As for Genma, he had gone on to find and study an advanced martial art and eventually teach his son and heir. That style of martial art being Shun Leep.
Genma had heard whisperings of an art which worked with the spiritual flow of the body. A martial arts which weren’t necessarily just for strength and skill, but for the mind and spirit as well. The young Japanese man had assumed when the latter meant was tactics and chi, and to some extent he was correct in his assumption, but there would be much, MUCH more to it than he initially thought.
It was by sheer luck that Genma had come across his first stepping stone to this art. He had merely been looking through an antique shop for anything concerning the rarely whispered art of ‘Shun Leep’, and when he knocked a vase off its pedestal, found its contents had a scroll which not only was a map of where to find the training grounds, but the magical words to reach this plane. Of course, rather than go with the store’s policy of ‘you break it, you bought it’, Genma quickly pocketed the scroll and made his way out of the establishment.
However, even with the scroll for teleportation, Genma wasn’t magically-inclined. Yes, he had the will to do it, but not the knowledge or training. The fact that even with his half-assed ritual he had managed to break through the dimensional boundaries and get into another realm was nothing short of a miracle.
And so, with map in hand as he was in a new land, Genma would virtually disappear from the face of the earth for years to come as he set forth to learn the ways of Shun Leep. His initial adjustment to Jade would prove to be a training regime in its own, and something Genma would find was useful and practical.
After two months of traveling, surviving, and trying to accurately pin-point his position in Jade’s wilderness, Genma finally came across the Dim Crag Mountains. It was here that it was written on the scroll about where Leep’s Fortress would be.
The first obstacle that let Genma knew he had his destination was the outer part of the place was a wall of twenty-four foot-tall fortress walls. The walls around the school were solid stone, seemingly carved from the mountain. In a part of the wall was a set of twenty-foot tall double-doors made from thick cedar wood within its own frame-work. Beyond the walls, he could easily see towers, sets of stairs, mountains raised higher with flattened areas atop, bamboo poles that seemed to grow from within the solid rock of the mountain, more sets of tall gates surrounding the enclosure of a valet within this mountainous region. Genma would note that besides being rather nice and chilly, this was pretty much the training ground of his dreams.
Little did he realize this came from the careful channeling of the mountain breezes through the passes and inside the school with specifically placed boulders and rock formations.
However, upon reaching the front gates, Genma found himself accosted by the two female guards posted out front. One was a dark-skinned woman with bright green hair, and the other looked as though she was a tiger. BOTH were dressed in the skimpiest pieces of green cloth with made the most pathetic excuse for a gi Genma had ever seen, along with some leg-bands made of the same material and design of the rest of the outfit.
Thanks to his previous outlook, Genma didn’t think a thing about these two women and told them to mind their betters, to step aside and let him see the master of the Shun Leep School, for he had important business.
Genma’s outlook on girls being the weaker, fairer sex took a severe blow that day...
...And would numerous times, as Genma wasn’t to be deterred by the guards at the gates.
Again and again and again.
By nightfall, the guards had taken to using his battered form as a kickball, kicking his rotund form back and forth, back and forth between each other. And after doing it for as long they had they were, quite frankly, getting bored. If it wasn’t for Leep coming with the next shift of guards, Genma would’ve ended up just being kicked off to roll down the side of the mountains.
Having his broken and beaten form brought inside the fortress felt like a victory to the pudgy prodigy. It may have taken awhile, but he accomplished what he set out to do. He got to meet with the master of the Shun Leep-style and get him to accept him as a student. Yes, it had taken Genma some wheedling and talking in circles around the man, but he got Master Leep to accept him as his student. Genma was sure it was because it was of his persistence, but in actuality, he was just the first guy that came to Leep’s home asking for training that the perverted sensei KNEW wouldn’t be a distraction to the girls... plus the fact he made Leep look better didn’t hurt either...
