26 replies to this topic

[glorius&victorius]

I didn't knew that LH was a Karate black belt... I read about it on Ed Gorman's report on the Italian GP on times. Eversince his 12th age he was black belt, in itself an achievement.

Other driver I know who was a Karate black belt: Nigel Mansell

Another driver with a good kick... Nelson Piquet (i.e. kicking the **** out of Salazar

But any other drivers into martial arts?

[fnz]

/offtopic/ So he ain't only karate kid ON track

Nah serious, in order to get black belt you must train for years and years. Shows he's a really determined person imho

[undersquare]

He didn't quite get the last bit to be a pure "black belt", because he was travelling too much with karting. But apparently Anthony did it too.

Started because the older kids he was racing against didn't like being beaten and one or two got a bit physical. Some dads too!

Shades of chicanegate, in a sense?

[ashnathan]

I knew this last year, he told everybody on Top Gear.

[Galko877]

Schumacher was doing judo as a kid.

[GeoffR]

Anyone know what style of karate he did. There are many different ones and they can vary significantly.

[primer]

What difference would knowing that make GeoffR; it is not as if Lewis will accept your offer of sparring

[GeoffR]

Hmmm - Melbourne next year as some pre-race entertainment!!

[britishtrident]

Could her Her Flick's hobby classed as a martial art ? --- nah no skill or art involved

[iotar]

Originally posted by GeoffR
Anyone know what style of karate he did. There are many different ones and they can vary significantly.

Crane style, obviously.

[AFCA]

Originally posted by kids like ash
I knew this last year, he told everybody on Top Gear.

Do you know when the new series is going to start ?

[LostProphet]

Originally posted by AFCA


Do you know when the new series is going to start ?

Fingers crossed it'll be the next few weeks ... I think they only took a summer break, because the last 'series' was really short.
But they're doing a live world tour soon, so who knows ...

[connerz]

Crane style, obviously.

Ha! nice. A black belt can mean many things. Most are more or less purchased. At least that is true in the States.

[prty]

If Hamilton's personality as a kid was anything similar to the one he has nowadays, I'm not surprised he needed to learn karate

[Budvar]

Off topic for F1 drivers, but in terms of famous Karate black belts, Lewis has some way to go to match The Stranglers bass player, JJ Burnel.

JJ is now training for a 6th dan I believe and had to have emergency eye surgery for a detactched retina this summer, a result of the years of blows to the head.

This is little TV clip from about 10 years ago -

I suggest Lewis stays away from the full on stuff until he has retired from F1!

[Chiara]

Originally posted by connerz


Ha! nice. A black belt can mean many things. Most are more or less purchased. At least that is true in the States.

That is not the same for the UK, you have to earn it by working your way up through the belts. I used to be a shotokan karate kid in my younger years but only got as far as my brown belt. Getting your black belt is a real achievement and takes time, hard work and dedication.

[GeoffR]

Off topic for F1 drivers, but in terms of famous Karate black belts, Lewis has some way to go to match The Stranglers bass player, JJ Burnel.

His style, Shidokan, is an offshoot of Kyokushin (The Strongest Karate) founded by Sosai Mas Oyama, hence the contact fighting, breaking etc.

Nigel Mansell achieved his Shodan in Uechi Ryu karate in Okinawa in 1994, don't know what he has done since though.

http://www.alandolla...inawa_nigel.htm

[ashnathan]

Originally posted by AFCA


Do you know when the new series is going to start ?

Unfortunately no i dont, i live in Australia and they finished the 2007 season of Top Gear, then restarted them after the Olympics but now they are canning the British version of Top Gear for the Australian version, which will be a piece of crap. I like the Brit show cos pretty much everything they say is hilarious.

However, if the Australian version is released in Europe you will see some good cars no doubt, one's that you might not have seen before.

[connerz]

That is not the same for the UK, you have to earn it by working your way up through the belts. I used to be a shotokan karate kid in my younger years but only got as far as my brown belt. Getting your black belt is a real achievement and takes time, hard work and dedication

Here that is the case as well. However, many places keep you coming in/paying by rewarding you with belts that are undeserved. There are some dojos that actually have you earn your rankings, but most are just businesses that want your money. Ideally for them, having you pay your fees for say 6 months and rarely come is the best scenario.

[Paolo]

Ukyo Katayama is a Karate black belt too.
And a good mountaineer.

[Perigee]

Originally posted by prty
If Hamilton's personality as a kid was anything similar to the one he has nowadays, I'm not surprised he needed to learn karate

lol

[GeoffR]

Not 100% on this but it appears that Ukyo Katayama trains(ed) in Seido Kaikan, another derative of Kyokushin (there are quite a few) started by Kazuyoshi Ishii in the late '70s / early '80s.

Still no closer as to what style Hamilton trained in.

[Rosemayer]

In Japan you can pretty much dedicate at least 20 years just to get your first degree Black belt.If you go to a old school Dogo.

[AFCA]

Originally posted by LostProphet
Fingers crossed it'll be the next few weeks ... I think they only took a summer break, because the last 'series' was really short. But they're doing a live world tour soon, so who knows ...

Last series was short indeed... BBC 2 keeps broadcasting the old series so when I see it announced I never know whether it's still the old series or finally the new one.

What kind of tour is that ?

Originally posted by kids like ash
Unfortunately no i dont, i live in Australia and they finished the 2007 season of Top Gear, then restarted them after the Olympics but now they are canning the British version of Top Gear for the Australian version, which will be a piece of crap. I like the Brit show cos pretty much everything they say is hilarious.

However, if the Australian version is released in Europe you will see some good cars no doubt, one's that you might not have seen before.

A shame they edit the British version... I've never seen the Australian version of the programme.

[LostProphet]

Originally posted by AFCA


Last series was short indeed... BBC 2 keeps broadcasting the old series so when I see it announced I never know whether it's still the old series or finally the new one.

What kind of tour is that ?



A shame they edit the British version... I've never seen the Australian version of the programme.

They do a show in the UK called "MPH" which is basically - as far as I can tell (I've not been) - Top Gear Live - lots of fast cars to show off, crazy stunts and challenges and hilarity from the three guys! They've been doing it for the last few years, but it sounds like they're taking it world-wide.

[Imperial]

Originally posted by glorius&victorius
IOther driver I know who was a Karate black belt: Nigel Mansell

And as much as people take the p!ss out of these older guys (when they did GP Masters especially) I have actually been given some crazy bear hug by Nigel (don't ask...) and he's one f.ucking strong guy, I can assure you.

[rolf123]

Didn't Mansell earn his black belt in 1 or 2 years?

Black belt doesn't necessarilly mean much. No wonder there are so many levels of black belt too.

Where my cousin comes from, every kid learns a martial art when they are growing up and achieve the black belt, it's no big deal to them.