I recently interviewed the Kirby brothers of K&K Productions to learn more about this project and share it with the Dragon Ball community.

Haven’t heard of Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Saga?

Here’s their Dragon Ball movie introduction video to bring you up to speed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylf3Fg7rPbE

They’re running a fundraiser at IndieGogo, so be sure to contribute.

Today you’ll learn where the idea for a live action Dragon Ball Z movie came from, why Dragon Ball Evolution failed to please fans, how the brothers made their casting choices for Goku and Vegeta, and discover what it’s like to film a special effects laden film on an independent’s budget.

Now let’s turn up the heat and go Kaio Ken x4!!

Get Ready! The Saiyans Are Coming!

Isky Fay gets into character as Yamcha

Derek: Hi Harry, George. Thanks for taking the time to speak with me today.

Harry: Hello, Derek.

George: Good morning.

Derek: There are a lot of Dragon Ball fans who are looking forward to Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Saga, but not everybody knows about it yet, so I want to get it out there. I love Dragon Ball and want to share this with others.

As a general intro for those who don’t know, who are K&K Productions?

Harry: We’re two brothers, Harry and George Kirby. We both used to work in television, for Sky TV, a big broadcaster in the UK. I worked there first for 6 years and then my brother was there for 3 years. During that time we were kind of doing our own stuff and we realized that we could do it on our own.

We started our company about 5 years ago and we’ve been full time with it for the last 2 and a half. We started with corporate work and recently music videos, and we always entered into film competitions and 48 hour challenges.

George is very good with special effects, and doing those films helps us improve those effects. Pushes us farther.

Derek: What originally got you into film? Why make that your career?

George: We both grew up watching film, a lot of anime, played computer games, those sorts of things. That made us a very visual based type of imaginative people. Harry, being older, went to university and did live TV production, something media related. I kind of followed up and that was our entry in.

Brandon Ly will play Goku's son, Gohan

Derek: You did that for a few years and decided enough is enough, let’s do it our way. Now here you are making Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Saga. Where did the inspiration for this film come from?

George: We always said, “It’d be so cool if we could.” We would mess around with effects with energy, Ki blasts, things like that. We thought it would be cool to do a full on production, but years ago we didn’t have the skills, the technology or the time. It’s always been in the back of our minds.

Harry: We’ve hit the point where our production company is doing well, and now we know we’ve got the friends, crew, and equipment. Now’s the time.

If someone had said to me 5 years ago that you’re going to have all this equipment and the resources you have now, I would have jumped on it to make Dragon Ball Z. It’s the first thing that comes to mind. And now that’s what we’re going to do.

Plus with Dragon Ball Z there’s so many great characters and so much amazing content right there. No one, apart from the Evolution movie, had tapped into it. All that great stuff sitting there waiting to be made into live action.

Derek: Why do you think Dragon Ball Evolution turned out the way it did? And how will your film succeed where Evolution did not?

Harry: I think they just missed the point entirely.

George: I just want to say one thing. Why did they call it Evolution? What is it evolved from? It was the first film! I don’t understand that point. Sorry, that just really got to me when it came out.

Harry: We felt the casting was wrong with the film. There has been a lot of debate on YouTube and elsewhere whether the characters should be Asian or not. It was a Japanese cartoon originally and we always saw the characters as Asian, but I mean, they were drawn in a way that you could interpret them however you want.

[In any case] they changed characters, they changed relationships, and missed the point of the story. Plus, it skips on the action. There are a lot of great stories in Dragon Ball Z, but people love the action.

George: It could be said that it’s tentatively based on Dragon Ball, not Dragon Ball Z, but you still need the Dragon Ball Z essence that people have come to expect. The high action, high impact, the hype and visuals that should have been in it, but weren’t.

Harry: The key thing is what we said before. There’s all this material just laid out for film companies to make stories out of that were massively popular across the world. And the first thing they do is go, “Okay, let’s change them.” Why change it when it’s already great?

Obviously we’ll have to make slight adaptations to make it into live action, but for the most part we want to see what we, as fans, want to see on the screen. That’s the whole point.

Derek: I think you’re absolutely right. I don’t think there were more than even a few minutes of fights in that entire movie.

Harry: You’re seeing a white Goku diving over the bonnet of a yellow Mustang or whatever, and I’m thinking, this isn’t even remotely like the world of Dragon Ball.

George: It was very Americanized. It obviously appealed to the mass American market, that’s what film companies do, but it skipped over the whole fan base of anime. It was too Americanized and missed the mark.

Michael Amariah Becomes Piccolo

Derek: I agree. So what’s your goal with Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Saga? You said you want to stay true to the spirit. What is your message and why do you want to create a live action Dragon Ball Z movie?

Harry: First of all, yes, our key message is that we want to stay true to Dragon Ball. Watching Evolution, my thoughts the whole time were, “Where is this, why is this missing, why have they not done this?”

You know, you come across videos on YouTube, for example, the Mortal Kombat fan film, and you want to share it with others. I love that feeling, discovering something that a fan has made, you want to share it with your friends, and that’s a great feeling. Our main thing is to give the fans that chance. We want to give that feeling to Dragon Ball fans. When you see a bit with Krillin, or when Goku goes Kaio Ken, you’ll want to share it.

George: That was the whole point of wanting to do a trailer rather than a short film. It’s high impact, really exciting for fans, each and every scene with all the great moments. It will be longer than a regular trailer, but that’s so we can fit more of the action and characters in for the fans.

Harry: We wanted to try and sum up the whole saga and its feeling. With a trailer format we can cut back and forth to all the great scenes, and create an overall summary of the saga. We posted an anime version of what we’re trying to do and that’s getting a good reaction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcmgtgya-fw

Derek: It sounds like what you’re saying is that you want to connect with people, give to the Dragon Ball community and enjoy it together.

On your IndieGogo page, a contributor named Marjorie wrote, “I’m a life-long fan of Dragonball and it is amazing to know how many more hardcore fans are out there! I really think this movie looks like it will capture what DBZ is and how it feels, because it was made by people who love the anime and not just producers who see a market for DBZ but understand nothing about what it’s about.”

I feel that really expresses the hopes of a lot of Dragon Ball fans, including myself. How would you respond to that statement?

Harry: I completely agree and I hope that’s what we can do. There’s so much great stuff you can do with Dragon Ball Z.

George: The thing is, what they missed, was what a huge fan base Dragon Ball Z has got all over the world. They don’t need to sell a new idea to people, it’s already there. You don’t need to change it. That’s what we’re trying to do. Take what is already there, interpret it into live action in a way that fans will relate to and love.

Harry: A good example is the kind of respect Christopher Nolan gave to Batman. He looked to the concept, to the fans, and took it seriously. And he delivered something that the fans now really love. The Evolution guys didn’t take the content seriously, didn’t realize the fan base they had. If they hadn’t changed it so massively, then the fans would have loved it.

Derek: Sounds like they didn’t respect the content.

Now I’d like to ask you about your project funding, your goals, and how you’re going to do it.

Funding and Development Goals

Dorset, the Battle Ground for Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Saga

Derek: Your IndieGogo funding campaign had the goal of $5,000. Congratulations on reaching that goal well ahead of the deadline! It’s now over $6,000 with over 20 days left. Does the production still need more funding, or are you all set to begin filming?

Harry: Basically we are set. But the fact that more funding is coming in has given us more options. At the moment our actors and crew are working for free.

I drove to Dorset, to the main location, to sit down with a guy and plead that we don’t have much money. Originally he wanted to charge us 5,000 pounds a day. We couldn’t do that, and I think he thought we were a big production company. We explained to him what we were trying to do, and he lowered the price. So at the moment everything is being done as tightly and quickly as we can. We’ve only got one day there, and only one day in green screen. We have to stay in budget.

