Steven Frederic Seagal is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and musician. A 7th-dan black belt and shihan in Aikikai aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan where he became the first non-Japanese and American to operate an aikido dojo. He later moved to Los Angeles where he continued teaching aikido. In 1988, Seagal made his acting debut in Above the Law, which is regarded as the first American film to feature aikido in fight sequences.