Johnny 'Gyro' Potter is an American martial arts instructor, and former competitive karate fighter. He holds black belts in

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

Hapkido Hapkido ( , , also spelled ''hap ki do'' or ''hapki-do''; from Korean 합기도 ''hapgido'' ) is a hybrid Korean martial art. It is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, throwing techniques, kicks, punches, and other stri ...

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

Aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in around 1 ...

, and

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

. He started training under Chuck Norris in the art of Taekwondo at the Sherman Oaks Karate School in Los Angeles, California; and earned his first Black Belt in 1978.

Career

In 1985, Potter was named “Fighter of the Year” by Martial Arts Magazine and in 1990 was inducted into the IFKA Hall of Fame with their title of “Competitor of the Year”. He was ranked as the top competitor in Region 2 (California and Nevada) by Karate Illustrated Magazine and Martial Arts Magazine from 1982-1987.

Recognitions

He was ranked as the top fighter in the Professional Karate League (PKL) and in the California Karate League (CKL). He was ranked #18 in 1983 nationally, #10 in 1985 by Karate Illustrated Magazine, and #6 in 1986 in the United States by the NAKC. In the AAU

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

competition, Johnny Gyro was rated #1 in 1983 in Men’s Fighting Region 2, California and Nevada. He appeared as "Johnny Gyro" on the covers of at least 8 martial arts magazines.retrieved on November 2, 2014

References

External links

Johnny Gyro Karate - Official Site
* American male karateka American hapkido practitioners American tang soo do practitioners American wushu practitioners Year of birth missing (living people) Living people {{US-karate-bio-stub