With the extra funding we can give ourselves a little more time, do some more elaborate shots. One potential thing is to do our wire work at Pinewood studios, a famous British studio where they did the Bond films. If we could go there then we could do much more elaborate wire scenes and make the action much better. Our next goal for funding is to have enough to go there. Right now we’re really limited with what we can do with flying, and it’s such a big part of the series. If we can get in there, we can stay more true to the series.

Derek: That sounds great. Are you going to open another campaign fund or keep this one running?

George: I think we’ll keep this one running. People told us about Kickstarter after we started this one, but we’ll stick with IndieGogo because we still have time left on this one, and…

Harry: We don’t want people to think we’re greedy. We’re not conning anyone. But if they see us trying to run two funding campaigns people might think we’re just trying to raise extra money, or taking liberties with the fans. We’ve been thinking about it, but it’s not right.

For instance, we had someone donate $1,000 on IndieGogo for a set of Saiyan armor, and I don’t want to go on another site, add some extra perks, and then make them feel it’s kind of unfair.

Derek: Okay, I’ll make it clear to the fans that even though the green bar is full, it does not mean that they cannot contribute, and that you guys are very appreciative of any funds that come your way.

Derek: What are your eventual plans for distribution? Online, DVD, or at conventions?

Harry: The first plan is online, on YouTube. The people that have contributed will get a behind the scenes DVD. If we sell DVD’s it would break fair trade, so we’re not sure if we can do that.

George: We’ve been contacted by an anime and manga convention in Canada, so it will get played there. We want to find other avenues where we can show it.

Harry: I think there are a lot of people who will give contributions, and it will be free online to watch.

Tech Specs and Special Effects

Michael Amariah wearing Piccolo eye contacts

Derek: From a technical standpoint, what equipment are you using to film? Are these digital cameras?

George: Yeah, we’re shooting DSLR, Canon 5D Mark II’s. HD with prime lenses, really nice set. We’ve got the 30 foot Jib, the crane. A company called Artisan Films is coming down to help for free as well. The scene we shot with Isky Fay (Yamcha) was done with them.

Harry: We’ve got a steady cam, track and dolly, a lot of options and types of shots. We want to try and do some creative shots.

Derek: The series tends to be very light and positive in its color scheme, with bright colors and uniforms. And the landscapes look like they’re coming out of a Chinese scroll. Does this conflict with typical action movies that tend to be dark and shadowy, like the Batman films you mentioned?

Will the original color scheme be kept in-tact with your film, or is it necessary to change it in order to make it more appealing to today’s viewers?

George: We’re going with a contemporary feel. Kind of darker, grittier, more real world. We did talk about going bright and colorful like the anime, but this is live action. We didn’t want to replicate the anime in terms of color, because you might as well just watch the anime.

Harry: But we are using the same color scheme and colors. Goku’s clothes will be orange, but a more dulled down, earthy looking version.

George: We thought if, with a lot of things, especially the costumes, if they matched the colors from the anime it would just look tacky, cheap. We thought we’d go with something more realistic and earthy.

Harry: Piccolo will be wearing purple, but a little more earthy. We are staying true to the colors, just toned down.

Derek: That makes sense, I understand.

I’ve read concerns from fans over the application of special effects. The anime is so packed with all this action and stuff flying across the screen. They’re worried that if done at a low level of quality, it will ruin the film. How would you respond to these fans?

George: We’re very conscious of that as well. We want to deliver something good.

We’re always playing with them, trying to do what’s best. When it comes to the final thing we’ll spend a lot of time to make sure it looks right.

Harry: One of the key reasons we haven’t set a release date is so we can spend as much time as we need to get the effects right. The finished product will be something that we’re happy with.

As a fan, if I see something that looks like rubbish, it ruins it for me. We want to make sure that doesn’t happen to the fans.

Derek: I’m sure that answer will satisfy them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd1BIAsPc9M

You mentioned flying and wire work. What other types of special effects can we look forward to? This is the Saiyan Saga so there’s a lot going on. Can we see the Kaio-Ken? Obviously there’s going to be a Kamehameha. Will there be a Flying Nimbus, Goku’s cloud?

George: The Nimbus? No. For us, the Nimbus was something brought over from Dragon Ball.

Harry: The first episodes we saw were when Raditz just showed up. Piccolo and Goku were fighting him, and the Nimbus was around and I know it’s important to people, but in terms of Z, for us…

George: The reality is that he was using the Nimbus as a taxi to get to the fight, from Kami’s Lookout to the battlefield. In terms of the trailer we don’t need to see that happen. He’ll just be there.

Harry: Plus it would be a rather elaborate special effect in terms of budget.

George: But you can expect the Kamehameha, the Tri-Beam, the Sōkidan (Yamcha’s move), the Kienzan (Destructo Disc).

Harry: Vegeta’s Galick Gun. You can expect…

Derek: Well don’t give away everything!

Harry: Haha, right, I was about to say. They’ll see all the favorites. That’s the idea. It’s also one of the reasons we released the video update with Yamcha. We always loved the rest of the Z fighters and we want to give each of them a chance to show off a core moment of who they are.

Derek: That way everybody is going to be happy.

George: Exactly.

The Script

Isky Fay, who plays Yamcha

Derek: In regard to the script, you’ve created the template in anime form. Is the dialogue going to follow the Japanese original, an English dub (like from FUNimation), or your own translations with your own dialogue?

George: This is something we’ve been debating a lot. Obviously we want to appeal to the biggest audience, which is in America, and that’s the fan base that has responded the most to our project so far. We grew up watching the American English dub. But a part of us wants to stay more true to the fact it’s a Japanese anime and do it in Japanese. But we’re not sure if people would like that.

From our point of view we’re making the version we grew up watching. We didn’t grow up watching the Japanese version, so for us it would be a bit strange. So far, the comments on the videos have been mostly in English speaking countries, so it seems to make sense.

Harry: We’ve toyed with the idea of recording all the audio in both Japanese and English. But again, with time constraints, we don’t know if that will be possible.

George: In terms of the actual dialogue, it is going to be pretty much as-is in the anime. The anime version we’re basing the script on is the Kai version because it was a lot faster for us to go through that.

Derek: I think that’s much better because the dialogue there is more true to the original Japanese.

George: Right, exactly. We were talking about that today, how the Destructo Disc was changed back to Kienzan. That might help appeal to more fans.

Derek: Definitely. People are always asking this, I see it all over the place. You’re making an extended trailer, but people are asking if it’s a full film. You’ve already responded to that, but do you have plans for a feature length script, has that been written? Because of constraints, I imagine you’re filming just the parts that are necessary for the trailer.

Harry: Right. We see this as hopefully a jumping point. If fans continue responding to it as they have, then the film will get a lot of hits and that will give us an excuse to make more movies.

Ideally of course we’d love to make a feature. If this does well and people like it, then we can make another funding page to make the second one more elaborate. People would have more confidence in us after this one.

Derek: That makes perfect sense and sounds awesome. I think fans out there would love to have every saga made in this fashion.

Let’s jump ahead to the casting and what it’s like to be an independent film developer.

Z Warriors Assemble

Ryan Oliva's battle scarred chest, as Nappa

Derek: Personally, I think you should be applauded for finding such great look-alikes, who not only practice martial arts but are also big fans of Dragon Ball. Seems like it would be one in a million, and yet you found one for each character. I’d like to know where you found them and what the audition process was like?

Harry: We have been ridiculously lucky. We started off by looking for their appearance and martial arts skills, along with the roles they played. That way we’d see a pool of people in the search results that were a good match for the film. Then we went character by character through the results, contacted them, and asked if they’d like to be part of a Dragon Ball Z film.

We got responses from some of the guys saying that “Oh my god I love Dragon Ball Z. I’d love to be part of the project.”

Just the fact that these guys love Dragon Ball Z, it helps us so much. They know the character and what we’re talking about. They can get into the character instantly. It’s not like telling a complete stranger, “This is Goku,” and having to show him episodes to teach him.

