Art Camacho

A FILMMAKER’S JOURNEY
Copyright 2017 by Art Camacho and Michael Matsuda
A product of Museum Productions
 Art Camacho
A FILMMAKER’S JOURNEY

by
Art Camacho

Foreword & Co-Authored by

Michael Matsuda
 DEDICATION
Dedicated to that fat little kid sitting in that
old movie theater eating popcorn and
watching his first Bruce Lee movie.
Dream on.

7
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I’ve had so much love and support on this journey and I’d
like to thank so many who have been on this adventure with
me directly and indirectly through their inspiration, begin-
ning with my family, Diane, Jasmine, Daniel and Angelica
for their patience, love and faith. Without family, this jour-
ney would be fruitless. My father, for supporting my dreams,
My Sifu Eric Lee, for his guidance, teachings and mentoring,
Michael Matsuda for believing in me, Dr. Robert Goldman
for his guidance and support, and those who have carried me
at one time or another at different junctures in life; My Sifu
Samuel Kwok, John Corcoran, David Bravo, Don Wilson,
Cynthia Rothrock, Tom Renner, Joseph Merhi, Richard Pe-
pin, Michael DePasquale Jr., Daniel Tibbets, Martin Brown,
Dana Stamos, Diane Collins, Robert Samuels, Cheryl
Wheeler-Sanders, Alan Goldberg, Kevin Brewerton, Martin
Kove, Chelsea Bruland, Richard Grieco, Met Salih, Danny
Templegod, Mark Goldman, Fairborz Azhakh, Andrew
Fanelli, John Paul DeJoria, Michael Dillard, Billy Blanks,
Benny Urquidez, Susan Jekarl, Rafael Kosche, Gary Amen,
James Valentino Santi, Robert Parham, Fabiano Iha, Andre
Lima, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Jacov Bresler, Manuel
Sanchez, Mark Grove, Mario Prado, Karen Matsuda, Gary
Lee, Julio Hernandez, Al Dacascos, Mark Chavarria, Crys-
tal Santos, Gerald Okamura, Master Sergio Corral, Del A.
Weston, Danny Lopez, Americus Captain Abesamis, R.
Marcos Taylor, Theresa Weston, Daniel Hecht, Steven Lam-
bert, Jim Thomas, Barry A. Broughton, Craig Heimbichner,
Jeff W. Smith, Rigan Machado, Mel Novak, Kevin Knotts,
Shawn Crowder, Eric Kovaleski, Mitchell Paul Bobrow, Mi-
chael Thayer, Chuck Borden, Mark Grove, Bobbie Phillips,
Danny Lane, Jim Smith, Jesse Ferrero, JD Bowles, Douglas
8
Wong, Curtis Wong, Robert Young, Michael Sandos, Mau-
rice Travis, Jacquelyn Egger, Phoebe Wong, David Burgett,
William Christopher Ford, Dave Johnson, Michael Parrella,
Kamel Krifa, Cecil Peoples, Bill Ryusaki, Don Baird, Sonia
Woodfield Brunotto, Paul Allan Brunotto, Robert Deahl,
Jenny Deahl, Ken Clark, Ron Van Clief, Gary Amen, Mel
Novak, Bob Wall, Restita Dejesus, Malia Bernal, Guro Dan
Inosanto, Marcus Young, Demetrius Angelo, Sergio Barriga,
and I’d also like to acknowledge those who inspired my jour-
ney including Grace Li, Alan Horn, Grandmaster Byong
Yu, Brandon Lee, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, PastorRic
Perez, Pastor Maria Perez, Julie Michaels, PeeWee Piemonte,
Trampas Thompson, Jeff Wolfe, Ken Barbet, Carrie Patri-
cia Stevens, Gregory Alaimo, Dan Obrien, Vince Cecere,
Rick Avery, Sifu Jerry Poteet, Linda Lee, Gerry Pallay, Scott
Windhauser, Lalo Schifrin, Duke Tirchel, Mark Gerry, Syl-
vester Stallone, Steven Seagal, Guro Richard Bustillo, Sifu
Tim Tackett, Shannon Lee, Jojo Garza, Ringo Garza, Henry
Garza, Mark Goldberg, Jerry Jacobs, R Marcus Taylor, Rog-
er Corman, Sasha Mitchell, Khalil Gibran, Dolph Lund-
gren, Steven Seagal, Kim Kahana Sr., Jamie Cashion, Joseph
Navarra, Margie Yang, Sifu Leo Fong, Jerry Trimble, Carl
Ciarfalio, Steve Oedekerk, Herbert Jefferson Jr., Ted Wong,
Tom Laughlin, Louis Velasquez, Henry Binerfa, Shuriz
Hishmeh, Steve Ross, Danny Trejo, Lorenzo Lamas, Ernie
Reyes, Keith Rosary, Keith Vitali, Tom Callos, Robert Ro-
driguez, Run Run Shaw, Raymond Chow, Arnold Schwar-
zenegger, Simon Rhee, Phillip Rhee, my students, the “origi-
nal dreamer” Walt Disney, my Facebook/Instagram family,
who made the journey enjoyable and a bit less Lonely; Bruce
Lee: were it not for him, there would be no Me; this great
experiment we call America, which allowed me to dream
and finally Our Lord in heaven for creating the means for
me to dream.
9
10
 SPECIAL THANK YOU
My journey has had many peaks and valleys and yet the
constant theme of my life has been finding the right peo-
ple at the right time. One of them is Dr. Robert Gold-
man. “Dr. Bob” is one of those rare individuals who has
touched countless lives including my own. He has helped
me on my journey in both tangible and intangible ways.
His accomplishments are far too many to mention but I
will mention the compassionate content of his heart and
character. I thank him for his inspiration, his guidance
and kindness by coming into my journey when I needed
him. I offer a special dedication in this book to him be-
cause he is truly a man who is living the dream. Special
thanks “Dr. Bob”.

11
 SPECIAL THANK YOU
I have had the distinct privilege of serving in the United
States Army for over 27 years. As a Command Sergeant
Major I have learned the art of leadership that has single-
handedly made me successful in life.
I have seen numerous failures and successes that
have shaped the way I deal with complex situations both
in war and peace time. I have learned that failure is an
opportunity to learn and grow personally and profession-
ally. I would rather fail a thousand times than to die with
potential. We all get two dates and a dash...make the most
of the dash. I believe that growing up with very little has
created a fire within me to be an absolute risk taker. For-
tunately, I have had tremendous success in life because
I will put the work in to ensure I never fail at that task
again. I’m driven to accomplish so many things because as
12
a child I was told by numerous people I would just be an-
other statistic. I have used that negative energy to catapult
myself to the senior most Enlisted Rank in our military
and to build one of the fastest growing patriotic military
apparel companies around. My next goal is to retire from
the armed forces and pursue a potential career in acting.
I have been blessed in life to have met many men-
tors along the way. Recently, I had the honor of meeting
Master Art Camacho...I was very impressed with the en-
ergy he brought to the table. A man driven to succeed at
all cost! Although very accomplished, Art had a look of
a man that has not even begun to reach his potential. I
was very impressed with his passion and positive attitude
while sharing his life experience with me! I could relate on
so many levels with him.
I can honestly say that Art Camacho has made an
impact on me. He has taken me under his wing and of-
fered me a chance to live another dream in my life. It’s not
often in life that you are given opportunities like this. Art
Camacho is an honest hardworking man with integrity. I
know working with him will not be easy but I would go to
war with this man!

CSM Daniel O’Brien

13
14
 FOREWARD

Museum President
Michael Matsuda

I have always believed that one person can change the

world. One person can be that pebble thrown into a pond
as its ripples are slow but eventually felt across the world.
One person starts the action as others join in to follow it
through. I truly believe that.
I have taken on a great task, a huge task, creating
a museum so that the history of the martial arts won’t be
forgotten. In my 50 years as a martial artist, I have been
honored to know and to grow up with some of the great-
est icons in history.
In fact, my mom used to hem Lily Rodriguez’s
dresses, my family lived two doors from the Urquidez fam-
ily, I attended Gene LeBell’s fights at the Valley Garden
when he was a wrestler and I began learning kung fu in
the 1960s which was almost unheard of. I knew James
Lew when he owned an arcade company and when judo

15
was practically the only martial art available.
Creating the Martial Arts History Museum has
not been an easy journey. I’ve given up my home, my
livelihood and my entire way of life so that the histori-
cal achievements of so many won’t be lost. It’s sad to say
that of nearly all the people featured in the museum, only
a small handful have ever contributed financially to the
museum.
I state that fact because I want to feature one of
those from that handful, Art Camacho.
I met Art Camacho around 2001 at a movie pre-
miere at the Harmony Gold theater in Hollywood. I was
the co-CEO of Martialinfo.com at the time. As we met,
he told me that he just loved my website. In just a matter
of five minutes, we hit it off and just like that, we became
friends and shortly thereafter, the best of friends.
During this time, I was also doing the museum. To
raise interest, I began hosting the museum’s hall of fame
awards. Gerald Okamura was kind enough to allow me to
present my awards at Dragonfest (Okamura ran Dragon-
fest at that time). At the intermission of each stage perfor-
mance, I stood up on stage and began reading the accom-
plishments of each inductee and presented each of them
with a wonderful statue (all of which I paid for).
Sadly, there were so many people in front of the
stage that no one was paying attention whatsoever. Art
told me “I saw you pouring your heart out honoring these
people and no one was listening.” Needless to say, it was a
very rough start for the museum.
The next year, with his own funds, Art Camacho
held a tournament called Starbash in Las Vegas. As part
of that event, he also held an elegant dinner the following
16
evening. He told me, “this dinner is for you and the mu-
seum. This is your first dinner event for the hall of fame
awards.”
As we showed videos of peoples lives, awarded them
on stage, read their biographies and shared their stories, it
was an amazing and unforgettable evening.
This was just the first of Art Camacho’s support.
Through him, he would fundraise by throwing seminars
and donating the entire proceeds to the museum. He
would host dinner fundraisers and even auction himself
off. He would connect us to key individuals to bring in ad-
ditional funding and even direct all our video spots with-
out any cost.
Art has done hundreds and hundreds of things to
support the museum and it would take volumes to name
them all.
But through it all, through the good times and es-
pecially the hard times, he has been my friend. He has
been my shoulder to cry on when I lose hope and get dis-
couraged when no one is helping. He has been my source
of encouragement and support. He has never asked for
anything, but instead, always gives.
And even though I can’t stand being in a movie, he
provides a principal spot in all his films to help me finan-
cially. I have worked for Art, I have worked with Art, and
I have hired Art as my director when I used to produce
commercials for Blue Cross.
As we all get older, we find that we have that certain
group of friends that we completely trust in. People that
we enjoy being with, confide in and look to for support.
Thank you Art Camacho for being one of those friends
for me. Congratulations on this wonderful book!
17
18
 INTRODUCTION

Author, Art Camacho

In April of 1992, I, along with other celebrities, had been

scheduled to make an appearance at a school in South
Central Los Angeles. Then, the Los Angeles Riots hap-
pened. A few days after the violence subsided, I was driv-
ing down Florence Avenue (where the first incident hap-
pened). It looked like a war zone. Some buildings were
burnt to the ground, others severely damaged and trash
thrown all about. I knew it was bad, but really, unless you
saw it in person, you would have no idea how bad it really
was.
So I get to the school and the principal rushes out
to meet us. Security was tight. She was so excited to see me
and my students. As we were rushed into a classroom, she
explained that every other performer had canceled. None
of the celebrities or performers, except us, showed up. She
and her kids were so grateful to us for not canceling.
Mind you, my group was like the face of Ameri-
ca. I was Latino and one of my students was Caucasian

19
and the other was
African-American.
When we walked
into the auditorium
I could see the joy in
their faces. We did a
kali demo and I went
so fast and hard that
I snapped my rattan
sticks. I gave the best
performance of my
life that day. Their
community had been
decimated and here
they were, enjoying
a brief respite from
life.
Many of them came up afterwards to thank us and
bombarded us with questions. I remember feeling pissed
at those performers who didn’t show up because that one
hour out of their day could’ve made a lifetime of differ-
ence in a child’s life. The glimmer of hope that I saw in
those kids faces, took me back to my own childhood.
A few years and many films later, my dear friend Mi-
chael Matsuda told me that he wanted to write a book of
my life’s experiences. I smiled and said, “Thanks, but no
thanks”. Why would anyone be interested in something
like that? I haven’t done anything other than train in mar-
tial arts and work in the movies. He looked at me and
said, “Why did you start training in the martial arts? And
how does a kid from the barrio, a high school dropout,
end up as an acclaimed fight choreographer and award-
20
winning director?” I thought, “Nope, no way am I ever
going to agree to a book about me, are you nuts???”
Well, here I am. My goal in sharing my experiences
is not because I think I’m “all that” but because I’m not
“all that” and I have lived a blessed life in the movies. I
thought long and hard about why would anyone want to
read this and I kept thinking about the time I was sitting
in that old theater watching my first Bruce Lee movie: that
fat little kid, being so inspired, that he changed his whole
life because of one movie, one man, one dream. God bless
you all and thank you for indulging me.

