Gaming Cypher had the pleasure of interviewing Martial Artist George Bell, Founder of Enzo Kimono about how he merged his martial arts uniform line with Bungie’s Destiny: The Taken King.
- When did you first start the company Enzo Kimono?
Well, I started Enzo Kimono Co. in 2012. I actually came up with the idea for the company in 2006/7 and made the name, logos, etc back then, but was not able to get things started until 2012.
- How did your collaboration with Destiny developer Bungie come about?
One of the athletes I sponsor “Classy Grappler” who has been with me since the early stages of our company happens to be an avid gamer. A few years ago Bungie started a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program within their corporate office and their coach happened to be a fan of Classy Grappler who has a fair size fan base in the BJJ community. There started our connection! He would wear our apparel at a free seminar he hosted at Bungie and was also able to have an ultimate gamers dream touring and being at Bungie. Recently Classy recommended a concept Gi (Japanese for uniform) based around “The Taken King.” So Classy designed it and I made it! It turned out pretty awesome and many gamers who practice BJJ and many who don’t have shared positive feedback already! We were able to present the Gi to the president of Bungie and their head coach of their BJJ program while holding an awesome BJJ seminar at the Bungie headquarters. We hope to continue doing such projects and the gaming industry is a major interest of ours.
- Are you planning any other game collaboration for your martial arts uniforms? Could you give us a hint if anything is in the works?
Let me say that we do plan to do what we call concept Gi four to six times per year and I would say the gaming industry will definitely suit a fair interest of our concept Gi per year. As for a hint, I can only say that we plan to make something that is popular and has a lot of interest in the gaming industry!
- Are you a gamer? Whether you are or not, who is your favorite game character ever?
Presently, I am not a gamer but I was raised gaming during my teenage years and somewhere along the way obtained new interests, but I love the classics from the 80’s and enjoy watching my son game! He is a huge gamer! And as for my favorite character there would be “Raiden”, from Mortal Combat!
About George Bell:
George is the CEO & Founder of Enzo Kimono Co, avid martial artist with over 40 years experience. 8th Dan, Hapkido, 7th Dan, Taekwondo. Judo Black Belt, Filipino Martial Arts Instructor, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brown Belt, Also a former world-class athlete in Olympic Taekwondo and former US Olympic Training Center Resident Athlete. George was a professional athlete on ESPN2 and Pay-Per-View in the late 90’s. In addition he is a BJJ Pan Jitsu/World medalist and presently loves to teach at his gym and and give multiple aspects of martial arts back to others through Enzo Kimono Co and his martial art gyms in Arizona.
You can check out Enzo Kimono right here.
We would like to thank George Bell of Enzo Kimono for interviewing with us.
I'm a published author and proud US Army veteran who happens to be a gamer, so I decided to combine the two and love every minute of it! Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments and I'll be sure to get back to you.
Thanks for the interview!