American actor and martial artist Michael Richard Jai White was born on November
10th, 1967 in Brooklyn, New York. A black belt in seven
karate styles who has appeared in numerous projects, White has a curiously eclectic
career and is likely a recognized face to action movie aficionados.
Bouncing from school to school unsure of what direction to take in life,
Jai White took a few acting classes and soon auditioning for roles in Manhattan.
His first major starring role and breakout performance was in the 1995 HBO film Tyson,
as heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson. The tough actor was later casted
in the role of a double-crossed assassin, who seeks vengeance from the fiery depths of Hell
in the eagerly anticipated film adaptation of the cult comic book, Spawn. His work in Spawn
earned him a nomination for the Blockbuster Entertainment Award and White became one of
the first African Americans to portray a major comic book superhero in a major motion picture.
The actor gained solid footing as a reliable supporting action figure in Hollywood.
Here is the list of Michael Jai White’s 10 best action films, where he shows off his martial arts
skill either as the main style of action:
From 2005 to 2011, White was married to
Courtney Chatham and together they have a daughter named Morgan, born in 2008.
He later married actress Gillian Iliana Waters in an extravagant ceremony in Thailand in 2015,
after dating her for two year.
In addition, White has a son from his previous relationship: Jai Jordan White, born in 1995.
Michael Jai White a man with a commanding presence, intimidatingly built physique,
top persona and a martial arts background that is astonishingly world class 40 years of training. He
started training at the age of 7 and is a martial artist in eight different styles: Shōtōkan,
Goju-Ryu , Taekwondo, Kobudō, Tang Soo Do, Wushu, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Kyokushin,
with a specific focus in Kyokushin Karate. White has total 26 martial-arts titles to his credit
that include the US Open, the North American Open, and the New England Grand Champion.
The Michael Jai White you see on screen is an absolute monster.
With his 106kg of pure muscle, the untrained eye would assume he’s a bodybuilder.
While White does need that amount of bulk to look good on screen, he also needs to be able to move
dynamically, which means every single kilo of muscle must contribute to functional strength.
Some of Michael’s shares about fitness workout that you might want to take note:
“Everyone wants big arms and a big chest, but 80% of guys I see in the gym are doing it completely
wrong. They don’t realize the shape of your whole arm and chest is dependent on your triceps and
back. So you see people hammering away for years at the heavy curls and bench press thinking it’s
going to build them up, but instead of developing good-looking arms and chests, all that happens is
their shoulders and chest get pulled forward and they look hunched – the complete opposite
of what they want. This can even hurt the lower back as well, because it has to compensate for
the weight of your arms and chest putting weight beyond the centreline of your body.”
“Practice your triceps dips to focus on building thicker arms
because the triceps are the muscles that really make your arms looks good. If you really want
to work your explosiveness, try to progress to muscle-ups when you get strong enough.”
“Even when you can’t throw the weights any more, still try to explode up as much as possible.”