HISTORY OF AMERICAN MARTIAL ARTS

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In the 1970s, the ties between parent schools in Korea and tae kwon do instructors in the U.S. had been weakened by a decade of separation and "Americanization." Consequently, a number of regional tae kwon do associations were born. On the nation's college and university campuses the American Tae Kwon Do Coaches Association and the American Collegiate Tae Kwon Do Association were created in 1972. These organizations worked jointly to send a U.S. team to the inaugural World Tae Kwon Do Championships in 1973, at which the U.S. team placed second, and the 2nd World Championships in 1974, both held in Seoul, Korea.

The most significant development of 1971 was the advent of the "Longstreet" television series, co-starring Bruce Lee. Unlike productions that had preceded it, the one-hour season opener actually identified the art being shown and was the first to explain on screen the philosophy behind the Asian fighting arts. The program was a showcase for Lee's innovative teaching methods. Cast as a martial arts master, Lee taught the blind detective, Longstreet (James Franciscus), how to protect himself, through both the physical maneuvers of Jeet Kune Do and Lee's personal philosophy. That particular show is now considered by many martial arts aficionados Bruce Lee's best work on film, and it has become a classic. The season opener was
written by Stirling Silliphant, one of Lee's students.

This year marked the rise to stardom of Bill Wallace, who rocketed from virtual obscurity to America's number-1 -ranked karate fighter, a position he also held in 1972 and again in 1974. Wallace won Allen Steen's highly competitive U.S. Championships and the USKA Grand Nationals.

In 1972 an astonishing growth occurred in the martial arts. Much of it was directly attributable to the martial arts' sudden emergence as a bone fide entertainment vehicle. It began when filmmaker Tom Laughlin released Billy Jack in which he starred. Although the karate sequences in Billy Jack took but a few minutes of screen time, they were climactic. Filmed in slow motion, with hapkido master Bong Soo Han doubling for Laughlin, they demonstrated more than any previous motion picture the electrifying visual aspects of the martial arts.

Bruce Lee's Fists of Fury, released on the heels of Billy Jack, became one of the first Chinese films to be distributed to general movie theaters. In the Orient, it unexpectedly broke all box-office records, eventually surpassing the longstanding hit, The Sound of Music. Shortly afterward, Lee's second film venture with Raymond Chow, Fist of Fury (The Chinese Connection in the U.S.), eclipsed the success of its predecessor and catapulted Lee to stardom as the biggest box-office draw in the history of Asian cinema.

Back in the U.S., the mounting martial arts mania was accommodated by an influx of Hong Kong kung-fu films that virtually flooded the American market. Critics labeled them "Eastern Westerns" or "chop-sockeye." But the trend found its way into big-budget projects such as Red Sun, starring Charles Bronson and Toshiro Mifune, and The Mechanic, again starring Bronson and featuring Hollywood karate master Tak Kubota.

Kung Fu, starring David Carradine, aired as an ABC-TV Movie of the Week on Aug. 8, 1972. This weekly series, which showcased martial arts philosophy as well as physical, had a positive effect on the trend, introducing martial arts on a regular basis directly to American living rooms.

The need for stuntmen familiar with the martial arts grew. Conventional Hollywood stuntmen were at the time inexperienced in the arts, and martial artists poured into Hollywood casting offices. Some of the more flamboyant and fortunate were catapulted to stardom. With the release of Melinda, Los Angeles' Jim Kelly, hired as a fight-scene choreographer, was made a co-star. Kelly went on to star in Enter the Dragon, Black Belt Jones, The Golden Needles,

Also in 1972 Emil Farkas founded Creative Action Associates, the first martial arts company to cater to the motion picture and television industries. His company set up action sequences for shows such as "The FB.I.," "Mannix," "Mod Squad," "Mission Impossible," "Spiderman," and many others.

Hungarian-born Farkas came to the U.S. in 1965 with black belts in judo and karate. He began giving private lessons to some of Hollywood's top celebrities, among them Phil Spector, the Beach Boys, Herb Alpert, Jimmy Caan, Dennis Hopper, Fred Williamson, etc. Through his students Farkas gained entrance to Hollywood's inner circle and soon was working regularly on T.V. shows and features as a fight choreographer and stuntman.

Joe Lewis unexpectedly announced his retirement in 1972. During his tenure as champion, Lewis amassed more than 30 major titles. He was the only four-time grand champion of the U.S. National Karate Championships (1966-69) and the only three-time grand champion of the International Karate Championships (1969-71).

Coincidental with the entertainment craze, tournament karate was thriving as never before. In 1972 Mike Stone, now a promoter, conceived the first tournament franchise. Earlier, Stone, together with Chuck Norris and Bob Wall, had created the Four Seasons Karate Championships, a quarterly series of contests held in southern California. When the others lost interest, Stone maintained the tournaments. In 1972 he sold its name and concept to promoters in other parts of the country and created the Four Seasons Nationals in Las Vegas as the culminating event of the network.

Public interest in martial arts reached its zenith in 1973. Thousands of spectators who formerly had no interest in karate supported tournaments as never before. And theaters showcasing martial arts films were doing great box-office business.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, Bruce Lee was working constantly. Following Way of the Dragon, his third hit, he immediately started production on Game of Death. But the film was interrupted when Lee received a co-production offer from Warner Bros. to star in Enter the Dragon. Enter the Dragon was the first co-production between Chinese and Hollywood filmmakers. On July 20, 1973, shortly before the U.S. release of Enter the Dragon, the world was staggered by the unexpected death of Bruce Lee in Hong Kong.

