Interview with Anthony Pho - Martial Arts Expert, Actor and Stunt Man

Martial Arts Expert

Anthony Pho is an expert in multiple martial arts styles. He currently lives in France where he enjoys a successful career as an actor and stunt man in French Movies.  

Tell  us about your martial arts and acrobatic background.

I started martial arts when I was 13 with Vovinam Vietvodao for 5 years.  This is a very complete style considered as Vietnamese kung fu. Afterwards I studied Taekwondo. I’m a black belt and I have learned the basics of gymnastics. I also do tricking and I train more on weapons (single/double nunchuks, katana, bo staff, kamas). 

But since 2008, I started to learn screen fighting and falls. I was lucky to meet Olivier Schneider and Patrick Vo from  U-men stunts. They choreographed various movies including Fast and Furious 6, Taken and Safe House. Olivier and Patrick have been my teachers for a year and I have also had several years of training with my friend Manu Lanzi, who really helps me a lot. I can’t thank him enough for being my teacher.

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What do you think you would be doing if you did not have martial arts and acrobatic training?

I have a Masters degree in computer science. I could work as an engineer but I have been so lucky to land various jobs in the movie industry after I graduated.

How dangerous is being a stunt person? Is it as dangerous as it looks or is there an aspect of safety to it?

I don’t think it’s dangerous because you should know what you are able to do and NOT able to do. You have to train a lot to prepare your body and everyone has their specialities. 

If you don’t feel a stunt, don’t be upset to tell the stunt coordinator you don’t want to take the risk. There is nothing worse than making your stunt coordinator embarrassed because you got injured doing something you know you could not do.

You are padded most of the time, and you rehearse the stunt little by little, so most of the time, it is safe and the stunt coordinator is there to prevent any risks.

In your opinion, what is different between being an actor in France and being an actor in the United States? 

That really depends on your projects and yourself. To me, as an Asian actor in France, it’s very difficult to play a role that is different from that of an Asian character. There are not as many projects compared to the United States, but we often play the same type of roles; as an immigrant, a waiter, somebody in a Chinese mafia… But sometimes you have other kind of interesting propositions. But some American friends told me they have the similar roles as I do in France. I hope that will change one day so that we have a variety of roles to choose from.

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What do you feel defines a "successful" actor?

To me, a "successful" actor is somebody that can really choose to play want he wants to play and the projects he wants to be involved in. "Successful" is a kind of freedom for the actor.

What is something you know now that you wish you knew when you were first starting out as an actor? 

During the different acting classes and movies I’ve done, the best advice I could give anyone is to let yourself go! You have to be free of your body, of your mind and concentrate on your character, your partners and your environment. You always have to be aware of everything, and accept what your partners give to you. If something unexpected happens and you are surprised, integrate it in your acting; that makes it more real and more interesting.

It’s easy to tell you this but you have to act, act and act to understand it.

What character have you played that you felt was most like you? Why?

I’ve just finished shooting a new TV show for France called " CHEFS" directed by Arnaud Malherbe about french food and culture. It’s weird because I have never really cooked. I played Woo, who is Korean. He came to France to learn the french food and culture. I could really relate to this character because he’s someone very nice, shy, always smiling and always trying to help others.  It was funny to play because you just have to learn the lines and be directed.

What is the most interesting role you have played?

A movie called "Shanghai Belleville" directed by Show Chun LEE (not released yet) where I had one of the main characters. I played Liwei, a Chinese immigrant who came to France with his little brother because their parents were killed for being smugglers. He tried to live in France, build a new life and he was confronted with many integration problems. It was very difficult because it was my first role in a movie and I did not have prior experience to draw from. The character had such a terrible experience in their life.  I really worked hard to learn the history of my character and his personality.  I have written a diary to try to know everything about him in order to construct the character, which in turn helps me to act.  I have also done a really hard diet to change the way I move because the character did not have the daily comfort in their life like I do.  Despite all this, I still think that this is the most interesting experience I have had. 

Do you have any hobbies outside acting, martial arts and acrobatics?

I really enjoy photography and I started to direct my own videos with cute stories involving my cousins aged of 6 to 9.

Anthony, thank you for taking the time to answer our questions and offer insight that helps our audience learn more about you. 

For more information on Anthony Pho, visit http://www.anthonypho.com/

Interview with Mackensi Emory - Karate and XMA Expert

karate

Mackensi Emory is winner of 38 world championship titles. She has been shown on ESPN2 multiple times. She also maintains a straight A's at the same time. 

BKO Kung Fu: How do you find time to practice martial arts so much and still maintain an "A" average in school? Most of my friends have a hard enough time just doing one of them?

Mackensi: My schooling has always been very important to me.  My parents and coaches have always stressed school before sports.  If my grades started to suffer then I knew I would need to give up my extra activities and devote more time to my studies.