21
22
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Growing up in the Barrio, 25

Me and the Martial Arts, 39
The Impact of Bruce Lee, 45
Finding my Purpose, 51
The Journey, 55
Confronting my Failures, 67
Listen and Learn, 73
The Latino Connection, 77
Rising Above the Negativity, 85
Life in the Movies, 91
My Directing Debut, 103
The Movie Geek, 107
Learn to Dream, 115
So you want to be a Filmmaker, 119
Build Your Foundation, 125
Filmmaking 101, 131
Making My Film, 145
My Final Advice to You, 155

23
24
 Chapter 1
GROWING UP IN THE BARRIO
“My life has been a tragic comedy wrapped into a story
about a boy who had a dream”
-- Art Camacho

I grew up in a city southeast of Los Angeles in a predomi-

nantly Latino neighborhood. This place was our whole
universe as it was for most people growing up there. You
were, pretty much, there your whole life, so I had no real
expectations of anything else. We weren’t poor, but we
had a large extended family living under one roof and it
was a struggle; you learn early on how to fend for yourself.

Southeast Los Angeles in the 1980s.

25
I could tell you about all the bad things that happened
in my life; coming from a broken home, divorce, drink-
ing, abandonment, etc. but that would only be half of the
story. In spite of the many shortcomings I had growing
up, I believe my parents did their best to raise us.
One constant I learned in my life, when I was going
through very hard and difficult times, was to look at each
difficult situation as a learning experience.
Despite coming from limited means, my family was
fortunate in the fact to grow up with a number of conve-
niences which included services delivered to our home.
What I really enjoyed most about my neighborhood,
which people commonly refer to as the barrio, was that
many of the nearby services would pick up and deliver.
Rather than go into town, the local dry cleaners would
come by the house on a regular basis to pick up and clean
our clothes. The local bottled water company, as well as
the nearby dairy, would also make their deliveries right to
our doorstep. It made things really convenient.
One of my fondest memories I have from my young
childhood, is that
of the “watermel-
on” family. I love
them to death. I
refer to them as the
“watermelon” fam-
ily because every
Saturday the fam-
ily would pull up to
the neighborhood
in their old, beat- Fresh fruit would be brought to the neighborhood
up pickup truck, nearly every week.

26
which was filled to the top with watermelons to sell to all
the people there in the barrio. It was those simple things,
those quirky, fun parts of my life, that I remember and
cherish most about my childhood. Now, although the
“watermelon” family were really nice people, they were all
obese; from the youngest son to the father. In fact, their
bellies were shaped just like melons. I point this fact out
because I seriously felt a kinship with them because I was
very obese myself as a kid and looked like I could easily fit
in with their family.
Being obese was something I really struggled with
growing up. It
would come to
define how I felt
about my self-im-
age and it drove
me to so many ex-
tremes. The plus
side, however, was
that I was able
Flan, Arroz con Leche were Art’s favorite deserts.
to eat anything I
wanted and I re-
ally loved to eat! I mean, it was those Mexican desserts
like “flan”, “arroz con leche”, “tres leches” that I couldn’t
get enough of. Since I didn’t have any other interests in
life such as athletics, my passions were eating sweets and
collecting comic books, especially Marvel and DC comics.
It’s hard for someone to understand how obesity affects
you unless you are fat yourself.
My life had been pretty much determined at birth
by my environment and my Latino culture. And yet, deep
down inside, I always had strong yearnings for something
27
more. By the time I was in
my early teens, I knew, or
at least I thought I knew, I
would pretty much lead an
average life. Average to me
was to get a job, live “hand
to mouth” and spend week-
ends drinking beer. Noth-
ing more, nothing less. It’s
not a bad life, but not what
I aspired to.
Since I was such a
screw up both at home and
at school, my parents would
A DC comic book.
send me off to stay with my
cousins in Tijuana, Mexico for the summer. These trips
turned out to be the best and most memorable times of
my life.
Living in Tijuana for the whole summer was a little
challenging at first, because I really didn’t have much of
a relationship with my cousins and I had a hard time as-
similating. But I eventually adjusted and made some long
lasting friendships, including one with David Bravo. He
was the neighborhood “Romeo.” Girls would just flock
to him. He was Mr. Rico Suave, always with a girl at his
side. Since I was the complete opposite, I lived vicariously
through him and I think he felt sorry for me so he took
me under his wing. In time, we would become lifelong
friends.
I was so fat and stout that one of my cousins nick-
named me “bull-man”. He would tease me and put me
down relentlessly. I had no choice but to suck it up. In
28
 Downtown Tijuana, Mexico in the 1980s.

time, it made me stronger and resilient. I have so many

memories of Mexico during this period of time includ-
ing having my first girlfriend and getting into my first fist
fight. Fun stuff! In retrospect, it was an amazing time of
personal growth and learning.

EVENTS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE
“Change is inevitable, progress is optional”
-- Tony Robbins
When I look back at my life’s journey, I have to
say that there were three defining events that would play
a huge role in my future. Although each seemed inconse-
quential at the time, in retrospect, they changed my whole
life’s trajectory.
The first defining event I recall, was getting jumped
by a bunch of gangbangers. One night (I was either stupid
or naïve or both), I decided to go down to the nearest li-
quor store. A friend of mine joined me as we walked down

29
to the store around midnight and we were jumped.
The first thing I remember was having a bottle
smashed over my head and then falling to the ground. It
happened so fast, the next thing I recall was being kicked
in the face by several gangbangers over and over again.
When I was finally able to get up, I was able to throw a
kick at one of them and push him back just far enough
so I could run and I ran for my life. When I finally got
home, I noticed a big
gash on my head across
my right eye and blood
all over my white shirt.
The gash on my head
would eventually re-
quire 11 stitches. I’ll
never forget that feel-
ing of helplessness and
fear.
I’ll never forget
the smell of my own
blood and the warm
feeling as it oozed from
my forehead, and that
large unforgiving gash over my right eye. It was all like a
really bad dream. It’s funny, but when you are actually get-
ting hit, you really don’t feel much pain, you just feel the
impact and concussion of the strikes. It isn’t until much
later that you feel the pain. It took me about like three
weeks before I had the courage to walk out of my house
again. I remember feeling so much rage. All I wanted to
do was to beat the crap out of those guys!!
****
30
 The second defining event actually happened
around the same time period, was discovering Bruce Lee.
During a better part of my childhood, my family
owned a small Mexican food restaurant, and of course as
the fate of all children growing up in a family business, we
were all required to help out. Most of my duties focused
primarily on washing dishes, mopping and sweeping the
floors, cleaning the counters, etc. Every morning, before
us kids left for school, we had to clean up and prep the
restaurant for opening.
Now, when we all got home from school we would
go directly to the restaurant to wash dishes, clean up the
floors and do whatever was needed to close up the place.
Unfortunately, this left no time for doing our homework
or pretty much anything else.
One day, my father thought it would be nice to re-
ward us for helping out so much. He thought that he would

Art’s family owned a Mexican restaurant.

31
treat us to a new movie that had just came out called “The
Chinese Connection” with this Chinese guy named Bruce
Lee. It was playing at the nearby theater so we rushed that
night, washed everything as fast as we could, mopped and
swept the floor as quickly
as humanly possible so
we could get there on
time for the movie. The
moment we finished, we
rushed to the theater and
by the time we got there,
they had just finished
showing the previews. However, the person behind the
counter said it’s too late and refused to sell us tickets to
see the movie.
It took me years to realize that this was one of many
encounters I would have with racism. The employee who
was Caucasian, looked down at us disdainfully. My father
pleaded with him, telling him that his kids worked really
hard to make it here to the theater and he really wanted
them to see this movie. Keep in mind that we weren’t ask-
ing for anything free, we were fully willing to pay to see the
movie. There were three of us including my father. The
employee finally relented but said we’d have to pay double
to see the movie.
This was a lot of money for us back then, but my
father was going to pay it because he had promised to re-
ward us for our hard work. So, just as my father began
taking out the additional money from his wallet, the man-
ager of the theater, who was also Caucasian, came out and
noticed my father putting a lot of money on the counter.
The manager asked my father why he was paying so
32
much. He said that he wanted to treat his kids to this film
because they worked so hard and that the person behind
the counter said he had to pay double because the movie
was already starting. My father said to him, “I will pay
whatever it takes to treat my kids.”
The manager, clearly upset, gave a look of disgust
at his employee. He then told my father to put his money
away and he put his arm around him and said that we will
be his personal guests tonight.
When I think about this moment, it still chokes me
up and I get very emotional about it, because of what the
manager did for us. As a Latino kid, in one single night I
experienced both the ugliness of racism and the compas-
sion of a wonderful human being. It resonates with me to
this day because it reminds me to always be compassionate
with others with both words and deeds.

Bruce Lee in the film, The Chinese Connection.

33
 We rushed through the double doors into the the-
ater. I was expecting a huge crowd. Oddly enough, there
wasn’t a single person in the entire theater except for us.
So, I ran as fast as I could to get to the middle of the
theater, of course, to get the best seat in the house. As I
watched The Chinese Connection I was completely mesmer-
ized. I was so fixated on Bruce Lee that I couldn’t even
tell you what the movie was about. It was simply amazing
to see so much raw charisma on the screen. That night
would literally change my life, though I didn’t know it
at the time. I was hooked. I became obsessed with Bruce

Bruce Lee made such an impact on peoples’ lives that a number of statues of
him have been erected across the world. This one is in Los Angeles Chinatown.

34
Lee just like so many millions around the world. Here was
this man, Bruce Lee who towered over everyone and in
one swoop, beat the crap out of the bad guys and defeated
prejudice with his hands and feet.
From that day on, I couldn’t get enough of Bruce
Lee. I would save up my money and every weekend go to
the swap meet to buy the newest Bruce Lee poster, Bruce
Lee pictures, anything that had to do with Bruce Lee.

****
The third defining event in my life came in the form
of infatuation. I was always falling in love with one girl or
another, of course, none them of knew it. My friends all
had girlfriends but I was always alone. I was fat, unattract-
ive and had the worst self-esteem ever; never feeling good
enough or deserving for that matter. Nevertheless, ever
the “romantic”, I was always falling in love with a beauti-
ful girl, even if it was just one-sided.
My first infatuation was a girl from Tijuana. She
was the love of my life (even though she didn’t know it).
I had had a crush on her for a long time. One of my best
friends kept egging me on to talk to her and let her know
how I felt. I finally got the courage one night to ask her to
be my girlfriend.
We were sitting on a brick fence at her house. My
heart was racing and I uttered something stupid, like
“What a beautiful night” and then I proceeded to ask her
“Do you want to be my girlfriend?” I think she knew it
was coming because no sooner had I gotten out the word
“girlfriend” that she responded IMMEDIATELY: “Pues,
NO!” (Translation: Heck no, No way, No how!!)
Now, you would think I would’ve been crushed by
35
 Art Camacho pic-
tured far right.

this, but nope. Lordy, I was just relieved that I had got-
ten the words out. Afterwards, when I had time to pro-
cess what had happened, my heart felt like it had been
stomped on.
With the next “love of my life” I fared a little better.
She was also from Tijuana and amazingly, she did become
my girlfriend, but it only lasted for just one date!!! Seri-
ously?!? But still, at that point, it was the longest relation-
ship I had ever had in my life.
To this day, I harbor no regrets. Nor do I blame
them one bit. We were so young. In fact, I am honestly
grateful for how things happened. If things had happened
differently and had either one of them said yes or at least,
lasted longer than one day, I would’ve been tempted to
settle down and probably never pursue my dreams.
It was a combination of these three defining events
among many others that led me to turn my life around.
If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that it is up to
you, and you alone, to change your life, or change the di-
rection of your future, if you really want to. You can wish

36
all you want, but change does not happen by wishing, but
by believing you can achieve anything you want and work-
ing towards that goal.
I soon began to focus on not only my body through
diet and training but my mind as well, because your
thoughts and your self-esteem are just as important if not
more so, than your biceps, kicks or punches for that mat-
ter.

