Text Box: Sasha Baron Cohen, better known as Borat to his HBO comedy followers, met his match when he took on a martial arts grandmaster in a battle of integrity and character.

Cohen, a Jewish comedian from England and star of D Ali G show on HBO, poses as a bumbling reporter for the state run television of Kazahkstan sent to the U.S. to interview business people on becoming a successful democratic nation.

“Borat” interviews unsuspecting victims into making inappropriate sexist or racist comments. Believing they are being interviewed for this third world country and not for U.S. comedy, the true nature of many people comes out and is then exposed on his HBO show.  Borats popularity has skyrocketed recently after his #1 box office hit movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

 Before the movie, Borat interviewed Danny Passmore, an 8th degree martial arts master in American Street Karate from Waco, Texas.  The HBO crew thought they had found an easy target for their racist exposure when they found the website for a white Southerner who claimed to be a Christian, yet taught violence for a living.  They couldn’t have been more wrong.  Filming for more than three hours without conning any inappropriate remarks or behaviors from Passmore, Borat resulted to physical attacks.  That also had a less than desired outcome.  Although Passmore never hurt the comedian, he proved that American martial artists have integrity, character and capable self defense skills.

“I never saw it coming,” says Grandmaster Passmore of the interview. “They knew exactly how to set it up to seem very professional and legitimate.  I received a call from the Los Angeles office of United World Television, a world wide production firm based in England.  All of their credentials were in order and I had no reason to suspect a set up.  I knew the legend of the Kazaks as fierce horsemen who played a sort of football on horseback with the heads of defeated enemy warriors.  I thought this gentleman was somewhat of a wimp who was trying to fit in to a male dominated society. “

Master Passmore said he was asked questions such as: How do you silence a woman?  To which he replied, “I don’t think you can silence a woman.”  Borat also asked Passmore how to defend against a Jew, to which he was explained the respecting all religions and belief systems.  “At one time,” continues Passmore, “he and the crew went outside for a brief time and then came back in and resumed the interview.  I didn’t realize at the time that they were brainstorming on ways to try and get me to be inappropriate.”

Grandmaster Passmore said there were too many inappropriate comments and questions to list, but that what the HBO crew got was exactly what they wanted.  “They got my true nature, the true nature of a true martial artist.  It just isn’t what they expected, which is a tragic reality in our society today.”

Danny Passmore and his wife, Karen, have written a book to help young people learn to develop integrity and character.  “It’s the missing link in youth development in todays society.  Every parent, teacher and teen should have a copy of this book.”

The book Positive Defensive Behavior: Emotional Self Defense from Childhood to Adulthood is 160 pages and costs $15.  Books can be ordered online at www.NiceNinjas.org .  Seminars can also be scheduled by emailing Mr. Passmore at pselfdefense@hot.rr.com or by calling 254-662-3229.

A follow up interview can be read on Borats fan club webpage entitled Unofficial Borat Homepage by going to www.webgeordie.co.uk/borat/behindscenes.htm and the interview itself can be seen at Mr. P’s myspace.  Go to the main page of this website and click on myspace in the upper left hand corner.

Borat Meets His Match from Central Tx.

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