James Ryan originally burst onto the movie scene as a sinewy and lean martial arts hero via two low budget South African financed martial arts movies titled Kill or Be Killed (1976), and the sequel Kill and Kill Again (1981). Both films were rather shoddy, mechanical productions...however, the acrobatic Ryan had a certain appeal and the movies were loaded with plenty of kicks and punches, plus they featured 8th Dan Shotokan karate expert Stan Schmidt and fellow South African 8th Dan Judo / karate exponent Norman Robinson .....both members of the South African Martial Arts Hall of Fame.