Only 32, he allegedly died from acute brain swelling, the cause of which remains enigmatic. Lee's chief jeet kune do protégé is Dan Inosanto.

Enter the Dragon became the king of martial arts movies, the unsurpassed classic of the genre. Today, this picture stands out as one of the most profitable in international cinema history. Though numerous imitators attempted to replace Lee, no one could duplicate his spectacular success. By 1974 the martial arts craze, commonly called the "Bruce Lee Era" began tapering off.

Professional Karate Revival The comeback began in the summer of 1973, when Oklahoman Mike Anderson published his inaugural edition of Professional Karate Magazine. Anderson openly campaigned for the restoration of professional karate, backed by his quarterly publication and his compilation of national and regional ratings of karate players. Widespread acceptance of these ratings revolutionized the ratings polls, making Black Belt's annual Top 10 rating antiquated by comparison.

Shortly after the release of his inaugural issue, Anderson staged his Top 10 Nationals in St. Louis. Anderson offered a$1,000 grand championship purse, a precedent immediately adopted by other major promoters. The event was the first to make mandatory the use of Jhoon Rhee's newly created Sate-T Equipment in the black belt fighting divisions. This innovation launched a new form of karate fighting, which in 1974 was dubbed "semicontact" by martial arts journalist John Corcoran. The use of Safe-T Equipment, basically foam rubber hand and foot pads, added excitement to competition, safely permitting moderate contact to both the face and body.

At this event Los Angeles' Howard Jackson won the grand championship and prize money. At 5 feet 5 inches, 152 Ibs, Jackson became the first lightweight to dominate his sport and professional karate's biggest money winner of 1973.

Jackson had usurped Bill Wallace, at the time America's top tournament fighter. Wallace was a sport karate phenomenon in that he gained most of his victories by relying on one technique exclusively, a left-footed whip-like roundhouse kick. His kicks were clocked at an incredible delivery speed ot 60 m.p.h., and when he later became the premier star of full-contact karate, he was aptly nicknamed "Superfoot "

On June 4, 1973, John Corcoran was hired as book editor for Ohara Publications, the sister company of Rainbow Publications, publishers of Black Belt and Karate Illustrated. By the end of the year, he had begun to work on both magazines as assistant editor. Corcoran was the first karate black belt to become an editor of these publications, and he rose to prominence as one of the first genuine martial arts journalists in America. He was preceded as a black belt editor only by Official Karate's Al Weiss. Corcoran was a student of Glenn Premru.

Corcoran was hired the same week as Jerry Smith, a commercial artist, who was also a black belt and a disciple of Joe Lewis. The pair formed an intimate friendship and Corcoran continued his martial arts studies with Smith, who was to become recognized as one of the first full-contact karate coaches in the U.S.

In Aug.1974 Ed Parker offered a winner-take-all purse of $2,500 for the grand champion of his International Karate Championships in Long Beach. In a spectacular 25-point overtime match, John Natividad, a student of Chuck Norris and Jerry Taylor, defeated Benny Urquidez,13-12. Even today, spectators debate the outcome of this classic contest; some believe Urquidez, a regional favorite, scored an overtime point against the favored Natividad before the latter landed his conclusive point. Historians call it one of the greatest bouts of the light-contact era.

The continuing martial arts mania kept business flourishing through 1974. Aaron Banks' Oriental World of Self-Defense, an annual production of martial arts demonstrations, set a gate record in its field. The promotion, held at Madison Square Garden, attracted 19,564 spectators,according to Banks. The paid live gate reportedly reached $100,000. The event was aired on ABC's "Wide World of Sports."

Ken Min, of the University of California at Berkeley, conducted the first collegiate survey in 1974 to determine how many schools offered karate, tae kwon do, and kung-fu classes on campus.

Judo, which preceded other arts in its American migration, outranked all of them Of 596 colleges responding to the survey, 278 offered some type of judo program. At the same time, there was equal interest in karate, tee kwon do, and kung-fu. Of 448
colleges reporting, 228 offered some type of program in one of these three disciplines.

Joe Lewis and Tom Tannenbaum decided to resurrect full-contact karate. They planned to promote the World Professional Karate Championships. Lewis brought Mike Anderson into the deal and Anderson spent most of 1974 preparing for what was to become the most extraordinary promotion in American karate history. He spent months finding and establishing European and Asian representatives. German karate entrepreneur George Bruckner, Anderson's friend and business associate, conducted an elimination contest to determine European full-contact representatives. Three of the four American representatives were selected on the basis of their divisional supremacy in Professional Karate's ratings: they were lightweight Howard Jackson of Los Angeles, middleweight Bill Wallace of Memphis, and light heavyweight Jeff Smith of Washington, D.C. Joe Lewis, originally scheduled to co-host the event, chose to come out of retirement and fight as the heavyweight representative. Lewis was the only karate fighter with full-contact experience.

Jeff Smith, during this year, had surpassed Jackson to become America's foremost tournament fighter. He was, in fact, named the 1974 "Fighter of the Year" by Professional Karate Magazine. A product of the rugged Texas school of karate, Smith had moved to the nation's capital in the early 1970s to teach for Jhoon Rhee.

Two months before the event, in July 1974, Anderson relocated his operation to Los Angeles. In August he formed a promotion company with Beverly Hills business couple, Don and Judy Quine, who helped finalize negotiations with Universal Television. In late August, the Quines and Anderson formed the Professional Karate Association (PKA), the sport's first sanctioning body, to establish full-contact karate as a major professional sport with recognized champions, standardized rules, and network television coverage of its bouts. Anderson also persuaded Bob McLaughlin and John Corcoran, editors of Black Belt and Karate Illustrated, to work jointly as editors of Professional Karate. Instead of editing, however, the two worked feverishly on the fast approaching World Championships.