Derek: You already have a language you can communicate in.

Harry: Exactly. They know the character and love it themselves. As actors they’ve dreamed about acting like these characters, so it was already in them at the start.

Derek: Is there anything in particular you looked for when casting Goku and Vegeta? We haven’t seen them in action yet, and I’m sure they’re great martial artists, but can you give us some insider info on how they landed the lead roles?

Harry:

Goku being the good guy and sweeter character, I don’t know. Vegeta was just so much more defined in terms of what people would want to see. The arrogance and look. I was looking for that in the actors eyes, that arrogance coming through. Also if they had enough hair, because we didn’t want to use huge elaborate wigs, we wanted it to be natural.

Aaron was staring down the camera in his photos and looked like Vegeta. Plus, immediately, he loved Dragon Ball Z and wanted to play Vegeta.

Aaaron Ly has Vegeta hair

He’s been doing martial arts since he was 8 years old and has over 15 different disciplines of martial arts. He’s been staged in screen fighting and knows what looks good on camera.

Derek: Sounds like he’s perfect for the role.

Harry: Yeah, he’s perfect. Goku was a similar situation. We thought Peter had a good build. In the photo’s we have out now at the moment, he’s smaller than he is now. He’s been training really hard and is larger now.

He’s really nice in real life and has the Goku-esque attributes, plus he’s friends and family and loves Dragon Ball Z. Of all the actors he’s the one that has studied the cartoon the most to learn how Goku acts. He also had a similar martial arts background to Aaron.

Peter Peralta will play Goku

George: Peter has his own production company, does his own acting and those things.

Harry: Being at the level of martial arts these guys are, and being local to the UK, a lot of them have already worked together and are friends. That’s really good because they’ve worked as stunt men together.

Derek: That will help the energy and communication.

Have there been any legal issues with Toei, Shueisha or Dragon Ball license holders? Do they know about this project?

Harry: They don’t know about it so far. But from what we’ve seen from similar projects, as long as we don’t make a profit from it, and we won’t because it’s not a profit making exercise, then legally we’re okay. If it comes up, then we’ll cross that bridge when it does.

Derek: Seems like it’s fair use and there’s not much to worry about. I was worried about it for my book, but legally it is fair use, so you’ll be just fine.

I was going to ask about the issue of race again, but you’ve already touched on it and it’s your choice on how you perceive it, so I don’t think we need to dig into it much more.

Harry: Can I just say one thing on it quickly?

They’re drawn in a way that is open to interpretation. Asian people watching it may interpret them as Asians, while Australians or Americans may interpret them as white or European. I don’t think that matters much, it’s just how we saw it.

Derek: That’s an even better answer. Thank you.

Dragon Ball Fandom

Lee Edward Jones is Krillin

Derek: There seems to have been a large response to your announcement of the film’s production, and it was only a short while, and yet people are already screaming, “Oh my god, take my money, I can’t wait for this!” What are your feelings on the response of fans so far?

Harry: It has been absolutely amazing. I honestly didn’t expect it. We knew people would be interested because there’s a big Dragon Ball fan base out there, but when we put up the first video with pictures of the cast and location, there was no evidence that we would actually follow through with it.

I was saying to George that I didn’t think people would donate to this, and then over the weekend the first $2,000 dollars rolled in. It was amazing, I couldn’t believe it. That’s why in the second video we wanted to show people some evidence that this is really happening and to let them know that we are taking this seriously and really do want to do this.

It’s become a full time job for me to interact with fans on Facebook and Twitter, and I love the enthusiasm on all the platforms. Watching people on Twitter share with their fans that they have to look at this. The Dragon Ball Z fans have been great.

George: It’s a really good community. Everyone is looking to share any kind of content they can about Dragon Ball Z.

Harry: They’re saying stuff like, “These guys are doing it for us.” They’re helping share it and make it more popular.

George: We really appreciate everyone’s support.

Harry: We can’t say that enough. The other thing are the role playing guys who talk to eachother as if they are the characters. There’s a guy on Twitter who calls himself Goku who has like, 75,000 followers. He tweets about the project and then we get 300 or 400 more followers, so I say, “Thanks, Goku,” as if it were really him, and it’s a lot of fun.

Derek: You’re right, the Dragon Ball community will share anything they can find, they get so excited by it. And when it’s something of high quality they’ll share it even more. That’s what they’re doing with your project.

Obviously there are a lot of dragon Ball fans out there, and there’s something in Dragon Ball for everybody. Every fan has their favorite character. Some like Goku, while others prefer Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan, Tenshinhan or Krillin. Some even love Yamcha! Why do you think that Dragon Ball is able to appeal to so many different types of fans?

George: I’m a Tien man, myself!

Derek Siow is Tenshinhan

Harry: I think when it comes to liking the different fighters, one of the reasons that people love Piccolo is that he’s really strong, but he’s always a slight underdog to the Saiyans. You’ve got that type of character, the underdog. Also the really strong ones, Goku being the sweet guy and Vegeta being the epitome of arrogance and a bad guy. There are completely different types of characters that everyone can relate to.

Derek: Seems like there’s a lot of humanity in it. Even though at the same time it’s this crazy, off the wall, explosive action packed anime, it’s still relatable somehow, and very touching.

Harry: At the end of every saga it pretty much ends up with Goku going back to Chi-Chi, Gohan, Krillin and them standing around. That’s what it was about, they were fighting for their friends and family. It has that human element.

Karen Tiew will play Goku's wife, Chi-Chi

George: When it gets to the Cell Saga you have that whole relationship with Trunks and his father, trying to get Vegeta’s approval. People can relate to that, making their parents proud.

Derek: I think you’re right.

Do you feel that Dragon Ball is a meaningful series? Some people look at it and say, “Oh, it’s just a simple, stupid young boy’s action comic that was turned into a cartoon and then they milked it for all it’s worth. That’s all it is, so don’t look into it, it’s not that deep.” But I find a lot of meaning in it and I want to ask if you think it’s a meaningful series as well.

Harry: I think it has both. There were episodes where you’re watching Goku and go, “Woah, cool!” and are blown away by the action. But if it was so simple, then you wouldn’t care. You have to care about the characters, what happens to them and their relationships.

You wouldn’t care about two guys fighting if you don’t care about the characters. That was the problem with Dragon Ball Evolution. I didn’t care about the characters. But in Dragon Ball Z I did. You laugh when Vegeta gets angry with Goku. It has loads of moments like that.

Wrapping Up

Raditz gets his hair done

Derek: If you could show a screening of the finished film to Akira Toriyama, what do you think he would say afterward?

George: “Give me my money.” Haha.

Harry: I hope he’d say cool, you obviously love something I love so much that you put this much effort into making it.

George: He may have some qualms about certain elements, but everyone has their own interpretation of it. We hope he’d appreciate the amount of passion and effort that we put into this to make it as good as we could.

Harry: Especially if we can tell him this was a film made by and published by his fans. I hope he’d take it as a compliment.

Derek: If Nappa asked Vegeta what the Scouter said about this films power level, what would it say?

Harry: Hahaha. Well, we obviously know the original amount and then the amount that everyone has come to expect. If we were to do it, then I suppose we’d go with Over 9,000. Haha.

Derek: Can fans expect to see the Over 9,000 scene in your film, or is the joke too played out?

Harry: Let’s just say that they will see it in one way or another, if not in the actual trailer.

Derek: This blog is mostly read by Americans but has an international readership, so is there a message you’d like to share with the global Dragon Ball fan base?

Harry: Sit back and enjoy! Get involved. We all love Dragon Ball Z, so enjoy it. Simple as that.

Derek: Great. If fans have more questions, I know that you’ll be providing more video updates in the future, right?

Harry: Yes. This was brilliant. We really appreciate this Derek. It was cool.

Derek: Have a good night and I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product.

George: Cheers.

