Jeff Speakman

Jeff Speakman (born November 8, 1958) is an American actor and a martial artist in the art of American Kenpo and Japanese Gōjū-ryū, earning black belts in each. Between 2008 and 2018, he was President of the International Kempo Federation. He is known for starring in the 1991 action film The Perfect Weapon.

Early life Speakman was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, where he was a springboard diver at John Hersey High School and achieved All-American status. He graduated from Missouri Southern State College. and he began by studying the Okinawan martial art of Gōjū-ryū until achieving black belt rank. His instructor then recommended that if he was really intent in pursuing martial arts as a lifestyle, then he should go looking for Ed Parker, a friend of his master. Speakman sold his car to pay for the moving expenses and met Parker at one of the latter's tournaments. Speakman spent years training in American Kenpo under his principal instructor, Larry Tatum, as well as under the system's founder Parker.

Speakman received his first-degree black belt in American Kenpo in 1984. He was promoted to ninth degree in kenpo karate by Mills Crenshaw and Bob White and ninth in Gōjū-ryū by Lou Angel on July 2, 2013. He was promoted to tenth degree on July 9, 2022. He had started Gōjū-ryū in 1978.

Career Speakman started acting in 1988 and had his first main role in 1991 with the release of The Perfect Weapon, He followed this up with the feature film Street Knight. In the United Kingdom, this movie was released straight to video in 1993. Other action films followed, including The Expert and Deadly Outbreak.

Filmography Film and television credits Year Film Role Notes 1988 Side Roads Joseph Velasco Film and First Lead Role Slaughterhouse Rock Cafe Patron Film 1990 Lionheart Mansion Security Man Film 1991 The Perfect Weapon Jeff Sanders Film 1993 Street Knight Jake Barrett Film 1994 The Expert John Lomax Film 1995 Deadly Outbreak Sergeant Dutton Hatfield Film 1996 Timelock McMasters Film 1997 Escape From Atlantis Matt Spencer TV Movie Plato's Run Dominick Film 1998 Memorial Day Edward Downey Film Scorpio One Jared Stone Film 1999 Land of the Free Frank Jennings Film Hot Boyz Master Keaton Video 2000 Running Red Greg / Gregori Film (also Executive Producer) 2001 Blades Of The Sun Unknown Film 2002 Night Terror Professor Eric Lang Film 2004 The Gunman Scott Sherwin Film 2006 Striking Range (aka: Bloodlines) Kilmer Film