Genma would still maintain his previous outlook on life for another week, the time he was allowed to heal and for Leep to try his sewing skills, using the designs of his original gi’s for the girls, and he had to make one that was suited for a man, (and covered more than enough. He would’ve been a distraction in a worse way if nothing was done!) His first official day of training would be the biggest eye-opener yet. When walking down the steps from the housing and into the open training area to meet with his fellow students, over three hundred WOMEN, Genma felt pretty confident right then and there that he was currently the greatest student by default.
When Leep asked Genma to show off his skills to him, so he could figure where to start his training, the Japanese man was more than rarin’ to put some silly little girl in her place to show the older man how good he was. Genma felt he had every right to be confident when he strode up into the courtyard to face off against whom was currently the best of Leep’s students.
His actions left him labeled as a sexist joke by his peers. The one chosen, a Julia Brigand, had completely, and utterly beaten Genma down to a bloody pulp. She’d been direct and merciless, completely crushing the last views Genma had about girls just not being as good at the martial arts as men.
And so, even as he took another four days to heal up, Genma was even more excited. He was still slanted in his views, but he realized women could become good. Damn good at the martial arts. And if Leep could train a woman to such levels, what would happen when he, a MALE, was trained?
It simply left Genma tingling with excitement... and the pain-killers he was on.
From then on, Genma would take to his training like a fish to water, or a bird to the sky. True, a lot of the other students felt he was a pervert trying to get a free show, (they weren’t allowed to wear much underneath) but none of them could deny he had the dedication that any one of them had to learn the ways of Shun Leep. No matter what harsh regime, exercise, or simple task was handed, Genma did it, and he put forth one-hundred percent effort. He wanted to become the greatest martial artist of his generation so badly, he could taste it!
Slowly, he would realize as time went on, that he might have to share such a title, or at worse, settle for second place. The first student he’d ever fought against, Julia Brigand, was still leaps and bounds ahead of him. No matter what he did, he knew he was getting better, but so was she. It was shocking to think that a woman would become the goal he would be striving to achieve, but it was what had happened.
And it confused the hell out of him that she would help him spar, and genuinely try to help. She was the best of the best at the school. WHY would she try to help HIM reach her level? Genma just couldn’t figure that one out.
Nor could he deny that he did appreciate it. No, he didn’t see Julia as any sort of woman for him. After all, he’d met her boyfriend, Theodore, enough times. He’d been continuing his book learning while Julia worked her body, (and a nice one that it was). It seemed that both he and the blonde man were happy to have some male companionship to talk to besides Leep whenever the young mage would stop by.
Over the first year that would pass of his training in the ways of Shun Leep, Genma would finally lose the goal of becoming THE best, but become more realistic in striving to be ONE of the best. He’d lose a lot of his ethnocentrism, and realize that a lot of other cultures, hell, a lot of other SPECIES where better adapted to fighting or doing certain skills than he could ever hope.
Still, it would be the best thing that Genma could hope for. He would thrive in the face of such adversity, and prove that he was one of the best. His final test hadn’t meant to be, but when he finally ‘ascended’ into the true skill of his chosen art during a monthly ‘exam’, he’d been able to treat the fight as if it were choreography, literally ‘seeing’ what his sensei was going to do and reciprocated with dodging or counter-attacking. It was one of the high-points in his short career that he was able to finally take on his teacher in a fair fight.
Naturally, Leep had been very pleased with helping yet another pupil reach the true stage of a Shun Leep martial artist and decided now was the time for Genma to go off on his ‘Adept Quest’. Genma was told he had learned all he could from a teacher in the art, and would now need to work out things on his own now, and become an even greater martial artist. And Genma agreed it was time to get things done.
However, for all his new strengths and self-sufficiency, Genma was still one for relying on others to make things easier. And he remembered a certain redhead whom had gone on the journey to be an Adept just last month, and was traveling with her boyfriend. Surely, she wouldn’t mind having him along! She’d been there to help him before, and she’d probably continue if he asked, right?