Art Camacho with family on the set of Final Payback.

37
38
 Chapter 2
ME AND THE MARTIAL ARTS
“A kick is just a kick until you take one in the face”
-- Art Camacho

My first experience in the martial arts was at the age of

13 when a joined a local Japan Karate Federation school.
After only three months of class, the instructor went to
my father to talk to him. The instructor was a very, very
nice guy. He told my fa-
ther that he would help
me and do whatever he
could, but the instruc-
tor confided in my fa-
ther that his son was just
wasting time here. The
instructor felt that I was
never going to progress
and that I should basi-
cally give up the martial
arts and take up tennis,
take up anything else but
the martial arts.
After hearing that,
39
The “King of Kata,” Eric Lee.

40
I decided to quit the
class and try learn-
ing tae kwon do in-
stead. I fared a bit
better but somehow
I wasn’t ready for it.
I really believe that
when you are ready,
it will come.
One day, on
one of my summer
breaks in Tijuana, I
remember seeing my
cousin’s next door
neighbor teaching
martial arts in their
backyard. Now, just
a short time earlier, The founder of won hop kuen do,
I had gotten beat up. hall of famer Al Dacascos.
Unlike before, I was motivated to learn something, any
type of martial arts, to defend myself.
The instructor seemed pretty good so I informal-
ly joined the class to at least get a feeling for fighting. It
didn’t take too long before I got into the groove of learn-
ing and practicing.
Upon my return back home to Los Angeles, I was
able to locate a kung fu instructor. His name was Grand-
master Eric Lee. Sifu Lee not only taught me a style of
kung fu called won hop kuen do, but he became more of
a mentor to me and won hop kuen do formed my martial
arts foundation.
Over the many years, I have been able to train in
41
42
 Art training with wing chun expert, Samuel Kwok.

various systems including the Filipino art of kali, Bruce

Lee’s jeet kune do, boxing, kickboxing and Ip Man wing
chun under Grandmaster Samuel Kwok. I have also been
blessed to study under some of the great masters sporadi-
cally including the late Sifu Jerry Poteet, Sifu Tim Tackett,
Guro Richard Bustillo, and many others. I will never stop
training and learning from others, but my core lies in the
Al Dacascos won hop kuen do system.

43
Warner Bros. poster from Enter the Dragon.

44
 Chapter 3
THE IMPACT OF BRUCE LEE
“Poetry in motion, a whirlwind of power and grace;
The great equalizer”
-- Art Camacho

When I saw Bruce Lee on the screen I wasn’t watch-

ing a man, I was watching a phenomenon. Bruce Lee per-
sonified power and grace, and his explosiveness was un-
matched. His charisma transcended anything I’d ever seen
before and I knew that this was something special.

Choreographing action on the set of Hustle Down.

45
 The “World of Bruce Lee Museum” was located in Hollywood.

Watching him in action on the big screen awakened

something in me that had been dormant all of my life.
I didn’t want to be like Bruce Lee, but I wanted to
have my own way of expressing myself to garner the great-
est effect for change. I wanted to “channel my inner Bruce
Lee” as opposed to mimicking Bruce Lee. I think that’s
the best way of putting it. It took a while, but I slowly
turned from being embarrassed of who I was, to embrac-
ing who I am.
46
 Today, the “Black Beauty” can be found in the Peterson Museum.

The movie “The Chinese Connection” opened a door

in my life and put me on a path that would eventually
propel me to many, many great things in life. When I saw
Bruce Lee for the first time, it made me feel that I can be
as good as anyone and that I didn’t have to settle for sec-
ond best; that I could be the best if I worked hard enough.
It was through the inspiration of Bruce Lee and the mar-
tial arts that I was able to discover my self-worth.
One interesting story that I would like to add to
this chapter that reveals my fascination with Bruce Lee was
47
when I discovered “The World of Bruce Lee Museum” in
Hollywood. For a fanatic like me, it was so amazing.
They actually had Bruce Lee’s nunchaku from En-
ter the Dragon and the yellow jumpsuit from The Game of
Death with Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s footprint still on it. I
then started volunteering there for a couple years until it
closed its doors. But as awesome as that was, the coolest

Grandmaster Samuel Kwok.

48
 One of many posters from The Chinese Connection.

thing was meeting Bruce Lee’s family Linda, Brandon and

Shannon and having Bruce Lee’s mother Grace Li, actu-
ally teach me how to eat using chopsticks!! How cool is
that???
Bruce Lee has had the greatest influence in my life
and I will always see him as the great equalizer in more
ways than one.

49
50
 Chapter 4
FINDING MY PURPOSE
“The only person you are destined to become
is the person you decide to be”
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always had this gnaw-

ing feeling deep down inside of me, telling me that I
was destined for something great. I didn’t know how or
what it would be, but that undeniable feeling was always
there.
Through my life’s experiences and discovering the
many great books I’ve read over the years, including the
Bible, I began to understand that life was not just a se-
ries of events with no meaning; but a series of challenges,
discoveries and clues to my destiny. It is, and has been
through the toughest times I’ve faced, that I’ve learned
the most and grown closer to fulfilling my purpose.
One of the toughest challenges I faced early on was
“bullying”. My earliest memories of middle school were
tainted by being bullied continually. Bullies come in all
shapes and sizes, in fact bullying was one of the reasons
that I started messing up in school. I was afraid to go to
school because I was either picked on, humiliated or beat
up.
51
 It was easier just to ditch school rather than to face
the bullies. From time to time I would try standing up to
them but I would suffer the consequences because they
could smell the fear in me. I felt so helpless and desperate,
not knowing what to do. Things could get worse for me if
I did something and they could also get worse if I didn’t
do anything.
I had a choice to make: Live my life in the grip
of fear or “man up” and fight back. I chose the latter. It
wasn’t easy but I slowly began to emerge from that grip
of fear that had paralyzed me and had kept me a victim. I
started seeing through their veneer of hate and discovered
that they were just a bunch of punks who felt strongest
when they beat others down.
I saw them for the cowards they were and used all
that pent up anger and rage to fight back. It took a while
but eventually, I emerged from the cycle of being bullied.
When I look back at my life I see my experiences
like footsteps in the sand that leave behind a trail. It seems
like every hardship I’ve encountered has come with a bless-
ing. I don’t always see the blessing til long after, but nev-
ertheless, the blessings have been there. The total of my
life’s experiences have played a key role in leading me into
a career in films are much like the “Big Bang Theory”. A
confluence of factors coming together at once: Bruce Lee,
rejection, growing up as a Latino American, getting beat
up, the martial arts, faith in Jesus, etc: BANG!!!

52
53
54
 Chapter 5
THE JOURNEY
“My journey of a thousand miles began with a job at a fast food joint”
-- Art Camacho

I remember when I was seventeen I got a part-time job at

an Orange Julius franchise. They mostly employed young
people and as a result, they had a very high turnover rate
and my time there was no exception. So many people were
getting fired or quit, that in only six months I was promot-
ed to assistant manager and shortly thereafter, I became
the manager of
the store. After
two years as its se-
nior employee, I
had actually mas-
tered every facet
of the job and I
was getting pretty
bored with it.
As a man- In the 1970s, Orange Julius was one of the most
ager, I was a sala- popular food chains.

ried employee actually making good money and yet, only

putting in about 20 hours a week. I’ve always had a knack
55
 One of Art’s many
pleasures, reading
Marvel and DC
comic books.

for teaching others so

I was always taking on
the duty of teaching
every new employee
I hired. I taught my
people so well that
there were able to
run the store with-
out any supervision
from me. They be-
came a well-oiled
machine which of
course, left little for me to do, which was the idea.
My mornings usually consisted of opening up the
store, telling my employees what to do and once that was
complete, I would go to the backroom and spend my time
in the restroom. I would sit there, on the toilet, for an
hour or so at time, just reading comic books. That’s how
it was, day in and day out.
Now I could have continued that way, grown with
the company and kept making good money. But a voice
inside my head kept gnawing at me, telling me to move
on.
One day as I was sitting on the toilet reading the
latest comic book, I had an epiphany and I decided that I
was going to quit my job.
Now, at this same time, I was offered another great

56
 One of Gordon’s Jewelers chain of stores.

opportunity, which was to manage a chain of jewelry

stores. The regional manager of Gordon’s Jewelers had
come up to me and we started talking. He already knew
my background (which was in jewelry at the age of 16, at
my Uncle’s jewelry store) and he said to me that I would
be a perfect candidate for the company. He said that I
would be making a lot of money including a percentage of
all diamond sales.
For a moment I thought, “Wow, this is it! This is
my ticket!” I’d be making more money than I had ever
dreamed of. I could get the car and house of my dreams.
What’s not to like!!! BUT…It wasn’t for me. Stupid huh???
Crazy huh??? All of the above!!
I turned it down. I remember feeling that I had
made a huge mistake. But somehow I knew, that wasn’t
my destiny. That voice inside of me kept telling me that
57
this wasn’t “IT”. Now, at the time I didn’t know what “IT”
was but I knew I had to get out of my comfort zone and
look for “IT”. I made the bold decision to quit my job at
Orange Julius, saying to myself “I’m going to be an actor;
I’m going to make it in films”.
A short time thereafter, I went to the Big Apple,
New York to make it as an actor. Big mistake, I failed mis-
erably. I couldn’t even get myself arrested. It was one of
the stupidest decisions of my life.
So, I decided
to come back to Los
Angeles with my tail
tucked between my
legs. I then started
doing some work as
a background actor
(extra) of which I was
making about twen-
ty-five bucks, thirty
bucks, forty bucks a
day. It wasn’t enough
to live on so I kept Art traveled to the Big Apple, New York in his
working side jobs. search to become an actor on stage or on film.

Being an extra allowed me to do something that I

was aspiring to do, work on a real movie set. It provided
me with an opportunity to actually see, first hand, what it
was like to make movies. Now, at that time, I had no idea
of how the film industry worked so it was all very fascinat-
ing to me.
It only took a few extra gigs for me to notice the
standard “MO” for the extras. They would report to set,
check in and then hang out by the craft service table and
58
complain, brag and gossip, then work a little and then go
home. I did the same thing for a couple of times, but the
fun factor wore off pretty quickly.
I decided to turn it around and make it a learn-
ing experience.
I started study-
ing the guys
working behind
the scenes: the
directors, the
camera guys, the
grips, the gaffers
etc. I was study-
ing how they
did their jobs
from setting up
a shot to light- Art Camacho co-starring in “The Chinatown Connection”.
ing it, to block-
ing the scenes. It didn’t take long until I began gravitat-
ing from hanging out at the food table with the extras to
sneaking around and hanging out with the crews as they
would set up each shot.
Now, because I was just an extra on the set, I used
to put all the directors on a pedestal. I couldn’t fathom,
how in the heck they would come up with such great
ideas. However, I began to realize that not all of them were
“Spielberg’s” or “Scorsese’s” and it was then that I started
to believe that I could see myself directing movies.
I started to understand the only limits I had in life
were the ones I put on myself. It was at that moment that
I felt I could apply the same principles to working in the
film industry as I did with my own training regimen.
59
 After Bruce Lee, I had dedicated myself not to just
excelling at the martial arts, but to overcome my obesity
and become fit and trim. With Bruce Lee’s physique as
my example, I would commit myself to getting into the
best shape of my life.
In a matter of a few short years, I had gone from
an overweight kid with no aspirations, to a fit martial art-
ist with new hopes and dreams. I had gone from being
embarrassed to take off my jacket to eventually grace the
covers of martial arts magazines shirtless. “I got this!”
Bruce Lee once said “knowing is not enough we
must apply; willing is not enough we must do”.
I started applying myself 100 percent in the pursuit
of a career in films and it didn’t take long before the doors

60
 On the set of The Chinatown Connection.

began to open. I went into the eye of the storm willingly in

pursuit of my destiny. No turning back.
My path in life hasn’t been easy. In fact, I think at
times I’ve had a harder path in life than many, but to me
the key is not to dwell on self-pity. Instead, use the negativ-

61
ity as a driving force and simply keep moving forward even
if it’s incrementally.
Of course, there have been times when I’ve been
down on myself facing many obstacles, and it’s at those
times that I take a step back and reflect on the journey
and on my purpose in life. It’s at those times that I refuse
to be defined by my failures. Instead, I fight to define my-
self by my persistence in overcoming obstacles, no matter
how great they are.
That doesn’t mean I am free from self-doubt and
failure. I still make some really boneheaded decisions that
knock me down but the landing is bit softer nowadays.
Now let’s not count out that I can still make some stupid
decisions which I continue to do periodically. For exam-
ple, by this time I had graduated from extra work to doing
some stunt work and getting a few principal roles in a
number of films. I eventually got to appear as a co-star in
an independent film called, “The Chinatown Connection.”
To be honest, it went to my head. I thought I was “the
shit”. I thought I was so “cool”
and that the martial arts maga-
zines would be knocking down
my door to put me in their
publications.
Boy, was I WRONG!! I
had gone up to the Black Belt
magazine offices with my head
in the clouds, acting as “cocky”
as ever and I was able to speak
to one of the editors, who was
actually very nice to me. After Black Belt magazine is considered
our conversation, I left her a the leading martial arts publication.
62
picture of me and press release about my great work and
martial arts background. You could almost hear the paper
shredder turn-on the moment I walked out of their offic-
es. Needless to say, they did not put me in their magazine.

