Thomas "Lapuppet" Carroll, (7 February 1938 – 20 March 1999) was a pioneer

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

martial artist, and also a member of USA Karate Hall of Fame, and the Black Belt Hall of Fame. of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. He was also a member of the US Ju-Jitsu Federation, but focussed on

Shotokan karate is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" throug ...

. Carrol died from cancer in March 1999.

Early life

Thomas Carroll LaPuppet born in South Carolina in 1938, and died on March 23, 1999. He was raised in Brooklyn graduating from Franklin K. Lane High School. He then went on to attend the State University of New York in

Westbury, New York The Incorporated Village of Westbury is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is located about east of Manhattan. The population was 15,404 at the 2020 census. History The firs ...

but did not graduate from there due to his belief that "The University of the street" provided a more dynamic education. Thomas Carrol worked as a firefighter for the

New York City Fire Department The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...

and was also in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

achieving the rank of First Sergeant.

Martial arts career

Carrol was a former jiujitsu practitioner before learning Karate under George Cofield. Carroll was a member of the USA Karate Hall of Fame, chairman of USA Karate New York as Treasurer, and holding positions as head coach. He was key in getting karate recognized by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

. Considered by some to be an American martial arts pioneer he defeated many famous martial artists including Bill "Superfoot" Wallace in tournaments. He also trained actors

Gregory Hines Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best known for '' Wolfen'' (1981), '' The Cotton C ...

and

Ralph Macchio Ralph George Macchio Jr. ( ; born November 4, 1961) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Daniel LaRusso in three ''Karate Kid'' films and in ''Cobra Kai'', a sequel television series. He also played Johnny Cade in '' The Outsiders' ...

Karate Kid ''The Karate Kid'' is a 1984 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the first installment in the '' Karate Kid'' franchise, and stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue and ...

. He is considered to be a contemporary of

Chuck Norris Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts champions ...

and Joe Lewis An 8th degree blackbelt he was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame in 1969.https://blackbeltmag.com/thomas-lapuppet Thomas was also featured in various magazines including

Black Belt Magazine ''Black Belt'' is an American magazine covering martial arts and combat sports. The magazine is based in Valencia, California, and is one of the oldest titles dedicated to martial arts in the United States. History and profile The magazine w ...

and Official Karate Magazine. He finished his career as an 8th degree black belt. A big fan of his was Steve Anderson (karate)

Movie career

He acted in the 1976 movie ''The Super Weapon'', which also starred Ron van Clief. He was also in the movie ''Angel With a Kick''. He is also featured training youth in the 1976 documentary ''The Warrior Within''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Thomas 1938 births 1999 deaths Sportspeople from Brooklyn Martial artists from New York City State University of New York at Old Westbury alumni American male film actors American male karateka People from South Carolina Place of death missing African-American male actors United States Marine Corps non-commissioned officers 20th-century American male actors Shotokan practitioners Martial arts school founders Karate coaches Deaths from cancer in New York (state) 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century African-American sportspeople