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STAR System World Kickboxing Ratings
The Standardized Tournaments And Ratings System (STAR) was the premier rating service for international kickboxing, from 1980 through 1989, as syndicated in fifteen martial arts and sports magazines throughout the world. It was recognized as the official ratings source by two out of three major sanctioning bodies for professional kickboxing, World Kickboxing Association (WKA) and Karate International Council of Kickboxing (KICK).“About Us” at http://www.starsystemkickboxing.net/Pages/aboutus.aspx. Retrieved on 2 June 2011. The STAR ratings helped internationalize the sport by encouraging transnational matchmaking, and by enabling free agent champions such as: Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, Rob Kaman, Stan "The Man" Longinidis, Dennis Alexio, Maurice Smith, Peter "Sugarfoot" Cunningham, Fred Royers, James Warring, Graciela Casillas and Lucia Rijker. STAR relied on a statistical technique adapted from international tournament chess competition. Competito ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Corcoran (martial Arts)
John Corcoran was an American non-fiction book author, magazine editor, screenplay, screenwriter and martial arts historian. Early life Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he began martial arts training in 1967 eventually writing press releases for his Shōrin-ryū karate instructor to pay for lessons. In 1973, as a newly promoted black belt, he compiled the first set of national Top Ten ratings for American karate kata competitors for ''Official Karate'' magazine.Corcoran, John and Emil Farkas, Farkas, Emil (1983). "About The Authors: John Corcoran", ''Martial Arts: Traditions, History, People'', Gallery Books, W.H. Smith Publishers, Inc., New York, inside back cover Over the next three decades, Corcoran served as editor of ''Black Belt (magazine), Black Belt'', and then ''Professional Karate'', ''Inside Kung Fu'', ''KICK Illustrated'', ''The Fighter International'' and ''Martial Arts Success''.''Our Founders''STAR System website Retrieved 30 September 2012. In September 1974, Cor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pete Cunningham (kickboxer)
Peter "Sugarfoot" Cunningham (born March 25, 1963) is a retired Canadian 7-time World Champion Hall of Fame kickboxer, boxer, martial artist, actor and author. Rated by experts as one of the greatest full contact fighters of all time, Sugarfoot was a superb technician who possessed high fighting I.Q. and lightning speed. He retired from kickboxing in 1996 with a record of 50-1-1, having avenged the only draw of his career but only one defeated Peter, the undefeated Richard Sylla at the WKA World Title in Paris. Cunningham's skills in the ring have been praised by many martial arts legends, including Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, Bill "Superfoot" Wallace, Chuck Norris, Dan Inosanto, Rigan Machado, Don "The Dragon" Wilson and many others. Cunningham maintained a high level competition throughout his career as most of his opponents were either current or former champions. In 1998 in San Jose, California, Peter was honored as the inaugural inductee in the I.S.K.A. Hall of Fame. Cunningh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mixed Martial Arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. The first documented use of the term ''mixed martial arts'' was in a review of UFC 1 by television critic Howard Rosenberg in 1993. The question of who actually coined the term is subject to debate. During the early 20th century, various interstylistic contests took place throughout Japan and in the countries of the Four Asian Tigers. In Brazil, there was the sport of Vale Tudo, in which The Gracie family was known to promote Vale Tudo matches as a way to promote their own Brazilian jiu-jitsu style. A precursor to modern MMA was the 1976 Ali vs. Inoki exhibition bout (which ended in a draw after 15 rounds), fought between boxer Muhammad Ali and wrestler Antonio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed Parker
Edmund Kealoha Parker (March 19, 1931 – December 15, 1990) was an American martial artist, actor, senior grandmaster, and founder of American Kenpo Karate. Life Born in Hawaii, Parker began training in Judo at an early age and later studied boxing. During the 1940s, Parker was introduced to Kenpō by Frank Chow, who then introduced Parker to William Chow, a student of James Mitose. Parker trained with William Chow while serving in the Coast Guard and attending Brigham Young University, and in 1953 he was promoted to the rank of black belt. Parker, seeing that modern times posed new situations that were not addressed in Kenpo, adapted the art to make it more easily applicable to the streets of America. He called his adapted style American Kenpo Karate. Success and students Parker opened the first karate school in the western United States in Provo, Utah, in 1954. By 1956, Parker opened a dojo in Pasadena, California. Ed Parker's first ever black-belt was James Ibrao. His fir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucia Rijker
Lucia Frederica Rijker (; born December 6, 1967) is a Dutch professional boxer, kickboxer, and actress. Rijker was sometimes dubbed by the press "The Most Dangerous Woman in the World". Early career Rijker speaks four languages and is a Buddhist, dedicating time daily to meditation and chanting. Her mother was born in the Netherlands and her father is from Suriname. Rijker started her martial arts career at the early age of six, when she began training in judo. A year later, she was part of the Dutch National Softball Team. At fourteen, after picking up fencing a year earlier, Lucia became the Netherlands Junior Champion of that sport. When she was fifteen she began kickboxing and knocked out the reigning American kickboxing champion, Lily Rodriguez. Rijker eventually amassed a 36-0 (25 KO) record as a kickboxer, and won four different world titles. Her only defeat in a kickboxing ring was in an exhibition match at Sporthallen Zuid in Amsterdam in October 1994, when she fough ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graciela Casillas
Graciela Casillas (born 1957) is an American former boxer and kickboxer who competed in the bantamweight division. After training in several traditional martial arts, Casillas began competing as a kickboxer in 1976, and in 1979 she became the first fighter to hold world titles in both boxing and kickboxing by taking the World Women's Boxing Association's and the World Kickboxing Association's bantamweight championships. Although Casillas' Boxrec record is 5-0, Black Belt Magazine reported in May 1984 that she had 27 boxing matches, winning 15 by KO up to that point. Noted for her punching power and also as one of the first American fighters to incorporate low kicks into their arsenal, Casillas retired undefeated in 1986. She is considered a pioneer of women's combat sports. Early life Casillas was born as one of eleven children to Mexican parents in Oxnard, California. She took up taekwondo at the age of fifteen when the church she attended began offering self-defense classes. Aft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Warring