Martial Arts Illustrated is the leading publication in the United Kingdom.

63
 The lesson
I learned here was
that “cockiness”
does not neces-
sarily pay off. It
is a business and
you have to bring
value or go to the
back of the line.
Of course many
years later, once
I started really
achieving acclaim
for my work, I
started getting
approached by
various publi-
Since his first encounter at Black Belt magazine,
cations for sto- Art has appeared on numerous covers.
ries on me. In
fact, I have been blessed enough to have been
on the covers of several magazines over the years.
Honestly, this validation feels good, but it doesn’t
make me any better than my peers, just a bit lucky and
blessed. I use this not to aggrandize myself but to market
myself and show that if this fat kid from the barrio can do
it, so can you! And though it is a cliché, I live by the motto
of “never let them see you sweat”. All the successes in my
life have been through believing in my dreams and work-
ing my butt off!

64
65
Martin Kove and Richard Grieco on the set of Final Payback.

66
 Chapter 6
CONFRONTING MY FAILURES
“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars”
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Anything that’s worth striving for is never easy. I can’t

tell you how many times I’ve failed. I failed at jobs, I failed
in relationships, I failed in school, in fact I dropped out of
high school but not before getting 4:F’s, 1:D, and 1:C in
my freshman year alone, but SO WHAT! That’s life. I had
67
 Art on the set with martial arts legends and hall of famers,
Wally Jay and Michael DePasquale Sr.

no one to blame but myself, good or bad, I own it!

I came to realize that we are not born entitled to
anything except living and dying and even living is a bit
suspect. We have to earn what blessings we get, and some-
times we fail in the process.
Since my youth, I have learned many things, most
of which come from my own personal failures. And, yes,
I sometimes have the bad habit of repeating those failures
again and again. In the process I’ve become grateful for
the blessings that followed each of my failures which I use
as stepping stones to succeed.
With that being said, I recall one of my first failures
in the entertainment industry. I was working at a Span-
68
 Michael DePasquale Jr. with Art Camacho on the set of The Cut Off.

ish Language Ad Agency as a production assistant. The

producer and I hit it off really quickly and he was really
impressed with my work and believed in me. He saw how
professional I was so one day, he came up to me and told
me that he would like me to direct a few spots for the
agency. Needless to say, I was completely blown away. I
couldn’t believe it, here I was actually going to direct com-
mercials. What a wonderful opportunity this was, but, the
only problem was that I didn’t know how to direct.

69
 So, on the first day on the set of my directing debut,
I had no idea what I was doing. I had planned on relying
a lot on my DP (Director of Photography). Now, the first
of my problems was that the DP had his own agenda and
he did not want to help me whatsoever. In fact, he was
upset because he wanted to be directing the commercials
instead of me.
My second obstacle was that the actress wasn’t able
to memorize her dialogue so we had to get her cue cards
to read from.
As we prepared to shoot, the actress could barely
read the cue cards and the director of photography would
not lift a finger to help me as he just stood there with
his arms crossed saying “where do you want the camera?”
I asked him for his suggestions and he smugly replied
“you’re the director”.
He offered no help at all so I decided to just wing it.
As a rookie director, I didn’t understand transitions like
close up shots, medium shots, I didn’t know anything! So,
we just had the camera sitting there in one spot and then
ended up with nothing to cut away to. I have to say, it was
the worst commercial in the world, so bad. Seriously!!
The thing that I learned from that experience was
to always be prepared. You never know when opportuni-
ties will arise so you have to wake up every morning and
prepare yourself in case something falls into your lap.
After that experience, I decided that I was going to
learn how to operate the camera, I was going to learn how
to light up sets, learn about sound, editing, etc. I never,
ever want to be put in that position again. I feel it’s so im-
portant to have the drive to succeed, to have that determi-
nation that the harder I get kicked, the harder I hit back.
70
 Working out a
fight routine
with kickboxing
pioneer and hall
of famer, Joe
Lewis.

The more people try to shut me down or slap me down,

the faster I’ll get back up and come back swinging.
Failure has sometimes knocked me down and
kicked my butt, then, when I’m through feeling sorry for
myself, I usually get back up, dust myself off and get back
in the race. There is nothing wrong with feeling sorry for
yourself for a short time. After all, we are all feeling hu-
man beings.

71
72
 Chapter 7
LISTEN AND LEARN
“I am better when I help my brother;
I am stronger when I empower him”
-- Art Camacho

We are living in polarizing times and it’s very easy to

fall back on despair and negativity. Things will always be
bad in this world and it will take us down if we allow it to.
Many times it’s a matter of perception, how we perceive it
and how we per-
ceive ourselves.
Now I
didn’t go to the
best schools,
nor have the
best training
in filmmaking,
I didn’t even
have the best
upbringing but, I have been able to dream and in time,
believe enough in myself to make that dream a reality.
My whole life has been defined by the obstacles I’ve
overcome on my journey, whether it was physical, mental
or spiritual. I learned that obstacles served to strengthen
73
Sasha Mitchell and Ice T on the set.

74
my resolve and test my willingness to fight for my dreams.
By all accounts, I should not be on covers of maga-
zines and yet there I’ve been. I have the tenacity and fear-
lessness of a Chihuahua standing up to a Pitbull.
Through a powerful imagination and non-stoppa-
ble determination, I have been able to overcome so many
of life’s obstacles. Imagine this, a fat little kid from the
barrio making movies and garnering worldwide acclaim, I
still can’t believe it.
I know for a fact that I am not alone and there are
others out there who dream as I have dreamed. I firmly
believe that if I can do it, ANYONE CAN!
I try not to listen to those who knock me down
and be open to the voice inside of me that builds me up.
I believe that God put the desire in me, but it is up to me
to find the means to make my dreams my reality.

75
76
 Chapter 8
THE LATINO CONNECTION
“Si si puede”
-- Cesar Chavez

I have found that there is so much talent out there in the

American Latino community. Unfortunately, as a com-
munity we do not support each other enough and we al-
low this divisiveness to squash our hope. It’s time that we,
as a community, come together and aspire to help each
other instead of hindering each other.
Let me confess, when I started working in the en-
tertainment industry, I started out at rock bottom, liter-
ally cleaning toilets on a soundstage in Hollywood and I
gradually moved up the ladder to work as a production
assistant for a Spanish language commercial. Within two
years or less, I was already producing, writing and direct-
ing commercials. I did this by hard work and never giving
up. I didn’t think and I still don’t think that any job is
beneath me.
When I was pursuing my career, I so wanted to be
a part of the Latino entertainment industry. However, I
found out quickly that the “elitist Latinos” in the industry
(those who came before me) scoffed at me for working on
77
what they referred to as “those little commercials”. But
that didn’t deter me and it didn’t even bother me.
I also experienced the same when I was doing some
commercial spots for the city of Los Angeles. Myself and
a crew were hired to shoot an event for Hispanic Heri-
tage Month which was going to be attended by a number

Art Camacho directing the film The Cut Off.

of Hispanic Council Members. I found that they were so

full of themselves, they were so in “awe” of themselves
that they couldn’t bring themselves to give us the time
78
 photo by Arlene Barshinger
of day, let alone talk to us. Apparently, our station in life
was beneath them. Their reaction actually stung me a bit
but what really mattered was not where I came from, but-
where I was going.
Their little insults and the in-between stuff was
only temporary. I always say “use it”. Use the negativity
to make you more determined and use the fire in your
belly to ignite that inner furnace. It is a bit unfortunate
that we, as Latino-Americans are our own worst enemies,
but SO WHAT! Sure there is racism all around us, but
it’s worse when it comes from your own community. We
have a choice to either keep others down and squash their
dreams through our own arrogance or inspire tomorrow’s
Latino-American leaders and entrepreneurs and enter-
tainers. I choose the latter.
I feel that one of the biggest challenges I have faced
is to silence the doubt and the fear that sometimes creeps
79
 in. I can’t tell you how
many times I fall back
on the feeling that I’m
not good enough, not
talented enough, and
not deserving enough,
especially when it
comes from my own
community.
It’s a constant
Art with Michael Matsuda on Sci-Fighter. battle but I fight back
with the knowledge
that I am good enough and that I am deserving of the
blessings I’ve received. This is not to say that I am in de-
nial, of course I am far from perfect, I’ve made more mis-
takes than I care to mention and yes, there is bad in this
world, and yes there are haters in this world who want to
keep you down but…SO WHAT!!! I know that not every-

Art Camacho directing a choking scene.

80
 Art Camacho working on the Universal Back Lot.

one likes me or my work: SO WHAT! I know that not

everyone likes the idea of this Latino-American calling the
shots: SO WHAT!
I will always have the choice to give them the power
or to silence them by my deeds and actions. In fact, I re-
member vividly when a very dear uncle of mine sat me
down one day and talked to me about my future. I told
him that I had a dream about being in movies and he said
to me (and I paraphrase) “Mijo, you have no personality,
nor any talent and are not good looking, so don’t even
waste your time. Instead, get a real job and you’ll do well”.
Those words hit me like a ton of bricks, more so
because I really admired and looked up to him. His words
81
 Working on a movie with Coolio.

actually caused me to begin drifting for a few years as it

made me lose the desire to fulfill my dreams. I had given
up. I had decided he was right and I was going to set out to
find a good paying job and live a comfortable life. There
is nothing wrong with that whatsoever, but deep down
inside a part of me I just couldn’t let go of that dream
and one day, that dormant passion finally got back on its
feet.
Every chance I get, I try to encourage others to “live
the dream”. Now, living the dream is different for every-
one, for me it was working in films and television. The
only thing I warn them of is that you will have to work
for it. For me, there were no shortcuts. I worked very hard
and sacrificed a lot to “live the dream”. It’s a never ending
process. I will continue working hard towards living the
dream until I die.
Another important lesson I’ve learned, (life it-
self is a learning process), is that the “journey” is
82
 Corbin Bersen and Martin Kove.

just as important as the destination. I neglected so

many things on my journey, I made many mistakes
in my relationships, family and friends due to fact
that I stayed focused “solely” on the destination.
Everyday, I am learning that I have to make time
for family and friends and most importantly, for myself as
I learn to enjoy the “now”, because you might never reach
the destination ahead of you but you will live the journey
and that too is part of the dream. To this day, I am still
learning to live in the moment while keeping an eye on
the future.

