Three months ago The Gold Coast Martial Arts Association held an Ed Parker Jr. seminar and I was fortunate to sit down and talk with Ed.  For any one who doesn’t know who Ed Parker Jr. is, then you probably won’t know as well that he is the son of the late great Ed Parker.  Before we get into Ed Parker Jr. let me give you a brief bio of his dad Ed Parker.

Ed Parker is the founder of American Kenpo.  Ed learned the art as Chinese Kenpo in Hawaii in the early 50’s before Hawaii became a state.  He then brought it to the United States teaching it in college.  Ed Parker is considered one of the first pioneers to teach martial arts in the United States.  Outside being a martial artist Ed was a body guard for the late Elvis Presley. He did choreography for motion pictures and television.  He also taught the FBI and the Secret  Service as well.  Ed produced the worlds largest martial arts tournament called The International Karate Championship.  That’s where Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris got their starts.

Attendees at Ed’s Seminar

Ed Jr. continues his father’s legacy by teaching a modified version of American Kenpo.  Ed is also quite an artist.  He’s been into art since he was able to pick up a crayon. Ed has won almost every award from art in elementary school through high school.  He has received quite a few acolytes for his art including the Bank of America Art Award.  Right out of high school Ed Parker was hired to do personal art work for John Travolta and Erik Estrada.  He then made a drawing of his dad which was able to sell enough for Ed to pay for four years of college.  In Ed’s art career he has drawn seven hundred and forty six portraits of martial arts. He is absolutely the number one martial arts artist out there.  He has no competition once so ever.  A lot of people have the passion for the martial arts.  Ed believes that any industry to grow you throw in your talent and go past the punching and kicking and make the arts go.  Ed considers himself more of a historian and so what he is doing with his artwork is trying to establish an importance of the martial arts  in our time period and documenting it in art.

Ed has assisted in writing several books an is currently working on a book called The Kenpo Continuum.  I asked Ed what was his biggest achievement.  Thinking a moment he said he’s been so busy focused on what to do next, he hasn’t focused on what he’s done.

My who being is obsessed in what I believe in.  I’ve put my whole heart into it.  I’ve had the blessings to touch a lot of peoples’ lives.  If I could sum it up my greatest blessing would be being able to interact with so many human beings and to be able to plant ideas in their heads  so they can entertain so many different solutions instead of always being aggressive or choosing an ugly side for problem solving. That is something that I am appreciative of.

That and the fact that he has historically documented artistically the martial arts history.  In the end Ed feels his art work will be his greatest legacy.

I asked Ed if he has seen a major transformation over
the years in the martial arts.  He believes the cup is half empty and half full.  As normal human beings people look at things with pessimistic eyes.  He believes we have a wonderful history.  He looks at it that way because he sees a growth.  In our need to preserve what we have been taught we will traditionalize it and we  protect it.  The need to protect it and sometimes overzealousness  protecting it gets ugly.  A lot  of times we belittle another person’s journey to make our journey look better. Ed is finding that in the latter part of where we are going people are spending a lot less time rumbling and complaining about other martial arts and instead embracing it and finding value in it, as well as intermingling more.  Ed thinks this is a tremendous value.  He is seeing a lot of people finding and asking themselves the question. Is there more to martial arts than punching and kicking?  Ed noticed martial arts started off that way. Back then, martial arts started as an edge over boxing.  When Ed was growing up there were
people like Louie “The leg breaker“ who wanted to get an edge on boxing, so he took martial arts.  Then Bruce  Lee changed the industry by putting martial arts into the films.  Martial arts took off once Hollywood got involved.  From Ed’s life time he has seen martial arts go from an ugly thing and evolve to a phenomenal thing but, he also realizes where he was a kid in this industry and now an old grandpa, there’s stuff that’s going on that he would not be involved in.  It doesn’t mean he would want it to stop. For example the Mixed Martial Arts  movement.  He looks at it and says it’s just not his era, but that doesn’t mean he does not find value in it.

“There is a lot of growth.  The original tree was very small with very few branches in it.  Now there is a tremendous amount of branches.”

