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Nickname:	Sonny Chiba / Shinichi Chiba / Shin'ichi Chiba /
Known for:	Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Invasion of the Neptune Men, The Storm Riders
Birth name:	Sadao Maeda
Birthday:	23 January 1939, Fukuoka, Kyushu, Japan
Height:	5' 9" (1.75 m)

Father of Juri Manase. Older brother of Jirô Chiba 2nd-Dan Blackbelt in Jûdô 4th-Dan Blackbelt in Ninjutsu 1st-Dan Blackbelt in Kendô 1st-Dan Blackbelt in Shôrinji Kenpô As a college student at Nippon Taiiku University, Chiba trained extensively for the 1964 Japanese Olympic Gymnastics Team, but a hip injury from a part-time construction work cost him his gymnastics career. It was then that he decided to devote most of his time and energy into martial arts, training under the renowned World Karate Grand Master Mas Oyama Koncho, receiving his first degree judo black belt. He later portrayed Mas Oyama in the martial arts bio-pic "Kenka karate kyokushinken" (Champion of Death, 1975). Best known in international cult-cinema circles for starring as Terry Tsurugi, the hitman for hire in "The Street Fighter" (1974) film series, which produced 3 sequels. Chiba currently resides in Los Angeles with his second wife. Chiba has starred in more than 125 films at Toei Studios and has won numerous acting awards in Japan for his dramatic film roles. Director Quention Tarantino is a huge fan of Sonny Chiba. Tarantino has included references to Chiba's 70's films "The Street Fighter," "Return of the Street Fighter," and "Sister Street Figher" in the opening act of "True Romance" (1993). The opening monologue of Chiba's "Karate Kiba" (1974) is quoted word-for-word by Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) as his trademark "Ezekiel 25:17 Speech" in "Pulp Fiction" (1994). Founder of the Japanese Action Club (JAC), a group of martial artist/actors who train together in promoting realistic fighting techniques in Japanese movies and television shows. Frequent co-star of Etsuko Shihomi, the star of the "Sister Street Fighter" series. In the early 70s, Chiba was set to co-star in a feature film production with Bruce Lee and George Lazenby. Unfortunately, the moment Chiba's plane landed in Hong Kong to start production, the news of Lee's untimely death forced the producers to shut-down the ill-fated project. Student of Choi Bae-dal, the founder of Kyokushin Karate.

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