On the night of Sept.14, 1974, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, 14 fighters from eight countries vied in a double elimination for the inaugural titles. Four emerged as world professional full-contact champions: heavyweight Joe Lewis, light heavyweight Jeff Smith, middleweight Bill Wallace, and lightweight Isaias Duenas of Mexico City. Among the American entrants, only Howard Jackson, suffering from a severe knee injury, lost his bid for the title. This extravaganza drew one of the largest live gates for competition karate, $50,000, and attracted more than 10,000 spectators. Anderson awarded an unprecedented $20,000 in total prize money Each champion earned $3,000, while runners-up received a smaller purse. All fourteen participants were
given a guaranteed minimum. Much of this impressive news soured, however, when Anderson later reported a personal loss exceeding $60,000. Tom Tannenbaum sold the broadcast rights to ABC's "Wide World of Entertainment." The event aired twice as a 90-minute special, the first time acquiring the highest rating of a "Wide World" special for 1974.

Great controversy ensued. The traditional karate community contended that full-contact degraded the art form and would have a negative influence on school enrollments. This faction felt the television coverage for the sport gave the impression that full-contact was taught in schools everywhere as a required course of learning and would therefore discourage parents from enrolling their children. Moreover, detractors protested the association of the word "karate" with full-contact and vocally sought a name change to "kick-boxing."

It wasn't to be. For one, the sport could only be sold to television because of the popularity of karate. It was a word and an activity with which television executives were familiar. Kick-boxing, on the other hand, was associated with the far more brutal sport popular in Thailand and Japan. When its promoters attempted to get it on American television, they failed. TV executives felt it was too violent. Consequently, the name "full-contact karate" was retained.

In Oct. 1974 tae kwon do was recognized as an amateur sport separate from karate by the AAU. This development was chiefly due to the efforts of Ken Min, tae kwon do coach of Berkeley University, with the support and aid of members of the AAU Judo Committee and a dozen tae kwon do masters. A number of important tournaments-starting with the 1st AAU Invitational Tae Kwon Do Championships in June 1974, held at Berkeley under Min's able direction, through the 1st National AAU Tae Kwon Do Championships, conducted at Yale university in Mar. 1975, and the Mar 1976 version held in Kansas City-promoted and publicized the sport aspect of this Korean art.

It was in Kansas City that a U.S. tae kwon do federation was conceived with the purpose of supporting the National AAU Tae Kwon Do Committee. Tae Kwon Do programs in American universities reached a new level of progress with the advent of the 1st National Collegiate Tae Kwon Do Championships, held at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La.

From 1975 onward, two activities dominated the martial arts: films and the sport. These continue to be the most active and visible aspects of the industry, based simply on mass exposure through the various media.

The year 1975 was one of economic disaster, signaling the beginning of the end of the martial arts movie boom. The industry suffered a double blow when it was victimized jointly by the depressed national economy and the pronounced tapering off of martial arts in the cinema. Some instructors blamed the new full-contact movement for deteriorating enrollments at the school level. Others felt it was not the sport itself, but poorly conditioned fighters and unprofessional promotions.

Following the inaugural world championships, a rash of full-contact promotions broke out in 1975, spreading to epidemic proportions. At one point in Los Angeles alone, hardly a week passed without a full-contact event. Within a year of its birth, no less than seven full-contact karate organizations sprang up. Their organizers were convinced that the infant sport and its potential sales appeal to television might be the financial salvation of the declining martial arts industry. It wasn't.

In all fairness, the army of inept promoters who tried to capitalize on the young sport were not totally at fault. Some blame has to be shared by the fighters themselves. Many entered the ring preposterously under conditioned, and none of them had any ring experience.

Those organizations that moved into the promotional end of the sport in 1975 were: Tommy Lee's World Series of Martial Arts; Jhoon Rhee's World Black Belt League (WBBL), a team concept; Joe Corley's South East Professional Karate Commission (SEPKC); Aaron Banks' World Professional Karate Organization (WPKO); and Larry Scott's and Valerie Williams' National Karate League (NKL), another team concept. Each association created its own rules, sanctioned its own promotions, and established its own champions. Each independently sought television exposure for its promotions. Of these early organizations only two remain: Banks' WPKO and Rhee's WBBL.

The Scott/Williams NKL featured Benny Urquidez as its premier star. Urquidez quickly accumulated the most impressive record in his sport by virtue of his consistent victories in 3- and 5-round NKL team bouts across the country. However, the NKL was under-financed and suffered major losses. It disbanded in 1976. Its principals left substantial debts in their wake, as well as a negative business reputation for karate in general.

In 1975, 50 million viewers saw full-contact karate when Jeff Smith defeated Karriem Allah. The closed-circuit broadcast was a preliminary card to the Muhammad Ali/Joe Frazier "Thrilla in Manila" fight.

On May 3, 1975, the PKA, in conjunction with Joe Corley's Battle ot Atlanta in Georgia, produced a full-contact card whose main event the much-acclaimed bout between Corley himself and Bill Wallace. It marked the first title defense of the new sport and, as in Los Angeles, it attracted more than 10,000 spectators to the Omni Arena. Wallace retained his crown with a 9th-round TKO.

Notable at this event were two new concepts: the addition of professional kata competition to the regular competition, an innovation of Mike Anderson's at his Top 10 Nationals in St. Louis; and the introduction of martial ballet, created by Jhoon Rhee, in which a team of black belts perform a synchronized kata routine to classical music. This latter concept served as the prototype of the musical kata divisions gaining popularity in American karate tournaments today.

