Gary Daniels

Gary Daniels
Born	Gary Edward Daniels May 9, 1963 (1963-05-09) London, England
Other names	Danger Man
Nationality	English
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	82 kg (180 lb; 12.9 st)
Division	Middleweight Light Heavyweight
Style	Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Taekwondo
Stance	Orthodox
Fighting out of	Miami, Florida, US
Team	The Jet Center Piston Kickboxing Gym Team Daniels
Trainer	Mickey Byrne Yuki Horiuchi
Rank	2nd degree black belt in Taekwondo
Years active	1979-1993, 2008
Kickboxing record
Total	34
Wins	29
By knockout	28
Losses	5
Draws	0
Other information
Occupation	Actor
Spouse	Mericine
Children	5

Gary Edward Daniels (born 9 May 1963) is an English actor and former kickboxer, known for appearing mostly in action-oriented martial arts 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 is also known for his roles in the Jackie Chan film City Hunter, and as Bryan Fury in the 2010 live-action movie Tekken, based upon the popular fighting game series. He was also seen in the Sylvester Stallone film The Expendables as "The Brit", an ally of the villain General Garza.

Early life

Gary Daniels was born in London, England on 9 May 1963. Inspired by the Bruce Lee film Enter the Dragon, he began training in martial arts at the age of 8 at a local school where he learned a hybrid martial art known as "Mongolian kung fu". He then took up taekwondo at 12 years old and received his black belt after 3 years. At 16, he became a 2nd dan and began competing in ITF taekwondo tournaments. His aggressive style did not sit well with British officials, however, and he lost 3 fights by disqualification.

Kickboxing career

Daniels began kickboxing at the age of around 17 under the tutelage of former British Army boxing champion Mickey Byrne. After debuting in 1979, he won his first 12 fights by knockout before losing to Michael J. Heming by disqualification. He then KO'd Heming in a rematch.

Now 13 (13)-1, Daniels moved to Florida to continue his career. In his first match in the US, he defeated Sherman "Big Train" Bergman, the only kickboxer to have knocked down Jean-Claude Van Damme, by decision in the opening round of the Sunshine State Tournament in Coconut Grove, Florida. He was then eliminated from the tournament, however, whe he lost a decision in the semi-finals. He rebounded with an 18-second knockout of Tim "Night Life" Williams at a WKBA event in Orlando, Florida before going on a barnstorming tour fighting in Texas, California, and Florida.

In the late 1980s, Daniels moved to California and began practicing Muay Thai at at Benny Urquidez's Jet Center and Yuki Horiuchi's Piston Kickboxing Gym. In November 1990, he won the WKBA California State Light Heavyweight Championship in the US and the PKA World Light Heavyweight Championship in England within the space of a month.

He retired in 1993 with a record of 29-4 with 28 knockouts. However, Daniels made a one-fight comeback in Thailand in 2008 at the age of 45 and he lost by decision after 5 rounds.

Acting career

Daniels began his film career in the Philippines, appearing in two low budget films Final Reprisal and The Secret of King Mahis Island. 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; he was particularly known for a fight scene where he and Chan transform into various characters from the video game Street Fighter II. 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.

Gary portrayed Bryan Fury in the film version of the popular video game series Tekken. He also starred in Sylvester Stallone`s The Expendables as The Brit. Daniels re-teams with Steve Austin & Eric Roberts in Hunt to Kill.

Daniels was once considered for the role of Johnny Cage in the movie version of Mortal Kombat and as the lead role in Highlander: The Series.

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.

Personal life

He has five children with his wife, Maricyn.

Titles

• Professional Karate Association
  • PKA World Light Heavyweight Championship

• World Kick Boxing Association
  • WKBA California State Light Heavyweight Championship