Arrival

Ryan Oliva as Nappa, the Saiyan

There you have it. Live action Dragon Ball Z is on the way!

Filming begins in May, and I’m looking forward to the updates from Harry and George at K&K Productions as production continues.

If you want to see this film get made, then please support it with a tax-deductible donation on IndieGogo. The more the better, because that means they can do more wire work and special effects, really bringing the true spirit of Dragon Ball Z to life.

That’s the whole point of Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Saga, and it’s what Dragon Ball fans across the world have been waiting for.

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Saga Interview

DEREK: You stated that Dragon Ball Z is the greatest action anime of all time. Why do you feel that way?

MARCUS: Because, man! No fillers baby! They got straight to the point. The action!

They had one filler, and that was the Garlic Jr. Saga. Which wasn’t that bad! It was a nice little break, like 5 episodes, and then they got right back to Future Trunks and the Androids. They got right back on it.

And they had a little fun with Goku and Piccolo trying to learn how to drive, you know, that little bullshit, but for the most part Dragon Ball Z stayed the course, it always stayed focused on the action.

Fuck No you wouldn’t! Because Krillin and Yamcha are the fucking weakest ones, you don’t care about them. I mean, they’re great to be the gauge for the enemies strength, but if I had to watch The Adventures of Krillin and Yamcha, I really wouldn’t be watching it. I’m trying to skip that. It’s like that whole saga of Bleach, like, c’mon, really?

DEREK: Yeah, I haven’t watched the last 20 episodes of Naruto because it’s all been filler.

MARCUS: Right, right that’s what I’m saying! After Sasuke left, it was like 30 episodes of bullshit. There was like 5 episodes where something happened in the Sand Village where Gaara’s student got kidnapped. They should have just skipped all that shit and gone right to the kidnapping and then bam, go right into Naruto: Shippuden. It was just so much and I was getting tired of it.

And the other reason I was like, “Fuck Naruto,” is because I was buying these motherfuckers! I didn’t know about animefreak.tv and the torrent sites, I was buying them. I was like, “What the fuck?!” After all that. Spending $39.99 on this, and then all of a sudden, it’s like, “Okay, that was fucking pointless.” And that shit pisses me off. That’s money, dude.

DEREK: Yeah, the crappy filler episodes wasting your money.

MARCUS: See, that’s what I’m saying. You go right now and buy Dragon Ball Z Uncut Season 1 and you’ll be all, “Holy shit. I’ve got to buy Season 2. Holy shit. I’ve got to buy Season 3.” It doesn’t stop because it keeps you into it. It never loses your focus.

DEREK: Yeah, I absolutely agree. So as an expert martial artist, how would you describe the fighting styles in Dragon Ball Z?

MARCUS: Hmm. I would have to say it’s more traditional, but at the same time they utilize their own skill. Especially with Goku and Master Roshi. I didn’t have to do half the stuff Goku did because I didn’t start off with traditional martial arts. I started off in MMA and I focused a lot on boxing.

In boxing and MMA gyms you don’t have the whole respect culture that the traditional martial arts have. I felt I was adapting to it because I was partaking in Brazilian Jujitsu now, and to the Brazilians I was all like, “You won’t hit me once I figure out how to tie my fucking belt.” It took me like an hour, you know?

At the same time, while I didn’t like it, it taught me to respect the belt.

You know, in boxing there is no belt. You get better by beating this dudes ass. That’s how you get better at boxing. Same thing in MMA.

But traditional martial arts, they teach you how to respect the mat, how to respect the belt, respect your Gi.

DEREK: So there’s a different type of ethics to it, or a martial morality?

MARCUS: Yeah, like the Goku – Master Roshi experience, it’s more traditional. Even though he has surpassed his master, he still has a relationship with him. And Goku is so open minded, he’s like a mixed martial artist. After he learned what he could from Master Roshi, guess what, he went to King Kai after that.

DEREK: Actually, it was Karin, Mister Popo, Kami, and then King Kai.

MARCUS:

Like when he grabs Vegeta and then like, I just saw this on the Uncut, which pisses me off because Cartoon Network cut the Vegeta and Goku battle in half. They made it look like Vegeta barely lost to Goku. No, Vegeta got his ass whupped! If I had seen that in high school, it would have completely changed my whole perspective of Vegeta.

Haha. He utilized it because it was there, you know what I’m saying?

DEREK: Some fans I’ve spoken with have noticed a difference in the fighting styles of the original Dragon Ball and then Dragon Ball Z. It seems like the original one is very traditional Chinese, a little Japanese, fighting styles with deep stances, very Kung Fu.

MARCUS: Exactly. It changed though because of their ability to fly. Because you can’t do an iron horse stance in the air.

DEREK: How would you describe the changes in the characters fighting styles as the series continued?

MARCUS: They had to adapt because these are more powerful enemies. I mean, fuck, Freeza destroyed a planet with his finger. So of course he might not be as active as he should be. Especially with the aerial attacks, because in Dragon Ball Z they fought a lot in the air.

Like I said, you can’t do a traditional stance in the air. An iron horse stance, you’re drawing energy up from the ground, you plant yourself. Like when a boxer throws a punch, it’s all connected because he throws it from the hip. The power comes from the hip, which is drawn from his feet being turned when he pivots his foot on the ground.

Now when you’re fighting in the air, there’s no ground to touch. You have to use the forward momentum of your flight to make your punches harder.

DEREK: I never thought about that before. That’s a really good insight.

MARCUS: Yeah. You know I know my Dragon Ball Z!

I noticed it, the difference between the two. I liked every minute of the original, but it was different because they were fighting more on the ground, like humans.

But then in Z they’re fighting against aliens, and all these guys have flight abilities. It changes the whole scenario when a guy can fly.

Just like on Avatar, Nickelodeon’s Avatar. You remember how he defeated the blind girl, the earth bender? He flew. Then he wasn’t on the ground anymore and she didn’t know where that shit was coming from. That changes the game when you know how to fly.

DEREK: Absolutely. Good insight. So let me ask you, if you could have one of the supernormal abilities depicted in Dragon Ball, those really advanced techniques, which one would it be?

MARCUS: Which one would it be? You know what, mine wouldn’t be that advanced, because I would have the Saiyans ability to not age.

DEREK: Ohhhh.

MARCUS: Yeah, see, they maintain their youth as they fight. That’s just their race.

DEREK: Wow. Good wisdom. I did not expect that answer. I think it’s a great one.

Okay, I have a few questions that don’t really flow together, so I’ll just ask them.

Who do you think is the best fighter in Dragon Ball?

MARCUS: Are we talking hand to hand combat, ki blasts?

DEREK: I’m going to say over all, your subjective opinion of who’s the best.

MARCUS: It has to be Goku. Goku is constantly evolving. And guess what, [in GT] he got turned into a fucking kid. And now he has the knowledge of a 40 year old, in a 10 year old body. So guess what, when he grows up to be a 25 year old as a youth, he’ll have a completely different mentality. Could you imagine? Have you ever said, “Man, if I was 10 years younger and I had this mind, I’d do this!”

DEREK: You’re right. It would be a totally different perspective on life. A lot more experience and wisdom.

MARCUS: Exactly. And he was already constantly evolving as a fighter, as a grown man. Now that he has reverted back to a kid. I mean, at the beginning of GT, I’m just like Okay. But when he grows up again, he’s going to be even stronger. And at the end of GT the dragon balls absorb into him, so we don’t even know how powerful he is.

DEREK: Right. A lot of fans have wondered what that meant. And if they do another series, what that would be like.

MARCUS: Whatever happened to that Dragon Ball AF series? I was going crazy looking for it.

DEREK: Yeah, it’s actually not real. But there are fan made versions called Dragon Ball AF. There’s a really good comic by a guy named Toyble. It looks just like Akira Toriyama’s drawings, it’s really well done. That is essentially what happens after Dragon Ball GT. It’s good. I would recommend it. You can find it free online. But there is no new animated series.