That’s how Ed describes the martial arts.  Ed has grown up with a lot of people who have been resistant to this growth and change.  To Ed it’s like trying to stop a tree from growing.  Ed is type of person who tries not to manipulate or force anything. His advise is just watch. You will see both sides. Either you’ll see the growth of the  arts in a good way or in a bad way. It all depends how you look at it.

If you would like to see Ed’s incredible art go to Three months ago The Gold Coast Martial Arts Association held an Ed Parker Jr. seminar and I was fortunate to sit down and talk with Ed.  For any one who doesn’t know who Ed Parker Jr. is, then you probably won’t know as well that he is the son of the late great Ed Parker.  Before we get into Ed Parker Jr. let me give you a brief bio of his dad Ed Parker.

Ed Parker is the founder of American Kenpo.  Ed learned the art as Chinese Kenpo in Hawaii in the early 50’s before Hawaii became a state.  He then brought it to the United States teaching it in college.  Ed Parker is considered one of the first pioneers to teach martial arts in the United States.  Outside being a martial artist Ed was a body guard for the late Elvis Presley. He did choreography for motion pictures and television.  He also taught the FBI and the Secret  Service as well.  Ed produced the worlds largest martial arts tournament called The International Karate Championship.  Thats where Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris got their starts.

Ed Jr. continues his father’s legacy by teaching a modified version of American Kenpo.  Ed is also quite an artist.  He’s been into art since he was able to pick up a crayon. Ed has won almost every award from art in elementary school through high school.  He has received quite a few acolytes for his art including the Bank of America Art Award.  Right out of high school Ed Parker was hired to do personal art work for John Travolta and Erik Estrada.  He then made a drawing of his dad which was able to sell enough for Ed to pay for four years of college.  In Ed’s art career he has drawn seven hundred and forty six portraits of martial arts. He is absolutely the number one martial arts artist out there.  He has no competition once so ever.  A lot of people have the passion for the martial arts.  Ed believes that any industry to grow you throw in your talent and go past the punching and kicking and make the arts go.  Ed considers himself more of a historian and so what he is doing with his artwork is trying to establish an importance of the martial arts  in our time period and documenting it in art.

Ed has assisted in writing several books an is currently working on a book called The Kenpo Continuum.  I asked Ed what was his biggest achievement.  Thinking a moment he said he’s been so busy focused on what to do next, he hasn’t focused on what he’s done.

My who being is obsessed in what I believe in.  I’ve put my whole heart into it.  I’ve had the blessings to touch a lot of peoples’ lives.  If I could sum it up my greatest blessing would be being able to interact with so many human beings and to be able to plant ideas in their heads  so they can entertain so many different solutions instead of always being aggressive or choosing an ugly side for problem solving. That is something that I am appreciative of.

That and the fact that he has historically documented artistically the martial arts history.  In the end Ed feels his art work will be his greatest legacy.

I asked Ed if he has seen a major transformation over
the years in the martial arts.  He believes the cup is half empty and half full.  As normal human beings people look at things with pessimistic eyes.  He believes we have a wonderful history.  He looks at it that way because he sees a growth.  In our need to preserve what we have been taught we will traditionalize it and we  protect it.  The need to protect it and sometimes overzealousness  protecting it gets ugly.  A lot  of times we belittle another person’s journey to make our journey look better. Ed is finding that in the latter part of where we are going people are spending a lot less time rumbling and complaining about other martial arts and instead embracing it and finding value in it, as well as intermingling more.  Ed thinks this is a tremendous value.  He is seeing a lot of people finding and asking themselves the question. Is there more to martial arts than punching and kicking?  Ed noticed martial arts started off that way. Back then, martial arts started as an edge over boxing.  When Ed was growing up there were
people like Louie “The leg breaker“ who wanted to get an edge on boxing, so he took martial arts.  Then Bruce  Lee changed the industry by putting martial arts into the films.  Martial arts took off once Hollywood got involved.  From Ed’s life time he has seen martial arts go from an ugly thing and evolve to a phenomenal thing but, he also realizes where he was a kid in this industry and now an old grandpa, there’s stuff that’s going on that he would not be involved in.  It doesn’t mean he would want it to stop. For example the Mixed Martial Arts  movement.  He looks at it and says it’s just not his era, but that doesn’t mean he does not find value in it.

