| Ed Parker | |
|---|---|
| Born | Edmund Kealoha Parker March 19, 1931 Honolulu, Hawaii, USA |
| Died | December 15, 1990 (aged 59) Honolulu, Hawaii, USA Heart attack |
| Style | American Kenpo |
| Teacher(s) | William Kwai Sun Chow |
| Rank | Senior Grand Master of American Kenpo |
| Notable students | Dan Inosanto, Elvis Presley, Mills Crenshaw, Al and Jim Tracy, Jeff Speakman |
Edmund Kealoha "Ed" Parker (March 19, 1931 – December 15, 1990) was an American martial artist, promoter, teacher, and author.
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Parker was born in Hawaii, and raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[1] He began his training in the martial arts at a young age in judo[2] and later boxing. Sometime in the 1940s, Ed Parker was first introduced to Kenpo by Frank Chow. Frank Chow introduced Ed Parker to William Chow, who trained Parker while serving in the Coast Guard and attending Brigham Young University. 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 and called his style, American Kenpo Karate.
Parker opened the first commercial karate school in the western United States in Provo, Utah in 1954.[3] By 1956, Parker opened his Dojo in Pasadena, California. His first brown belt student was Charles Beeder. There is controversy over whether Beeder received the first black belt awarded by Parker. Beeder's son has stated for the record that his father's black belt came after Ed Parker had moved to California.[4] The other black belts in chronological order up to 1962 were: Rich Montgomery, James Ibrao, Mills Crenshaw, authorized by Ed Parker to open a school in Salt Lake City, UT in late 1958 (That school later became the birthplace of the International Kenpo Karate Association; or IKKA.), Rick Flores, Al and Jim Tracy of Tracy Kenpo, Chuck Sullivan, John McSweeney, and Dave Hebler.[5] In 1962, John McSweeney opened a school in Ireland, which prompted Parker to change the name of his organization from the Kenpo Karate Association of America to the International Kenpo Karate Association.
Parker was well known for his business creativity and helped many martial artists open their own dojos. He was well known in Hollywood where he trained a great many stunt men and celebrities; most notable was Elvis Presley, to whom he awarded a black belt in Kenpo. He left behind a few grand masters who are known around the world to this day such as Frank Trejo who runs a school in California.[6] He helped Bruce Lee gain national attention by introducing him at his International Karate Championships. He served as Elvis Presley's bodyguard during the singer's final years, did movie stunt-work and acting, and was one of the Kenpo instructors of martial arts action movie actor Jeff Speakman. He is best known to Kenpoists as the founder of American Kenpo and is referred to fondly as the "Father of American Karate". He is formally referred to as Senior Grand Master of American Kenpo. Parker can be seen with Elvis Presley in the opening sequence of the 1977 TV special "Elvis in concert". Parker wrote a book about his time with Elvis on the road.
Parker had a minor career as a Hollywood actor and stunt man. His most notable film was Kill the Golden Goose.[7] In this film, he co-stars with Hapkido master Bong Soo Han. His acting work included the (uncredited) role of Mr. Chong in student[8] Blake Edwards' Revenge of the Pink Panther.[9]
Edmund K. Parker died in Honolulu of a heart attack on December 15, 1990. His widow Leilani Parker died on June 12, 2006. Of their four surviving children, only his son, Ed Parker Jr., remains active in the system his father created.
Ed Parker's father enrolled his son in Judo classes at the age of twelve. Parker received his Shodan in Judo in 1949 at the age of eighteen.[2] By the time he achieved the rank of brown belt, he was already interpreting ideas he had learned from his Chinese-Hawaiian teacher, William Kwai Sun Chow. Later Parker returned to the main land to attend Brigham Young University and began to teach the martial arts.
It was during this period that Parker was significantly influenced by the Japanese and Okinawan interpretations prevalent in Hawaii. Parker's Book Kenpo Karate, published in 1961, shows the many hard linear movements, albeit with modifications, that set his interpretations apart.
All of the influences up to that time were reflected in Parker's rigid, linear method of "Kenpo Karate," as it was called. Between writing and publishing, however, he began to be influenced by the Chinese arts, and included this information in his system. He settled in Southern California after leaving the Coast Guard and finishing his education at B.Y.U. Here he found himself surrounded by other martial artists from a wide variety of systems, many of whom were willing to discuss and share their arts with him. Parker made contact with people like Ark Wong, Haumea Leiti, James (Jimmy) W. Woo, and Lau Bun. These martial artists were known for their skills in arts such as Splashing-Hands, San Soo, T'ai Chi, and Hung Gar, and this influence remains visible in both historical material (such as forms that Parker taught for a period within his system) and current principles.
Exposed to new Chinese training concepts and history, he wrote a second book, Secrets of Chinese Karate published in 1963. Parker drew comparisons in this and other books between karate (a better known art in the United States at that time) and the Chinese methods he adopted and taught.
The 1991 martial arts film The Perfect Weapon, starring one of his students Jeff Speakman, Ed Parker helped with the fight choreography.[10]