83
Art Camacho and Bruce Lee’s brother Robert Lee.

84
 Chapter 9
RISING ABOVE THE NEGATIVITY
“You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth
may be the best thing in the world for you”
-- Walt Disney

I could speak volumes about how rough I had it. How

bad my life was growing up. How being a “Mama’s Boy”, I
was hurt when my parents divorced and moved up north,
taking all my siblings with her and leaving me behind.
Or the time, when I tried to step between my drunken
parents fighting, my mother grabbed me and slammed me
aside; or when I got beaten up over and over by punks
in the neighborhood and in school, blah, blah, blah, SO
WHAT!!!
Besides, I wasn’t that good of a kid myself. I prob-
ably deserved the beatings and I brought many of that
upon myself. Life happens and it’s not always going to
be all good. As a human being I will never get completely
over all the bad stuff that happened in my life but I will
always work to rise above it because those bad experiences
made me who I am.
I remember once hearing a powerful speech by
Tony Robbins and it resonated with me so much because
at the end of his speech he said, “If I had, had the mother
85
I wanted, I would not be the man I am proud to be”. It
resonated because I know that my life’s challenges are not
excuses to fail but reasons to succeed. I knew then, and
know now, that life will never be all good or all bad and in
fact, when I’ve gone
through my trials,
I’ve become so much
more grateful for
the life I lead today.
Now, I have to
mention, there were
several times I’ve
tried to walk away
from my dreams only
to have them pull me
back in. I remember
once, some years ago
during an especially
dark period in my Working with actor Martin Kove,
star of The Karate Kid.
life, from both a per-
sonal and professional standpoint, I had actually decided
to quit directing for good, and turn my back on everything
I had ever dreamed of and worked for most of my life.
I was tired of the struggle and wanted out. I pretty
much closed up shop, I made the decision to quit the “mov-
ies”. I went out and lied myself into a job and was work-
ing 9-5. It was a physically challenging job and I didn’t let
anyone know what I did previously for a living. Honestly, I
have to admit, it is was actually so refreshing; not having to
worry or think about anything. Just lift this or move that,
have a regular lunch hour, you know, live a normal life.
No more 18 hour days, no more being on call 24/7, no
86
 more fruitless
meetings, etc. It
was so tempting
to stay and so
relaxing in so
many ways, but
yet deep down
I felt that I was
living a lie; that
I wasn’t cut out
for this easy
Working with Scotty Richards and Susan Frailey. life.
I would show up, make my coffee and get to work.
I thought, “YES!” No stress, no worries, no having to be
Art Camacho. And yet, as much as I tried to completely
assimilate, a small part of myself kept gnawing at me and
pulling me away. It was almost as if something greater than
I, was not allowing me to give up on my dreams.
After a few months, I couldn’t take the good life
anymore. I needed the rush, I needed the challenge, and
as much as it pained me, I quit my job and jumped back
into the deep end of the river again.
Life is funny that way, many times when we think
we are ready to give up on our dreams, it slaps you across
the face and asks you, “What the heck are you think-
ing dummy!!” The lesson I learned from this was that I
couldn’t walk away from my dreams. Bear in mind, when
I talk about my dreams, it’s a bit selfish and you need to
be a “bit” selfish. But more broadly, I do it for not only
myself but for my wife and kids and to inspire those who
come after me.

87
 I like to say that I eat, sleep and dream living this life.
I made it happen, not because of me, but at times in spite
of me. Now, I’m not the most talented, the best looking,
the best anything. To be truthful, and I kid around about
my looks a lot. I wear my leather jackets, trench coats, dark
sunglasses in-
doors, etc. I do
this to be me.
I am hav-
ing too much
fun with life to
be proper or
prudent. I don’t
take myself too
seriously be-
cause I am com-
Hall of famer and icon, Steven Seagal.
fortable in my
skin. However, when it comes to my craft, I take it deadly
serious. In fact, I make it look so easy that sometimes
people watching me work and think it is easy. Newsflash:
IT’S NOT!
So many elements and preparations go into each
film. Whether it’s doing stunts, fight choreography, direct-
ing or writing. It is a culmination of many years of learn-
ing and working. I will always have naysayers and critics. I
will never try to silence their voices. But I am selective in
how I let those voices affect me personally or emotionally.
After all, everything we do is an emotional experience.
The negative words can really break our spirit if we choose
to let them.
I learned to let it go and not give space to those
who would try to break your spirit. Instead, focus on those
88
 Art with the daughter of Bruce Lee, Shannon.

whose voices will help give wings to your soaring dreams.

And most importantly, I know I am never alone. There
has always been someone in my corner, be it family or be
it a friend. I could not achieve my dreams without them.
I believe that life will never be perfect, nor will it
be fair, but you can take out of it what you want. Find
the courage to risk ridicule and failure. Don’t let failure
define you, or beat you to a pulp. Learn from it and laugh
at it. When I first started working in commercials, more
often than not, I was ridiculed and put down by my own
friends and family. I did not let that stop me. No matter
how many times I’ve failed in life, I will never lose hope in
a better today, nor in an amazing tomorrow.
89
The Chinatown Connection starring Bruce Ly, Lee Majors Jr. and Art Camacho.

90
 Chapter 10
LIFE IN THE MOVIES
“If a million people see my movie,
I hope they see a million different movies”
-- Quentin Tarantino

I remember one of my first big experiences as an actor

was co-starring in a film called “The Chinatown Connection”
starring Bruce Ly, Pat McCormick and Lee Majors Jr. (son
of the Lee Majors of the Six Million Dollar Man television
series). It was an
awesome experi-
ence. I was so wet
behind the ears
but because of
that, I was fearless.
It took me three
auditions with the
director and pro-
ducers before I got
the part.
This was a
dream come true,
I got to act, do my Acting in The Chinatown Connection.

91
 On the set with kickboxing legend, hall of famer and movie star
Don “The Dragon” Wilson.

own fights and assist in the fight choreography. How cool

was that!! Even though it was my first real experience do-
ing on-screen fights, I had been preparing myself for this
moment since I was a kid watching all those kung fu ac-
tion films.
Now, to put this in perspective, at the time, I was
doing a lot of extra work in films and I was itching at the
chance to do something substantial and this was it. I did
not take anything for granted. I studied my lines, prepared
for the action and listened, which was the most important
thing for anyone, especially for an actor.
The one thing I didn’t count on was being stupid
enough to pull my hamstring on the first day of fight re-
hearsals. Plain and simple, it was stupid. I had worked
92
with heavy weights the day before. Instead of gradually
stretching, I went in and did a straight up vertical kick. I
heard the sound of something ripping and immediately
felt the sharp pain.
I didn’t let on to anyone that I had torn my ham-
string. I worked through the pain and compensated by us-
ing my functioning limbs in the fight action scene. It took
me about eight months to recover. LESSON LEARNED!! I
took what could’ve been devastating and turned it around
by getting out of my comfort zone and working on differ-
ent techniques to
compensate for
the bum leg.
From that
point on, I was
working spo-
radically doing
some minor act-
ing roles in a few
films. Until one
day my kung fu
instructor, Sifu
Eric Lee, called
me up and asked
if I wanted to get
my butt kicked
on a movie star-
ring Don “The
Dragon” Wilson.
Don Wil- Don “The Dragon” Wilson and Art Camacho
strike a friendship that would last for years.
son was one of
my idols. I followed his kickboxing career and then his
93
budding film career so I didn’t hesitate to say YES!!! I
think at the time they were paying something like 50 bucks
for the day. But I would’ve paid them to be in the movie.
This was a film called “Ring of Fire” and they shot it in Los
Angeles Chinatown.
The scene I was going to be in called for 20 to 30
guys beating the heck out of each other, but the best part
about it was that I was actually going to meet Don in per-
son. The opportunity also introduced me to PM Enter-
tainment (an independent production company), which
at the time was “the big dog” of independent films.
I was still relatively new to fight choreography and
the whole process around it. They had put together a fight
scene for me where this one guy was supposed to kick me
in the chest as I ran at him from behind.
We rehearsed the scene several times and the guy
kicked pretty hard but it didn’t matter, I was just happy
to be in a movie and working with Don “The Dragon”
Wilson.
So, they rolled the film and in the first take, he
kicks me in the chest and I fall down hard on the ground.
Bear in mind, I didn’t have any pads or anything to pro-
tect myself. We were just falling on hard concrete and I
didn’t care, it was fun.
Then on take two, the guy kicked me and this time
it was a little higher and again I fall down, same thing.
Take three, I was in my groove and I was ready for it. But
this time when I ran into him, he kicked me even higher
and he actually landed his side kick solidly on my throat.
Fortunately for me, my feet were already airborne at the
point of impact. So when his foot landed, it was more of
a hard push against my throat and I went flying back onto
94
 Art’s career encompasses film directing, fight choreography, stuntwork,
scriptwriting, producing and now, author.

the ground (had I been on my feet standing, that strong

kick would’ve crushed my windpipe).
So, when I fell down I stayed there as per the scene,
but this time it seemed different. I didn’t hear the direc-
tor yell “cut”. I was lying there for what seemed a long
time and then I began thinking, “oh my God, I screwed
up.” I thought I messed up the scene and maybe the guy
got hurt because I didn’t take the kick correctly. So many
thoughts were going through my head while lying there
on the ground with my eyes closed.
Finally, I got the courage to open my eyes and as
I looked around, I saw all these people standing around
me. They were looking at me as if I was dead!? The crew
had seen the kick land squarely on my throat. When
they didn’t see me move they thought I was a goner. I’m
thinking, “I’m fired,” and everyone else was thinking I
95
96
was dead. When I finally got up everyone was so relieved,
mostly me because I wasn’t fired. Then I heard someone
say, “let’s use that Mexican again because he gets beat up
and doesn’t complain”.
Timing, hard work and bit of luck intervened in
my life shortly thereafter. PM Entertainment was in on
the ground floor of creating kickboxing genre films and
my Sifu Eric Lee was their fight choreographer. How lucky
was that!
PM Entertainment was doing a film in Las Vegas
and they needed a lot of help so I volunteered to drive
myself back and forth. Didn’t matter to me that I wasn’t
getting paid initially because I took it as a learning expe-
rience. However, it was through that film that I earned
my Screen Actors Guild (SAG) card of which I thank the
principal Joseph Merhi.
PM Entertainment liked my work so much that
they started hiring me to do action acting and stunts in
their movies. Now, keep this in mind, although I qualified
for my SAG card, there comes a point when you have to
pay your initial dues. Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford the
initial dues. So I went to one of the producers of PM and
told her that I would have to turn down the job because I
didn’t have enough money for the required fees.
She thought about it for a few moments then
asked me how much were the dues. At the time they were
$900.00 (a lot of money for me). She then made a phone
call and hired me for some preliminary prep work that
paid me $900.00 so I could pay my dues and join the
union and work on their next film. I will never forget that.
In time, PM ended up hiring me as a SAG stunt-
man and I eventually began doing their fight choreogra-
97
 phy. After working on a
number of films, I got a
call from Don Wilson’s
manager, Paul Maslak.
He told me that
their choreographer
was tied up on an-
other film and asked
if I’d be interested in
working with Don as a
fight choreographer. I
jumped at the chance.
It was the beginning
On the set with Tom Sizemore.
of, not only a great col-
laboration, but a great friendship.
It wasn’t long until the word got out and I began
being hired as a fight choreographer for more and more
films. I was also hired to play bit parts in several of the
films as well, but I also got the opportunity to be a direc-
tor for the fight action scenes.
The first time I was put to the test as an “action
director” was on a film called “To Be the Best”, which was
directed by Joseph Merhi. We were shooting the movie
in Las Vegas and I had choreographed a fight on the top
of the Sands Hotel. No sooner had I rehearsed with the
actors Joseph came to me and said “Art, you ‘direct’ this
fight scene”. I was shocked. I didn’t know how to react.
(Another lesson here).
All this time I never gave much thought to direct-
ing fight scenes or even editing. I was just focused on the
choreography. So there I was in Vegas, at night, on top of
a casino being asked to direct a fight scene. Joseph then
98
 Stunt coordinating an action scene with Bai Ling.

turned to the assistant director, who had a lot of experi-

ence, and said “Jerry, let him do it on his own”. When I
heard that my heart dropped. I thought to myself, “this
is it. For sure someone’s going to throw me off the roof
when I screw this up”.
So, after I calmed myself down, I set up my first
shot with the help of the DP (Director of Photography).
The first few set ups were very challenging but then I fell
99
into my groove and started to visualize the shots in my
head. From that point on, I began directing all the fight
action scenes in the movies I worked on.
The odd thing about this film was the speed in
which the fight scenes were being shot. Joseph would lit-
erally walked through the casino with a cameraman and
two assistants in the time it took to set up the camera
and lights, (which was about 10-15 minutes). In that short
time period, I was required to have the fight scene literally
rehearsed and ready to shoot, which meant I had a 10-15
minute window to get them ready. He repeated this meth-
od several times and as a result, I became very, very good
at setting up fight scenes from this whole experience.
After about 30 films later, Joseph Merhi decided to
give me a shot as the primary director on one of his films
and I have never looked back. Joseph not only gave me a
career and livelihood, but he helped me to live the dream.
The lesson I learned from this experience is that
you have to always be prepared for the unexpected op-
portunities that come your way and never, ever, think that
you alone are responsible for your success. God will put
different people in your path that will help you or open
doors for you. You have a responsibility to pay it forward.
I’ve had so many people who have supported my dream
including Joseph, Eric Lee, my father, my friends, my wife
and children. I owe them all a huge debt of gratitude.
In the beginning of my career I was an actor and
then stunt fighter and then won acclaim as a renowned
fight choreographer prior to directing. I created a niche
for myself as a fight choreographer by working well and
fast. I even developed my own method of teaching actors
and martial artists how to fight for films. One thing to
100
 Art Camacho on the set of Half Past Dead with Kurrupt and Ja Rule.

keep in mind is that even though movie making is an art

form, it is still a business and as such, you have to serve
the needs of the production.
I have been blessed enough to choreograph fights
for many of the same people I had either watched on the
big screen or on DVD’s. Everyone from Don “The Drag-
on” Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock, Michael Dudikoff, John
Saxon, Martin Kove, Patrick Kilpatrick, Sasha Mitchell,
Richard Grieco, Tom Sizemore, Armand Assante, Steven
Furst, Gary Daniels, Olivier Gruner to Dolph Lundgren
and Steven Seagal.

