We got to jump on, like, trampolines, learn flips, learn karate, kung fu, Hong Kong street fighting.
I started doing karate at four, my parents were karatekas. I stopped when I was 17 and went to Julliard and had a lot of stage combat there.
I was into basketball, football, karate, boxing.
No, don’t learn at karate schools. They overcharge you for karate uniforms. They make you pay, like, fifty or seventy-five bucks just for a karate uniform, and you don’t wear a uniform in everyday life, so why train in one? Most fights take place outdoors, not inside with perfect lighting and mats.
When I grew up, I studied karate for years. I got pretty strong, but eventually I had to acknowledge that I really didn’t like fighting at all, so I quit.
By training with Ken Hahn, who comes from that full-contact karate school where he’s hitting me in the back of the head while I’m hitting the bag, I learned that pain is a temporary state.
I started training judo when I was 5 years old. I didn’t know much. My mom just took me and my brother to do some judo because we were very energetic. We did that for a couple of years. I don’t know why we stopped, but I came back to try other forms of martial arts like kung fu and karate when I was 12 and never stopped.
I did karate.
I’ve been very physical my whole life. I’ve done a lot of ballet, fencing and karate, and everything.
You need at least six or seven years to understand the philosophy and concentration of karate to know to clean your spirit of everything and dedicate your mind and body to the sport.
People see a lot of my standup, and that’s what I’m known for since I was trained in karate and kickboxing, but I also have ground game.
I still feel that the original ‘Karate Kid’ is the great piece of work that has stood the test of time. It’s a bit of soulful magic.
If singing weren’t happening, then yeah, I definitely would still be working hard at karate. I already have some teaching diplomas in it so would’ve continued to do that and maybe eventually had opened my own club! Maybe one day I still can.
Karate’s a very boring sport, but when you know the technique you can go further and further.
My parents have been incredibly supportive of me. They’ve always stood by me, whatever my decisions. When I was younger, I was like a butterfly flitting from one thing to the next – be it gymnastics, karate or piano lessons. They never forced me into anything.
It turns out that a Nobel is also followed by other recognitions, and perhaps the most unexpected of these is that the Japan Karate Association in Tokyo has now made me an honorary 7th-degree black belt, something that, given my athletic abilities, is even more unimaginable than being an Economic Sciences Laureate.
I was mugged when I was 12. I had a portable radio, and I ran into this building and these two guys came in and hit me, busted me up and took the radio. After that I was very paranoid and I started taking kung fu and karate. But I didn’t want to fight.
My father is a master in karate. He always taught me the philosophy of Karate. When I’m talking about philosophy, I mean respect to willpower, self confidence. Those qualities, I think it’s very important, not just for fighting, but for any person.
I’m glad ‘Honest’ came out right after ‘Karate Chop,’ because I don’t want to be seen as a one-hit wonder.
It’s amazing because people come up to me and say, ‘Chuck, you’re the luckiest guy in the world to be a world karate champion and a movie and TV star.’ When they say this to me, I kind of smile because luck had nothing to do with it; God had everything to do with it.
I did martial arts and karate for eight years when I was growing up.
People never believe it when they find out I’m a karate world champion. They don’t see me as the type because I’m small and blonde.
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