Martial Artist of the Month: Benny "The Jet" Urquidez

If asked who I would pick, of all the martial artists who ever lived, to have on my side in a fight for my life, I would choose Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. Not just because of his unrivaled skill, but because of his warrior's heart, tenacity, determination, mental toughness, competativeness, and courage. He was the first and only individual to come into my head when deciding who to first feature as "Martial Artist of the Month".

Biography:

It's hard to imagine how Benny Urquidez could not have become a great fighter. His father was a boxer and his mother was a wrestler. At the age of five, he was already competing in Pee Wee Boxing tournaments. At the age of fourteen, Urquidez shocked the martial arts community upon passing his two day black belt exam under the instruction of his older brother and professional karate competitior Arnold Urquidez and renowned Kempo pioneer, Ed Parker. Capturing the public's eye with his impressive wins in Belgium and England as a member of Ed Parker's International Karate Team in 1974, it was clear that he was the fighting star of the Elvis Presely produced martial arts documentary, The New Gladiators, which covered these events. After participating in the greatest point karate match in the sport's history against John Natividad, Urquidez was offered a new venture to develope his fighting skill: full contact karate or "kickboxing". Fighting anyone he could, Urquidez, now nicknamed "The Jet" after his fantastic spinning back kick, won the championship under every sanctioning body for which he fought. Retiring in the early nineties with a record of 58-0-1 (very contraversial last digit), Urquidez had already co-starred in several films with martial arts cinema legends such as Jackie Chan and Samo Hung. Urquidez was also added to the Black Belt Hall of Fame as "Fighter of the Year" in 1978. He now teaches his own martial arts curriculum Ukidokan, which means "A Way of Life".

Why So Great?

Benny "Ther Jet" isn't just great, he's phenominal. Here are the reasons "The Jet" makes my number one choice for Martial Artist of the Month.

(1) He would fight anyone. Not almost anyone, but anyone. Urquidez showed what it takes to be a true world champion. And that is to prove your worth against anyone in the world that you claim to be champion of. Urquidez was the first American fighter to seek bouts over seas, fighting with the Japanese champions and crossing over into the Muay Thai arena also. No other fighter of his caliber would take on a bout without knowing the oponent but Urquidez would often be promised one opponent only to have a switch pulled, forcing him to fight bigger and stronger oponents than expected. No problem for "The Jet" though, he beat them anyway. In some instances, Urquidez beat multiple fighters the same night, one right after the next.

(2) He would fight under any rules. Not almost any rules, but any rules. Urquidez would accept challenges from any fighter who issued one and agree to fight under their set of rules and even in their hometown. Having trained in a variety of martial arts discelplines certainly helped, but it was unprecedented and still unmatched. The Gracies claim to accept all challenges, but not under any rules. Urquidez was unique in that way. There are even unproven rumors that Urquidez accepted a challenge from the Gracie family but that they pulled out upon learning he held a black belt under grappling master, Gene LeBell.

(3) Size was no obstacle. I'm a small guy and so is Urquidez. I can relate to the pressure of fighting a bigger man and never was there a little guy who beat on the bigger oponents like Benny Urquidez did. In 1974, Urquidez, who is five feet six, took on six feet one Dana Goodson in Hawaii. Urquidez fought his heart out and dominated the larger oponent, earning the nickname "The Giant Killer" in Hawaii. It wasn't just size though, Urquidez would fight faster men, stonger men, more experienced men, and would beat them all.

(4) He embrassed the old and the new. Many fighters will stubornly hold fast to either classical or newer methods, never willing to try the other. Not Urquidez, he used both. Urquidez holds multiple black belts in classical styles but always worked to adapt the techniques when necessary. Watching his full contact bouts, you can see how he draws from karate, judo, kung fu and more, integrating the older arts with the new sport. Myself having come froma classical Tae Kwon Do background and now practicing mixed martial arts, I can relate to Urquidez and admire him for this reason.


Overall:

In the end, Benny "The Jet" Urquidez exhibits all the traits of greatness. His never-quit-attitude, willingness to engage any oponent, practice of traddition, acceptance and mastery of new methods, adaptability, and deep understanding of philosophy and human nature solidify him as a true martial artist and warrior, no matter which perspective you may have. His influence in the fight game will be forever felt and generations upon generations of martial artists will look up to him for inspiration. Here he may be "Martial Artist of the Month" but in our hearts, he may be Martial Artist of A Lifetime.