One week later, on May 10, Aaron Banks conducted a title defense held under the auspices of his WPKO. Presented at the Nassau Coliseum in New York, Banks' event later aired on ABC's "Wide World of Sports," a development creating a fierce dispute between Banks and the Quines, whose original PKA event had aired as an ABC network special. The PKA felt it was a conflict of interest on the part of ABC to air two different events that declared two different sets of "world champions." Banks' card crowned four divisional champions: heavyweight Joe Hess of New York (now of Florida), light heavyweight Fred Miller of New York, middleweight Kasim Dubar of New York, and lightweight Benny Urquidez of Los Angeles. By year's end, Urquidez was the leading money winner of his sport, having earned more than $30,000.

In June 1975, Mike Anderson resigned as an executive officer of the PKA to pursue the promotion of the sport on his own. The Quines assumed complete control of the PKA, while Anderson eventually formed the World All-Style Karate Organization (WAKO) with George Bruckner in West Berlin, Germany. At the same time, Anderson's Professional Karate magazine was suffering from poor sales. He decided to move His operation back to Oklahoma City. Bob McLaughlin entered the public relations business; John Corcoran joined author Bob Wall as editor of Wall's self-published book, Who's Who in the Martial Arts. By autumn, Corcoran launched a full-time career as a free-lance writer specializing in the martial arts.

Professional Karate, it must be emphasized, left a lasting mark in its field. No magazine before or after it had such a profound impact on all aspects of the sport, its participants, and its formation of a professional foundation. Through Professional Karate, careers were launched and professional karate athletes began to receive a degree of respect and admiration they had never before known. Most of these benefits can be directly attributed to the magazine's founder and publisher, Mike Anderson, who often put his money where his heart was to promote the sport.

The movies of 1975 included the Stirling Silliphant-scripted The Killer Elite, directed by Sam Peckinpah. The film featured a bevy of West Coast martial artists clad in ninja disguises engaging in poorly staged fight scenes having nothing to do with ninjutsu. The Killer Elite suffered from production disputes and inferior editing. It did average box-office business.

Bruce Lee: His Life and Legend, to which Warner Bros. devoted $200,000 in development costs, never advanced from preproduction. Warners launched a worldwide search for a candidate to play the lead role in this Bruce Lee bio, co-scripted by Linda Lee, Bruce's widow, and director Robert Clouse. Advertisements seeking the candidate were run in major newspapers across the U.S, and thousands of aspiring martial artists swarmed the Burbank studio applying for the role. Denver's Al Dacascos was given serious consideration. The producers eventually settled on Chinese-Canadian Alex Kwok of Vancouver. After changing his name to Alex Kwon, capping his teeth, and paying him a holding fee, the producers dropped the project and the film was never made.

The big disappointment of 1975 was the final retirement of superstar Joe Lewis following two back-to-back nontitle defeats. Remarkably, in the last of these bouts, Lewis dislocated his right shoulder after the 1st round and, despite excruciating pain, continued fighting for the duration of the contest. He lost a seven-round decision to Ross Scott because of penalties for insufficient kicks.

Ed Parker's Internationals in Aug.1975 awarded the largest sum of prize money ever for a Pro/Am karate tournament, a total of $16,250. Kata winners were awarded an overall $1,000 of that sum. The two figures stand as records to this day.

Along with Washington vs. Dominican Republic team matches on Sept.14, 1975, Jhoon Rhee presented a special politician's semicontact division pitting a trio of Democrats against a Republican threesome in whet was called the Capitol Hill Grudge Bout. Presented under the auspices of Rhee's World Black Belt League, the novel division featured Democrats Rep. Walter Fauntroy (D.C.), Rep. Tom Bevill (Ala.), and Sen. Quentin Burdick (N.D.) against Republicans Rep. Willis Grandison, Jr. (Ohio), Rep. Floyd Spence (S.C.), and Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska). The Congressmen appeared on behalf of the Freedom of the Press Foundation; they were members of Rhee's twice-weekly classes and have come to be known as the "Capitol Hill karate corps." (The match was drawn.)

On Sept. 21, in conjunction with Georg Bruckner's All European Karate Championships, America's Gordon Franks met Mexico's Ramiro Guzman to decide who would emerge as the first world super lightweight champion of full-contact karate. Franks, then a Ramiro Guzman 20-year-old college student from Minneapolis, won the title in a unanimous 9-round decision. Promoted at the Deutschlandhalle Arena in West Berlin, it was the first full-contact world title fight to be staged in a foreign country. The promotional budget was reportedly $130,000, the single most expensive karate promotion up to that time. Franks, besides being the original champion in this 139-lb division, was also the first black fighter to become a full-contact world champion.

Also in 1975, the 3rd WUKO World Karate-do Championships were held, for the first time in the U.S., at the Long Beach Arena. It was an uneventful tournament for the U.S. amateur karate athletes. The British team emerged as the new world champions, and the Japanese fighters, as usual, dominated the individual competition.

In Black Belt's 1976 survey respondents in karate registered an 11 percent increase in students from 1975-76. Judo and tee kwon do registered no increase or decrease. Yet, many leaders in karate stated that a decline took place. One answer may be that the decline was registered in 1974-75 and that interest had picked up in this year. A statistic of interest was that 18 percent of all students in both 1975 and 1976 were female. Approximately 31 percent of all students were children,14 or younger. However, it was not clear from the survey that girls age 14 or younger were not also included in the female as well as the children's statistics.