Catching up with his favorite sparring partner in a nearby city of Dims Dale, Genma was enthusiastic in getting Julia to help him. Both Julia and Theo had been wary, but both could see the desperation in Genma’s action, as well as a certain level of sincerity. The two adventurers talked with each other and decided, ‘What the hell. Why not?’
The next two years would be filled with numerous adventures and intrigue for the trio of adventurers, two years which were made rather difficult thanks to the rotund member of the group, and his insatiable appetites...
Still, the group excelled in many areas, thanks to how each member was beneficial to one another. Genma excelled in his art thanks to Julia helping him, and Julia and Theo became much faster at dealing with all sorts of bad situations, since Genma seemed to drag them into one every other day.
It was also thanks to Genma that the young couple went ahead with marriage plans. They figured to get Genma off of their backs, Julia was able to Theo towards tying the knot. After all, newlyweds needed their ALONE time! And they were pretty sure Genma wasn’t going to be the type to hang on during such a special time in their lives.
So with the wedding held in the beginning of January, the newlywed Mr. and Mrs. Diggers were able to get their Genma-free time. With their group disbanding, they moved to earth, choosing Theodore’s hometown of Atlanta, Georgia to settle down and would spend the rest of the year adjusting to a new life together.
Genma surprisingly took the break-up of their group better than expected, considering where Julia and Theo went. It was refreshing to be on his home-world after so many years away and honing his skills in another dimension. True, now that he was back and enjoying how everything he did on earth seemed liked child-play with his greater skills now, he knew that he couldn’t last forever on just doing the same old things he had before going to Jade. He didn’t become a disciple of the Shun Leep style just to enhance his strength and skills just so he could do what he had before, NO! He wanted to become somebody, known to the masses, and be able to live the life he always wanted!
And Genma would get what he wanted when he found out about a tournament which had been gaining steam around the time he left earth so many years ago. So in the summer of 1968, Genma joined what was known as the World Martial Arts Karate Tournament, (Heavy-Weight Division, naturally). Being a literal unknown, (especially after dropping off the face of the earth for some time) most hadn’t expected the overweight and slightly balding Japanese individual to be able to do
However, Genma tore through his opponents with skills that most had claimed as unearthly, and on November 24th, 1968, after so many fights and wins against so many tough opponents, (that Dolph Lundgren was a pain to fight, but was a rather nice guy) he would be crowned the world champion, and thus starting a craze history books would come to call, ‘GenMania’.
Upon seeing his old friend’s face on the cover of Time Magazine reading and hearing upon how Genma Saotome was being hailed as Japan’s ‘Greatest Son’... the Tendo patriarch didn’t take to it very well and showed that he must have had roots with the Japanese navy, what with all the sea-talk he was throwing around.
And it wouldn’t help that Genma would become the undefeated reigning Champion for the next six years running. In the meantime, being praised in other ways as Genma Saotome would receive the 1969 Karate’s Triple Crown for most tournament wins of the year, and the Fighter of the Year award by Black Belt Magazine from 1970 through ’74.
Of course, Genma kept up with the Diggers. It was the near the end of 1969 when Genma got the news about how Julia was pregnant, and he was happy for them. He promised he would visit them after he finished filming in his starring movie debut in the Dean Martin movie, “Wrecking Crew”, which managed to make the cutting room floor in time to premiere at the end same year.
Gina Diggers was born September 15th, 1970, a month late, much to Julia’s chagrin. Now in his third year as a martial arts Champion, Genma was given a new view on life. Seeing how proud and happy Julia and Theo were made Genma consider his own life. What would he do? There was only so much time he could excel his skills before his body would betray him and start on the decline. It was then and there Genma decided he would try to find the right woman to continue on with a family.
Ironically, meeting with her old friend also inspired Julia, in reverse. It made her realize if a normal human like Genma could become a champion for his home-realm, why couldn’t she do the same? So Julia decided that she would enroll as her people’s champion in what would be the upcoming Tournament of Arms on Jade.