“There is a lot of growth.  The original tree was very small with very few branches in it.  Now there is a tremendous amount of branches.”

Thats how Ed describes the martial arts.  Ed has grown up with a lot of people who have been resistant to this growth and change.  To Ed it’s like trying to stop a tree from growing.  Ed is type of person who tries not to manipulate or force anything. His advise is just watch. You will see both sides. Either you’ll see the growth of the  arts in a good way or in a bad way. It all depends how you look at it.

If you would like to see Ed’s incredible art go to Three months ago The Gold Coast Martial Arts Association held an Ed Parker Jr. seminar and I was fortunate to sit down and talk with Ed.  For any one who doesn’t know who Ed Parker Jr. is, then you probably won’t know as well that he is the son of the late great Ed Parker.  Before we get into Ed Parker Jr. let me give you a brief bio of his dad Ed Parker.

Ed Parker is the founder of American Kenpo.  Ed learned the art as Chinese Kenpo in Hawaii in the early 50’s before Hawaii became a state.  He then brought it to the United States teaching it in college.  Ed Parker is considered one of the first pioneers to teach martial arts in the United States.  Outside being a martial artist Ed was a body guard for the late Elvis Presley. He did choreography for motion pictures and television.  He also taught the FBI and the Secret  Service as well.  Ed produced the worlds largest martial arts tournament called The International Karate Championship.  Thats where Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris got their starts.

Ed Jr. continues his father’s legacy by teaching a modified version of American Kenpo.  Ed is also quite an artist.  He’s been into art since he was able to pick up a crayon. Ed has won almost every award from art in elementary school through high school.  He has received quite a few acolytes for his art including the Bank of America Art Award.  Right out of high school Ed Parker was hired to do personal art work for John Travolta and Erik Estrada.  He then made a drawing of his dad which was able to sell enough for Ed to pay for four years of college.  In Ed’s art career he has drawn seven hundred and forty six portraits of martial arts. He is absolutely the number one martial arts artist out there.  He has no competition once so ever.  A lot of people have the passion for the martial arts.  Ed believes that any industry to grow you throw in your talent and go past the punching and kicking and make the arts go.  Ed considers himself more of a historian and so what he is doing with his artwork is trying to establish an importance of the martial arts  in our time period and documenting it in art.

Ed has assisted in writing several books an is currently working on a book called The Kenpo Continuum.  I asked Ed what was his biggest achievement.  Thinking a moment he said he’s been so busy focused on what to do next, he hasn’t focused on what he’s done.

My who being is obsessed in what I believe in.  I’ve put my whole heart into it.  I’ve had the blessings to touch a lot of peoples’ lives.  If I could sum it up my greatest blessing would be being able to interact with so many human beings and to be able to plant ideas in their heads  so they can entertain so many different solutions instead of always being aggressive or choosing an ugly side for problem solving. That is something that I am appreciative of.

That and the fact that he has historically documented artistically the martial arts history.  In the end Ed feels his art work will be his greatest legacy.

I asked Ed if he has seen a major transformation over
the years in the martial arts.  He believes the cup is half empty and half full.  As normal human beings people look at things with pessimistic eyes.  He believes we have a wonderful history.  He looks at it that way because he sees a growth.  In our need to preserve what we have been taught we will traditionalize it and we  protect it.  The need to protect it and sometimes overzealousness  protecting it gets ugly.  A lot  of times we belittle another person’s journey to make our journey look better. Ed is finding that in the latter part of where we are going people are spending a lot less time rumbling and complaining about other martial arts and instead embracing it and finding value in it, as well as intermingling more.  Ed thinks this is a tremendous value.  He is seeing a lot of people finding and asking themselves the question. Is there more to martial arts than punching and kicking?  Ed noticed martial arts started off that way. Back then, martial arts started as an edge over boxing.  When Ed was growing up there were
people like Louie “The leg breaker“ who wanted to get an edge on boxing, so he took martial arts.  Then Bruce  Lee changed the industry by putting martial arts into the films.  Martial arts took off once Hollywood got involved.  From Ed’s life time he has seen martial arts go from an ugly thing and evolve to a phenomenal thing but, he also realizes where he was a kid in this industry and now an old grandpa, there’s stuff that’s going on that he would not be involved in.  It doesn’t mean he would want it to stop. For example the Mixed Martial Arts  movement.  He looks at it and says it’s just not his era, but that doesn’t mean he does not find value in it.