In 1976 the full-contact karate movement continued to be the pacesetter for the industry. By now, most of the smaller promoters found the expense prohibitive, and the more distinguished entrepreneurs took command of the sport. Most of the lavish events were filmed for television and appeared on sports shows such as "The Champions," "CBS Sports Spectacular," and the PKA's 90-minute "Sports Special of the Month."

The year kicked off with champion Bill Wallace becoming the first karate athlete ever to participate in ABC's "Superstars" competition. Wallace appeared in the third set of eliminations on Jan. 31, which was broadcast nationwide on Feb. 7. Wallace placed in two events, but finished only tenth out of 11 entrants in his elimination series, besting Lynn Swann of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite a disappointing finish, it was an extraordinary endorsement for the sport of karate.

Prior to Wallace's appearance, Don Quine, who now managed the champion, originated the nickname "Superfoot," a nickname attributed to Wallace's uncanny kicking ability.

A PKA event held at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on Oct. 1, 1976, marked the beginning of the association's contractual arrangement with CBS Sports, as well as a merger attempt with promoter Howard Hanson of Westminster, Ca. The CBS deal eventually accounted for tour network broadcasts per year of PKA sanctioned world title tights. Critics accused the PKA of conflict of interest. The organization was operating both as a sanctioning body and, through Sport Karate, Inc., a sister corporation, as a promotional body. The PKA principals, Don and Judy Quine, countered by claiming the sport's survival depended on their synthesis of its various activities. The PKA sanctioned a total of 19 events in 1976.

After his merger attempt with the PKA soured, Howard Hanson formed the World Karate Association (WKA), a full-contact sanctioning body that became the PKA's strongest competitor. As its president, Hanson survived by arranging promotions in Japan, pitting Japanese kick-boxers against American full-contact karate fighters, using a combination ot the two sports' rules. After the PKA stripped Benny Urquidez ot his lightweight title in 1977, the champion fought predominantly in the WKA and quickly established himself as a superstar in Asia, where he defeated every kick-boxing challenger and champion he tought.

The most bitter conflict between the PKA and the WKA is a dispute over rules. The WKA advocates the use of leg kicks, while the PKA rigidly opposes them. The issue is one of potential injury to the athletes. The PKA maintains that these techniques are dangerous to the fighter's physical safety and his career longevity. Hanson parries this charge by pointing to the Orient, where some kick-boxing champions remain active after more than 50 fights where leg kicks, at their most vicious, are employed.

In Sept. 1976 California passed a law placing full-contact karate under the jurisdiction of the State Athletic Commission (SAC), which regulates professional and amateur boxing and wrestling. It marked the first time that any form of American karate was regulated by a government body, even though many martial artists had been attempting tor years to bring traditional karate under government supervision tor licensing ot instructors. The California commission sanctioned the organization of the volunteer group called the Full Contact Karate Advisory Board to assist in the formation of standard rules and practices tor the sport.

The state athletic commissions, which regulate professional and amateur boxing and wrestling have gradually begun regulating full-contact karate since 1976.

In California, the SAC generally recognized the PKA's rules and policies as standards tor the sport, with the exception of the controversial leg kicks. In July 1978 the North American Boxing Federation, to which all SACs belong, approved a motion to officially recognize the PKA as the international governing body of professional full-contact karate.

Finally in 1976, amateur karate, under the WUKO, was accepted for membership in the General Assembly of International Sports Federations (GAIF), bringing it one step closer to the Olympics. In the following year, however, the General Assembly ot the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued a directive specitying that the two world karate bodies, the WUKO and the IAKF, had to unity before Olympic recognition ot karate would be granted. As a result, that recognition was postponed indefinitely.

1976 WORLD TITLE FIGHTS

Date: 2/8; Site: Atlanta, Gal; Sanction: SEPKA; Division: Lt. Hvywt.; Winner: Jeff Smith;
Loser: Wally Slocki; Promoter: Joe Corley; Television: "The Champions" (Syndication).

Date: 3/13; Site: Las Vegas, Nev.; Sanction: PKA; Division: Midwt.; Winner: Bill,,Wallace;
Loser: Jem Echollas; Promoter: SKI; Television: "Sports Special of the Month" (90-minute
syndication).

Date: 5/29; Site: Toronto, Can.; Sanction: PKA; Division: Midwt.; Winner: Bill Wallace;
Loser: Daniel Richer; Promoter: Jong Soo Park; Television: Filmed by ABC "Wide World of
Sports" but not aired.

Date: 8/28; Site: Honolulu, Hawaii; Sanction: PKA; Division: Hvywt.; Winner: Teddy
Limoz; Loser: Mike Arroyo; Division: Ltwt.; Winner: Benny Urquidez; Loser: Earnest Hart, Jr.;
Promoter: SKI/Hanson.

Date: 10/1; Site: Los Angeles, Calif.; Sanction: PKA; Division: Mdwt.; Winner: Bill Wallace;
Loser: Gary Edens; Division: Ltwt.; Winner: BennyUrquidez;Loser: EddieAndujar; Promoter:
SKI/Hanson; Television: "CBS Sports Spectacular."

Activities in the sport and movies continued to remain at the forefront of the martial arts for 1977. The big news was the starring debut of Chuck Norris, the first karate champion turned actor. Norris was best known to film peers for his performance against Bruce Lee in the climactic fight scene of Return of the Dragon. His first starring role came in Breaker, Breaker, a low-budget exploitation film that attempted to capitalize on Norris' karate name and expertise and the CB radio trend. Filmed for under $250,000, Breaker, Breaker, according to director Don Hulette, grossed $10 million.

Before the release of Breaker, Breaker, Norris signed a three-picture deal with a new production company called American Cinema and began filming Good Guys Wear Black. By the time it had run its course, Good Guys had grossed $20 million.