Now there’s another rumor out there of a series called Dragon Ball Hoshi. And a lot of people are going frantic for that one. But that too isn’t real. It’s just like Dragon Ball AF.

So it’s like every 4 or 5 years another rumor starts, “Oh, another Dragon Ball series is coming out.” But there isn’t one. And unfortunately everybody wants it, but they don’t have it.

The only thing that is coming out, they got the new video games, and there’s another one coming out soon called Dragon Ball Online, which is like World of Warcraft meets Dragon Ball. You can make your own characters and play online. It’s a whole world.

MARCUS: Damn. Daaaaaaammn. I can’t play that. I would never train.

DEREK: I know. You can actually play it in Korean and Chinese right now. They don’t even have a Japanese or English version yet. That should be coming to the States within the next year or two, hopefully.

MARCUS: That’s going to change the game. The whole World of Warcraft, they don’t have a fucking chance after that.

DEREK: Haha. So, are you a fan of the English dub, or the Japanese sub?

MARCUS: I’m more of an English dub guy. But the thing is, with the English dub they cut out a lot of the dialogue. The only way you can get a true Dragon Ball experience is to watch the Japanese version. Because the uncut American version…

I’m more a fan of the English uncut versions, but the thing is, they take so fucking long to get out.

I’m starting to get over this, but I’m not going to lie, I hate the Japanese voice. [Does a high pitched scream]. Agghh! It ruins it for me! In the American version, we do a better job with the voices.

And the fucking music! I just remember the music when Gohan is doing the father-son Kamehameha against Cell and is walking forward. Dude, that music, it traps you into that moment. But when you hear the Japanese version, it’s like… cooky. It’s like, I don’t know, the song doesn’t fit that moment. The soundtrack that the American’s put into the English and the uncut, man it just really pulls you into that scene. It traps you.

DEREK: Yeah, still to this day there’s a huge debate between the American music and the Japanese music, and people are… It’s so divisive. There’s no middle ground! People take sides.

MARCUS: The music is so different. And I’ve got to admit, some things you can read, but it doesn’t get you as crunked as when you hear it.

For instance, when Imperfect Cell was fighting against Vegeta. You remember he was getting frustrated because Vegeta was beating his ass. “This is impossible. I’m Cell. I am the most powerful person in the world!” Vegeta’s like, “You are nothing.” Then he knocked him out.

DEREK: I would have to agree with you. Did you know that Blu-ray just came out? Dragon Ball Z on Blu-ray.

MARCUS: Yeah, man, but I’m going to stick with my DVD’s. I’m already at Season 3, and I’ll go ahead and buy 4 through 9, they’re uncut. And right now I’m getting my path on becoming a member of the UFC, so I don’t have money like that, for a fucking Blu-ray. So right now the DVD’s are tight.

And you know what, that goes to show you something. I love Dragon Ball so much I refuse to download off the internet. That is fucking love. Naruto? I’ll fucking download all them hoe’s. But Dragon Ball Z? No. No. I have to pay for them.

Also you know, when you go on porn sites, they have something where Dragon Ball characters are fucking Sailor Moon characters. I won’t even watch it. No. No. You’re messing up the integrity of Dragon Ball! I won’t even watch it.

DEREK: That’s an interesting segue. I want to ask you about some spirituality questions.

The Dao of Dragon Ball is a book that talks about Buddhism, Daoism and how it relates to the series. Dragon Ball is a Japanese creation and it’s related to Journey to the West and all these ancient cultures, the spiritual energy and all that stuff.

Do you feel, personally, that Dragon Ball has a spiritual aspect to it? And if you do, how would you describe it?

MARCUS: I never saw Dragon Ball as a spiritual outlet. I always believed in my God. I never really saw that in Dragon Ball.

And I saw that all that came from the inner workings of Goku, Vegeta and how Goku just wouldn’t stop. He had to. His love for his family was the reason he trained so hard. So he could protect them. I never saw the spiritual side of Dragon Ball.

Personally, I have a tattoo on my chest that says, “I can do all things through Christ, Jesus, that strengthens me.” Yeah. And that’s honestly how I feel about my spirituality as a fighter. A lot of people told me you can’t do this, you can’t do that. I was like, you know what, if I believe in Jesus I will. And guess what? I’m on the show. I’m the first person from Alabama to be on The Ultimate Fighter.

I hate to say this, but some of it’s true. Alabama just got boxing commission. It’s been a world renowned sport for centuries but why are we just now getting boxing commission? Where I’m from had a lot of drawbacks, but it had some good things to, like I’m a leading child, so I have a strong commitment to family, to my religion, all that stuff, I grew up in the church.

DEREK: Really? That’s a very profound statement.

MARCUS: Hm-hmm.

DEREK: You mentioned on one of your video blogs, that while everybody else on the show was raiding the fridge and having a barbeque, you were off in the corner reading your Bible. You are a Protestant, correct?

MARCUS: Yeah, Protestant. I’m Baptist, but Protestant, for some reason not Catholic. That’s why I have to put time into the military. Haha.

DEREK: Would you consider yourself to be a spiritual man? And if so, how does your spirituality interact with your life as a fighter?

MARCUS: It keeps me motivated. You think about where you come from, how did you get this far. I was so scared to move. I was so unhappy in my home state of Alabama. One day. This is the weirdest shit ever. One day I was driving and I felt really bad. I pulled over and was fucking crying. Really bad, like somebody just shot my dog or something. I can’t describe it. I think that was the Lord telling me it was time to go. “You’re not happy here. Time to go.”

I just graduated from college. I was 25 years old. I was in the military and had a job, it honestly wasn’t that bad, but I had to go. People were telling me that I needed to go to succeed at MMA, and there were other hints.

DEREK: Because you are so… Christ is in you to such a degree, but you’re not familiar with Eastern cultures, like energy, spirituality and all that. How do you explain the supernormal martial arts of Dragon Ball?

MARCUS:

That’s all they needed to advance. You saw that the harder they trained the better they got. When they went into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, that was the equivalent of a years’ worth of training in one day.

That’s how I understood that in order to be the best, you have to constantly train. And that’s what I saw in Dragon Ball, Goku was always training, Vegeta was always training. They were always training to be the best at all times. And training became an everyday regiment of their life.

That’s how I understood that I have to train, I have to push myself past that limit. I got to this point. Tomorrow I need to pass that point. I need to get to a new point. Everyday, life is about the regiment of training.

DEREK: Really? I agree. That reminds me of a saying, “How you live your days, is how you live your life.”

MARCUS: Hm-hmm.

DEREK: I think that is really true. And a person who is always training and improving is going to always be transcending their former self and rising upward. I think that’s a really great way to live your life, as long as you have balance.

So if training allows you to keep improving and rising up, the eventual endpoint of that might be some type of superhuman ability, it just goes beyond normal. Do you believe that human beings can fight like the characters in Dragon Ball, using those types of supernormal abilities?

MARCUS: To be honest with you, I don’t think humans will evolve to that point no time soon. But ain’t it a damn thing to try? To strive for that?

Just to strive to be that type of fighter, like Goku, it’s going to put you above everybody else. Goku is such a high standard, he’s such an elite athlete and fighter that you will surpass people as you try to catch him.

DEREK: Absolutely. That reminds me of another question. Another Dragon Ball fan in the community wanted me to ask this one. He wanted to know, how do you mentally prepare for a match?

MARCUS: Really, it’s a whole bunch of visualizations, like what am I going to do? A lot of that has to do with your corner. I’m getting my iPod, blasting rap music like Lil’Jon to get me amped, and then my coach in the background is saying,

You don’t understand how your corner gives you trust, love and respect and all these things. He believes in you, which fortifies your belief in yourself. That mental preparation is so important to me. Some people like to sit and meditate, but I need some amount of love, trust and somebody to tell me what I’m going to do to this man. That’s my mental stimulation.

