Here is the biography of Sho Kosugi:
Sho Kosugi was born in Tokyo, Japan as the youngest child and only son of a fisherman. He began his martial arts training at the age of five, studying karate at a local dojo. He expanded his martial arts studies, also learning judo and kendo, and by his 18th birthday, he had achieved the status of All Japan Karate Champion.
Sho left Japan at the age of 19 to study and reside in Los Angeles, USA, where he achieved a Bachelor's Degree in Economics. He remained focused on constantly improving his martial arts skills, competing in hundreds of martial arts tournaments and demonstrations, including winning the L.A. Open in 1972, 1973, and 1974.
Sho met a young Chinese woman named Shook, who would later become his wife and mother of his children. He also had his first foray into the cinema with parts in a minor Taiwanese film titled "The Killers" and a Korean production shot in Los Angeles known as "The Stranger From Korea".
In 1981, Sho's big break came when karate legend Mike Stone pitched a screenplay to Cannon Films, which was later changed to "Enter the Ninja". Sho played the role of the evil black ninja "Hasegawa" and his icy screen presence and martial arts skills grabbed the attention of martial arts film fans, igniting the huge fascination with ninjitsu that engulfed martial arts for the next decade.
Sho went on to star in several more ninja films, including "Revenge of the Ninja", "Ninja III: The Domination", and "Pray for Death". He also starred in the short-lived action TV series "The Master" alongside legendary screen bad guy Lee van Cleef.
However, by 1990, the US movie going public had grown tired of a decade of black-clad ninjas hurling shuriken's and swords at each other, and Sho Kosugi left Hollywood to venture back to Japan, where he became involved in numerous TV productions centered around martial arts.
Since then, Kosugi has remained very active in Japanese TV, was involved in contributing martial arts choreography for the highly popular Sony Playstation game "Tenchu; Stealth Assassins", and returned to Hollywood in the late 1990s to set up the Sho Kosugi Institute to assist Asian actors wishing to break into the mainstream US film market.
Undeniably, many of the ninja films featuring Sho Kosugi were marred by low budgets and cheap production, however his superb martial arts skills and captivating on-screen presence have assured him a unique place in the history of martial arts cinema, and his name has become synonymous with the art of ninjitsu.