James Warring (born November 26, 1958) is an American boxer, kickboxer and mixed martial artist. In professional boxing, he held the IBF world cruiserweight title from 1991 until 1992. In kickboxing, Warring is a four-time world champion, which included WKA world titles in 1983 and 1989. Biography Career * Kickboxing ** US kickboxing champion ** KICK World Cruiserweight Champion ** PKC World Cruiserweight Champion ** FFKA World Super Heavyweight Champion ** WKA World Cruiserweight Champion ** WKA World Heavyweight champion * Boxing ** NABF Cruiserweight Champion (December 12, 1990 - ?) ** IBF World Cruiserweight Champion (September 7, 1991 – July 30, 1992) * Mixed Martial Arts ** World Combat Championship Runner-Up (1995) Career after fighting As of 2002, Warring was a referee for the Florida State Athletic Commission in Shin Do Kumate and boxing. Fighting records Professional boxing Professional MMA , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 1995-10-17 , , Loss , , align=le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Royers
Fred Royers (born March 15, 1955) is a Dutch former kickboxer who competed in the middleweight division. He was known for his powerful low kicks, which is now a staple of Dutch kickboxing. Biography and career Royers began practicing karate at the age of 16. He went on to become the Dutch national champion on nine occasions and also won medals at the Karate World Championships in 1979, 1980, 1982 and 1984 as well as the World Games 1981. He also competed in amateur boxing. In 1978, Royers joined the Mejiro Gym and took up kickboxing. He became the European Savate Champion in 1984 when he defeated Robert Paturel via technical knockout in Paris, France. The following year, he won the WKA Middleweight Championship of the World when he won a 12-round decision victory over Yasuo Tabata. He was forced to retire in 1986, however, after breaking his arm twice in training. Following his retirement, Royers opened his own gym in his home town of Arnhem and began working as the Dutch langu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice Smith (kickboxer)
Maurice L. Smith (born December 13, 1961) is a retired American kickboxer and mixed martial artist. In kickboxing, he held the WKC (World Kickboxing Council) world light heavyweight championship, the WKA (World Kickboxing Association) world heavyweight championship, and the ISKA (International Sport Karate Association) world heavyweight championship. In mixed martial arts, he held the Heavyweight championship in Battlecade Extreme Fighting and the UFC, and became a member of the UFC Hall of Fame in 2017. A professional competitor since 1980, Smith has formerly competed in kickboxing for the companies All Japan Enterprise and K-1, Pancrase, RINGS, PRIDE, Strikeforce, International Fight League and RFA. Career Raised in Seattle, Washington, Smith got into martial arts at the age of 13 after watching Bruce Lee's '' Chinese Connection'', and having had to retreat from a fight. He trained in karate, taekwondo and wing chun, until he found the sport of kickboxing at age 18. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Kickboxing Association
The World Kickboxing Association (WKA) also known as World Kickboxing and Karate Association, is one of the oldest and the largest amateur and professional sanctioning body for kickboxing and Karate. History In 1976, the WKA was founded by Howard Hanson in the United States and originally named World Karate Association. The organization was the first non-profit governing body to use an independently controlled rating list and the first to establish a world championship division for women and the first to include countries from Asia. Corcoran, John and Farkas, Emil. Martial Arts: Traditions, History, People. Gallery Books, New York (1983) p. 60. The organization secured network broadcast in the US and Japan and became a major sanctioning body for professional karate. Early stars of the WKA included Benny Urquidez, Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Kevin Rosier and Graciela Casillas. According to martial arts author John Ritschel, "The WKA became successful by finding common ground between ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dennis Alexio
Dennis Raymond Alexio (born March 12, 1959) is an American former professional kickboxer and actor who competed in the light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. Starting out as a light heavyweight, Alexio kicked off his career with an extensive, knockout-laden undefeated streak before losing a decision to Don "The Dragon" Wilson in a World Kickboxing Association (WKA) World Super Light Heavyweight Full Contact Championship match in 1984. He rebounded from this by winning the Professional Karate Association (PKA) World Light Heavyweight title that same year before moving up to cruiserweight and taking the International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) World Cruiserweight Full Contact strap. In the late 1980s, he began his transition to the heavyweight division where he won six world titles and was considered the undisputed World Heavyweight Champion. He faced the two toughest tests of his career in 1992 against Branko Cikatić and Stan Longinidis - both of whom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stan Longinidis
Stan "The Man" Longinidis (born 25 June 1965) is an Australian retired heavyweight kickboxer and 8-time world kickboxing champion. Born in Melbourne of Greek ethnicity, Longinidis is one of the few fighters to win world titles in four different styles of kickboxing competition: international rules, Oriental rules, full contact and Muay Thai. He holds notable victories over Branko Cikatić, Adam Watt, Peter Graham, Musashi and Dennis Alexio. He is also an actor and motivational speaker. Biography 1983-1989: Early career Stan Longinidis began practicing martial arts in 1982 after being inspired by watching a martial artist defeat five opponents in a night club brawl. His kickboxing career commenced in 1983, and he had won two amateur titles when he challenged Santiago Garza for the WKA World Light Heavyweight Championship in 1987. Despite the contest ending in a draw, Longinidis had displayed such potential that he was invited to train full-time at the prestigious Jet Cente ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