The ramifications of this film are extraordinary. Norris had single-handedly restored interest in the martial arts genre at a time when Hollywood refused to make such films.

Other film making efforts featuring the martial arts this year included Revenge of the Pink Panther, starring Peter Sellers with Ed Parker as a hired karate assassin. A Fistful of Yen, starring Bong Soo Han of Billy Jack fame, was one of three vignettes composing the satirical Kentucky Fried Movie. Yen is actually a parody of Enter the Dragon and is perhaps the first American made comedy related to the martial arts genre. It has become a cult classic.

With two national television broadcasts and a total of ten sanctioned events in 1977, the PKA remained at the forefront of contact karate. The April 23 "Triple Crown" championship from the Las Vegas Hilton was broadcast live by "CBS Sports Spectacular," marking the first live broadcast of karate in any form in U.S. history. But the PKA principals, Don and Judy Quine, were also pressing its world champions to sign exclusive contracts with them. Refusal on the part of several led to the Quines stripping them of their titles. One of these stripped champions was Benny "The Jet" Urquidez.

Howard Hanson, who had just formed his World Karate Association quickly recruited Urquidez to fight in the Orient under the WKA banner. Urquidez went to Japan and became the first American fighter ever to beat the Japanese kick-boxers at their own genie. Urquidez scored a knockout over champion Katsuyuki Suzuki on Aug. 2 before a national television audience in Japan. His victory amounted to a national insult to the Japanese, who take their sport very seriously. Following his win, retired and undefeated champion Kunimatsu Okao publicly challenged Urquidez to a bout for which he would come out of retirement. Urquidez accepted. On Nov. 14, at the prestigious Budokan in Tokyo, the two met in a vicious showdown resulting in an Urquidez victory. Bloody and battered, Okao was knocked out cold in the 4th round and had to be helped from the ring. The bout was carried over Japanese national television and drew an unprecedented $500,000 live gate, the largest on record for professional karate.

The victory brought Urquidez' record to 40-0 with 38 knockouts, the best in his sport, and made him an international celebrity. In Japan, he became a cult hero and the central figure of a series of comic books entitled Benny the Jet. He also represented his sport in a Japanese documentary, Kings of the Square Ring, which also features boxing's Muhammad Ali and wrestling's Antonio Inoki.

Howard Jackson became the first karate champion to enter professional boxing and win. Within one year, Jackson amassed a pro boxing record of 14-1-2 with 11 knockouts. Jackson's precedent has since 1977 led the way for other karate athletes to pursue dual careers in the boxing and karate rings.

The 4th WUKO World Karate-do Championships in 1977 marked the return of this international event to Tokyo. The tournament, held at the Budokan, featured kata competition for the first time. American players fared better at kata than fighting, but tied for fifth place in team fighting. Japan dominated the kata competition, winning the two top positions, and the strong Dutch contingent surprisingly dominated both the team and individual fighting titles. Otti Roetot of Gary Sproul wins WAKO full-contact light heavyweight title in Tampa, Fla., 1978.

On March 5, 1977, the 3rd National AAU Tae Kwon Do Championships were held at the University of California at Berkeley, in conjunction with the 1st North American Tae Kwon Do Championships. The latter event was highlighted by the first organizational meeting of the North American Tae Kwon Do Union. Later, on Sept.15-17, at the Amphitheater in Chicago, the World Tae Kwon Do Championships made its debut in America.

1977 WORLD TITLE FIGHTS

Date: 3/12; Site: Los Angeles, Calif.; Sanction: WKA; Division: spr.. Ltwt.; Benny Urquidez/Narong Noi (Declared a no contest); Promoter: Howard
Hanson.

Date: 4/23; Site: Las Vegas, Nev.; Division: Hvywt.; Winner: Ross Scott; Loser: Everett Eddy; Division: Midwt.; Winner: Bill Wallace; Loser: Pilinky
Rodriguez; Division: Ltwt.; Winner: Benny Urquidez; Loser: Howard Jackson; Promoter: SKI; Television: "CBS Sports Spectacular" (Wallace/Rodriguez
aired live).

Date: 5/21; Site: Providence, R.l.; Sanction: PKA; Division: Midwt.; Winner: Bill Wallace; Loser: Ron Thiveridge; Promoter: Hee II Cho.

Date: 5/21; Site: Charlotte, N.C.; Sanction: PKA; Division: Lt. Hvywt.; Winner: Jeff Smith; Loser: Keith Haflick; Promoter: Jerry Piddington.

Date: 8/2; Site: Tokyo, Japan; Sanction: WKA; Division: Spr.. Ltwt.; Winner: Benny Urquidez; Loser: Katsuyuki Suzuki; Promoter: Howard Hanson / Ron
Holmes / Hisashi Shima /Antonio Inoki; Television: Japanese national TV

Date: 10/8; Site: Indianapolis, Ind; Sanction: PKA; Division: Midwt.; Winner: Bill Wallace; Loser: M. Pat Worley; Division: Welwt.; Winner: Earnest Hart, Jr.;
Loser: Eddie Andujar; Promoter: SKI; Television: "CBS Sports Spectacular."

Date: 11/14; Site: Tokyo, Japan; Sanction: WKA; Division: Spr.. Ltwt.; Winner: Benny Urquidez; Loser: Kunimatsu Okao; Division: Ltwt.; Winner:
Kunimasa Nagae; Loser: Tony Lopez; Promoter: Hanson/Holmes/Shima; Television: Japanese national TV.

