Edmund Kealoha Parker was an American martial artist, who founded and codified the art of American Kenpo.
21 Facts About Ed Parker
1.
2.
Ed 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.
3.
Ed 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.
4.
Ed Parker opened the first karate school in the western United States in Provo, Utah, in 1954.
5.
Beeder's son has stated for the record that his father's black belt came after Ed Parker had moved to California.
6.
The other black belts in chronological order up to 1962 were James Ibrao, Ben Otake; Mills Crenshaw, whom Ed Parker authorized to open a school in Salt Lake City, Utah, in late 1958 ; Tom Garriga; Rick Flores; Chuck Sullivan; Al and Jim Tracy; Mark Georgantas; John McSweeney; and Dave Hebler.
7.
In 1962, John McSweeney opened a school in Ireland, which prompted Parker to give control of the Kenpo Karate Association of America to the Tracy Brothers and form a new organization: the International Kenpo Karate Association.
8.
Ed Parker was well known for his business creativity and helped many martial artists open their own dojos.
9.
Ed Parker was well known in Hollywood, where he trained several stunt men and celebrities, most notably Elvis Presley, to whom he eventually awarded a first-degree black belt in Kenpo.
10.
Ed Parker left behind a few world-renowned grand masters: Bob White; Richard "Huk" Planas; Larry Tatum; Ron Chapel; and Frank Trejo, who ran a school in California prior to his death.
11.
Ed Parker helped Bruce Lee gain national attention by introducing him at his International Karate Championships.
12.
Ed Parker served as one of Elvis Presley's bodyguards during the singer's final years.
13.
Ed Parker had a minor career as a Hollywood actor and stunt man.
14.
Ed Parker played himself in the 1979 action film Seven, opposite William Smith.
15.
Ed Parker's other acting work included the role of Mr Chong in Blake Edwards' Revenge of the Pink Panther and again in Curse of the Pink Panther.
16.
Ed Parker was one of the instructors of martial arts action-movie star Jeff Speakman, and Parker assisted with the fight choreography of Speakman's film The Perfect Weapon, which was released in 1991, shortly after Parker's death.
17.
Ed Parker can be seen with Elvis Presley in the opening sequence of the 1977 TV special Elvis in Concert.
18.
Ed Parker wrote a book about his time with Elvis on the road.
19.
Ed Parker was enrolled in Judo classes by his father at the age of twelve, and Parker received his Shodan in Judo in 1949 at the age of eighteen.
20.
Ed Parker settled in Southern California after leaving the Coast Guard and finishing his education at BYU.
21.
Ed Parker drew comparisons in this and other books between karate and the Chinese methods he adopted and taught.