By Patrick Z. McGavin

Chicago Tribune Sports

More so than any other figure, film star and martial arts virtuoso Bruce Lee revolutionized the appeal and allure of karate. Before he died at 32, his films personified the sleek warrior/aesthete with a proportioned feel for movement, action and reflection. There have been others to carry on Lee’s particular legacy, but stars such as Chuck Norris, Jean Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal have applied just brute force. The poetry has been lost in the translation.

“People think about the fights but that’s only the competition aspect,” says Eddie Yoshimura, a fifth-degree black belt instructor who teaches students and professional fighters at the Chicago Fitness Center.

He travels throughout the world training some of the world’s most imposing fighters. Yoshimura’s special discipline in Shidokan karate.

“It’s a combination of full contact karate and kickboxing,” he says. “It’s a Japanese style of fighting that draws on both the lower and upper body techniques. What’s great about it is that Shidokan is a total body workout.”

On Saturday, Yoshimura will perform at the second annual Aerobics Jam at the Fairmont Hotel beginning at 7:50 a.m. More than 1,000 aerobic athletes are expected to attend. The entry fee is $16.

Anne Klassman, the coordinator of special projects for Windy City Publishing, the event organizer, says self-defense and kickboxing were added to the special sidebar classes for diversity and interest.

“The original idea was to stage this major aerobics workout symposium in the dead of winter,” Klassman says. “This year we wanted to have more classes, with a wider range of events and disciplines to help visiting instructors and athletes develop new ideas.”

Yoshimura says he has been involved in the martial arts for more than 30 years. What is interesting and unique about the discipline, he says, is everyone has his own personal reasons for getting involved.

“Some people want the discipline, for others it’s the self-defense,” he says. When people come into our school for the training and discipline, it becomes a one-on-one thing with yourself. Some people want to learn the forms, others want to hit the bags.”

Yoshimura’s own workout, a primer on the link between fitness and Shidokan, consists of martial arts training and fighting five days a week. On alternate days he lifts weights and follows a rigorous cardiovascular workout.

“I’m trying to get a full-body workout, because those are the muscles I’m using in my workout and training,” he says. “There’s a huge connection between the mind and body, and developing a strong spirit.”

For the top athletes, excellent physical condition is mandatory. The nature of combat or action involved in kickboxing and karate places extraordinary demands on its athletes, in which conditioning speed, strength and agility are equally critical factors.

In its infancy, martial arts were almost exclusively oriented for men, though that has changed considerably in the last few years. Yoshimura reports his classes are filled with women.

“There’s an untapped market in the martial arts for women,” he says. “The competition aspect is just one part. I have students from the ages of 4 to 60; not all of them are in the ring fighting and knocking people out.”

Discipline, control, condition, there’s a purity and grace connected to the sport Yoshimura wants to convey.

“When it’s done correctly and you achieve this mind/body union, you reach an absolute state of calm. It may be fatigue, but there is a beauty and vitality that is quite stunning,” he says.

Patrick Z. McGavin - Special to the Tribune