Karyn Turner

Karyn Turner (born 1946) is an American martial arts expert who has been variously known as “The Queen of Kata”, “First Lady of Kung Fu”, and “The Mother of U.S. Kickboxing”. Named as the “most outstanding woman in the history of martial arts” by Black Belt Magazine in 1978, she was the first woman to take a double victory in both fighting (kumite) and form (kata) in the International Women’s Karate Championship, a feat she accomplished in 1976. In 2009, she was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum “Hall of Fame”.

Born in Lyons, Kansas, Turner graduated from Westminster High School in Westminster, Colorado in 1963. At the age of 19, she began training in tae kwon do, before switching to kung fu, specifically the wun hop kune do technique taught by Al and Malia Dacascos. Eventually, frustrated with the small percentage of TV and promotion revenue’s shared with promoters and fighters, Turner led a revolt by ex-PKA promoters to found a new association and to wrest control of the sport away from the PKA. The nascent Promoter’s Association, started in 1985 in Denver, became the International Sport Karate Association, and Turner served as its first Commissioner. Turner retired from active promotion in 1991.

Turner published “Secrets of Championship Karate” with Mark Van Schuyver in 1991.