Seagal became a devout student of martial arts, educating himself each day. He stayed in Japan for 15 years, and by the end of his stint had become a very well-respected figure in the field. Steven Seagal – martial arts Seagal steadily transformed into something of a celebrity, appearing in many martial arts magazines. Furthermore, he became the only Westerner at the time to operate his own dojo – a “school for training in various arts of self-defense” – in Japan. Seagal perfected his martial arts and earned black belts in karate, judo, kendo, and aikido. In the beginning, however, Seagal had a tough time being a Westerner who had moved to Japan to learn martial arts. Seagal explained that many Westerners thought you just could pay someone to learn a few moves and then go back to America to teach what you’d learned. But it wasn’t that easy. “You have to understand that the way to enlightenment is through deprivation. They create an environment where you’re not getting any approval for all the work you’re putting in,” Seagal told the Los Angeles Times in 1986. “You’re not getting any sleep or love or attention, you’re getting your butt kicked and you’re up before anyone fixing meals and cleaning.”