“You going to throw a jab? What you gonna do? You gonna throw an uppercut, a cross, you gonna knee him, you gonna hit the ground, you gonna ground and pound, you gonna throw a triangle, you going to escape, you going to knee rise, then you gonna punch him in the face.” As he’s telling you this you’re visualizing it, and because he believes it, you believe it. You believe it even more because he said it.

DEREK: Yeah. Wow. It really gives me a feeling for what it must be like to be in that cage and to have somebody in front of you, it doesn’t matter who they are, you’re just going to go through them, and you are so confident and have that support. It’s a team and you’re doing it together. I think that’s really amazing.

It’s also very similar to the Dragon Ball spirit. It’s not like what Vegeta had going on. It’s not about being strong by yourself. You have to have other people that are with you and support you. That’s where strength comes from.

MARCUS: Yep. Exactly.

DEREK: What do you think of Vegeta when he let himself be possessed by Babidi to gain more power? And this is kind of a silly question, but would you ever let that happen to you, if it meant you could become the most successful fighter in MMA history?

MARCUS: Man, that is a tough question.

Vegeta sold his soul to the devil in order to get stronger than Goku. And that’s the thing about being lower than being the best. If you dangle that in front of somebody’s face for a long time, they’re going to cave. If you’re hungry and starving and I have this steak: “You want the steak? Well why don’t you just sign this contract and you can have as much as you want. And a glass of cold water.” It’s tempting. It depends on that person.

Now Goku never fought for himself, he always fought for his friends. Along with his friends, they’re like, “Nah we don’t need that.” But Vegeta always fought for himself, and to see somebody like Goku, who first of all, was supposed to be a low class Saiyan, surpass him. All of a sudden this elite Saiyan gets surpassed, works hard to get back up to Goku’s level, and then Goku surpasses him again.

And you have to remember, everything that Goku did, Vegeta did. Because Vegeta thought that if he had a family, he would be strong like Goku. But he had Trunks and Bulma, and nothing happened. “Why is he so much damn stronger than me?” It was pissing him off. And now he’s got this temptation: “You want to be stronger than him, sell me your soul.”

You don’t think [about the ramifications] like that, because you think that it’s all you want to be. “It’s all I want. I have one dream, to be the best and be better than him.” And someone offers you that… Would you take it? To be honest with you, we’re all human. We’re all human.

DEREK: Right. Do you see a corollary there between Vegeta’s choice… I see a corollary between Vegeta’s choice and the Temptation of Jesus in the desert, where it’s like, “I know you want this, here it is, I’ll give you whatever you want.” And Jesus says no, I didn’t come here for those things. And like Goku, he can’t be tempted because his heart is pure. But Vegeta can be tempted, and then he actually welcomes it. He tells Goku later, “I chose to let Babidi possess me to gain more power.” Do you see that as well?

MARCUS: Yeah, it’s just like that. And it shows just how strong God is, how strong Jesus was, because he was offered it and he said hell no.

DEREK: So that would never… we’re all human, like you said, but yeah, that’s a crazy scenario to be in where it’s like, there’s your dream, there’s your chance. That’s tough.

I have two more questions.

When you hear the title The Dao of Dragon Ball, what does this make you think the book will be about?

MARCUS: From what I read, it’s going to talk about everything. How Dragon Ball relates to real subjects, spiritualism, religions, training ethics, dreams, temptations. And how all of that that we go through in our daily lives is all reflected, the sentiments of that are in your Dragon Ball book.

And the way you just said how Vegeta was tempted, and how Jesus was tempted, that’s a great correlation. So I would like to see how if I read something about Dragon Ball, I can see how Goku was going through that, when this happened.

DEREK: So it’s really the relatable aspects of individual people and what makes them human, and how Dragon Ball helps you to see that and look within? Got it.

What made you excited to read this book when you found out about it? I tweeted you to let you know about it, and you wrote back saying that you wanted a copy. Why was that?

MARCUS: Because it’s Dragon Ball. I love anything Dragon Ball. I am so a fan. I love it. Anything that is Dragon Ball. I can’t describe it. Dragon Ball is the greatest. Hands down.

There’s a book that somebody is trying to relate our everyday lives and what we go through to a Dragon Ball saga? I’m like, “Okay I have to read this.” And then when you made that correlation, I’m like, wow, what the fuck else have you thought about?

DEREK: Haha. Yeah. I’ve been thinking about this… for a long time.

That was all my questions. Thank you! Is there anything else you’d like to express?

MARCUS: I just want to express my love for Dragon Ball. And I would also like to apologize to the Naruto fans out there. It’s not fuck Naruto. It’s fuck Naruto fillers! I just don’t like the fillers. Let’s get to the meat. Stay on focus with the task.

Naruto is actually a great action anime as well. But I just didn’t like the fillers, so just be to sure tell all your fans, I LOVE NARUTO, Naruto fans!

And Rock Lee is my favorite. I love Rock Lee. They don’t show him as much in Shipuuden. But Naruto is getting badder. And I can’t wait to see that final battle between him and Sasuke, because now he’s got the toad sage powers.

DEREK: Well okay. Do you have any questions for me?

MARCUS: Who is your favorite MMA fighter right now?

DEREK: MMA? I’ve been out of watching it for so long, honestly, I don’t even have one.

MARCUS: Well since you don’t have one, you can start with this person right here, Marcus Brimage! Get started with me. And you follow my career and I will follow your career. Hopefully we can make something happen. Maybe a real Dragon Ball movie. Although honestly I don’t think Dragon Ball should ever be made into a movie, because some things just can’t be done well.

DEREK: Yeah. Well if they ever do I hope that I get to be a part of it somehow, and make sure that it stays true to the series, because they just did not stay true to it at all, and that’s why it failed.

MARCUS: Exactly. I was like, why are people going to watch this? It looks fucking horrible. I boycotted that shit. I’m sorry. Please put that in your book, that I boycotted Dragon Ball Evolution.

DEREK: Haha. I will, I will. I might not name you specifically, but I will mention that.

Oh, I do actually have one last question. Do you have any inspiring words of wisdom for anybody like you who has seen Dragon Ball and has been so motivated that they want to become a fighter, but they don’t know how?

MARCUS: Tell those guys to believe in themselves and pray. Then go for it. That’s it.

DEREK: Very good advice. I guess it really is that simple too, if you can do that and make it.

This has been great. I really enjoyed this and you’ve given me so many great quotes, it’s going to be hard to choose. I feel like I’ve met a true fan of the series.

That’s one of the goals I had in writing this book. To meet other people… like me, really, so we can talk about it and enjoy one another’s company.

Dragon Ball is one of those things that brings people together no matter who they are, no matter how old they are, what race, financial background or anything, I think Dragon Ball can unite people. And I really enjoyed this. So thank you very much.

MARCUS: Thank you so much for thinking about me for the book. I greatly appreciate that.

DEREK: You’re welcome, and thank you for the interview!

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Marcus Brimage – DBZ and MMA Part 2

These fights have awed and inspired fans across the world. And there are some fans who become so inspired that they decide to pursue martial arts and make it their career.

I had the privilege of interviewing one of those inspired fans recently: Marcus Brimage, a Mixed Martial Artist who can currently be seen on Season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) on Spike TV.

Here is Marcus’ introduction interview on the show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ3Y-bdcjFc

This caught my attention and I decided to reach out to Marcus on Twitter. He agreed to the interview and the results were amazing.

We ended up talking for over an hour!

How and why did Dragon Ball inspire him? As an expert martial artist, what is his opinion on the fighting styles of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z? How does spirituality play a role in his fighting? And did Dragon Ball influence his fighting style?

We also discussed his time growing up in Alabama and his desire for a greater life. His early experiences getting tough love from his MMA instructors. And the superiority of Dragon Ball over other action anime.

Not to mention another comment by Marcus for all of the Naruto fans out there!

