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.
karate
A VERY SPECIAL CHAMPION (from 1969) AMERICAN KARATE’S PACESETTER, CARLOS NORRIS by Roger Newhall A substantial number of […]
Although he spent the last ten years of his life in Florida, transplanted Texan Walt Bone, like all […]
KENPO Kenpo, as spelled is a more modern term describing one of the more innovative systems practiced on […]
The King of Rock’n’Roll promoted karate and was himself karate blackbelt.
1973 UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIPS: After the preliminary smoke had cleared, 12 contestants had earned their way to a semi-final berth and an eventual chance to meet Los Angeles’ Bob Dunek, defending Grand Champion. “Fast Billy” Wallace Regains Title, Oregon’s Dan Anderson Makes Big Waves
Isshin Ryu Karate was founded by one of the great karate masters, Tatsuo Shimabuku, and is derived from […]
German/American Georg Iberl was one of the first martial arts pioneers who opened commercial dojos in the US.
Karate Grandmaster Fumio Demura is an accomplished sensei and author who has traveled the world with his impressive karate demos.
In his amazingly candid and inspirational new book, The Secret of Inner Strength: My Story, Chuck Norris reveals […]
Goju-ryu grandmaster Gogen Yamaguchi is widely known as “The Cat”, the most important person in recent history of Karate-Do.
An early pioneer of American karate, Parker promoted one of the largest tournaments in Long Beach, the Internationals.
Mas Oyama is known for being one of the strongest karateka in recent history being the founder of Kyokushin Kai karate.
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.
Karate Champion Chuck Norris talks about what it takes to come to the top.
Florida martial arts supply store with mail-order for wholesale karate schools. Imports Top Ten and Hayashi goods to the USA and Canada.
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.
His explosive musical katas made Canadian Jean Frenette a legend of modern martial arts. Who hasn’t seen his amazing karate forms?
MIYAGI, CHOJUN (1888-1953) Okinawan karate master and pioneer; founder of goju-ryu. When Miyagi was 14 he started training […]
A few years back I asked my friend John Corcoran to research and write an article about the early history of Sport Karate in America. An article describing how Americans adopted traditional Asian martial arts like Karate, Tae Kwon Do or Hap Ki Do and turned them in to a competitive fighting sport, first known as: Sport Karate. This later became known as Fullcontact fighting and kickboxing as we know it today. John, who is one of the best martial arts editors and historians I know, wrote an outstanding piece of paper about this and I am happy to have found the original English language copy to post below. This is the first of 2 parts.
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.