Date: 11 /28; Site: Honolulu, Hawaii; Sanction: PKA; Division: Mdwt.: Winner: Bill Wallace; Loser: Burnis White; Promoter: Kip Russo.

Participation in the Korean martial arts reached an all-time high from 1977-78, according to Black Belt's 1978 survey. Almost 65 percent of the respondents were either students or instructors in hapkido, tee kwon do, or tang soo do. Also at an all-time high was the percentage of practitioners in the category of "others," those from obscure or combination arts. In comparison to previous surveys, response from practitioners of the Japanese arts was at a low, virtually equal to the number of respondents for the Chinese disciplines.

In 1978, while the WKA was idle, the PKA coordinated a sanction for a light-heavyweight title fight between champion Jeff Smith and challenger Dominic Valera, for a decade Europe's greatest noncontact karate champion. Valera had made the transition to full-contact fighting in mid-1975 following a fierce dispute with the WUKO's amateur karate politicians. Valera met Smith for the PKA title on May 22 in Paris before a sold-out crowd. Smith won a dull 9-round decision.

Also on the international front, John Corcoran began to syndicate his articles to martial arts magazines across the world. This marked the first time a domestic writer secured mass exposure abroad for American martial artists and events on a regular basis. He became the world's foremost martial arts magazine writer and joined an elite group of syndicated peers: Zarko Modric in Yugoslavia and John Robertson and Arthur Tansley in Japan.

Semicontact (often called "point karate" or "tournament karate") in 1976-77 had sunk to an all-time low in popularity and interest. Chiefly responsible for the decline was the absence of recognizable stars: all of the great fighters had turned to full-contact. In 1978, however, a star emerged. Keith Vitali won the grand championships of two of America's most prestigious tournaments: the Battle of Atlanta and the Mid-America Diamond Nationals. The victories catapulted him to the pinnacle of every 1978 Top 10 rating poll in the U.S. Vitali duplicated his number-1 rating for the next three years before retiring in Feb.1981 at 28. He and Bill Wallace are the only point fighters in U S. history to have been ranked number 1 for three years; Vitali, however, is the only fighter to occupy the position in consecutive years Vitali's intense rivalry with Texan Ray McCallum, beginning in 1979, infused new life into a sport sorely needing it. Although the pair met only three times in competition, with Vitali winning twice, the contests were classic encounters. Through their presence and performance, point fighting was rejuvenated and more martial artists took an interest in the sport. Vitali won the rubber match at the 1981 Superstar Nationals in Oakland, Ca., where he was grand champion runner-up and announced his retirement from competition.

1978 WORLD TITLE FIGHTS

Date: 3/1 1; Site: Providence, R.l.; Sanction: PKA; Division: Midwt.; Winner: Bill Wallace; Loser: Emilio Narvaez; Division: Welwt.; Winner: Bob Ryan; Loser: Earnest Hart, Jr.; Promoter: SKI/George Pesare; Television: "CBS Sports Spectacular."

Date: 5/22; Site: Paris, France; Sanction: PKA; Division: Lt. Hvywt.; Winner: Jeff Smith; Loser: Dominic Valera; Promoter: GuyJugla/Marc Counil.

Date: 7/22, Site: W. Palm Beach, Fla.; Sanction: PKA; Division: Welwt.; Winner: Steve Shepherd; Loser: Bob Ryan; Promoter: Steve Shepherd/Don Haines

Date: 11/30; Site: Atlanta, Gal; Sanction: PKA; Division: Welwt.; Winner: Earnest Hart, Jr.; Loser: Steve Shepherd; Promoter: SKI /Joe Corley; "CBS Sports Spectacular."

The SecondBoom By 1979, a martial arts movie renaissance was underway. At the forefront of these films was Chuck Norris, in A Force of One, produced by American Cinema. Due to Norris' personal philosophy, A Force of One earned a PG (Parental Guidance) rating and consequently reached a huge market of youthful moviegoers. Also starring Jennifer O'Neill and Bill Wallace, who made his film debut, Force was a box-office hit from its outset and even received favorable critical reviews.

Joe Lewis, who once competed against Norris in the karate ring, became the second American karate champion to star in a motion picture. Lewis' transition had been expected by martial artists, since it was common knowledge that he had been seriously pursuing an entertainment career since 1970, when he took up acting. Filmed on locations in Europe and Asia, Jaguar Lives Lewis' first film is a spy action adventure in the James Bond tradition.

In 1979, two projects that originally involved Bruce Lee finally appeared in American theaters. Game of Death, partially filmed by Lee before Enter the Dragon but unfinished at his death, and Circle of Iron (a.k.a. The Silent Flute), originally written by Lee, Stirling Silliphant, and actor James Coburn, were replete with production complications and controversy.

Overall, more than 40 PKA-sanctioned events were telecast over the ESPN in 1980, and CBS aired three more. The rival WKA broke into the American network with one broadcast over "NBC Sports World" and signed a television syndication pact with Hollywood Programmed Entertainment for the broadcast of 26 full-contact cards domestically and abroad.

In August, Chuck Norris, with a media blitz and personal appearances, publicized the release of The Octagon. Having fulfilled his contract with American Cinema, Norris became a free agent. In 1981 -82 he starred in three films-An Eye For An Eye, Silent Rage, and Forced Vengeance-and formed his own production company.

August also marked the second American tour of a Chinese wu shu troupe, through the coordination of San Francisco's Anthony Chan, a wu shu stylist and one of America's great form champions. The first visit had been in 1974; the 1980 tour took the Peking troupe to San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Boston, New York, and Houston. The troupe's San Francisco performance was filmed by ABC's "Wide World of Sports" for later broadcast.

