Who’s on your Martial Arts Mount Rushmore?
It’s a fun game to play and it came up in our deep chat with martial artist and Podcaster in his own right Mick Tully.
Who would be on your Mount Rushmore of Martial Arts?
For me, I always START with Judo Gene Lebell. The original MMA fighter. Judo Gene would be showcase his skills against accomplished boxers and started to plant the seed of the idea ‘what if my style of fighting beats your style of fighting?’ But for Mick Tully, Judo Gene may only have been an honorable mention. He said on the podcast:
“I’m not a fan of Bruce Lee, I know that’s controversial, but for me he doesn’t make it on the list. If you wanna talk about badasses/martial artists, look at someone like Lapu Lapu.”
Lapu-Lapu was a ruler of Mactan in the Visayas. Modern Philippine society regards him as the first Filipino hero because he was the first native to resist Imperial Spanish colonization. He is best known for the Battle of Mactan that happened at dawn on April 27, 1521, where he and his soldiers defeated Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who was killed in the battle.
Guru Dan Innosanto is discussed at length; someone Mick has the pleasure of knowing and training with, and needless to say he’s another name on the list. This was one of several different topics we covered in our chat, and we’ll have a part 2 somewhere down the line. In the meantime give it a like, listen and a share, you won’t be disappointed. And be sure to follow Mick Tully’s own podcast, Mick’s Martial Arts.