101
102
 Chapter 11
MY DIRECTING DEBUT
“To make a film is easy, to make a good film is war,
to make a very good film is a miracle”
-- Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

The first film I directed was called “The Power Within”.

I had a supportive production team that had complete
confidence in me. They allowed me to use my own cre-
ativity. This was an opportunity to have some wonderful
moments in the film while infusing comedy, drama and
some of my own martial arts philosophy.
Basically, the movie is about a teen who unwittingly
unlocks the power within himself to achieve his dreams.
Every now and then I’ll watch it again. I mention this film
specifically because it always takes me back to the magic
and the passion that drove me to make movies. I hope you
will watch it.
As years passed, I directed a number of feature
films and I thought it would be a good idea if I applied
my creativity into writing stories with hopes they would be
turned into feature films.
I remember one film in particular, which shall re-
main nameless, not because it was a bad movie, in fact it is
103
 Gerald Okamura in a scene from The Power Within.

one of my best, but I want to protect the persons involved.

I received a call from a friend of mine who said he
would like to make a movie and he said those wonder-
ful, magic words, “I have some investors who will give us
money to make the film”. I was excited.
So, we had a meeting with everyone involved and
we struck a deal. Now, let me tell you, I did not know what
I was getting myself into when I agreed to do this film.
As we started the development process, they paid for the
whole film in CASH!!!
Now, they were nice people and they treated me
very graciously. But these people did not have patience for
MISTAKES of any kind, period! I got that message very
quickly.
I hired a friend of mine to write the script and ad-
vanced him his pay since he was broke. It wasn’t until
three weeks into the process that I learned that he had
104
only written a few pages at most! I was pissed. I couldn’t
believe this “friend’ would do this to me. But I had bigger
worries with my investors. I kept having dreams of waking
up to find a decapitated horses head in my bed!!
Frantically, I started to write the script myself.
Mind you, I had no idea about what I was doing so I just
started reading old scripts and studying the formatting,
style, etc. After two weeks I had my first draft and eventu-
ally polished it up to create a great script which eventually
got made into a great movie.
The lesson I learned from this experience was to
not let adversity kick your butt!! Use adversity to propel
you forward. Through this film, I became a screenplay
writer. Since then, I have written several screenplays that
have gone on to become films.

Richard Grieco on the set of Final Payback.

105
Steven Seagal with Art Camacho.

106
 Chapter 12
THE MOVIE GEEK
“Do or do not, there is no try”
-- Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

I have to admit, I’m such a big fan of the movies at heart.

I am a real geek when it comes to meeting someone who
starred in a great film.
I wrote and directed a film called “Final Payback”.
Now, as you know, I am a big
Bruce Lee fan and of course, my
favorite film is “Enter the Dragon”.
I had heard John Saxon was avail-
able and I really wanted him in my
film. John Saxon is a very accom-
plished actor with tons of cred-
its to his name. But to me, he’s
“Roper, co-star of Enter the Drag-
on.” I hired him right away. Not
just to have him in my film, but so
I could meet him in person and
have him sign my Enter the Dragon
Richard Grieco starring in
memorabilia. Ok, so sue me. Final Payback.

107
 Veteran actor John Saxon with Art Camacho.

Another great experience that really stands out was

working on a film called “Half Past Dead” with Steven Sea-
gal. I had just wrapped up a film when I got a call from a
producer who I hadn’t heard from in years.
He asked me if I wanted to work with Steven Seagal
as his fight choreographer and of course, I jumped at the
chance. However, when I found out the film was going to
be shot in Germany for three months to be exact, I wasn’t
too keen about being out of the country that long. Keep
this in mind, the 9/11 tragedy just happened a few weeks
prior so everyone was on edge.
With reservation, I agreed to do the film. When I
arrived, I met with the director and although he was a nice
guy, we did not see eye-to-eye regarding the fight scenes.
The director preferred to have someone with some Hong
Kong type of wirework experience. Although I had done a
little wirework in my past, it wasn’t the kind of fight cho-
108
reography I specialized in.
All the while, I was thinking to myself, Steven Sea-
gal, aikido, street fighting. But, the decision was not my
say. In the end, I told him that there are many others out
there that specialize in wireworks and perhaps he should
hire them.
The producer and director then met with a multi-
tude of Hong Kong style wirework groups including Don-
nie Yen. I admitted to them, those guys are awesome and
they are so much better than I am. But for some unknown
reason, they didn’t want any of them.
After our last meeting, I was thinking I was no lon-
ger going to be working on the film. A week later I got a
call from the producer who was really excited because he
had hired the great Xin Xin Xiong. He was a Hong Kong
legend and Jet Li stunt double.
He told me that Xin Xin Xiong was going to do the

A time out with Xin Xin Xiong.

109
fight choreography. He also hired the stunt coordinator
from the film “Resident Evil,” to do all the stunts. As I lis-
tened to him on the phone I thought, “why the hell is he
calling me to tell me this? Just to rub it in?”
He then told me that he still wanted me to go to
Germany. I told him that he had an awesome team and
he didn’t need me. I have to admit, that was kinda dumb
on my part because I was talking myself out of a job. He
insisted that I go and do some second unit directing and
be the overall action coordinator to oversee the whole en-
chilada. So I agreed.
My first night in Germany was almost my last as I
almost got shot.

Art rehearsing a fight scene with Steven Seagal’s stunt double, Marcin Velinov.

110
 There I was, in the streets of Berlin and I happened
to see Steven Seagal. I approached him to shake his hand
and his body guards pulled out their guns as I came closer.
The bodyguards had no idea who I was. Although I met
Seagal only one time before, I was hoping he’d remem-
bered me.
With guns in my face, I didn’t care and I grabbed
Seagal’s hand, shook it and smiled. Seagal actually remem-
bered me and the guards put away their guns. Yes, it was a
foolish thing to do but as I wrote earlier, I’m just a fan at
heart. In the end, we all became good friends.
Xin Xin Xiong brought two assistants and a story-
board artist with him. I just came in with one Mexican,
me. In the beginning, I was told by the director to let Xin
Xin do his thing. He was great at wireworks, but apart
from that, everything he was doing was no different than
what I normally did in my films. Although I had more ex-
perience on the directing side, I was there to back him up
which I ended up doing towards the end of production.
All the while, I soaked it all in, learning everything
I could about wireworks. Toward the end, I was in charge
of directing the pick-ups and to finish shooting an action
sequence with Seagal.
They re-created a huge set and scheduled a Saturday
for me to direct the Seagal pick-ups and close-ups. Now
picture this, I’m driving to the set that Saturday and the
line producer calls me and tells me “Oh yeah, I forgot to
mention that Steven isn’t coming in today”. In disbelief I
said, “huh??? You want me to shoot Steven Seagal pick-up
shots and close-ups with no Steven Seagal???” “Yup”. I
thought about it for a few moments. Here I was in Ger-
many driving to the set to shoot Steven Seagal pick-ups
111
 Working with Steven Seagal in Germany.

with no Steven Seagal. Then I said, “Cool, not a problem,

I got this”.
I just took this as a challenge and used Seagal’s stunt
double. So cleverly in fact, that we shot 90% of everything
I needed with the exception of two close-ups which I got
later. Bring it!!!
There were of course, a few more incidents like this
that occurred on the set but I rose to the occasion with
each of them. I was not going to let anything or anyone
stop me. In addition, I ended up helping edit some of the
action.
112
 Art Camacho and Xin Xin Xiong.

I think the main thing I took away from this whole

experience was not to be intimidated by anything. Prior to
this I had only worked on low budget films and this was
my first high budget studio picture. At first, I was a little
intimidated working on the film, but shortly found out,
we were doing the same damn thing. They just have more
time and more toys, that’s all. The process, the procedures
and the problems are no different whether you do your
own movie or you do one for the studio, with few excep-
tions.
I spent a total of three months in Germany working
with Steven Seagal on a theatrical studio picture. Not bad
for a high school dropout. This just goes to show that you
can do and be whatever you want in this life. The question
is ,“how bad do you want it?”

113
114
 Chapter 13
LEARN TO DREAM
“We’re free to go where we wish and to be what we are”
-- Richard Bach

One of the most important things that I’ve learned in life

is to dream. Dreaming doesn’t cost a damn cent. Dream-
ing is free. It doesn’t take up too much space and it’s very
invigorating.
It’s also important to realize that no one, I mean
no one, owes you a damn thing. Many of us go through
life moping around because of our lot in life and blaming
others for our shortcomings. Well, I got news for you, the
universe owes you nothing, and in fact, we owe the uni-
verse everything. We are the sum of our thoughts in this
world and we alone are responsible for those thoughts. I
can’t stand the feeling of entitlement that many of today’s
youth have. We are not entitled to anything period!! We
need to accept that and get on with working towards liv-
ing the dream.
I have been blessed because I was born in the USA.
That was one of the greatest gifts my parents gave me be-
cause it is truly the land of dreams fulfilled. I treasure
the opportunities my country gave me and the freedoms
115
 Art Camacho with actor
Tom Bosley.

and liberties I have

here. I’m not try-
ing to sound like
an infomercial, but
it is true.
I’ve traveled
all around the world, and America, is that great beacon
of dreams; but there is catch. Unless you are born into
wealth and connections, you have to work your tail off to
live your dreams. And you can’t take nothing for granted.
Unfortunately, I was not born into wealth and connec-
tions, so I have to continually work my tail off and I really
don’t mind because that makes me appreciate the good
things in life even more.
Through creating motion pictures, I have been able
to dream and live the dream as well. How cool is that!!!
I can’t express the amazing satisfaction I feel when the
words I put to paper are uttered by actors in a scene. Nor
can I adequately express the enormous feeling of accom-
plishment I feel when a scene that was in your head comes
to life with cameras and lights and especially with actors
whom you’ve looked up to over the years.
Now again, as I mentioned before, I’m not the most
talented or the best of anything, but I’m living the dream.
With that, I’m saying that anybody, all of us, can live the
dream. A dream can be anything, it can be being a janitor,
a seamstress, it doesn’t matter what that dream is. For me,
it happened to be working on films. A waiter or the guy
selling watermelons is no less than I am if they are happy

116
and living their dream. That’s their dream, that’s their
reality. For me it happened to be filmmaking.
Being an avid movie and TV geek, I have always
loved the way many of the “great directors” tell such com-
pelling stories through films. For the past fifteen, twenty
years I have been able to tell my own stories either by my
fight choreography, my acting, my writing or my directing.
There is no amount of money that can buy that feeling of
fulfillment I experience when those stories are brought to
life.
I was recently speaking to a producer who asked me
what motivated me to be so passionate about my work.
Instantly I replied, “it is life or death for me.” Every film I
do could be my last and I cannot live with myself if I don’t
give it my all. There is only one switch that goes off in
my head when I’m on a set and that switch is either “on”
or “off”. My work is my passion. When I finish a film, I
want to walk away knowing that I gave it my all, I gave it
my best.
We all have the capacity for change and we can
change our perceptions of practically anything. We also
have the ability to aspire for anything we want and dream
any dream we desire. There’s just one caveat: you have to
be willing to work and sacrifice for your dream.
Everyday that I
am working on a set is
a good day. It feels like
being home and home
is a wonderful place to
be.
Jojo Garza, At Camacho and Mario
Rocha on the set of Los Lonely Boys.

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 Chapter 14
SO YOU WANT TO BE A FILMMAKER
“All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl”
-- Charlie Chaplin

To put in into a nutshell, making movies is a combina-

tion of passion, creativity, craftsmanship and above all,
business. Ever since I got into directing films, I have been
continually asked by martial artists from all around the
world, “how can I get into films”.
I share with them a number of things they can do to
improve their chances of getting into the movie industry
but the most important thing I tell them is to “hone their
craft.” It is a business after all and unfortunately, many
of the people I share this with don’t fully understand my
meaning.
I usu-
ally have to
turn the ta-
bles on them
a bit. I ask
those who
teach martial
arts if they Art with Andrew Stevens and John Corcoran.