Full-contact karate was televised in two national broadcasts of PKA bouts, one on "NBC Sports World," the other on "CBS Sports Spectacular." NBC aired the unexpected defeat of PKA heavyweight champion Ross Scott by Demetrius Edwards, via a 7th round knockout. This marked the first of two matches within a one-week period in which established world champions were defeated by challengers.

On August 9th, challenger Cliff Thomas of El Paso, Texas, assumed the PKA world super-lightweight title,
upsetting Gordon Franks by a 3rd round TKO, Old champions give way to the new young challengers. The field starts opening up on a grandeur scale making way for international contenders. The effect is synergistic as the sport renews itself.

Perhaps the greatest event of the 1980 martial arts renaissance was the staggering success of the television miniseries Shogun. Based on James Clavell's best-selling novel, the $22 million project aired on NBC the week of Sept. 15-19 in five parts, and presented American audiences with the first insight into the world of the feudal Japanese samurai. Shogun captured 125 million viewers, or more than half of the total television viewing audience in the U.S. Shogun's phenomenal success created a new wave of interest by the American public in learning the "samurai arts." Supply companies reported a sudden boost in orders for samurai swords and other Japanese-related weapons. Karate schools were inundated with phone calls from potential students, and business increased dramatically.

With the 1980 Warner Bros. release of The Big Brawl, general American audiences were introduced to the irrepressible new king of kung-fu, Jackie Chan. Chan's fame spread from Hong Kong when, beginning in 1978, three of his pictures surpassed the grosses of Bruce Lee's films in Asia: Drunken Monkey in a Tiger's Eye, Fearless Hyena, and The Young Master, the last having sold more tickets, according to its producers, Golden Harvest, than any picture of any genre ever to play Hong Kong. Chan was quickly discovered by Hollywood and cast in his first American-made film, The Big Brawl, his American debut, however, failed to duplicate his international appeal.

When Mexico suffered last-minute sponsorship problems, the 5th WUKO World Championships was picked up by Spain as the host country. The event, originally scheduled for 1979, was delayed one year by this development. The tournament took place in Madrid on Nov. 28-29, with 55 countries represented. The AAU had conducted its team selection tournament in New Jersey, from which America fielded its strongest, most experienced contingent ever. Head coach Chuck Merriman anticipated the possibility of returning home with a world championship.

Tokey Hill of Ohio became the first amateur world champion to emerge from the ranks of America's fighters. Not since 1970, at the inaugural WUKO tournament, had an American placed in individual fighting, when Tonny Tulleners won third place. Hill won a gold medal and Pennsylvania's Billy Blanks defeated the Spanish national champion to advance to the finals, where he took a silver medal in the open weight class. Blanks then took a bronze medal in the 80 kg division, making him the only American double medal winner in world class amateur karate competition.

Another new division, in addition to the open weight class, was women's kata competition. Kathy Baxter of New York and Pam Glaser of Massachusetts placed within the top 8 finalists, with Baxter taking a respectable fifth place.

Significantly, the 1980 AAU karate team was composed of players representing a multitude of karate styles, whereas earlier, most of the U.S representatives had been predominantly Japanese stylists.

The international rivalry between the WUKO and the IAKF took a bright turn on Dec. 25, 1980, when a unification meeting between the two organizations took place in Tokyo. Zentaro Kosaka, president of the IAKF, and Ryoichi Saxakawa, president of the WUKO, initiated talks for the consolidation of international amateur karate-do competition.

Since 1977 the International Olympic Committee had directed that prior to consideration of karate as a recognized non-participatory Olympic sport, application for this status must emanate from only one federation truly representing the great majority of karate federations worldwide. The Dec. 25 conference resulted in unification of the WUKO and the IAKF in Japan only-the intention was to unify amateur karate in those parts of the world still divided between the two organizations. With world unity essential to IOC acceptance, it is believed the organizations can overcome the remaining obstacles to that recognition. 

HAWAII
Hawaii During the era of Japanese immigration to Hawaii, in the late 1800s and the early 1900s, many Japanese immigrants trained in the art of Kodokan judo arrived. The first judo club in Hawaii, the Shunyo-Kan, was formed on March 17,1909, by Shigemi Teshima and Naomatsu Kaneshige. Consul-General Isami Shishido, 7th dan, joined the club in 1919 and served as chairman of the club's board of directors for many years.

The Shobu Kan judo club was founded by Yajiro Kitayama, Nakajiro Mino, and others. Its first dojo site was the basement of the Ono Bakery on Beretania Street, followed by several locations in Honolulu, until it was moved to its present location on Kunawai Lane in the Liliha area.

Other clubs were subsequently established, and in 1929, three of the major judo clubs, Shunyo Kan, Shobu Kan, and Hawaii Chuugakko (junior high school) initiated an effort to organize judo in the territory of Hawaii. The organization hoped to demonstrate a united effort to the community and to be recognized as an instrument through which the social and cultural significance of this martial art would be transmitted and perpetuated. Organized judo grew rapidly under the supervision of this body, the Hawaii Judo Kyokai. In 1925, the Kodokan issued the first certificates for black belts to judoka in Hawaii. In 1927, a judo seminar was conducted by a visiting Waseda University judo group, headed by Mr. Makino, 6th dan. By 1932, the Hawaii Judo Association had several active clubs, and received official recognition from Prof. Kano during one of his stopovers in Honolulu. The certificate of recognition, #76, issued by the Kodokan Judo Institute on November 15,1932, was the first such authorization granted to a yudanshakai outside of Japan. 

From "The Original Martial Arts Encyclopedia." by John Corcoran and Emil Farkas

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