Hari Seldon was a martial artist.

[Scifi fan]

I learn something new every day.

Hari Seldon, who was a principal character in Asimov's Foundation series, was cast as a brilliant mathematician who used psychohistory to predict and influence the future of humanity.

I just read in "Prelude to Foundation" that he was also a martial artist. To cut a long story short, he was waylaid by two thugs and fought them off. When this was reported to the Emperor, the Emperor was surprised that a mathematician could fight, and he was told that mathematics and martial arts were not mutually exclusive.

And of course that is right - a mathematician can also be a martial artist, just as Hari Seldon was. Or will be.

 

[ghost8772]

I learn something new every day.

Hari Seldon, who was a principal character in Asimov's Foundation series, was cast as a brilliant mathematician who used psychohistory to predict and influence the future of humanity.

I just read in "Prelude to Foundation" that he was also a martial artist. To cut a long story short, he was waylaid by two thugs and fought them off. When this was reported to the Emperor, the Emperor was surprised that a mathematician could fight, and he was told that mathematics and martial arts were not mutually exclusive.

And of course that is right - a mathematician can also be a martial artist, just as Hari Seldon was. Or will be.

LOL, actually if one thinks about it, most scholars would excel at martial arts. The required discipline is already there, just need to apply it to physical actions instead of mental processes.

 

[Scifi fan]

Well, Isaac Asimov said he didn't do particularly well when he was forced into basic training during WWII, but he aced the aptitude tests.

Like Hari Seldon, I am educated in mathematics and economics, and, also like him, I have training in the martial arts, but, unlike him, I don't think I can hold my own in a fight, and definitely not against two thugs, LOL.

 

[RazaS]

I was very surprised too! Then again, he does seem like a very 'whole' person, a prophet-like figure in some ways, so it seems natural (e.g. Ender from Ender Series)

 

[ghost8772]

Well, Isaac Asimov said he didn't do particularly well when he was forced into basic training during WWII, but he aced the aptitude tests.

Like Hari Seldon, I am educated in mathematics and economics, and, also like him, I have training in the martial arts, but, unlike him, I don't think I can hold my own in a fight, and definitely not against two thugs, LOL.

Haven't read Prelude in a decade or so, but if I remember right, it was a two on two altercation. Hari and Chetter Hummin, and the two thugs.

 

[dyre]

Yup, Hummin took out a thug, and Seldon took out a thug independently. I think the thugs even had names, so they weren't nameless mooks!