*Warning that this interview contains occasional swear words.

*Warning that this interview contains violence and mixed martial arts content.

*Warning that this interview contains Dragon Ball spoilers because Marcus and I are super-fans and discuss the series in detail.

That’s right, kids!

So without further ado, here is The Dao of Dragon Ball’s interview with Marcus Brimage, a mixed martial artist and Dragon Ball fan!

Dragon Ball Z Inspires a Young Man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vpK0wlIP1I

DEREK: Dragon Ball Z really inspired you to join MMA.

On The Ultimate Fighter, you said, “Quinton Jackson and Dragon Ball Z are the reason why I do mixed martial arts today. Dragon Ball Z is the greatest action anime of all time. All time. All these little kids talking ‘bout Naruto. Man, fuck Naruto. Dragon Ball Z.”

You said that on national TV. That was your introduction to the series, people didn’t know who you are and you’re mentioning that Dragon Ball Z and Quinton Jackson, another MMA fighter, are what inspired you. How exactly did Dragon Ball Z motivate you to pursue martial arts and join the MMA?

MARCUS: Just because of the power that the Saiyans emit. It was crazy. Goku is such a super nice guy, but he’s super powerful. Vegeta is a badass, you expect him to be powerful. But I was always a nice guy and like making people laugh, and to see someone that was good hearted and kind, and all of a sudden he’s this powerful fighter, it really made me think that, “Man, I can do that.”

And that’s how I like to fight, because I push my conditioning so hard, I want to fight just like that, whup your ass from bell to bell.

It inspired me because in Alabama we don’t really have any martial arts, except Taekwondo. I just never liked Taekwondo. We have a few boxing gyms, but I wanted to learn how to kick and knee and all this other stuff.

I was in Alabama and I just basically had all these ambitions because of Dragon Ball Z. I mean, dude, c’mon, you’ve seen it, the fights are unreal. One of my favorite fights is when 17 fought against Piccolo, and the way Piccolo was using the body blows. He was hitting him so hard that the fucking fist was coming through the back of his shirt.

I was like, “Oh my God!” I knew I had to watch this cartoon. It was off the chain. It motivated me. I felt that I really wanted to learn how to do that. How to fight like that.

But at the same time, I don’t have to be a super badass guy like Vegeta. Vegeta has this attitude that everyone likes, but it’s not one that many people really have. More people are more like Goku than Vegeta. Happy go lucky: “I just want to eat food and fight!” So I thought that was pretty cool.

DEREK: How old were you when you saw Dragon Ball and you felt this way.

MARCUS: When I saw Dragon Ball I was actually in the 4^th grade. It came on WNEM-68, and I don’t know what made me watch that cartoon, because it was about this kid with a tail, and all of a sudden this hot chick with blue hair comes over to find his Dragon Ball that he thought was his granddad.

I remember I watched it before every football game, before I had to leave the house for little league football, I would watch an episode. I don’t know why, because Dragon Ball wasn’t that action packed, but the story gravitated to me, and then come to find out that Goku killed his granddad because he stepped on him. When he was younger he told him, “Don’t look at the moon because the evil monster will come out,” and all of a sudden he looked at the moon and turned into the ape. So it had a very cool story line, but even though it wasn’t action packed, I’m not sure why I was so drawn to it.

Now when Dragon Ball Z came out, I was in 6^th grade, and it used to only come on each Saturday, before Cartoon Network picked it up, and they used to show two episodes… and I lost it. The first fight with Goku versus Piccolo and Raditz, man… the thing is, with Dragon Ball, it stopped right after the first season, after they made the wish for supreme underwear.

It stopped after that, so I saw Dragon Ball Z and was able to put it together that, “Hey that’s the little boy, okay he’s strong now.” Not that it was hard to put together.

It was fast, it was ferocious, but somehow it was controlled. It wasn’t like, “Boom, Crash.” It was fast, ferocious, precise. Precision. Every blow was a precise movement. There was no unneeded movement at all. Everything was with precision, and so fast.

DEREK: Yes, it was very efficient. So you were in the 6^th grade, playing football, and you were into athletics, was there a particular moment when you were watching Dragon Ball Z and you said to yourself, “I want to be a fighter.”

MARCUS:

Because I didn’t know how to fight. And like I said, because I’m from Alabama, we’re a football state. We just got boxing commission in 2008, and in my opinion that’s fucking pathetic. We utilize the Victorian Era boxing rules in professional boxing today. The Victorian Era, do you know when that was?

DEREK: Well, yeah, centuries ago.

MARCUS: Exactly! A long ass time ago! Why the hell are we just now getting a boxing commission in 2008? And that’s what my situation was. It was football, or die. It was football, or just be a regular person. There was no other outlet.

DEREK: Oh, I see. Very limited options with what you could do.

MARCUS: Yeah, you go two hours to Atlanta, they had Jujitsu, they had Muay Thai, they had boxing, they had other styles that I would have gravitated to if I had that outlet by me. I just didn’t. When I saw Dragon Ball I immediately wanted to learn how to fight. But it wasn’t until I saw Quinton Jackson that I said, “I want to be a fighter.”

DEREK: Oh, I get it. Did you see that on TV, the clip of Quinton Jackson?

MARCUS: No, my brother actually downloaded his highlight reel. And he showed me it, him knocking out, what was his name, Marona, when he hit him with a power bomb, and they showed him slamming Shakarama in Prague.

It gave me that same feeling I got when I watched Dragon Ball Z. I got that when I saw Quinton “Rampage” fight. That’s when I said, “I want to fucking fight.” You know what I’m saying?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxyvdpk3WDU

DEREK: This is a really life changing decision, to become a fighter. So it must have had a really powerful influence on you, those two things, that feeling.

MARCUS: Oh yeah, it really did. To be honest with you, my whole life I kind of just did whatever my parents told me to. In Alabama, everyone is marrying, everyone has kids, around the age of 23. If you’re 25 and don’t have kids and are not married, it’s like, what’s wrong with you? Yeah. I even asked my mom, “Mom, is this all life is about? You graduate from high school, you go to college, meet a girl, graduate from college, marry the girl, have kids and have a family?” And my mother was like, “Yeah, son, that’s about it.”

I didn’t want that. “I’m 26 years old, I’m married, and I got a child” … Why? Why would I want to do that? But that’s the mindset in Alabama. You don’t know how many people have been trying to twist my wrist to marry my girlfriend of 3 years. I’ve known her since high school. “When ya’ll getting married? When ya’ll getting married?” That’s just their mindset.

But Dragon Ball Z and that Quinton Jackson clip made me think that there has to be something more than getting a 9 to 5 job, getting married and having kids. It really made me believe that there had to be something more.

DEREK: I see. So it broadened your perspective and showed you something greater, and made you want a different type of life.

MARCUS: Yeah.

DEREK: Dragon Ball obviously had a huge influence on you. What did you do to go and pursue that dream? Because there were no other places to train, except for Taekwondo in your neighborhood.

MARCUS: I was saving up money to move to Atlanta. Because Atlanta had some cool Muay Thai places, and I wanted to learn Muay Thai so I could fight like Sagat from Street Fighter, but at a Dragon Ball Z pace. My Sergeant in my guard unit told me that he knew this guy that could check out my moves before I left. I was like, “I don’t get it.”

So he took me to this place in Clay, Alabama, and I’m telling you I was the only black person for say, 30 miles. I know you’ve heard the stereotypes about Alabama, the part I was in, kinda true. So that was kind of awkward, being in that kind of place. But that guy who I was introduced to was not doing MMA anymore. So he introduced me to my coach back in Alabama, Chris Collins. Ever since then I’ve been with Chris [at American Top Team].

I wanted to show him I wasn’t a punk, so my first day I told him, “I want to be a fighter.” My first day, I said, “I want to fight” He said, “Yeah, how about you take some classes and then see how it goes.” “Nah, fuck that. I want to fight.” Haha. Yeah, I said it just like that.

