MARTIAL ARTS SUPERSTAR 

BENNY "THE JET" URQUIDEZ 

VISITS MIAMI

BY MAX EVANS

 

Benny Urquidez radiates a rare energy which is the force behind his unique "fighting style", with his legendary "Jump Spinning Back Kick", nicknamed "The Jet" by his peers after witnessing the speed and accuracy of his lethal kick. Benny Urquidez was reared in a natural athletic environment, passed on through generations of his Black Foot Indian and Spanish ancestry. His Mother a Professional Wrestler, his Father a Professional Boxer, with siblings all Black Belts. At the tender age of five he was competing in "Pee Wee Boxing" events at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Since then he has earned Black Belts in 9 different styles of Martial Arts, and trained in many other styles. "The Jet" trained with his mentor and brother Arnold Urquidez, Bill Ruiyisaki, Ed Parker and many legendary Martial Art Masters.

His unique style has won him every major international tournament a dream for the most accomplished of fighters. At that time he chose to pioneer Full Contact Karate, instead of becoming a pro boxer, and the rest is history. In 1974 Benny "The Jet", introduced to the US what is known as Full Contact Karate or American Kickboxing, "The Jet’s" professional fighting record stands at a 200 plus wins and Zero (0) losses, his accomplished World Title Defense Record Stands at 63 wins and zero (0) losses, with "57 knockouts".

Unprecedented in ring history, Benny "The Jet" is the only fighter to have retained Six World Championships in five weight divisions for 24 consecutive years. Coming out of retirement in 1993 at the age of 42 he again demonstrated his unique fighting style, defeating Yoshihisa Tagami the 25-year-old Japanese World Welterweight Champion to win the World Light Middle Weight Championship. "The Jet", is the longest reining World Champion of all Professional Sports in history.

"The Jet" has trained Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, John Cusack, Nicolas Cage, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jimmy Smits, Chuck Norris, Kurt Russell, Mark Wahberg, Louis Gossett Jr., Michelle Pfeiffer, Juliette Lewis, Michael Keaton, Woody Harrelson, Rene Russo, and Patrick Swayze. David Lee Roth, who trained with "The Jet" for years, he dedicated the Van Halen hit "Jump" to his relentless teacher. Benny Urquidez has written four instructional books and has released eight instructional videos. He is also the hero in series of Japanese comic books entitled Benny "The Jet".

Photo:From left to right: Dr. Philip Chenique, Benny "The Jet" Urquidez and Sensei Max Evans

"The Jet" is the founder of Ukidokan Karate (meaning: a way of life) which is recognized as a true Modern Martial Art Discipline by the Okinawan Masters of Japan. The North Hollywood based "Jet’s Gym" is the top kickboxing gym in California. Recently Benny was in Miami, Florida, conducting a seminar with Professor Philip Chenique at Chenique's Atemi Ryu Jujitsu school. We were very honored to capture a bit of Benny's spirit. I was enlightened by the things he had to say, not only about his view of martial arts, but his view on life....Here is a little piece of conversation between Benny and Dr. Chenique....

Master Jet: The truth into it all is I enjoy the teaching part of it and you are right, it doesn't matter what I'm teaching, I enjoy it. You know the hardest part of teaching a woman is how to drive, but I tell you what, I enjoy it tremendously. So, it doesn't matter. I find it the harder it is to teach somebody, the more for me.

Dr. Chenique: My whole school is based on privates. What do you feel about that versus doing the group? Do you really care one way or another?

Master Jet: You know, I will tell you. One on one, I can get into the psyche of somebody. I can go beyond the surface. I can go deep. When your dealing with semi-private (with 5) then you cannot go into the psyche, but you can go into the mental aspect of the feeling in the vibration of the movements. When you have a big group then you have an almost surface type of thing because you can't really go to each one. It is a technical, physical type of movement because you can't really go to each one because it would take forever to explain each one as you went around. For instance, in the seminar, there are so many and you try to get one word for everybody to understand. You try to show a technique and then break it down so everyone will understand it someway. So, when they are doing it they are not working bad habits. It is just a matter of bringing it out and allowing them to make mistakes with it. Like in here today, it was terrific to see all the Sensei's working. It was like they said, "Hey! I am just like you guys, I'm here having a good time, making mistakes and learning." The understanding is not so much in the attack but about yourself. How do you perceive? How do you feel about it? It is not the strike. It is not the block. It is not the choke. It is not the submission. It's how do you feel about it? The emotional part of the technique is the vibration of being what with one. That is the connection of being that a lot of people work on the surface part of it. The external training. Everybody does that. I say the "now" training is the internal training, the understanding of it. This is what I'm trying to put across, the internal training. The inside warrior within...bring it out and let's see how it feels and what you are doing. That is basically, the message I was trying to pass on.

