Shatner article in Fighting Stars mag

(Click on images to view Shatner-ego-sized!)

Shatner learns to defend himself against attack by George Takei.

This issue of Fighting Stars was published in April, 1974 and I bought it off the newstand when I was 15, living in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Seeing Bill's unique fighting style on the series has led to the coining of the term "Kirk-Fu," used to describe his trademark moves such as the double-handed chop to the neck or back, flying scissor kick, rolling into the enemy, and others familiar to every hostile alien, renegade starship captain and Star Trek viewer.

The writer's unfamiliarity with the show is evident in his referring to it as "Startrek," one word, all through the article. It seems that someone would have caught this before publishing, but apparently no-one at the magazine watched the show.

The photo below was the most exciting thing about the article to me, as it was... believe it or not... the first full-size color photo from the show I ever got. To say I was excited would be an understatement, and (to my regret now) when I got home I carefully cut out the page and proudly put it in my second scrapbook, which was a photo album, a step up from the bulging notebook I had taped everything in prior to this.

In looking at it you may notice yellow lines going through the page, which are the result of the photo's residing in the sticky-backed album all these years. Back then I didn't have the foresight to put a piece of paper between the clippings and the pages, to prevent them from sticking except around the edges. As a result, many of the items in that first photo album cannot be taken out now without ripping, and they are yellowing and showing lines.

The page above is the back of the photo, and shows the result of the aging in the scrapbook. For this post, I wanted all the pages of the article, so I very carefully removed the photo from the album, and was luckily able to get it out without tearing it or losing any of the print on the back. Below, the rest of the article scanned from the magazine as it still exists, intact.

The earlier-mentioned "Kirk-Fu" is not something that can be taught or actually used by anyone else in a real fighting situation; apparently only Kirk could master it, being the originator of the style. The philosophy of Kirk-Fu is that it is actually more of an extension of ego than actual effective physical moves. Kirk is beating his opponents by sheer willpower, defeating them by his intimidating charisma as displayed in moves that otherwise would be ineffective; or worse, damaging to one's own self. It's probable that his enemies, seeing his guts, bravado and righteous swagger, simply give up and fall before his unnerving blows.

For your education and entertainment, check out the Trekmovie.com post on the topic with video clips. The young Kirk as played by Chris Pine could learn from this, as he is consistently beat up in the new movie! Maybe he'll get his Kirk-Fu on in the sequel, as he gains more confidence.

Bonus: since today's entry is about Bill's fighting, here is an 8 x 10 publicity still from "Amok Time" scanned in from a later scrapbook (when I wisely began using plastic pages that the pictures could slide down in for easy removal later).

Just in: Newsweek has released an online slideshow with rare photos of some of the earliest Trek conventions, now the stuff of legend. Con organizer and fan Jeff Maynard, who sadly passed away last year, had entrusted his many photos to Angelique Trouvere, costumer fan who was famous at the cons for her sexy and detailed costume creations. Click the link to take a trip back in time!

Before you beam out to another site, I'd like your input on a couple of things. First, I have clippings from all the years and original cast movies up until the present day. I was holding back from posting any beyond ST:TMP until I had pretty much exhausted the earlier material, then move on to "The Wrath of Khan" and the others in the order they came out. But, I'm thinking now that might not be the best way. Because then, most of the entries would be similar as time goes by, focusing only on a particular time period. What do you think; should I post them in the order they came out, or should I skip around now, posting various items from any year, just to keep it changed up? That's how I'm starting to lean but I wanted to hear from you.

Next, since I have begun this blog, I have found a number of others that are posting some of their old clippings and articles. I have seen on them several of the same articles and clippings that I have, and was planning to post in the future. Should I post what I have anyway, regardless of whether or not they have already been posted elsewhere on some of the linked sites? Or would that be redundant? Let me know what you think!