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HECTOR ECHAVARRIA
Kickboxing
With a huge international following,
Hector Echavarria comes to the American film arena destined to
become the first breakthrough Latino action star. A legendary Martial
Arts Champion who is idolized by millions in Mexico and Central
and South America, Hector Echavarria brings to the screen a background
of film experience, martial arts expertise, and a marketing machine
that defies comparison.
In his native Argentina,
Hector Echavarria has acquired mythic status. As
a sickly child who suffered from severe asthma, Echavarria was
encouraged by his parents to use martial arts to overcome his handicap. He
began his training at the age of 4 by studying Tai Chi Chuan and
Chinese boxing with a Shaolin Monk, Grand Master Tung Kuo Tsao.
By the age of 6 he had been trained in Judo and Jujitsu under Grand
Master Mayamoto of Kodokan. By the age of 14, now a superb athlete,
Hector had learned Karate, Tae Kwon Do and Kung Fu, and he became
the youngest kickboxer to ever enter the ring professionally.
Echavarria's martial
arts achievements are legion. He was inducted into
the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame in 2000. He was
also named the "Full Contact Fighter of the Year" in 2000 and
is the current Vale-Tudo Kickboxing Champion of the World.
He has won World Champion status in both the United States
Karate Association and the World Kung-Fu Association and remains
undefeated in eleven world kickboxing bouts. He is a Kung-Fu
Master and has reached the following levels: 7th dan
Karate Shury-ryu, 7th dan Kenpo Karate, 5th dan
Tae Kwon Do, 2nd dan Jujitsu, 2nd dan
Judo.
This tradition of
success and discipline has also been applied to Hector's film
career. His first three films (Exterminator I, II and
III), all shot in Argentina, still hold the record for being
the highest grossing winter release movies in South America. He
also starred in a hit weekly television series called Brigada which
ran for five consecutive seasons from 1992-1997 in South America,
Spain, Italy, Turkey, the Middle East and Mexico. Brigada grossed
2.5 million dollars in its first 21 days. Capitalizing on his popularity,
a line of Echavarria merchandise was created, including an Echavarria
action figure, the first one million of which were sold out in
just two weeks. Other Echavarria merchandise included posters,
collectors' cards, videos - even a comic strip based upon his martial
arts skills. The comic book sold an average of 250,000 copies per
week.
Hector's recent
ventures have included two movies, Final Assault and Extreme
Force. Extreme Force had an eight-week long domestic
theatrical release in January of 2001. Final Assault is
currently being marketed internationally.
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