Joe Corley is an American karate and kickboxing competitor, instructor, broadcaster and promoter who helped achieve the success of the Professional Karate Association and the early establishment of professional kickboxing in the United States.
15 Facts About Joe Corley
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Joe Corley subsequently rebranded the studio as Joe Corley Karate when Master Kim relocated to Austin, Texas.
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Joe Corley won the National Karate Grand Championship in 1979,1981,1982; the Southeast Grand Championship in 1977; and the Southern US Open in 1987 and 1982.
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Joe Corley served as a judge at the first World Championship in 1974 and then challenged Bill Superfoot Wallace in May 1975 at the Battle of Atlanta VI in Atlanta's Omni.
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Joe Corley worked with fellow martial arts promoters and instructors like Glenn R Keeney and Jerry Piddington to organize and promote the sport of Full Contact Karate.
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In 1977 Mr Corley became a partner in the Professional Karate Association, which was a martial arts organization instrumental in establishing professional kickboxing as a sport in the United States.
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Joe Corley became a commentator for American Karate on national television, along with Chuck Norris and Pat Morita, appearing on NBC, CBS, ESPN, Showtime, USA Network, SportsChannel America, Prime Network and Fox Sports South.
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In February 1990, Joe Corley was featured in a Black Belt Magazine article.
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Joe Corley was named Man of the Decade by Official Karate magazine and was inducted into the Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame as Man of the Year in 1998.
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Joe Corley appeared in the documentary films Modern Warriors and Mystic Origins of the Martial Arts.
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Joe Corley appeared in the Joe Lewis film Force Five in 1985.
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On June 16,2016, Master Joe Corley was promoted to the rank of 10th Degree Black Belt, Grand Master, by the Professional Karate Commission.
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In 2022, Joe Corley restructured the PKA into PKA Worldwide and began the 2022 Search for the Greatest Strikers on the Planet with fellow Grand Masters Jeff Smith and Bill Wallace.
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Joe Corley served as Master Instructor at Atlanta Extreme Warrior, founded in 2010, which includes Joe Corley Karate in its curriculum.
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Master Joe Corley stopped teaching full-time in 2019 and focused his full-time professional efforts on expanding the sport of kickboxing.