And of course, what happened after the little girl of Julia and Theodore was born was a surprise which caught Genma off-guard entirely. They asked him to be Gina’s godfather. Of course, the Japanese martial artist accepted such an honor whole-heartedly, and to make sure he could be there for his goddaughter, he used some of the cash flow he was starting to set up for himself to get residence in Atlanta, just down the street from his friends, the Diggers.
A year and a half later, just before he would be entering his fifth martial arts tournament, Genma would get another movie role. Shooting began on the film in March, 1972, a picture where Genma would get to star across from Bruce Lee, as the Honk Kong Martial Artist’s rival/nemesis in “Way of the Dragon”.
Of course, during that same year, Genma’s friend, Dr. Diggers would be on his final assignment for a US Agency he’d hooked up with for a little bit. Having been sent to Ireland, Theo was to try and prevent dangerous happenings between the werecheetah and the werewolves. Unfortunately, this ended ultimately in disaster, with one race being nearly eradicated, and the other being cursed by one of their own. Theodore would come away from the disaster a changed man, changed by grief, guilt, and a new purpose as he took the infant werecheetah back home with him, one whom was the last of her species.
The year of 1973 was important for Genma. It was his sixth year participating in the World Martial Arts Karate Tournament, he was becoming filthy rich from endorsements and movies, (he’d worked on the movie “Student Teachers” that year) and he was really beginning to feel it was time to move on. So that year, Genma performed like never before, gaining win after win, and showing skill which a new younger set of fighters couldn’t hope to stand up to.
It was at the awards ceremony that Genma gave a farewell speech to those in attendance at the arena. He was going to retire from the tournament scene, giving a chance for the younger fighters to have a fair shot at victory. In doing this, Genma would go out undefeated, and seemingly become a legend to many for years and years to come.
Enjoying his ‘retirement’, Genma would go back to Japan for the first time in six years to find himself a wife. Of course, he was well known, and being as popular as he was, would meet a nice traditional Japanese woman named Nodoka Himura. Their courtship would be a rather short one, as Genma knew that this woman was the one for him. Nodoka was more than pleased with such a situation as she felt it was right to be with such a man whom wanted her that she also felt was the epitome of manliness, (she’d seen his movies). They were married the day after Christmas, 1973.
The following year would prove to be the most eventful yet for Genma, as not only was he filming in another starring role in the movie, “Slaughter in San Francisco” but he found out, and felt much joy at the fact his wife was pregnant! His son, Ranma Saotome, would be born on July 6th just a little more than seven months after his marriage to Nodoka. The media loved to work with the story and drum up drama about the child of Genma being born prematurely... and Genma chose to not correct that, as he was afraid of how it might make people view him... even with his wife reassuring him that he was just being a manly man and did nothing wrong.
Genma would take the next two years off as he started to get a hang of what he felt was his greatest role. Being a father. Ranma was the apple of his eye and both he and his wife were very proud of their son. And in a turn of good faith, he named his good friends, Julia and Theodore as his boy’s godparents.
For the rest of 1974 and all of 1975, Genma enjoyed being out of the limelight, just enjoying the life of a private citizen as he and his wife raised their son, along with the help of their friends. During the time, Genma couldn’t help but marvel at how smart Julia and Theodore’s five-year-old daughter Gina was. He’d left paperwork out one day, and when he came back to it, found the little girl had filled out his tax forms to the IRS.
Unfortunately, the good times weren’t to last as a family gathering in1976 turned into a horribly traumatic event. Theodore’s father, the good mage Jonathan Diggers was working on a secret experiment, a special last hoorah before he retired from the mage council for good.
Something went horribly wrong that night. Jonathan died and in his place, there was only the Lich King. Genma fought bravely to protect his family, but it was no good, as the Lich cast a special spell, an attack tailored to the Saotome’s aura. It would have obliterated him instantly, had Julia not thrown herself in the way. Although Theodore would be able to seal his father in the realm of the undead, Genma would come to shoulder a lot of guilt. His greatest friend had sacrificed herself for him, leaving her family behind.
