Bong Soo Han
Posted on June 23rd, 2011 in Hall of Fame
(August 25, 1931 - January 8, 2007) Style: Hapkido Grand Master Bong Soo Han is the world’s foremost practitioner of Hapkido, and is referred to as the Father of Hapkido in the Western World. As one of the original senior students to the Founder of Hapkido, Yong Sul Choi, he led a dedicated effort in [...]
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Al Dacascos
Posted on June 23rd, 2011 in Hall of Fame
Born Sep 6, 1942 Blackbelt Magazine’s 1977 Kung Fu Artist of the Year United International Kung Fu Federation “Hall of Fame” Member of The World Head of Family Sokeship Council Founder of Wun Hop Kuen Do. Father of Mark Dacascos August 1998, we saw Al Dacascos on National TV (TNT) Turner Network Television being honored [...]
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Gokor Chivichyan
Posted on June 23rd, 2011 in Hall of Fame
Gokor Chivichyan (born 1963 in Yerevan, Armenia) is an Armenian-American Judo, submission grappling, and mixed martial arts instructor. Gokor currently trains professional and amateur fighters at the Hayastan MMA Academy in North Hollywood, CA. Gokor began his training as a young child in Soviet Armenia, winning many national and international junior titles in Judo, Sambo, [...]
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Ron Balicki
Posted on June 21st, 2011 in Hall of Fame
Ron Balicki is an actor and stuntman for various films and television series. He is also a well known martial arts practitioner, teacher and author. He is a student and the son-in-law of Dan Inosanto. The basis for Ron’s work in the martial arts comes from his 20+ years under Sifu Dan Inosanto. Ron managed [...]
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Helio Gracie
Posted on March 15th, 2011 in Hall of Fame
Hélio Gracie (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɛliu ˈɡɾejsi]; October 1, 1913 – January 29, 2009) was a Brazilian martial artist who, together with his brother Carlos Gracie, founded the martial art of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, known internationally as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). Until his death, Gracie was the only living 10th degree master of that system, and is widely considered [...]
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Jigoro Kano
Posted on March 14th, 2011 in Hall of Fame
(Oct 28, 1860 - May 4, 1938) Founder of Judo. Blackbelt Magazine’s Significant Achiever Blackbelt Magazine’s Black Belt Award winner Jigoro Kano was born in 1860 in Kobe, Japan into a wealthy family. In 1877, as a college student he studied Tenshin-Shinyo Jujitsu under Hachinosuke Fukuda and Masatomo Iso. Fukuda gave Jigoro Kano a heavy [...]
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Gichin Funakoshi
Posted on March 4th, 2011 in Hall of Fame
Founder of Shotokan Karate Blackbelt Magazine’s Significant Achiever Blackbelt Magazine’s Black Belt Award winner Gichin Funakoshi (船越 義珍 Funakoshi Gichin, 1868–1957) was an Okinawan karate master who formally introduced karate to the Japanese mainland in 1921. His son, Funakoshi Yoshitaka modernized the system of karate that he originally developed. This was accomplished predominately by lowering [...]
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Fumio Demura
Posted on March 4th, 2011 in Hall of Fame
Fumio Demura (born in Yokohama, Japan in 1938) Style: Karate At the age of 10 he began training in the martial arts under Asano Sensei, and started training under Ryusho Sakagami in Shito Ryu Itosu Kai karate when he was 12. Demura received his 1st Degree black belt in 1956 and won the East Japan [...]
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Mas Oyama
Posted on March 3rd, 2011 in Hall of Fame
Full Name: Masutatsu Oyama Original Korean Name: Yong I-Choi Blackbelt Magazine’s 1994 Honorary Award Founder of Kyokushin Karate Masutatsu (Mas) Oyama was born Yong I-Choi on the 27th of July, 1923, in a village not far from Gunsan in Southern Korea. At a relatively young age he was sent to Manchuria, in Southern China, to [...]
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Yong Sool Choi
Posted on March 2nd, 2011 in Hall of Fame
(1904- 1986) Founder of Hapkido. Yong-Sool Choi (1904-1986), born in Chung Buk province in Korea, was one of the most influential people in the development of modern Korean martial arts. His parents died when he was very young, and he was taken to Japan from Korea by a Japanese candy maker when he was 8 [...]
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Imi Lichtenfeld
Posted on March 1st, 2011 in Hall of Fame
Imre “Imi” Lichtenfeld (May 26, 1910–January 9, 1998) was an Israeli martial artist who founded the Krav Maga self-defense system. He was also known as Imi Sde-Or, the Hebrew calque of his name. Lichtenfeld was born on May 26, 1910, to a Hungarian Jewish family in Budapest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He grew up in [...]
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Choi Hong Hi
Posted on March 1st, 2011 in Hall of Fame
Choi Hong Hi (9 November 1918 – 15 June 2002), also known as General Choi, was a South Korean army general and martial artist who is a controversial figure in the history of the Korean martial art of taekwondo. Choi is widely regarded as the ‘Founder of Taekwondo’—most often by International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) organizations. Others, [...]
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