119
 Art Camacho in the film, To Be the Best.

would award a black belt to someone who just walked in

the door. They usually answer “no” with an incredulous
stare on their face.
I reply, “of course you won’t.” Anyone wanting to
get a black belt has to put in the training and the time. I
smile and tell them, “it’s the same with films.” I had to
work on my craft. One cannot expect to be an actor on
the first day of shooting when they have never practiced
their craft.
I come across so many frustrated, perspective film-
makers moping around because no one will give them a
shot and I tell them; “Tough shit!!” You have a mind, you
have creativity. Hone your craft and prove to them that
you can not only make a great product but that you are
unique.
If you are an actor, ACT! If you are a director, DI-
120
RECT! Make a short film, record a fight scene, take the
initiative to put it out there.
A lot of young Latino-Americans I know just sit
back and complain that they don’t have the opportunity.
They believe that because they are not Caucasian or didn’t
grow up in a nice neighborhood or attend college, that
they have no shot at it. Bullshit!! Every moment we spend
complaining, someone is out there is creating. If you are
really interested in becoming a filmmaker, then just do it.
You know it isn’t like it used to be. Gone are the
days when it took thousands of dollars and major equip-
ment to make a basic movie. We have cell phones, Iphones
that can shoot 4k video and we have editing, sound and
music apps. It’s almost crazy not to make movies.
I see people making these short films and trying
their hand at choreography all the time. There are a lot of

Art Camacho with the “Queen of the Martial Arts,” Cynthia Rothrock.

121
kids with great ideas and I tell them if they are interested
in becoming a filmmaker, then just do it. Make a short
film, record a fight scene, and take the initiative to put it
out there. I believe if you put it out there, it will find its
audience and eventually it will find a path, but you have
to take that first step and make a movie.
Of course, when you want to make a commercial or
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 Hosting a stuntfighting seminar in Mexico.

theatrical film, you will still need to do things tradition-

ally with the more expensive equipment and funding but
you don’t need those things if you are trying to hone your
craft. This is your practice, hone your craft as a filmmaker
and express yourself as an artist.

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 Chapter 15
BUILD YOUR FOUNDATION
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of
preparation, hard work and learning from failure”
-- Colin Powell

In filmmaking, the first step is to build your foundation.

This is basically having a script and acquiring the elements
required to bring it to life. A script can be for a feature
length film, a short film or just a commercial. Once you
have determined that, then gather all the elements need-
ed to bring that script to life including actors, stuntmen,
etc. and grab your IPhone, your android phone or even an
inexpensive camera and start shooting.
As you visualize your story, it’s important to have
a perspective of whose eyes are seeing it unfold; whose
voice is telling your story. When it comes to shooting, the
thing that helps me visualize a shot is to hold my hand up
in front of my face and form a rectangle with my fingers.
Why? Because this represents the camera lens; your audi-
ence. Close one eye and look through with the other. This
is what your audience is going to see.
Let me explain. By looking through the rectangle in
my hands, I can visualize the shot better and I can decide
whether I need to see more in the shot (as with a wide

125
angle lens) or make it a more intimate shot (as with a long
lens). I also use it to work on the height of the shot and
angle of the shot.
The next thing I recommend is to do your home-
work. Study film, not necessarily in a classroom but at-
tend plays, watch TV and watch a ton of movies. By watch-
ing movies, you can appreciate the work that went into it,
which will help you find your voice on film. And when
you do, you will be more passionate about filmmaking.
I cannot express the importance of not just watch-
ing movies, but feeling, seeing and hearing movies. When
I put on a movie or sit at the theater watching them, I pay
close attention to how are the character’s talking, how are
they relating to each other.
In regards to fight action films, I pay special atten-
tion to the choreographing, the techniques, the editing
and tone of the fights. One good piece of advice in regards

Fight scene from The Matrix.

126
 Wally Jay and Tom Renner.

Matthew Modine on the set of Funky Monkey.

127
to studying fight on film is to watch them without the
sound on. Through this, you will really see the craftsman-
ship that goes into them and you will learn a lot. You’ll
also be so surprised at the simplicity of how they put it
together, and what re-
ally makes them pop.
With rare excep-
tions, Bruce Lee was
one of the few who
really mastered their
fight expressions.
He applied his
jeet kune do princi-
ples to his on-screen
fight scenes. There
were rarely any quick
edits in his fights as he
fought on screen with
a broken rhythm, re-
laxing and exploding
with each technique;
truly a master at his
craft. Most others, especially western action films, are
filled with quick cuts and with a fast tempo.
Filmmaking as a whole, is the same process that has
been around since the advent of filmed entertainment.
It is telling stories through moving pictures. I encourage
everyone to not just look at the new films, but especially,
look at old films. Look at films that might NOT be in
your favored genre because you can learn from them as
well.
Lastly, study scripts. Buy scripts from classic films
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On the left is Jerry Poteet, one of the original Bruce Lee students and Michael Worth.

and see what was on the page prior to being a motion pic-
ture. One of the biggest mistakes I see out there in both
script writing and fight action is that the characters are
all generic. The characters either speak the same and or
fight the same as everyone else in the film. That is lazy
filmmaking. Each character has to have his own voice and
own style of fighting; unless it is a parody or intentionally
generic.
I’ve never been one to rest on my laurels and hon-
estly I still get butterflies in my stomach before each film
or television project. I still get nervous and that is what
makes me over-prepare for each new project. I try to per-
fect what I do every time I go out there. I do my best to
make the next film better than the last and try to find new
ways of expressing myself through films and action.

129
Art Camacho and Don Wilson shooting the movie Sci-Fighter.

130
 Chapter 16
FILMMAKING 101
“Pain is temporary, film is forever!”
-- John Milius

Movies are just another me-

dium in which to tell your
stories. Sometimes people try
to mystify or complicate the
process so much that they
lose sight of what they are ac-
tually doing, which is telling
stories in three acts. This ap-
plies not only to the movie as
a whole but to the action as well. It’s the same whether
you are using an old camera or the latest technological
breakthrough. Filmmaking is storytelling and anything
that doesn’t push the story forward or reveal something
about a character or plot, or does not visually stimulate
the viewer, while keeping the focus on the story, does not
belong in your movie.
The thing that I cannot stress enough, is to always
do your homework when it comes to making a movie.

131
That could consist of schooling, training, or simply watch-
ing movies from your favorite filmmakers or actors. I even
urge you to watch movies, all types of movies, the good
ones and the bad ones because you can also learn from
them.
As you watch a bad movie, dissect them. Try to
understand what made them bad and what change you
would have made to make them better. It could be any-
thing, like the script, the right actors, camera work, light-
ing, action, editing or all of the above. Don’t just criticize,
learn from them. Watch all genres of films including gory
films, campy films even the independent films.
A must however, is to study films from the greats
such as Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese or even Sam
Peckinpah. Each one of these directors have a very unique
style and a voice with unique characters that bring the
film to life. When you are watching some of the great ac-
tors, really watch them, not only when they are talking or
fighting but in the quiet moments. You’ll really see their

One of many talk shows Art Camacho has appeared on.

132
 Working with Sebastian Bach and Dave DeFalco to set up a scene.

brilliance in those moments where nothing appears to be

happening and yet it is all happening at once.
The same thing applies to fight action. It’s the
little things. Someone once told
me that Bruce Lee focused a lot
on the little things and the way
he expressed himself, made him
very exciting to watch. It wasn’t so
much the kicks and the punches
that were great, but it was how he
expressed himself in the moments
leading up to them.
If you want to do some se-
rious homework, look at classic
films like “Casablanca, the Maltese
Falcon.” Now, those films didn’t
133
 Art Camacho working with Marcus Young on Tiger Heart.

have the technology that we have today, they didn’t have

the full coverage, they didn’t have all the extreme close-
ups, the medium shots, all the lightning, etc. What you
will see is that many times they just had wide shots with
two or three people in the scene for several minutes. But
despite that, as you watch them you will see that the char-
acters are so unique, so exciting, you can’t stop watching.
Even in the old classic comedies like the Marx Brothers.
Here were these crazy guys, in a black and white movie,
134
and they are doing everything with just a wide shot. They
didn’t have to rely on special effects because each of them
was able to create their own voice that made the film.
I have experienced that some of the better films
that you see in the marketplace are ones that touch you
personally, in a way that each of us can relate to. I like

Art Camacho setting up a fight scene with Kathleen Kinmont.

to tell stories that are very personal to me and characters

that are very compelling. Your story could be a fairy tale,
it could be a drama, it could be an action film, whatever it
is, the characters in your story have to ring true to you. If
they ring true to you, they will ring true to the audience.
It is your goal to engage that audience, you are go-
ing to take them on a journey through the whole movie. I
relate this to the rides at Disneyland such as Snow White
or Peter Pan, the ride takes you through a journey. It is
that journey that will take you somewhere and that’s what
135
 On the set of Sci-Fighter with Eric Lee and Cynthia Rothrock.

a good movie does, it takes you somewhere. It takes the

character from A to Z.
Not all stories are going to be told the same way,
it will all depend on the script, the directing, the editing,
etc. It is up to you to find your own style and voice as a
filmmaker.

THE SCRIPT
“The first draft of anything is shit”
-- Ernest Hemingway
Your script is your blueprint for everything you do
in films. Your script is based on the story, whatever story
136
you want to tell. The story has to have a strong plot and
characters that have their own voice.
Most people don’t realize how challenging writing
a script is. The script is what you build everything thing
upon, it is your foundation. If you have a weak founda-
tion, you really can’t build something great. Through the
script you’ll begin to understand the characters, the plot,
the tone of the action and it will help you start to visualize
the entire movie.

Art Camacho with former nationally ranked point-fighting champion

and martial arts and action film and tv star, Chuck Norris.

137
 Art Camacho and Kurrupt on the set of Half Past Dead 2.

There are so many great script-writing programs out

there that are very inexpensive and you need to make an
investment into getting one especially designed for script
writing. They come with a list of prompts such as what
time of day is it, who are the characters involved and what
they are saying. Since not all of us speak the same, every
character has to have their own voice and you have to get
into their heads to find out what they’re going to say, how
they’re going to react, and again, make it true to yourself.
I stress again, if it’s real to you, it’s going to be real to your
audience.
One film that really resonated with me when I
138
was growing up was “Billy Jack.” I have never in my life,
then or now, have seen a character like Billy Jack played
by Tom Laughlin. I mean, those scenes are classic. If you
are into action films like I am, you know what I mean. Es-
pecially the scene when
Billy Jack kicks the guy
on the side of the face
with an outside crescent
kick. I mean, my God,
that was great.
Now, normally
in a film, you have
your heroes going in
and battling it out with
very little talking. But
in Billy Jack, you have
this half-Indian, half-
white guy telling the
bad guy that he’s going
to kick his butt. He’s
surrounded by a whole
Billy Jack changed the world forever.
gang but he tells the
main bad guy, even though he knows his fate, he’s going
to get one good one in. Now, how cool is that?
That is a perfect example of how he created his own
unique voice.
Who can forget those memorable Bruce Lee scenes
in Enter the Dragon? I especially enjoy the part when he’s
talking to the kid and he’s pointing a finger to the moon.
The way he expressed himself, his mannerisms and of
course his words.

139
 THE ACTORS
“The gratification comes in the doing, not in the results”
-- James Dean
Another extremely important, but overlooked fac-
tor of making movies, is the acting. The great actors make
it seem so natural and easy. I cannot tell you how many
martial artists think they can act. Just because they look
good and kick well doesn’t mean that they’ll be great in
films. WRONG!!! There are many times that I run into
people, especially in the martial arts, who say they can act
and undoubtedly most of the time, they can’t act. There
are exceptions but mostly…NOT!!
The first thing that I tell everyone who tells me they
want to be an actor, is train as an actor. Take classes, mas-
ter your craft. Some people are able to act naturally, but
those people are rare. If you don’t have good acting in
your movie, it becomes like I mentioned before, the “kiss
of death” for a film.

Art Camacho giving directions on the set with Sebastian Bach.

140
 Getting kicked by Cynthia Rothrock is all part of the job!

You may have a great script, great lighting, great

stuntmen, a great DP, a great director, and everything else
just perfect. But if you get a guy or girl who can’t act as
your lead actor, your film will be categorized as a “B” film
or a “turkey.” If this occurs, the only thing your film is
good for is to acquire a credit for making a movie. This
will be worse for the actor because he/she will no longer
be taken seriously. Trust me, I know many of these.
Just imagine any of Bruce Lee’s movies without
Bruce Lee. Instead, replace him with a bad martial arts
actor. Or imagine Billy Jack with no Tom Laughlin and
instead a karate champ with 20 titles but no acting exper-
tise, YIKES!!!
141
 As I mentioned before, you can’t expect to go into
a martial arts school and in a week become a black belt.
So why do so many people expect to go onto a movie set
and within thirty seconds, be an actor? You can’t go onto
a tennis court without any training and become a tennis
pro. It just doesn’t work that way.