Although they would eventually find Julia again, it would be apparent that she was now under the effects of a magical curse that would not be easily dispelled. Although Julia was able to get Genma to understand, (with the help of Gniess) that she wasn’t mad at him and didn’t blame him for what happened to her, the Japanese martial artist still took it pretty hard, and made the pledge to Julia that he would help Theo raise her girls right.
So, Genma and his family would move into the Diggers home for some time, and try to make sure that Gina and Britanny grew up well cared for, and that all doors were open to them. By the end of that year, Genma decided he would take on the financial needs of the home by going back into films, starting with a documentary “Warrior Within”. He would give people a view on his, (abridged) history, how he’s doing now, and he dedicated the piece to his long-time friend, Julia Brigand-Diggers.
From that simple documentary, GenMania would start all over again, (causing a male cry to echo throughout the Nerima skyline) with Genma getting a new movie role in 1977 with “Breaker! Breaker!” the same year that his wife got pregnant again! His wife’s second pregnancy would become rather famous as she’d go into labor when her water broke during the premiere screening of his 1978 smash hit, “Good Guys Wear Black”, where Genma played a black-belt Vietnam veteran that kicked ass!
Nodoka, the poor dear, would be in labor for the next thirty-six hours before she finally gave birth to her and Genma’s daughter. Originally, Genma joked about naming her ‘Kuroma’, the black horse, but his wife axed the idea and decided she’d name the child. She’d been the one in labor for a day and a half!
At the Oscars Award Ceremony that year, when Genma received his Oscar for ‘Best Actor’, Genma would claim all his success came from the strength his family gave him, and especially that from his infant daughter, ‘Ranko’.
From there on, Genma would become a famous face of the silver screen. There was practically ALWAYS a Genma Saotome movie. “A Force of One” in 1979, “The Octagon” in 1980, “An Eye for an Eye” in ’81, “Silent Rage” AND “Forced Vendetta” in ’82, “Lone Wolf Saotome: in ’83, and what would become the start of the “Missing in Action” series in 1984.
However, 1985 would be Genma’s busiest year in the movies, as he stared in “Missing in Action 2: The Beginning”, “Code of Silence”, and “Invasion USA”. It was also this time he would realize just how much life was passing him by. Yes, he would be there for his family and Julia’s, but he’d realized how much his life had changed. Where he’d once been only looking out for himself, he now cared for so many. Gina, whom he could still remembered the day she was born, was fifteen and growing up into a fine woman. Britanny was a teenager at thirteen and his own son at eleven would be one in a few years. Even Ranko, who was now eight, was becoming more of a person to him as she reacted and interacted with her environment on a more adult level.
Genma promised himself he would do good by everyone who gave him strength and try to get the acting to go down. It was too bad ‘GenMania’ was still in a high arch and people wanted more of the Saotome.
In 1986, one of Genma’s more popular movies, “The Delta Force” would premiere, as well as a self-promoting and moral anime on CBS. Genma had done voice-acting for himself on what would become, “Genma Saotome and the Karate Kommandos”. The only reason Genma wasn’t ashamed of such an endeavor was two-fold. It gave positive messages, AND it generated a breakfast cereal that Genma rather liked, even if its chosen name made it an ill-fated product. “Karate Kommando Krunchies”.
Genma would make four more movies over the years. “Braddock: Missing in Action III” in 1988, “Hero and the Terror” in ’89, “The Hitman” in ’91, and “Sidekicks” in ’92. That last one being what Genma felt was the WORST in his career and made him decide it was time to take a break from it. Hell, he was a rich man, especially due to that investments he made with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Sylvester Stallone in all those ‘Planet Hollywood’ restaurants.
However, while Genma may have finally retired from the big screen to try and finally enjoy his older years, (his children didn’t need him to support them as much) the older martial arts actor found he couldn’t keep the acting bug away. When CBS came to him with a contract for a television show, Genma found he didn’t mind being on Television five nights a week, so in 1993, starred in the show, “Saotome, Tokyo Samurai”.
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(Posted Wed, 16 Aug 2006 04:26)
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