Here is a great clip about Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50HDAMmAGLc

Is Honor Exclusive To Combat?

"It's about honor and discepline". That's what you'll hear when you ask Grand Master "Kim" what the purpose of martial arts is. "It's about respect and humility" he'll say. These are the facets of martial arts that have come to be accepted as part of their long tradition. Many styles emphasise these virtues as if you can't fight without them. But are they really so important to a martial artist? Are these virtues exclusive to combat?

This is quite an interesting question. The modern martial artist who is trained in a classical school -usually styles such as Tae Kwon Do (my first style), Karate, Aikido, and others- knows certain values are to be demonstrated at all times on the mat and in their daily life. A student is taught by his instructors to honor and respect those of authority. The student is to show patience at all times. Humility is the mark of a black belt, some will say. Now, I have no quarel with anyone who wishes to live by these virtues and proclaim their importance. They are the foundations on which we are to build our character. But when someone claims that you cannot be an effective martial artist without such character traits in place, they have made several mistakes.

First, there is no solid definition for "martial artist". Each style, school, teacher, and practitioner has their own take on what this means. Is it about how well you can fight in the street to save your life? Is it about competition? What kind of competition, full contact, submission, point fighting? Is it about kata practice or meditation? Who defines what the word "martial artist" means? One cannot say a martial artist must have specific virtues if one cannot first define what makes a martial artist.

Martial arts were originally invented by soldiers near the Indian/Chinese border and these records are left for us by way of inscriptions on turtle shells (early paper, I guess). After dynasties rose and fell, some historians believe that these warriors fled to China, taking their martial arts with them, and hid in Buddhist temples. Before this time, martial arts were practiced for the sole purpose of increasing a foot soldier's ability to kill his enemy in battle. But true to Chinese philosophy, the monks who harbored these men found meaning in all things and wove their philosophy into the practice of these arts. Soon, the arts had been so infused with Tao philosophies that it became standard practice for Shoalin monks to practice the art. Their new styles included movements based on animals and became what was known as "Wushu" and "Gong Fu". The more recognizable translation is "Kung Fu". From there, martial arts spread across the world to Japan where it became Karate, Judo, and Jiu-Jitsu. Jiu-jitsu spread to Brazil where it became Gracie Jiu-Jitsu or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Kung Fu's influence spread to Korea where it became Tae Kwon Do. Martial arts spread to Europe where it became boxing. Karate spread to America and combined with boxing to become kickboxing. These are the means by which martial arts have come to dominate the globe. And each continent, country, civilization, people group, and individual who developes a style of combat does so for a specific purpose, to fill a specific need. Who are we as individuals to define what their martial art must include in the way of virtue?

Let's answer one of our questions: Does a martial artist need virtues such as honor or respect to be a talented fighter? The answer, despite what you may have been taught in class, is "no". Mike Tyson is not an outstanding model of virtue but one cannot argue his effectiveness in the ring. Likewise, UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen would hardly be used as an example of humility but it doesn't stop him from dominating his opponents from bell to bell. Muhammad Ali proudly boasted to be "The Greatest" and was perhaps the greatest fighter the world has ever seen. Although it is nice to see a fighter display the virtues that form the basis of good character, it simply is not necessary for one to develope fighting proficiency. Must one develope humilty to be a good NFL quarter back or Olympic runner? Of course not. Why would anyone assume it's necessary for fighting and what scientific data could support such a claim?

Let's answer another question: Does a martial artist have to demonstrate patience and discipline? The answer is "yes". It's not a rule, just a fact. Developing proficiency in martial arts takes thousands of hours of hard practice and requires many sacrifices. An undisciplined individual must develope this quality as they progress or come into the arts demonstrating it. The better you want to be, the more work and sacrifices will be required of you and that means more disclipline. Patience is also crucial because you don't become world champion over night. Although the harder you work the faster you can progress, it still takes lots of time to develope any skill, especially unarmed combat.

In the end, virtues such as honor and respect are important for all people, regardless of their endeavor. However, it isn't entirely accurite to say that you aren't a martial artist without them. The're are far too many methods and reasons for practicing martial arts to assign identical mandatory rules of conduct and morality to them all. A realistic altercations expert may use these virtues to avoid a fight but doesn't need them for the fight itself. A competitior is only required to follow the code of conduct stipulated by the event's governing body. A traditional practitioner's level of moral conduct will change from one school to another. Let's work on achieving good character as human beings, regardless of our endeavor, before we assign them to someone's fighting style.