Dr. Chenique: When did you realize that you were a master of what you do?

Master Jet: To this day, really, I do not believe I am a master. I believe that I am a man that has a lot of passion, has a lot of understanding and a lot of love for what I learned. I figure that when I can be a master is when I can really tell you I understand the emotional psyche of what I was doing. Not about the physical but about the spiritual warfare, about the internal warfare, and about the mental warfares. I can really say that it is great being me at this point in time because not only content, but the serenity in my soul. My inner spirit, my inner warrior has this peace. So when somebody comes up to me and challenges me, I never look at it as a challenge. I always look at it, as "I want to share something with you. I'm here to learn from you. That is why my walk is not so much a spiritual walk. It's a walk of truly understanding my journey and that's the walk here. So, when I come here, I come here as your guest. Truly with respect and very thankful that you gave me the opportunity to come and share what I have experienced.

Dr. Chenique: You open your heart to everybody. I think that a person with a good heart can show sincerity. You definitely have that in your teaching. You are right there on it. The people are picking it up. It's like a person who tells jokes; they have a perfect cue. You know exactly what to say and when to say it and that takes a master of one's self. You also take things lightly which is on the money. You made a mistake? Good job. Try it like this.

Master Jet: You allow them to experiment and take it to the edge to whatever that is. That's okay. Today was that, tomorrow this. It can be an hour and it'll be changed. Everything always changes.

I asked Benny what person or teacher changed his life.....

He anwered: "I really have to say my mother. My mother was my hero. I would go to the kitchen and my mother would talk to me about compassion of love and respect. She was teaching me feelings and to understand why I do what I do. Then on the other hand my father would be feeding me gunpowder. "Harder, Faster. Move it! Don't cry. Don't do this. Don't do that." So, I had my father teaching me to be strong and tough while I had my mom teaching me to be compassionate in whatever I do. So, I have to say to this day my mother is my hero. When I say, "was" it is because she is no longer with us-the physical. But as I see you and hear you, I can close my eyes and see her. She will be alive forever as long as I'm here and until I go back"

Sensei Max: What is kickboxing compared to now than when you first started?

Master Jet: When kickboxing first started it was called "Full Contact Karate". That was in late '73. From the first time I fought the 1st Muy Thai Champion everybody kept asking what I was doing. They had no idea. They asked, "So you kick and box?" I said, Yes exactly. Kicking and boxing. That is how the word was born, in '75-kickboxing. Now, in the '70's the warriors fought. In the 80's, '85-'87 it started to change. All the heroes were disappearing. The associations that were started were disappearing. Now in the 90's you have a whole new breed of fighters but no heroes to follow. Now they are making up their own. Everybody's a world champion and making their own leagues. They are performing instead of fighting. You know. "How much are you going to pay me? What do I have to do?" They do not want to fight. They do not have the passion for the fight.

Sensei Max: Do you believe martial arts has become more money oriented than in the old days?

Master Jet: It's about the money because it has been taken over by business people. They saw the opportunity to make money...nothing against Taekwondo, but they are just like McDonald's-everywhere. They have a system of selling. They hook you. They get enough students believing but all they want is the numbers. I will give you an example. I had a student who was a green belt. My school closed down for 6 months because of the earthquake. When I saw her again she told that she was training in a taekwondo school. I asked her if she had to start over again. She put her head down and said, "Well, I am a black belt." So, right now that's the problem. If you want to find true warriors get to the dojos in the ghettos;to the places where they are not rich. They have the passion and desire to do something different with their life....

I really enjoyed this interview with Benny. It gave us and I hope The Karate Voice readers a little more insight on the great personality and the love of the martial arts that he has.