Edmund Kealoha Parker (March 19, 1931 â€" December 15, 1990) was an
American martial artist, Senior Grandmaster, and founder of American
Kenpo Karate.Born in Hawaii, Parker began training in Judo at an early
age and later studied boxing. During the 1940s, Parker was introduced
to KenpÅ 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.Parker
opened the first karate school in the western United States in Provo,
Utah, in 1954. By 1956, Parker opened a dojo in Pasadena, California.
Ed Parker's first ever black-belt was James Ibrao. His first
brown-belt student was Charles Beeder. There is controversy over
whether Beeder received the first black belt awarded by Parker.
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 Ben Otaké; Rich Montgomery; 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; Al and Jim Tracy of Tracy Kenpo; Chuck Sullivan; 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.
American martial artist, Senior Grandmaster, and founder of American
Kenpo Karate.Born in Hawaii, Parker began training in Judo at an early
age and later studied boxing. During the 1940s, Parker was introduced
to KenpÅ 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.Parker
opened the first karate school in the western United States in Provo,
Utah, in 1954. By 1956, Parker opened a dojo in Pasadena, California.
Ed Parker's first ever black-belt was James Ibrao. His first
brown-belt student was Charles Beeder. There is controversy over
whether Beeder received the first black belt awarded by Parker.
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 Ben Otaké; Rich Montgomery; 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; Al and Jim Tracy of Tracy Kenpo; Chuck Sullivan; 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.
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