I grew up from an early age with a busy schedule.  At one point, I was taking gymnastics, dance, piano and karate; as well as going to public school.  I learned to use every minute of spare time wisely.  I would work on my homework while in the car on the way to gymnastics or karate.  I learned time management and how to be very well organized.

  

Not to say this didn't have its challenges.  I had to make some tough choices along the way.  At one point, I was doing competitive gymnastics (thru level 8), competitive sport karate, and competitive dance all at the same time.  My gymnastics practices were requiring between 20 - 25 hours per week alone.  It was clear that there were not enough hours in the day to do everything.  I had to chose just one competitive sport since all three required so much time on their own.  Both my parents work full time jobs so home schooling was out of the question.  I ultimately chose to continue my passion for martial arts, competitive sport karate and tricking.

The most difficult part of balancing my sport karate competitions with school is the time missed due to travel.  Most competitions take place on Friday and Saturday and are on the east coast.  I live in California so this means that I miss at least two days of school when I travel to compete.  In high school, making up for lost time often requires much more work than would be required if I would have been at school on those days.  Some teachers are understanding but others don't understand or support what I do so they treat it like I am on a vacation.  If sport karate were a school sport then it would be much easier as my absences would be excused.  Overall, it takes a lot of effort to balance my sport with school and maintain high grades.

   

BKO: What inspires you to continue winning world championship titles after you have won 38?

Mackensi: I currently hold 38 World Championship titles from different circuits across a number of different divisions (Creative Forms, Extreme Forms, Musical Forms, Traditional Forms, Creative Weapons, Extreme Weapons, Musical Weapons, Traditional Weapons, Team Demonstration and Team Synchronized Forms).  But I don't compete because of the titles or the trophies.  That is not what motivates or inspires me.  I compete against the best competition I can find to help push myself to be the best I can possibly be.  It is those other competitors who really inspire me to keep competing and pushing my own limits.  There are always areas to improve and competition helps me accomplish those goals.  The World Championship titles are just a nice byproduct :)

BKO: What is the trick took you the longest to learn? What changed mentally during the process of learning it?

Mackensi: At the end of 2010, at the age of 14, I became the first female to ever land a double corkscrew.  It took me almost two years to learn the trick and land it consistently.  Because I worked on landing it for so long that meant I had to learn not to become too discouraged and give up along the way.  I had to break down my attempts and look for the smaller improvements and use those as victories and accomplishments in order to keep driving me forward to my ultimate goal.  

BKO: What does it take to make the National Blackbelt League Hall of Fame at the age of 12? (besides hard work and dedication)

Mackensi: The National Blackbelt League (NBL) Hall of Fame is an award is based on being the competitor with the most number of points in a given NBL conference.  I received the award in 2008 and also won 4 NBL Supergrands World Championship titles that same year.

BKO: You have had to deal with some injuries along the way. Can you tell our readers about them and how you were able to progress during that time frame despite them?

Mackensi: I have been pretty lucky as far as serious injuries go.  I have broken my wrist (gymnastics injury), broken my 5th metatarsal bone in my foot, pulled muscles, bruised bones and have had many different bumps and bruises along the way.  It is all part of the sport and I have learned to deal with a certain level of aches and pains.  I train through most of it and adapt my training to deal with any specific injury.  For example, when I broke the bone in my foot, I still practiced and even competed.  I adjusted my practices and focused on what I could do, which is still quite a lot.  I feel it is important to keep the same training schedule as before the injury even if the training itself is modified.   Skipping practices is a habit I don't want to create. 

BKO: What has been your biggest rewards from your training?

Mackensi: My biggest rewards from my training are my physical and mental strength, overall fitness level, learning how to set goals and achieve them and confidence in my abilities.  I feel these will serve me well into my future no matter where that takes me.

BKO: Tell us something about yourself most people don't know.

Mackensi: Aside from martial arts tricks I could already do from practicing gymnastics (flash kick...), the 540 kick was the first trick I learned.  It took me a few days to learn it and I was 8 years old.  Also, I eat carrots at every tournament before I compete.  

BKO: What are you looking to accomplish after you finish school?

Mackensi: After I finish high school, I plan on going to college.   I would also like to move to LA while I am still young and continue to pursue entertainment opportunities.  I also plan to continue tricking, competing, traveling  and teaching seminars.

To find out more about Mackensi Emory visit, http://www.mackensiemory.com

Interview with Alan La from Invincible Worldwide

Alan La is the Founder & Executive Director at Invincible Worldwide. His organization helps people see their true strength within themselves through a combination of Martial Arts and showing individuals the greatness that is inside them.


BKO Kung Fu: Alan, Why did you start Invincible Worldwide and what makes it unique from other schools?

