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.

Biography 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.

Ed Parker was enrolled in judo classes by his father at the age of twelve, and received his Shodan in Judo in 1949 at the age of eighteen. By 1956, he opened a dojo in Pasadena, California. There is controversy over whether the first black belt that Parker awarded went to Rich Montgomery or to his first brown-belt student, Charles Beeder. Beeder's son has stated for the record that his father's black belt came after Ed Parker had moved to California. The other black belts in chronological order up to 1962 were James Ibrao, Ben Otaké; Mills Crenshaw, whom Parker authorized to open a school in Salt Lake City, Utah, in late 1958 (which later became the birthplace of the International Kenpo Karate Association, or IKKA); Tom Garriga; Rick Flores; Chuck Sullivan; Al and Jim Tracy; Mark Georgantas; John McSweeney; and Dave Hebler. 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.

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 several stunt men and celebrities, most notably Elvis Presley, to whom he eventually awarded a first-degree black belt in Kenpo. He 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. He helped Bruce Lee gain national attention by introducing him at his International Karate Championships. He served as one of Elvis Presley's bodyguards during the singer's final years. He is best known to Kenpoists as the founder of American Kenpo and is referred to fondly as the "Father of American Kenpo." He is formally referred to as Senior Grand Master of American Kenpo.

Parker had a minor career as a Hollywood actor and stunt man. His most notable film was Kill the Golden Goose. In this film, he co-stars with Hapkido master Bong Soo Han. He also played himself (as a mercenary) in the 1979 action film Seven, opposite William Smith. His other acting work included the (uncredited) role of Mr. Chong in Blake Edwards' Revenge of the Pink Panther and again in Curse of the Pink Panther. He 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.

Parker can be seen with Elvis Presley in the opening sequence of the 1977 TV special Elvis in Concert. Parker wrote the book Inside Elvis. about his time with Elvis on the road.

Death On December 15, 1990, Parker, aged 59, suffered a heart attack after arriving at Honolulu International Airport. He died en route to Kaiser Hospital.