“There is a lot of growth.  The original tree was very small with very few branches in it.  Now there is a tremendous amount of branches.”

Thats how Ed describes the martial arts.  Ed has grown up with a lot of people who have been resistant to this growth and change.  To Ed it’s like trying to stop a tree from growing.  Ed is type of person who tries not to manipulate or force anything. His advise is just watch. You will see both sides. Either you’ll see the growth of the  arts in a good way or in a bad way. It all depends how you look at it.

If you would like to see Ed’s incredible art go to www.edparkerjr.com.

On November 10, 2007 the martial arts world lost a great man. Grand Master Young Soo Do was shot and killed while washing his car outside his dojo, in the back parking lot, with friend Leclerc Prosper. Leclerc Prosper survived but was seriously injured.

Young served with the Korean Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. During the war he taught the U.S soldiers and Vietnamese soldiers hand to hand combat. After the war, Young became the Tae Kwon Do World Champion from 1969-1971. He then went on to become the Head instructor for the Korean National Tae Kwon Do team.

In 1976 Grand Master Do came to the United States and opened the Young Tae Kwon Do Academy. His training was not limited to the average citizen. Young taught self defense to police officers, FBI, and DEA Agents. He was bestowed Honorary North Miami Police chief. His achievements do not stop there. Young received a citation for his outstanding contribution to the Art of Tae Kwon Do from the head of the World Tae Kwon Do Association. He also has over 500 civic awards from Federal, State, and City Governments.

Grand Master Young Soo Do is survived by his wife Soon, his son Ricky, and his daughters Kathy and Stella.

Last month I had the honor and privilege to interview Don “The Dragon” Wilson. Don started taking martial arts at the age of seventeen at Chuck Merriman Goju, while he was attending the coast guard academy. He was also fortunate to learn Kung Fu from his brother. I asked Don who was his mentor. As far as kick boxing was concerned it was Bill Wallace. Don trained with Bill in 1978. Bill suggested to Don to take up boxing. Besides boxing Bill showed Don how to use his lead leg when fighting. Don was able to incorporate Bill’s style of fighting into his own.

As far as the movie business is concerned, Chuck Norris was his mentor. Chuck was a fighter who turned into an entertainer. It was Chuck who suggested to Don when he is ready to retire he should try acting. Don packed his bags and moved from Coco Beach Florida to Los Angeles. Looking back when he was a kick boxer Don never thought he would be acting.

I asked Don what he thought about Mixed Martial Arts. He likes it as a sport.

Point Fighting is what I was born to do. MMA is a little bit later than my athletic prime.”

Don was a wrestler in college. As a wrestler he loves the ground game, but as a self defense point of view the ground game is not his style.

I want to be able to strike and escape. I don’t want to grab and roll around. I’d rather be on my feet punch, kick then run. The ground game is important but the preferable way for me would be strike and escape”.

I asked Don how he made the transition from point fighting to kick boxing. Don was an MVP in basketball and football in high school. He loved sports and he saw kick boxing as just another sport. From a sport it became a profession, past time and hobby. One of Don’s most memorable match was when he fought Panya Sornnoi in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong the Thai fighters were considered the best kick boxers in the world. Don defeated Panya at his home turf proving otherwise. Another memorable match was when he fought Jean-Yves Theriault in Canada and the fight was called a Draw. I asked Don if he would like to see any changes in the world of martial arts. As far as the sport of martial arts, Don would like to see a change in the tough guy persona people are showing. He remembers that he and Bill Wallace would try to be a good example for the youth. Don believes the fighters of today aren’t even trying to be that way.

I asked Don if he could make a movie with another actor who would it be? He told me it would be pretty cool if he could do a movie with Chuck Norris. I certainly would pay a movie ticket to see them together. Hey you never know. It could happen!