Invincible is an idea that began on the back of my lecture notes while studying at University. It’s an idea of possibility. It’s the idea that no matter who you are, what you look like, or where you come from, you can achieve extraordinary things in life. It is about empowering people to feel a true sense of inner power that enables them to achieve 3 things: 1. Perform at a higher level in life 2. Be loved and respected by those around them 3. Be able to influence and inspire others to become extraordinary. 

It took a few years to refine, and now Invincible Worldwide has 2 ways we achieve this: The Invincible Athletes Academy builds martial arts athletes with peak performance speed, power, strength, skills and the strongest mentality. And The Achieve Anything Academy empowers ordinary people to become extraordinary by showing them their inner greatness and potential to achieve success in life. 

BKO: Tell us about Alan La, before Invincible Worldwide.

For the past 13 years, I studied and trained in various Martial Arts, including Wu Chu Chuan, Shaolin Kung Fu, Wing Chun, Tae Kwon Do, Jeet Kune Do and Tricking. I’d also spent countless hours on seminars, books and audio tapes, studying and writing on the area of human potential and achievement. After years of martial arts training 3 hours every day and applying everything I’d learnt about the psychology of achievement, I began to notice the harmonizing effects of aligning our physical and mental potentials. I began to feel an empowering sense of inner power and physical power. During that period, the word ‘Invincible’ stood out to me, and it’d perfectly fitted this extraordinary feeling. I wanted to share this feeling with the world. 

BKO: Who had the greatest influence on your attitude in life? please explain.

The first person that comes to mind for any martial artist would be Bruce Lee. However, I’d like to mention someone else as well in my life. My dad. He’s not a martial artist himself, but he taught me the values of being a man, of being righteous, virtuous and striving for greatness – all of which are virtues of being a true martial artist. 

BKO: How has leading Invincible Worldwide changed your life?

Since founding Invincible Worldwide, I’ve been able to live out my goal of empowering other young people to also feel this new sense of self-worth. This alone is WHY I do what I do. My vision is to empower everyone in the world to become extraordinary. 

It began when I inspired the guys in my team to rise above mediocrity in their lives. They are now my brothers, my family. At the beginning of each year we list out together the craziest things we want to achieve for that year. And it is always so amazing to see each goal get ticked off one by one. This year alone, we’ve done a national tour, been on TV, featured in newspaper articles, reached millions on Youtube, been honored to partner with some of the biggest names in the industry, including Hyper Martial Arts, performed on big stages, did motivational seminars for 200+ students, nominated for the Young Citizen of the Year Award, received the Australia Day Medallion – the list goes on. And there’s never a day that I don’t appreciate it all. I appreciate every student that walks into our class. I appreciate all the efforts and hard work that my team has put into the vision. I appreciate every worldwide fan that sends us daily encouraging messages. I guess leading Invincible Worldwide has changed my life in that it allows me to appreciate the possibilities of life and what we can achieve if we put in hard work, vision and heart. 

BKO: What do you believe holds the majority of people back from achieving their dreams? What do you recommend to overcome this?

You know when you’re running to the point of exhaustion, where your heart and lungs are trying hard to catch up, where your muscles are numb, and your body feels past its limits? Research has shown that at this point, you’ve only reached 70% of your body’s full potential. It is just like in life. Too many of us have never even tried pushing ourselves to that point of exhaustion in chasing our dreams. The reason why we don’t do this is because the vision is not great enough, and so the pain of trying and the possibility of failing or getting rejected are far greater than the pleasure and excitement of feeling worthy and competent. 

Try pushing yourself a little bit more in everything you do. It’s called releasing more latent ability. Just give it a little more than 110% in what you do, whether it in training, job or school. And when you begin to see big results, you start to develop self-confidence and the inner belief to take on the bigger goals. 

BKO: Can you tell us of your favorite success stories with one of your students?

There’s a success story with every student. Some of them will tell you in person with tears in their eyes, or through long heartwarming messages. Others will keep it to themselves. Whichever the case, you can always see it in their eyes and their presence. It is the moment they realize their true potential, the moment they realize they are truly Invincible. Every success story is unique and different. I appreciate every single one. 

BKO: You company goal states you want to have a worldwide impact? How do you plan on doing this? (World tours, Internet, Franchises?)

Yes we are planning to tour around the world. We’re also developing an online program for people in remote areas to access. The goal is to create a movement where people are living out the Invincible idea, becoming more of themselves every day, living with peak physicality and mentality, and inspiring others to do so. The world will be a better place. 

BKO: Let's say someone wanted to open one of your schools in another country? Is that an option? What would you require of them? 

We haven’t planned for that. But you never know. 

BKO: Is there anything else you would like to tell our readers?

Awaken the Dream. If anyone is interested in joining the movement and helping us create a better world, connect with us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/InvincibleWorldwide 

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions and give us such awesome photo's. 

Watch this amazing video with Invincible Worldwide.