "Awareness." (informed). "E" stands for Excellent. "B" - "Body" (body). "O" - "Obedience" (obedient). It was a hit, I didn't even expect such a result.
"It wasn't about the money, it was about the people..."When people saw that I was actually trying to help them get in shape and that I was doing it from the heart, they reached out to me. It wasn't about the money, it was about the people. They saw that my hall was nothing special. Even the carpet on my wall was taped down. But people felt my energy because I gave Tai Bo my all. And this won them over.
Tai Bo turned training on its head.
Well, I think Tai Bo has worked... for all generations... everyone loves martial arts. I took karate, I took boxing, I took gymnastics, and put them all together in the form of physical exercise. Think about it, everyone wants to be a warrior. Somewhere there, deep inside. A person wants to feel able to get stitches. I thought that if I could combine all these elements into it, it would unite the whole family: moms, dads, daughters, grandparents, boys in one workout. It actually revolutionized the entire fitness world.
When Tai Bo appeared to the world, you seemed to have left the film business. Do you think that this stage has passed and it’s time to open a new chapter?
I didn't intend to "leave" the film industry on purpose, it was just that Tai Bo began to take up all my time. I said to myself, “Perhaps movies should take a backseat,” hoping that later I could move back into the spotlight. Now that Tai Bo is a self-sufficient system (although it continues to improve) I can return to the cinema. I now have more experience being in front of the camera than I once did. And if I have a chance to show myself on the court, I will do it much better.
You previously mentioned filming a new film. Could you tell us about it?
The film is in progress. I work with Jalal Merhi. I only know the working title - "The Tunnel". A film about a drug cartel. I play a border guard who kills the son of the head of a drug cartel, and they come after me. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be some really good action. The script is great. I'm looking forward to filming.
Source: TheActionElite
Translation: Maxim Kovalishen
Home » Action star » Actors - martial artists »
Tags: Billy Blanks, Bolo Yen, Driving force, Jalal Merkhi, Eagle claws, Cool and deadly, Cop 2000, Roddy Piper, Back into battle, Tai Bo
Tags: Billy Blanks, Bolo Yen, Driving force, Jalal Merkhi, Eagle claws, Cool and deadly, Cop 2000, Roddy Piper, Back into battle, Tai Bo
the fighter is very, very mediocre (just look at his fists), despite the commercially inflated supposedly invented systems, but the villainous charisma (even in positive roles) and “that I was in the right place at the right time” allowed him to leave a good mark on the cinema, and where the worst karatekas pretended to be God knows what, that’s what the movie is for..
Nice interview. It’s right that I cut off the part about tai bo.
Well, what about his future film......merhi?..... Then everything is already clear what awaits us. Great script? I doubt that he even exists)
People, is Blanks Jr. the fucking son?
***,
Yes.
There was no premeditation :)
I’ll add on my own behalf: I partially shortened the interview, otherwise in some places there was such an advertisement for Tai Bo... Billy is either a brilliant marketer, or he is already senile.
Thank you very much for the interview, it was very interesting to read about Billy Blanks. When we bought a video recorder as a child, the first cassette was T2000. I recently rewatched it, the nostalgia is crazy.
Thank you, really interesting interview and excellent translation! :)
Today is Billy Blanks' 60th birthday. Whether on purpose or not, Maxim produced an interesting translation on this particular date. :)