Why go to Cooperstown when there’s a Hall of Fame ceremony being held over the weekend right here in New York City?
But instead of baseball, the honored sport will be martial arts, which will getting the black-tie treatment at the 2010 Aaron Banks Hall of Fame Banquet at Madison Square Garden.
Honorees at this year’s Jan. 17 event include actor/martial artist Michael Jai White (“Spawn,” “Universal Soldier”); Ernest Hyman, known as the “fastest man alive on nunchucks,” and Shihan Robert Ornes, who has been known to fight men blindfolded.
The event will have a Brooklyn flavor, with appearances by Maurice Elmalem, a master breaker who grew up on Ocean Parkway, and has participated in over 750 championships throughout the world, claiming dozens of gold medals and hundreds trophies—and a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Also on hand is Brooklynite and kickboxing legend Louis Neglia, and Tony Loupakis, a Grecian ‘god’ in the world of martial arts stunts, according to Banks, a master promoter of Olympian proportions.
Also slated to appear is Dennis “Sup — short for super” Burgess, a master breaker who makes sawdust out of planks of wood, and wreaks havoc on sheets of glass. Deborah Klens-Bigman will also be on hand for a samurai sword demonstration.
Back in 1968, Banks said he held his first hall of fame event at the Waldorf Astoria, and since then, the 81-year-old has been showcasing the array of martial arts disciplines.
The hall of fame is sponsored by the World Professional Martial Arts Organization, which Banks said he founded, and culminates his love and respect for the sport, he said.
“We are honoring the true martial arts people,” he said. “We want to knock out the phonies in martial arts.”
Banks credits himself with being the spark behind reality television, saying he helped introduce the world to talent like Ralf Bialla — a stout German magician whose claim to fame was catching bullets with his teeth. The popularity of mixed martial arts, and its associated spinoffs does not sit well with the octogenarian. “It’s not martial art — I call it degenerate fighting,” he stated.
Meanwhile, his hall of fame will be a more white glove affair, according to Banks. “The most prominent martial artists in the world will be there,” he said.
Banks’ shows have previously been held in esteemed venues like the Garden and Radio City Music Hall. He’s also dabbled in movies, appearing in films with Bruce Lee, Richard Roundtree, Roddy McDowall and Adolph Caesar in the 1970s.
Aaron Banks 2010 Hall of Fame Banquet will be held on Sunday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. The event will be held at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, 7th Avenue between 31st and 33rd streets. Tickets are $99 each. For more information, call 212-247-7874.