Emil Farkas (born 1946) is an American martial arts instructor and writer known for his appearances in numerous films and in television shows.
Life
Farkas was born in Hungary in 1946.
During the
Hungarian Revolution of 1956
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...
, Farkas' father decided to escape Hungary
The family escaped through the border and went to a refugee camp in
Vienna
en, Viennese
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.
Farkas later came to live in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Canada.
He began training in the martial arts at a young age and he earned his black belt in
Judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
at age 17 and his black belt in
Karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
at 18.
His family moved to Los Angeles and Farkas studied at the
California State University, Northridge
California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...
.
At age 22, he took a job as a bodyguard for
Phil Spector
Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...
. In 1970, Farkas founded his own dojo, the Beverly Hills Karate Academy where he has been teaching now for over 45 years. The dojo is now however closed as of 2023.
Farkas wrote the first script for a ninja movie, but the film was never produced.
Farkas later became a stunt and fight coordinator for martial arts movies.
Farkas has co-authored and published books on martial arts.
One of his ideas for a film sent to Robert Kosberg was used in the book ''How to Sell Your Idea to Hollywood'' to illustrate how "the sheer simplicity of an idea can be coupled with fortuitous circumstances-catapult
dan outsider into the Hollywood game."
Farkas has been on the cover and featured in many martial arts publications. In 1978, he was on the cover of ''Inside Kung Fu'' with the story "Emil Farkas vs. the Amazing Spiderman".
Farkas holds an eighth-degree black belt in Karate and is both a fourth-degree black belt in Judo and
Jujitsu.
He has been termed "Sensei to the Stars" for his martial arts training with celebrities.
Filmography
*''
Spider-Man Strikes Back
''Spider-Man Strikes Back'' is a 1978 American superhero film that had a theatrical release abroad, a composite of the two-parter episode "Deadly Dust" of the contemporary television show ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', released on 8 May 1978. It was ...
'' (1978)
*''Combat Shotokan'' (1989)
*''American Masters & Champions of the Martial Arts'' (2003)
*''Encyclopedia of Self Defense'' (2000)
Publications
*''The Complete Martial Arts Catalogue'' (1977)
*''A Woman's Guide to Self Defense'' (1978)
*''The Overlook Martial Arts Dictionary'' (1981)
*''Training and Fighting Skills'' (1980)
*''Martial Arts : Traditions, History, People'' (1983)
*''The Martial Arts Dictionary'' (1989)
*''Mujeres, defiéndanse : no más víctimas indefensas : expertos les enseñan cómo dominar al agresor'' (English:Women Defend yourself: no more helpless victims: experts teach you how to master the aggressor) (1993)
*''The Original Martial Arts Encyclopedia: Tradition, History, Pioneers'' (1993)
*''The Original Martial Arts Encyclopedia: A Century of Martial Arts Worldwide'' (2011)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farkas, Emil
American martial artists
1946 births
Living people