Texas legend Allen Steen was instrumental in transforming American tournament karate to point fighting and kickboxing. Many of his students had immense impact on American and European martial arts competition.
Category Archive: Masters and Personalities
A VERY SPECIAL CHAMPION (from 1969) AMERICAN KARATE’S PACESETTER, CARLOS NORRIS by Roger Newhall A substantial number of […]
The King of Rock’n’Roll promoted karate and was himself karate blackbelt.
The founder of Taekwondo.
NORRIS, CHUCK (1940- ) American karate champion, pioneer, instructor, and actor. Born in Ryan, Okla. Chuck Norris is […]
Karate Grandmaster Fumio Demura is an accomplished sensei and author who has traveled the world with his impressive karate demos.
Born in 1931. A Japanese master of ninjutsu and author. Thirtyfourth grandmaster of Togakure ryu-ninjutsu. Hatsumi earned black […]
LEE, BRUCE (1940-73) Chinese-American martial arts pioneer and film star. Lee was born in a San Francisco Chinatown […]
he studied Jeet Kune Do under Bruce Lee and was one of the most advanced Kung Fu teachers in the USA.
John Corcoran (1948-2019) was a highly regarded martial arts journalist and historian. He started training karate under […]
Canada’s top ambassador of martial arts.
An early pioneer of American karate, Parker promoted one of the largest tournaments in Long Beach, the Internationals.
Great kicking, like great fighting, is not a matter of your battlefield track record, it’s a matter of what is in your heart. When we see a fast kicker kick, our response is: “Wow!” Immediately upon witnessing a power kicker we exclaim, “Whoa!” But upon seeing awesome kicking, the reaction is usually “Whoa” followed by “Wow.” When you hear this last reaction, then you know you are witnessing great kicking.
It probably could be a pretty soft life in the foam-rubber world of Jhoon Rhee, the man who […]
Professional Karate magazine honored the best of the martial arts inside their Hall of Fame in the mid-seventies.
Whenever karate men get together and start telling stories about the past, one name that comes up more […]
A pioneer of Okinawan Karate and competitive point fighting, Chuck Merriman has influenced American martial arts for decades.
An interesting talk with the founder of Escrima in America, the late and most secretive Grandmaster.
In 1966 Filipino Angel Cabales opened his first martial arts dojo in the USA. His new home in Stockton, CA as an immigrant from The Philippines was the base for the slow spread of Serrada Escrima to the west. Cabales tought the Filipino martial arts only to those applicants who he deemed worthy. It was more of a family dojo for him. He refused to teach FMA to Ernie Reyes for example, but found others who were following his instructions to the letter such as Anthony Davis. Angel Cabales is often called the “father of Escrima in America.” He was born in 1917 and died in 1991.
Bolstered by a wild new villain in the Riddler, played by Jim Carrey, and the introduction of Batman’s sidekick, Robin, “Batman Forever” also co-stars Don “The Dragon” Wilson in his first role as a villain. Wilson leads a gang of thugs that includes Michael Worth, an actor and prominent black belt, against the Caped Crusader.
Kung Fu would not be Kung Fu without David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine. In the new syndicated weekly series, which began airing on January 20, Carradine reprises for the third time the role he made famous. In this extensive candid interview, the veteran actor reflects on the impact of the series, his years of training in kung-fu, his participation in martial arts films — and demonstrates a propensity for subtle humor, a side of himself we’ve seldom seen. Interview by Dwight Brown, published in 1996.
George was a pioneer of martial arts who was unparalleled in his skills and devotion. His roots date back to the 50ies when he started training self defense based on JuJutsu, a European version of Jiu Jitsu. Driven by curiosity he observed US-American soldiers stationed in occupied West Germany training Taekwondo and Karate. He started learning this new, modern way of Oriental combat. One of the best known American instructors was Mike Anderson. George heard about Anderson’s exceptional skills and traveled to Garmisch Partenkirchen – around 700 Km south of West Berlin – every weekend to learn the art of Taekwondo. Both became friends and partners who were instrumental in changing the landscape of martial arts in Europe.
Sad news: Joe Lewis passed on August 31st, 2012 after suffering from cancer. May he rest in peace. We keep you in our hearts, Joe!
It was in 2000 when I first had the opportunity to meet up with Joe Lewis, the person who became known as the first American Sport Karate Champion, first professional heavyweight World Champion and as a teacher. He is one of the most advanced instructors for self defense and combat principles that are developed to be scaled up for different demands and not just one occasion. Joe Lewis has been a mentor and idol for many martial artists. Some have had the chance to study with him over many years and call him their master while others have just met him on one or two occasions. Yet, both sort of encounters with Joe Lewis have spurred positive developments for martial artists from all over the world.