Ed Parker
Edmund Kealoha Parker (March 19, 1931 – December 15, 1990) was an American martial artist, who founded and codified the art of American Kenpo. Life Born in Honolulu, 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, he opened a dojo in Pasadena, California. There is controversy over whether the first black belt that Parker awar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Honolulu
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honolulu County, Hawaii, Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island of Oahu, Oʻahu, and is the westernmost and southernmost major U.S. city as well as westernmost and southernmost U.S. state capital. It is also a major hub for business, finance, hospitality, and military defense in both the state and Oceania. The city is characterized by a mix of various Asian culture, Asian, Western culture, Western, and Oceanian culture, Pacific cultures, reflected in its diverse demography, cuisine, and traditions. is Hawaiian language, Hawaiian for "sheltered harbor" or "calm port"; its old name, , roughly encompasses the area from Nuʻuanu Avenue to Alakea Street and from Hotel Street to Queen Street, which is the heart of the present dow ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William Smith (actor)
William Emmett Smith Jr. (March 24, 1933 – July 5, 2021) was an American actor and stunt performer. His career spanned nearly 80 years across film and television, often in imposing or villainous character roles. Smith starred as Texas Ranger Joe Riley on the Western television series ''Laredo'' (1965-67), and played the menacing Anthony Falconetti in the acclaimed television mini-series '' Rich Man, Poor Man'' (1976) and ''Rich Man, Poor Man Book II'' (1976-77). He played prominent roles in films like '' Any Which Way You Can'' (1980), ''Conan the Barbarian'' (1982), ''Rumble Fish'' (1983), and '' Red Dawn'' (1984). He was also a leading man in several exploitation and action films, during the 1970s and 1990s. Early life and education Smith was born on March 24, 1933, in Columbia, Missouri, to William Emmett Smith and Emily (Richards) Smith and grew up on their cattle ranch. His sister was actress Joy Windsor. His family later moved to Southern California, where ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Seven (1979 Film)
''Seven'' is a 1979 American action film directed by Andy Sidaris and starring William Smith as Drew Sevano, a freelance agent hired by the government to eliminate a cartel of seven mobsters attempting to take over Hawaii. To help him accomplish this, Drew recruits a team of seven individual operatives with their own special talents. Plot In sun-drenched Hawaii, a dynamic criminal organisation run by seven ruthless professional kingpins intends to liquidate its political leaders, and when they fulfil their plans, take over the 50th State and pillage the land. Although this may be true, the government will soon retaliate by summoning the unconventional special agent Drew Sevano, who, in turn, assembles an invincible and well-equipped army of six other deadly agents; all assigned will their target of choice. But things are looking bleak and the mandatory half-hour time frame for the completion of the operation is already tight. Will Sevano's Seven succeed? Cast * William Smith as D ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bong Soo Han
Han Bong-soo (; August 25, 1933 – January 8, 2007), also known as Bong-soo Han, was a Korean martial artist, author, and the founder of the International Hapkido Federation. He was one of the foremost and recognized practitioners of hapkido through his participation in books, magazine articles, and popular films featuring the martial art. He is often referred to as the "Father of Hapkido" in America. Early life Han was born on August 25, 1933, in Incheon, Jinsen (now known as Incheon), Korea. He began his study of hapkido as a teenager with Choi Yong-sool, Yongsul Choi in Seoul, Korea but the bulk of his training came from numerous other hapkido instructors where he received most of his black belt rankings. Han studied and refined this Korean martial art for more than 50 years. He held the rank of 9th ''dan'' Black belt (martial arts), black belt in hapkido. He was the founder of the International Hapkido Federation, and was its president until his death. During the brutal ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hapkido
Hapkido ( , , ), also spelled ''hap ki do'' or ''hapki-do'' is a Korean martial art. It is a hybrid form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, chokeholds, throwing techniques, kicks, punches, and other striking attacks. It also teaches the use of traditional weapons, including knife, sword, rope, nunchaku (ssang juhl bong), cane (ji pang ee), short stick (dan bong), and middle-length Stick fighting, staff (joong Bō, bong), Gun (staff), gun (analogous to the Japanese jō), and bō (Japanese), which vary in emphasis depending on the particular tradition examined. Hapkido employs both long-range and close-range fighting techniques, utilizing jumping kicks and percussive hand strikes at longer ranges, and pressure point strikes, joint locks, and Throw (grappling), throws at closer fighting distances. Hapkido emphasizes circular motion, redirection of force, and control of the opponent. Practitioners seek to gain advantage over their opponents through footw ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Long Beach International Karate Championships
