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cradle 2 the grave - mark dacascos interview - part 2
 a young mark dacascos (Photo Courtesey of Mark Dacascos) |
Mark D.: You've done good research ?/p>
Jetli.com: Yeah, I went through your whole website.
Mark D.: Thank you!
Jetli.com: So, what style do you think would be the primary focus of your school and where do you think you would end up teaching -- and would you supplement it with other styles too?
Mark D.: You know, that's a very good question. My base style is from my father which is a practical art for self-defense and, I think that would probably be the base of the school, but the thing is -- I kind of envision a center -- not just a school of one art. If I taught my father's art and expanded on what he taught me -- because he encourages one to take something and give it your own expression -- I'd like to do what I can with WHKD, and if I were skilled enough to teach ?I'm very interested in Tai Chi although I have very little experience with it.
 a scene from C2G |
I've gotten so much out of martial arts. The arts have exposed me to so many different cultures and people.
In studying with my parents, my father always encouraged me to try other things and watch other people. He always said, and I thought this was quite profound, that "it's not the martial art that makes the person-it's the person that makes the martial art". That's great because he encouraged me to try other things, and to appreciate the arts that focused more on the hands, or on the kicks, or grappling, or all these different things. So if I become a teacher and have my own school or center I'd like to expose people to other things -- not just our art. Even WKD is a combination of styles. So, maybe something like that. It's not for sure but if I had it my way, I'd maybe do one or two movies a year and have a center where people could practice martial arts and share their arts.
The one good thing about film is that you hit tons of people with one movie. The wonderful thing with Jet doing Shaolin Temple was that people who had never seen wushu before were like "Wow!" and now they want to learn. So that's another great way of conveying what you've learned. I think movies can be a wonderful way of enlightening and educating, as well as entertaining.
Jetli.com: Where do you think you would have the school? In L.A. or ?
 mark doing martial arts on the beach (Photo Courtesey of Mark Dacascos) |
Jetli.com: Is your dad's school still in Germany?
Mark D.: He doesn't have a school himself but his students have many, many schools in Germany. He himself has a school in Portland and he's moving back to Hawaii next month. So where? I don't know ... wherever I end up. It's part of the ride.