CASTING
“Casting is story telling”
-- Josh Whedon
At one time, casting other actors in a movie was a
very involved process. But today, we have all sorts of social
media that make it a lot easier.
You can actually do virtual casting or simply accept
auditions via email or text. If you are at this stage in your
film, I recommend you post a scene and have perspective
actors record themselves and send these auditions to you.
Then, when you get down to the final two people, have
the auditions in person to get a feel for them and see if
there is chemistry.

PRE-VISUALIZATION
“You can call it ‘the art of fighting without fighting’ ”
-- Bruce Lee, Enter the Dragon
This is just a fancy term used today. It basically
means shoot the fight action or action sequence and edit
it as you visualize it from your perspective. If it’s a fight,
you’ll usually have some martial arts stuntmen play the
different parts. Then, shoot it and if necessary, cover it as
you would cover it in a movie to give the actors, produc-
ers, or directors an idea of what the fight will look like. In
regards to bigger action scenes, it can be enhanced with

142
 Art Camacho, Cynthia Rothrock and Dr. Robert Goldman.

certain software and CGI. You can get very elaborate or

very simple. Depending on who you are showing it to. I
worked on a film called “Dead Trigger” starring Dolph Lun-
dgren and Oleg Takarov. Once I had choreographed the
fights, I shot the entire sequence with stuntmen in four
blocks of action on my IPhone. I then took my IPhone
and showed it to the director and to Dolph for approval.
This gave them an idea of what the fight would look like
as well as the style and tone of the fight.

143
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 Chapter 17
MAKING MY FILM
“We don’t make movies to make money,
we make money to make more movies”
-- Walt Disney

Making my film. I’ve got the script, I have the passion,

so how do I put the movie together and how much will
it cost? All these questions will always come up and they
bombard your mind and you’re thinking. How am I go-
ing to ever get this started? It’s like trying to climb Mount
Everest and you only got one pair of sneakers.
One of the first things you will need to decide is the
type of film you want to create. Is it going to be a short
film, which can be between four minutes and 20 minutes
or, you might want to plan on a feature film which can be
from eighty-five to two hundred twenty minutes.
In regard to budgets, let’s say as an example, the
film, “The Avengers.” For this type of film, you are talking
about 70 million to 80 million dollar budgets. Undoubt-
edly, you must be thinking I can’t raise that kind of mon-
ey. But the reality is most films are made on a much lower
scale, even lower than you can imagine.
Many independent films that you see on Netflix,

145
streaming video or in Redbox are actually made for as low
as $150,000.00. Of course, that is still a lot of money to
raise. To get your fundraising started, your next best step
should be either crowdfunding or simply trying it the old
fashion way, make it happen on zero to no dollars. Where
there is a will, there is a way.
Today, cameras are getting better and better. I’ve
seen many commercials shot on just a little Nikon camera.
If you are unable to raise anything substantial, use what
you have and start your movie. It’s what you have in your
heart and mind that matters and not letting the obstacles

Art Camacho with Taebo guru, Billy Blanks.

stop you.
If you are just starting off in filmmaking, use your
IPhone or you can purchase some inexpensive camera to
shoot the movie. You can get your own editing system
such as Adobe Premiere or Final Cut on your home com-
puter. There is so much technology out there that is so
inexpensive to make your first movie.
The next step to making a film is assembling your
146
team. What is usually the case is your team will consist
of people that you are going to pay peanuts to or those
whom you will ask favors from. In other words, beg, beg
beg, of which I’m good at, so good in fact that they call me
the “grandmaster of begging.”
You basically need a strong team behind you be-
cause even though Hollywood is a self-centered business
to a certain degree, you can’t make a movie with a team to
back you up.
Of course you always need the basics; you need a
director, you need a director of photography and you need
some crew members and make-up. You know, there are so
many things out there that you can get and most people
don’t even realize it. If you just ask, sometimes you can get
things for no money at all.
When assemblying your team, look for people who

Cast and crew of The Chemist.

147
will be able to help you for the weekends or even just one
day out of the week. I encourage new filmmakers to try
some of the local film schools who need to put something
on their resume. Another method of finding help is doing
some horse trading or bartering. There are endless solu-
tions for finding ways that people can help you.
Although you will face many obstacles, I believe
that you can overcome them and fulfill your dream by
making your movie. Don’t let the obstacles become an
impenetrable wall.
I’ve often been asked how long it takes to shoot
a movie? That all de-
pends on the type of
film you plan to shoot.
If you are doing a small-
er film, such as a short
film, you can spend
anywhere between one
to three days. Shooting
a full length feature
film can be as little as 18 days. Shooting, or “getting it in
the can” is only part of the whole process.
Once you have all that footage, the next step is post
production which includes editing, post sound mix, music
score, special effects and mastering. This process can take
on the average 3-5 months. Again, depending on what
your budget is. If you have little or no budget, you can do
a lot of it on your own home PC or MAC. You can also
find a lot of software online and even licensing for music,
sound effects, stock footage, etc.
Now, once you’ve put in all that hard work, you ed-

148
ited it, you finished it, you have a completed film, so what
do you do from here? Where do you go?
There are two things to consider. First, if your film
is feature length (90 minutes plus) you probably have the
intention of having it distributed worldwide. You will
need to do your research for finding someone who is a
distributor for your type of movie. And by distributing
I mean, companies that will take your movie and sell li-
censes to different territories such as the U.S., Canada,
Russian, Germany, etc.
Now, if it’s a short film, then you want to start en-
tering it into film festivals. Go online, start looking at all
the film festivals that fit your type of film. There are a lot
of festivals, so submit, submit and submit.

Art Camacho promoting The Chemist at the American Film Market.

149
Art Camacho doing a promotion for Kick Ass, the movie.

150
 Museum president Michael Matsuda, RZA and Art Camacho.

On average, the price to enter a film festival varies.

Some are fifty dollars, some are less, and some are more.
You need to get your film seen and film festivals are the
way to do it. Because if nobody knows about your film,
nobody sees your film, then what’s the point? At the end
of the day, the point is to get yourself out there as a film-
maker. Even if it doesn’t win awards, you might get at least
a nomination. So you put that little tag of being nominat-
ed on all your artwork. You have to start self-promoting
the film as much as possible, especially using social media,
which is now huge for promoting films. Do your best to
create a buzz around the movie.
One tool you’ll need for your film, whether it’s a
full length feature or short film, is a trailer. This could be
anywhere from a 45-second trailer to a two-minute full-on

151
 trailer.
The second thing
is graphics. You need
to get the word out
by creating compel-
ling artwork for your
posters and infor-
mation. Right now
there are so many
outlets that can do it
for next to nothing.
But, if you choose to
do it yourself, make
sure you make it as
professional looking
as possible.
Let me give you
a bad example. A
An example of an excellent poster from Art’s film, friend of mine was
Half Past Dead.
doing his own art-
work for his poster. The poster included his main char-
acters on the front with the city as a backdrop. Now, you
can tell he must have shot the characters at home because
you could see the cut outs and the little haze around each
figure. However, the thing that stood out most to me was
this girl aiming a gun in the shot, but her hands didn’t
look like her hands!!! It looked a little odd. So, when
I took a closer look I could actually see a pair of men’s
hands holding the gun, this was supposed to be the girl’s
hands!!! Terrible!! The poster is a representation of your
film and for many people, if they see cheap or cheesy look-
ing artwork, they will be turned off and probably not give
152
the film a chance.
This is why I prefer to go with someone who knows
how to make posters professionally. There are a lot of re-
sources now online that don’t cost an arm and a leg. Make
sure everything you put out is professional.
Your artwork, and I cannot express this enough, is
so important to the success of your film. I know, I’ve had
my share of bad artwork.
Back to the trailer or the teaser. This has to really,
really, really rock. You have to hook your audience from
the opening frame and that includes music. Royalty music
can also be found today online.

153
154
 Chapter 18
MY FINAL ADVICE TO YOU
“There are no rules in filmmaking. Only sins.
And the cardinal sin is dullness”
-- Frank Capra

I think as a filmmaker we are so blessed to be doing what

we’re doing. But having said that, we need to make sure
that we do it right. I refer to mastering the basics.
To recap: The first thing is always the story. You
have your story then from there, you create your blueprint
which is your script. Once you have the script, then you
think, ok. Great! Now what’s next? Then, you get your
camera and camera
person. Regardless
of your budget, get
something that’s
going to capture a
good image.
Next, you get
a good crew around
you. Now whether
you are bartering,
or paying them pea- Don Wilson, Art Camacho and Lorenzo Lamas.

155
nuts. You can also use GoFundMe or KickStarter or any
of the crowdfunding outlets to get your funds.
After that, make sure your team gels together. Make
sure the people that you are assigning jobs to are; number
one, good at their jobs. Number two, that they are able to
work with you. A lot of times you can hire the best person
in the world and if they’re against you, you are going to
have a terrible time and a terrible product.
Third, you shoot it, shoot it, and shoot it. Get the
coverage you need. i.e.; close-ups, masters, etc. Cover
yourself. Especially in the beginning stages. Now there
are prominent directors like Clint Eastwood who really
don’t shoot that much coverage because they know what

On the set of Ancient Aliens with Rafael Kosche.

156
 Stunt coordinating with 2nd unit director Jacov Bresler.

they want and are surrounded by the best people in the

business. I’ve had many friends who have worked with
Clint and he doesn’t even say, “Action.” He just says, “Go
ahead.” He doesn’t even say, “Cut!” He just tells them to
move on. He doesn’t do a lot of extreme close-ups because
he knows what he wants in his head.
However, for the rest of us, I recommend we cover
everything and even though we shoot digitally, we should
do the extreme close-ups, the push in’s, etc. I realize that
with digital images we have a lot of latitude to crop shots
without losing resolution. But if you have the time, why
not get your close ups. You might need the added shots
due to the actor’s performance.
157
Working on an action sequence with producer/steadicam operator Robert Beaumont.

158
 The museum hosts Art Camacho Day as he is surrounded by Don Wilson, Richard
Grieco, Michael Matsuda, Michael Worth, Sasha Mitchell and more.

One example I recently had was when we shot these

two performers but one of them was over the top. I was
so tired I just let it go. But in editing, I saw how bad the
person was and I paid for it in the end. So do the cover-
age, no matter how tired you are, make sure you shoot it
till you get what you want.
Finally, at the end of the day, make sure you edit
it properly with the right beat. Every film has its own
rhythm. Every scene has a rhythm. You have to go over it
again and again until it feels like it flows, till it feels like
it’s right. As a filmmaker, you have to have that emotional
attachment to your film.
Having said that, don’t fall so in love with your
work that you’re not willing to cut scenes that are not
working. I’ve had this situation happen to me when I shot

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these wonderful scenes and I had to cut them out of my
film. Though they were brilliant scenes and I loved them,
they didn’t fit the film. As much as it pains me, I’ve taken
some amazing scenes out of my movies a number of times.
So in that regard, learn your limitations.
To repeat, when you finish your film, get your trail-
ers on social media and get people involved. You want to

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get people to fall in love with your film as much as you
have. You want the audience to be as passionate about
your film as you are. Now, go out there and make a movie!
In closing, take that bold step and write your next
chapter, make your life a life worth living… Live the dream,
and if your dream is making movies, then what are you
waiting for?

“A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something”

-- Frank Capra

“That’s a wrap.”

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 PHOTOGRAPHY

Art Camacho and Michael Matsuda would like to thank

Mario Prado for video-taping the contents of this book
and shooting the wonderful cover shot.
The photographs within this book were generously
provided by Art Camacho. Unfortunately, there were no
photo credits attached. If you have a photograph in these
pages, please let us know and we will happily credit you in
the next printing.

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 ABOUT MICHAEL MATSUDA

Michael Matsuda is founder and president of the world’s

first and only Martial Arts History Museum. A practitio-
ner of the martial arts for 50 years, his is the 6th gen-
eration grandmaster in the art of Monkey Kung Fu (Tai
Shing Pek Kwar).
He is the former publisher and founder of Martial
Art Magazine and was the contributing editor for Inside
Kung Fu and Black Belt magazine for 20 years. He is the
author of eight pubilshed books.
He was the co-CEO of Martialinfo.com for ten
years and was inducted into the Martial Arts History Mu-
seum’s Hall of Fame.
Michael was selected twice as one of the Top 100
Producers in the nation by Producer magazine and has
graced over eight magazine covers.
Michael designed and co-authored of this book.

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