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Final Reprisal	David Callahan	Straight to Video
1991	Ring of Fire	Bud	First time partnered with Don "The Dragon" Wilson
1991	Capital Punishment	James Thayer
1992	Bloodfist IV: Die Trying	Scarface	Second time partnered with Don "The Dragon" Wilson
1992	American Streetfighter	Jake Tanner	Also Fight Choreographer
1993	City Hunter	Kim	First time partnered with Jackie Chan
1993	Full Impact	Jared Taskin	Also Fight Choreographer
1993	Knights	David
1994	Deadly Target	Charles Prince
1995	Fist of the North Star	Kenshirô
1995	Rage	Alex Gainer	Also Associate Producer
1996	White Tiger	Mike Ryan
1997	Hawk's Vengeance	Eric Hawke	Also Fight Choreographer
1997	Bloodmoon	Ken O'Hara	Also Associate Producer
1998	Recoil	Det. Ray Morgan	Also Associate Producer
1999	No Tomorrow	Jason
2000	Ides of March	Thomas Cane	Unreleased to date. Title also changed to Ultimate Target
2000	Queen´s Messenger	Captain Anthony Strong
2001	Gedo - Fatal Blade	Richard Fox	Also Associate Producer
2001	City of Fear	Steve Roberts
2002	Black Friday	Dean Campbell	Also Producer
2004	Retrograde	Markus	First time partnered with Dolph Lundgren
2005	Submerged	Col. Sharpe
2006	Reptilicant	Ryan Moore
2008	The Day the Earth Stopped	Gary	Uncredited
2008	The Legend of Bruce Lee	Kickboxer	2 Episodes
2009	La Linea	Martin
2010	Game of Death	Zander
2010	Tekken	Bryan Fury
2010	The Expendables	The Brit	Second time partnered with Dolph Lundgren First time partnered with Jet Li, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Eric Roberts
2010	Hunt to Kill	Jensen	Straight to DVD Second time partnered with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Eric Roberts

Kickboxing record

Professional Kickboxing record

29 wins (28 KOs), 5 losses Date Result Opponent Event Location Method Round Time 2008 Loss Thailand Decision 5 3:00 1990-11 Win Professional Karate Association London, England Wins PKA World Light Heavyweight Championship. 1990-11 Win World Kick Boxing Association California, USA Wins WKBA California State Light Heavyweight Championship. 1983 Win D. Moore World Karate Association Apopka, Florida, USA KO 1 1983 Win Jack Kronheim Professional Karate Association Gulfport, Florida, USA KO 2 1983 Win Lamont Coleman World Karate Association Safety Harbor, Florida, USA KO 1 1983 Win D. Moore Karate Tournament Tampa, Florida, USA KO 1 1980 Win Calvin Brown Professional Karate Association USA KO 2 1980 Win Tim Williams World Kick Boxing Association Orlando, Florida, USA KO 1 0:18 1980-03-05 Loss Sunshine State Tournament, Semi Finals Miami, Florida, USA Decision 3 3:00 1980-03-05 Win Sherman Bergman Sunshine State Tournament, Quarter Finals Miami, Florida, USA Decision 3 3:00 1979 Win Michael J. Heming British Full-Contact Organization London, England KO 1 1979 Loss Michael J. Heming British Full-Contact Organization London, England DQ 1 1979 Win Billy Boyle British Regionals London, England KO 1 1979 Win Lawrence Thomas PKA British Open London, England KO 1 1979 Win Burton Miles PKA British Open London, England KO 1 1979 Win Henry Williams PKA British Open London, England KO 1 1979 Win Cliff Bromley British Regionals London, England KO 1 1979 Win Barry McCormack PKA British Open London, England KO 1 1979 Win Jackie Cullen PKA British Open London, England KO 1 1979 Win Arthur Reeves PKA British Open London, England KO 1 1979 Win Pat Baker PKA British Open London, England KO 1 1979 Win Bernie Jenkins PKA British Open London, England KO 2 1979 Win Ryan Racken PKA British Open London, England KO 1 1979 Win Stephen Oliver PKA British Open London, England KO 2 Legend:       Win       Loss       Draw/No contest       Notes

References

• Miami Herald, March 5, 1980, Sports: NOVICE (Division): "Lightmiddleweight-Gary Daniels def. Sherman Bergman".

• INSIDE KUNG-FU PRESENTS: KICKBOXING-SPORT OF THE 90s, August 1993, Front page story-HIS GAME IS A FOOT! Gary Daniels trades the ring for the reel thing.

External links

• Gary Daniels at the Internet Movie Database
• Gary Daniels Exclusive Interview on The Expendables
• Gary Daniels Interview: Shooting An Action Scene on The Expendables - Askmen.com