| Gary Daniels | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gary Edward Daniels May , 1963 London, England |
| Other names | Danger Man |
| Nationality | English |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Weight | 78 kg (170 lb; 12.3 st) |
| Division | Middleweight Light Heavyweight |
| Style | Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Taekwondo |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Fighting out of | Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Team | Team Daniels |
| Years active | 1979-1993, 2008 |
| Kickboxing record | |
| Total | 34 |
| Wins | 29 |
| By knockout | 28 |
| Losses | 5 |
Gary Edward Daniels (born 9 May 1963) is a British kickboxer and martial arts actor.[1] Daniels appears mostly in action-oriented 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 was also seen playing 'Kim' in the Jackie Chan film City Hunter, and as Bryan Fury in the 2010 live-action movie Tekken movie, based upon the popular fighting game series. He was also seen in the Sylvester Stallone film The Expendables, as 'The Brit', who helps 'General Garza'.[2]
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Gary Daniels was born in London, England. By his own account, he had always been "enamoured with the world of superheroes", and was inspired to study martial arts after having seen a trailer for Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon, saying "this was like a real-life superhero, that's something you can actually do." Daniels went on to master a multitude of different martial arts, and eventually entered the pro kickboxing circuit. He has five children with his wife, Maricyn.
Gary "Danger Man" Daniels began his martial arts career in England, after watching the movie Enter the Dragon starring Bruce Lee. According to a 1993 article in IKF Presents, Daniels said he began studying martial arts at age 8 (page 5, IKF Presents, August 1993). At the age of 16, he earned his 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and decided to enter tournaments in London. Daniels competed in tournaments sanctioned by the British Amateur Full-Contact Association (Formed in 1979 with Steve Babbs as chief instructor). His aggressive style didn't sit-well with British officials, and he lost 3 fights by disqualification.[4] His trainer for these fights was Mickey Byrne, reportedly a former British Army boxing Champion (page 5, IKP Presents, August 1993).
Daniels decided to "venture" into full-contact competition because his fighting style was more suited for the United States, so in 1980, he traveled to Florida in the United States to continue his career.
In his first match in the United States, Daniels defeated Sherman "Big Train" Bergman the only kickboxer to have knocked down Jean-Claude Van Damme[5] on the opening night of the Sunshine State Tournament in Coconut Grove, Florida.[4][6][7][8] However, in the semi-finals, Daniels lost a decision.
At the Tampa Golden Open Championship in Tampa, Florida in September 1983, Daniels placed third in black belt forms. In America, Daniels went on a barnstorming tour fighting in Texas, California, and Florida.
In Orlando, Florida Daniels knocked out Tim "Night Life" Williams in 18 seconds at a WKBA event.[1] At a P.K.A. (Professional Karate Association) promotion, Daniels knocked out Calvin Brown in 2 rounds.[1] Both of these matches were amateur bouts.
Daniels trained with Peter Cunningham, Jim Graden, John Graden, and former World Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion Joe Lewis. In 1988, Daniels trained under sifu, Winston Omega.
In November 1990, Daniels traveled to California. He won the WKBA California State Light-Heavyweight Championship. That same month, he won the WKBA Light-Heavyweight Kickboxing Title.
Later, Daniels went on to win the Professional Karate Association Light Heavyweight Kickboxing Championship.
According to Paul Maslak of the StarSystem Rankings,[9]" (May 2011) I spoke directly with Joe Corley, current owner of the Professional Karate Association, about Daniels’ PKA title. Corley could neither confirm nor deny Daniels’ championship. After the PKA ceased as a major sanctioning body in late 1986, the PKA affiliate in Britain continued with its local promotions. Daniels’ title claim, he said, came out of those events. That means the title Daniels won was not a major professional kickboxing world championship of the type that previously had been supported by a world network of promotions during the PKA’s golden yesteryears."
Gary Daniels retired after the match and turned his career to the acting and motion picture profession.
In 1992, Daniels trained with Jackie Chan in Hong Kong for four months while making the movie, City Hunter
At the age of 45, Daniels made a one-fight comeback in Thailand in 2008 and he lost a 5-round kickboxing match on points[10].
His final record was reported as 29-5 (28 Knockouts). Some sources list his record as 22-0 (21 knockouts) and 22-5 (21 Knockouts).
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.
| 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 | |
| 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 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 |
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.
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29 wins (28 KOs), 5 losses
Legend: Win Loss Draw/No contest Notes |
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