The Long Beach International Karate Championships is an International karate and martial arts tournament in Long Beach, California that was first held in August 1964 by Kenpo Grandmaster Ed Parker. The tournament ran competition til 1999 under IKKA organization/Parker family. Many great tournament fighters earned their stripes at this tournament, including Chuck Norris, Andy Ah Po, Tony Martinez Sr., Mike Stone, Joe Lewis, Jim Kelly, Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, Billy Blanks, Jerry Piddington, and "Superfoot" Bill Wallace. The Long Beach Internationals is also where Bruce Lee was first introduced to the martial arts community in August 1964, with Lee making another appearance in 1967. 1964 In 1964, Bruce Lee appeared at the inaugural tournament and demonstrated his one-inch punch and two-finger push-ups. His volunteer was Robert "Bob" Baker of Stockton, California, who was Lee's student and became the lead villain in Fist of Fury. "I told Bruce not to do this type of demo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from Lee's experiences in unarmed fighting and self-defense—as well as Eclecticism, eclectic, Zen Buddhism, Zen Buddhist and Taoism, Taoist philosophies—as a new school of martial arts thought. With a Bruce Lee filmography, film career spanning Hong Kong and the United States, Lee is regarded as the first global Chinese film star and one of the most influential martial artists in the history of cinema. Known for his roles in five feature-length Martial arts film, martial arts films, Lee is credited with helping to popularize martial arts films in the 1970s and promoting Hong Kong action cinema. Born in San Francisco and raised in British Hong Kong, Lee was introduced to the Cinema of Hong Kong, Hong Kong film industry as a child actor by L ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gene LeBell
Ivan Gene LeBell (October 9, 1932 – August 9, 2022) was an American actor, judoka, stuntman and professional wrestler. Nicknamed "Judo Gene" and "The Godfather of Grappling", he is credited with popularizing grappling in professional fighting circles, serving as a precursor to modern mixed martial arts. He worked on over 1,000 films and TV shows and authored 12 books. Early life Ivan Gene LeBell was born in Los Angeles, California. He started training in catch wrestling and boxing from his early childhood, influenced by his mother, "Red Head" Aileen Eaton, a promoter of both sports who owned the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, Thomas Nilsson, ''A Conversation with "The Toughest Man Alive": "Judo" Gene LeBell Has Seen and Done It All in a 50-Year Martial Arts Career'', Black Belt magazine, February 1999 and who was the first woman to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. LeBell took up catch wrestling under Ed "Strangler" Lewis at age 7, and later moved ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stunt Performer
A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed to a daredevil, who performs for a live audience. When they take the place of another actor, they are known as stunt doubles. Overview A stunt performer is an actor skilled in both choreographing and safely presenting actions on-screen that appear to be dangerous, risky, or even deadly. Stunts frequently performed include car crashes, falls from great height, drags (for example, behind a horse), and the consequences of explosions. There is an inherent risk in the performance of all stunt work. There is maximum risk when the stunts are performed in front of a live audience. In filmed performances, visible safety mechanisms can be removed by editing. In live performances the audience can see more clearly if the performer is genuinely doing ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a neighborhood and district in the central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. Its name has become synonymous with the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios such as Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and Universal Pictures are located in or near Hollywood. Hollywood was incorporated as a municipality in 1903. The northern and eastern parts of the neighborhood were consolidated with the City of Los Angeles in 1910. Soon thereafter, the prominent film industry migrated to the area. History Initial development H. J. Whitley, a real estate developer, arranged to buy the E.C. Hurd ranch. Whitley shared his plans for the new town with General Harrison Gray Otis, publisher of the ''Los Angeles Times'', and Ivar Weid, a prominent businessman in the area. Daeida Wilcox, who donated land to help in the de ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its population was 138,699 at the 2020 census, making it the 45th-largest city in California and the ninth-largest in Los Angeles County. Pasadena was incorporated on June 19, 1886, 36 years after the city of Los Angeles but still one of the first in what is now Los Angeles County. Pasadena is home to many scientific, educational, and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena City College, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, Fuller Theological Seminary, Theosophical Society, Parsons Corporation, Art Center College of Design, the Planetary Society, Pasadena Playhouse, the Ambassador Auditorium, the Norton Simon Museum, and the USC Pacific Asia Museum. Pa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |