By Stacy Glover

Joe R. Lansdale, Nacogdoches resident, has talents that have won him many awards.

Lansdale has created his own system of martial arts called Shen Chuan Martial Science. He created this system of martial arts from learning many different forms of martial arts.

Lansdale studied Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu, Aikido, Combat Hapkido, Anerican Combat Kempo, and Tae Kwon Doe; he found the roots of these forms and searched for the point where they all fit together. The point of their connection is what became Lansdale's form of Shen Chuan.

Lansdale said, "When I was about 11 I started to get picked on at school. My dad was a circus wrestler so he trained me. At the Tyler YMCA I started taking Judo and then became interested in learning other forms."

Lansdale teaches for three hours a day at the Lansdale's Self Defense Systems. He said, "I don't teach the combat fighting that is in movies. I teach self-defense. Don't get me wrong; it's not for sissies."

Lansdale has been inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame four times. He started out his form as a way to teach people how to defend themselves, but was then honored as being the creator of a new martial arts system.

His martial arts honors aren't the only ones he is being recognized for. Lansdale has also received many awards for his writing. "The first time I discovered pencils is when I knew I wanted to be a writer," said Lansdale.

He decided to become a truck farmer so he would have time to write. It didn't take him very long to realize that farming wasn't exactly as easy as he thought it would be. He was waking up at early hours of the morning and going to bed late at night. He hardly ever had time to write.

Lansdale went from career to career. He was a bouncer and even was head janitor at SFA. During his time as a janitor he was able to publish his first book. He said, "I still didn't have time to write. My wife convinced me to quit my job and to just become a full time writer since my books were starting to sell."

The Farm Journal is credited for being the first to discover his writings. Lansdale said, "When I was 21, I sold my first article that I had written in my mother's name with my mother."

Lansdale now has written 30 novels, 16 short story collections, comic books, and several other works that he can be proud of. Lansdale has written westerns, horror, science fiction, mystery, and suspense. Lansdale wrote a novel about JFK and zombies, which was later turned into a movie called Bubba Ho-Tep.

According to www.wikipedia.com, he is the winner of the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, the Edgar Award, and six Bram Stoker Awards. The World Horror Convention recently made him the recipient of the 2007 Grand Master Award for contributions to the field of Horror fiction.

Lansdale said, "I've written less horror than anything else, but once you get the horror title everyone forgets everything else you've written."

Www.wikipedia.com states, it has also been announced that Lansdale's 2002 novel A Fine Dark Line will be made into a movie, which will be directed by Adam Friedman, with a screenplay written by Lansdale himself.

Lansdale's novels being chosen to be produced as a movie gives him a chance to be on the set and see how the actors are going to act out his very own novel. He said, "I know stuff about actors that you don't want to know because you couldn't enjoy them anymore."

Although Lansdale's dad couldn't read or write he would still encourage him because he knew how hard it was for himself. Lansdale said, "The first screen play I wrote with my son sitting in my lap beating me in the testicles with a plastic hammer the entire time."

He said, "If you looked me up on wikipedia it would tell you that one of the genres I write about is pedophilia. I'm part of Protect, which is a group to protect children's rights. We are the only lobbyists for the children."

Lansdale was chosen to have the honor of completing an unfinished manuscript of Edger Rice Burroughs.Www.alibris.com states, "For nearly fifty years, Edgar Rice Burroughs' last Tarzan manuscript lay untouched and unfinished, locked away in a vault. It was the stuff of legend until, finally, the magnificent tale was completed with the help of award-winning author Joe R. Lansdale."

Lansdale is staying true to his love of writing and is now currently employed as a professor at SFA. He is currently teaching screen writing and creative writing. This upcoming summer he will be teaching comic book writing. Lansdale has the opportunity to share with his students the work that he loves and hopes to inspire his students to follow in his path.