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Steve Cardenas

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Steve Cardenas
Born
Stephen Antonio Cardenas

(1974-05-29) May 29, 1974 (age 50)
Hampton, Virginia, United States
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Martial artist, actor
Years active1986–present

Stephen Antonio "Steve" Cardenas (born May 29, 1974) formerly known as Steven Cardenas, is an American martial artist and retired actor, perhaps most noted for playing Rocky DeSantos in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series.[1]

Early years

Cardenas was born Stephen Antonio Cardenas on May 29, 1974 at the Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia, a city in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. After living his first 2 years in Hampton, Cardenas was raised in San Antonio, Texas. He is of half Mexican descent.[2] He started training in martial arts when he was about 12 years old and reached black belt in tae kwon do at age 16. Steve Cardenas has been in martial arts for 28 years. He earned 5th degree black belt in tae kwon do and a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.[3]

Power Rangers and acting career

At age 20, Cardenas moved to Los Angeles to audition for a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers role that would change his life. His character, Rocky, replaced Jason Lee Scott (played by Austin St. John) as the Red Ranger in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series, and he later became the Blue Ranger for Power Rangers Zeo. He had no previous acting experience and had to learn on the job. Cardenas left the Power Rangers series during Power Rangers Turbo, due to contract disagreements.[4] Many years later, starting at the 2007 Power Morphicon convention, he began making convention appearances with other former cast members.[5] He has since appeared at Anime Expo 2009 and Power Morphicon 2010.

After Power Rangers, he owns a martial arts studio in Burbank, California and in Texas. In 2009, he started a kids-specific program at Hollywood Brazilian jiu-jitsu studio in West Hollywood, and in 2011 he opened the Force/Balance Brazilian jiu-jitsu & Yoga school. Cardenas had become interested in Brazilian jiu-jitsu after losing a friendly match against "a blue belt in BJJ... [he] choked me out in 10 seconds! He was only training for a year and a half at that time and I had been training for 10 yrs. It was an immediate eye opener." The style was more difficult for him to learn than other martial arts disciplines[6]

He holds multiple awards from martial arts contests, including two Silver Medals at Copa Pacifica (2009 and 2011), Gold Medal winner of the 2009 American National Championship, Gold Medal in the 2010 Jujitsu Pro Gear Open, and Silver Medal in the 2010 No-Gi World Championships.[6]

Filmography

Film

Television

References

  1. ^ Michael Mammano (2013-12-05). "Interview With Power Rangers' Steve Cardenas | Den of Geek". Denofgeek.us. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
  2. ^ "Official Steve Cardenas Interview!". RangerBoard.com. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
  3. ^ Steven Vanderpool (2011-08-02). "Forever Red: Steve Cardenas Talks 'Power Rangers' and Force/Balance Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu & Yoga!". Iconvsicon.com. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
  4. ^ "Interview With Power Rangers' Steve Cardenas - Dec 5, 2013". Dennis Publishing. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  5. ^ [1] Archived 2007-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ a b [2][dead link]
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