So the first day, he dropped me, three times. Yeah, body’s. “Boosh, Boosh,” he dropped me, and I got back up. “Boosh, Boosh,” he dropped me, and I got back up. “Boosh, Boosh,” he dropped me, and I got back up! That repeated three times. Then at the end of practice I was like, “That was off the chain man, see ya’ll tomorrow!” He was looking at me like, “Yeah, you’re not going to be back.” But I was so excited I actually beat him back to the next training session. He turned on the gym lights and I was there ready for him. Yeah. I was a 19 year old kid, and I asked to fight him again. He dropped me again, for a week straight, over 2 times each session.

DEREK: How were you guys fighting at that time? Was it in a ring, did you have gloves, equipment and everything?

MARCUS: We had boxing gloves, shin guards, the whole nine. But the thing was, back then I was full of heart. You know that line I use in The Ultimate Fighter, “I’m nobody’s punching bag.” I got that from him.

He was like, “Look, I see that you’re excited. The reason I keep knocking you out is because you’re trying to kill me, and I’m nobody’s punching bag. So now that I see that you’re serious about this, how about we calm down and I’ll start showing you some shit.” I said, “Okay! Let’s see it!” Haha.

I started as part of the game, like, I think it was part of my initiation process. Truth be told, in boxing gyms that’s how it is. People who come in there, when you spar, they put you against advanced guys so you can get your ass whupped, and the guys who don’t come back, well fuck you, we don’t want you coming back.

The guys who do come back, okay, he’s a little hard headed, give him another ass whupping.

If you tell me that you want to be a fighter, but you get your ass whupped and then don’t show back up, well fuck you, get the fuck outta here and stop playing. If you get your ass whupped and show up the next day, then okay! That’s when we’re ready to work with him.

DEREK: Sounds like you had a lot of endurance and a really youthful, optimistic spirit, to keep going and push forward.

MARCUS: Yeah.

DEREK: Are there any characters in Dragon Ball that you relate to or connect with?

MARCUS: Truthfully, I hate that I… like I said before, I’m more like Goku. I’m happy all the time, I like making people smile. All around nice guy. But truthfully I wish I was more like Vegeta.

DEREK: Why do you wish that?

MARCUS: Because Vegeta got the fucking attitude. There’s something that draws you to that. I don’t know what it is, because he’s not as powerful as Goku. It’s just his persona, his aura, the way he presents himself: “I’m the prince of all Saiyans!” I gravitate to it. I can’t even describe it. The only thing I can describe it as, is impressive.

DEREK: Okay, that makes sense. Having watched Dragon Ball for so long, has it in any way affected your style of fighting?

MARCUS: Yes, it has. Like I said before, the way they move is so action packed, so fast. If you go back and look at my fights on YouTube, you’ll see all my fights are action packed, I’m in their face the whole time, “Pow, Pow, Pow Pow!” I’m chasing them around the ring.

Dragon Ball Z is like, “Boom to the temple, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom Boom Boom Boom!” You know what I’m saying? They’re everywhere. And that’s how I fight.

The thing is, right now I’ve got to learn how to be more controlled with it, but they’re just so in your face. And you know what, that’s what the crowd likes too. The crowd likes people slugging it out, going all out, balls to the wall, everywhere. That’s the shit that gets people standing up on their feet. So that’s how Dragon Ball Z is, and that’s why I always push my cardio.

DEREK: Do you train like the Dragon Ball warriors? Do you do that with a really high intensity, extreme difficulty and push yourself super hard?

MARCUS: Yes, I do that! And that’s another problem with me because I push myself too hard. I’m always thinking my opponent is training harder than me. “Last week, that shit was easy. Hey, how about I jump this 4 foot box and then make it even higher next time?”

DEREK: That’s very cool. So, regarding your comment about Naruto…

DEREK: Haha. Okay, so I guess there’s a little bit of an apology to the Naruto fans, maybe. You actually are a fan?

MARCUS: Yes. Just let them know that it wasn’t fuck Naruto, it was fuck fillers.

DEREK: Okay. Got it. Got it. So you were really inspired by Dragon Ball. Do you think that Dragon Ball has inspired other martial artists, and do you know of anybody else that has been inspired by it?

MARCUS: One of my friends from the show, his name was Prince Albert, he told me that he felt the same way I did, but he didn’t want anybody else to know that. But you can’t be like that. You’ve got to let the world know, like I did. Fucking Dragon Ball Z. You know?

He told me he understood what I was saying because he felt the same way, but he wasn’t as open with it as I was. Because man, Dragon Ball Z, I’ll tell you, it’s the greatest action anime of all time.

You can’t touch Dragon Ball Z. All them other animes, they fight for second place, because first place is already got.

Dragon Ball is #1

Learn from Marcus how mixed martial arts are different from traditional martial arts, in Part 2 of the DBZ and MMA interview »

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Marcus Brimage – DBZ and MMA Part 1

SSJ4 Gohan

I recently started reading a book called The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time Management, by Hyrum Smith.  So far it has been very engaging and informative.

I’m only on the 4th chapter, but I’ve already learned (or re-learned) some of the reasons why I procrastinate on my writing for the DBZ book, or any of my other various projects.

The essential point I’ve understood is that if I don’t prioritize my life according to my own intrinsic values, and live according to those values in everything I do, that I’ll never make progress on my projects or find satisfaction in my work.  In a larger scope…  I won’t find happiness in life.  So determining what my core values are is really important.

To that end I spent some time looking within and came up with a list of core values, a law or principle I wish to live by and live up to, including what each value means to me:

• Truthfulness: The embodiment of honesty, to be true, do true actions, be upright, youthful, noble and open, to seek the truth and become a true man, my real self.
• Compassion: The embodiment of kindness, to be compassionate and merciful, genuinely aware of others in mind, speech, and body, to think of how to ease the suffering of others and take active steps toward that direction.
• Forbearance: The embodiment of forbearance, to be tolerant and enduring, to walk the middle road of temperance, be disciplined, focused, and centered in both passive and active states of life.

1. Ideals: To strive toward a higher ideal and become that which I believe is better.  To continually defeat my current self so that a greater and more true self can be revealed, to be broad minded while still attending to details, and to endure the hardships of a fool while becoming a sage.
2. Integrity: Once an ideal or standard has been met, to maintain that standard in the face of all adversity, temptations or conflicts.
3. Accomplishment: A sense of triumph, satisfaction and contentedness with life and work, grateful for the valleys that accompany the hills.  An inner harmony that is expressed outwardly and subsequently reflected back, to bask in the warmth and glow of my own existence and self-worth yet without any sense of ego.
4. Spirituality: To practice and embody my spiritual beliefs in an open, kind and respectful way.
5. Health: To maintain my state of health, be fit and free of illness.
6. Financial Independence: To be free of debt, with sources of primary and secondary income, both active and passive, using generated funds to further worthwhile endeavors within the guidelines of my other values.

What do you think?  I kept it concise and simple so as to create a constitution of my life.

The items in this list are ranked according to their priority in relation to one another.

The top 3, Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance are the highest ideals and are equal in priority and value, and I can’t just live up to one without living up to the other.

Truth contains Truth, Compassion and Forbearance.  Compassion contains Truth, Compassion and Forbearance, and Forbearance contains Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance.  To the best of my ability I have to embody all three simultaneously.

The other values are important to me as well but are numbered in order of their priority and sequence of action.  For example, I believe that financial independence is something I need to achieve and maintain, but not at the expense of my integrity or health.

What do you guys think of these values?  What are your personal values?  Do you have any personal values that you would add to this list or feel are missing?

Perhaps you’ll spend some time looking within and create a list of your own personal values to live by.  If you do, that’s awesome!  Please share it by leaving a comment below.

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

A List of 9 Personal Values I will Live By