Karate Stars of the 1980s

Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris paved the way for celebrity martial artists. The genre owes most of its existence to these two individuals. The first Chuck Norris movie I remember was in 1979, I was ten years old and my cousin took me to see Breaker! Breaker! in Times Square. Think BJ and the Bear meets Billy Jack. If it's still not hitting you then watch this...

Long before the internet, there was CB radio, and one redneck trucker who was really good at karate. His name was Chuck Norris.

Now Norris had a friend he had met many years before the convoy carnage of his 1978 film. Chuck had taken on a cameo appearance in the epic Bruce Lee film, The Way of The Dragon. The movie would set the standard for almost every martial arts film for the next 20 years. It would be followed by a number of karate superstars who would define the 1980s action landscape.

Ever since the dancer-actor hit his stride in the critically-acclaimed 1987 box-office blast Dirty Dancing, people were crazy about Patrick Swayze. But his fancy footwork wasn't limited to dancing.

This box office black belt took karate and kickboxing lessons from age eight to eighteen back in the 1970s in his hometown of Houston, Texas. He continued his training in Los Angeles with legendary world kickboxing champ Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. Following his training, audiences got to see his rough-and-tumble side in the late 1980s movie Roadhouse, in which he played a rugged bouncer in some very down-and-dirty fight scenes, noted for their depiction of realistic combat and bone breaking.

An intensely philosophical man, Swayze spent as much time studying and developing his mental skills as he did his many physical talents.

He credited the books Zen and Archery and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as great tools to help develop the focus and self-confidence necessary to excel on the level he did. He had unique insight and developed a strong depth of feeling, which he richly brought to his characters.

The story of Theriault's rise to rule kickboxing for over 10 years describes his life, struggles, and the fighting secrets as well as the strategies that made him a champion.

A paragon of power, Jean Yves Theriault, quickly became the "Iceman" of the 80s. A cool glare met the opponent who glanced up during the referee's instructions. It was as serious as a heart attack followed by a similar pain, a relentless barrage of concussive punches and devastating kicks.

A former employee for the IRS and a jiu jitsu student in Ottawa, Theriault first entered the ring in 1976. Properly paced and managed by John Therien, the "Iceman" made a worldwide reputation for himself in the 80s. But nobody has been able to figure out exactly where his power came from. As he moved, almost flatfooted, an explosion emanated from his lithe body and the opponents fell, one after the other. And they were never the same fighters afterwards.

Jean Claude Van Damme's Muscles from Brussels

If Arnold Schwarzenegger was the “Iron Man of Austria,” Jean Claude Van Damme was the self-described “Muscles from Brussels.” At twenty-nine, Van Damme broke through to film stardom. His physical assets and powerful presence were obvious, but he also speaks four languages fluently—English, French, Flemmish, and Italian, a great positive at the beginning of the globalization of the film industry, despite the fact that he had no agent, no manager and a scant track record when he began.

Born in Brussels, Belgium on October 18, 1960, Van Damme was the owner of a thriving Belgian bodybuilding gym by the time he was nineteen. At age twenty-two, with a turnip-truck point of view, he moved to Hollywood “to become a movie star." The odds were easily millions-to-one against him. He had just $2,000 in his pocket, his English was atrocious and he knew nobody in town. It took some seven years of struggling—including times when he says he slept in his car—but Van Damme hit pay dirt in 1988 with his stylized fight scenes in Bloodsport, his first starring role. The film eventually grossed about $20 million. Incredibly, the Euro-Ranger had made a financial impact on Hollywood and that was all it really took.

Brad Hefton's High Kick

A sensitive, almost childlike innocence that transformed itself into a persona no mother could love, implanted in the handsome 210 pound frame of a super-heavy-weight with an “aw shucks" attitude. These were the conflicting images that placed Brad Hefton firmly in line with some of the most popular fighters of his era.

Even his losses to Jerry Rhome failed to dampen his fans' enthusiasm for his style of jumping, high-kicking, hard-punching full contact karate. Spurred on by secret instructions from mentor/coach John Monczak, Hefton's crazed glare in ring center ruined many an evening for opponents like Kerry Roop, “Big John" Jackson, Anthony Elmore, Jeff Hollins and a host of others.

Benny "The Jet" Urquidez

Benny "The Jet" Urquidez was a name synonymous with kickboxing. The Jet Center, a state-of-the-art super-school in Van Nuys, California, was once a mecca for training many world champions and contenders. Benny's also trained celebrity martial artists like Patrick Swayze.

He was the last of a legendary breed, fighting into his later years and an undefeated world champion since kickboxing's inception in 1974, he was the only active link between the sport's past and present.

While amassing an awesome record of 57-0 with 49 KOs. Urquidez generated global recognition for American kickboxers when he beat Asian fighters at their own game. He consequently opened up the idea of Western fighters competing in Asian competitions. He fought champions in eight countries and contenders in fifteen.

Urquidez's titles spanned a variety of lightweight to welterweight divisions, but size and weight were never factors for this dragon slayer. He fought anybody under any rules and never lost. Veterans remember his remarkable victory in his first professional karate event in Hawaii in 1974. In a kind of glorified tough man contest, he fought mixed weight elimination matches for two days until he was the last man standing. Incredibly, the then 137-pound Urquidez won the title by pinning his final opponent, 225-pound Dana Goodson, to the mat for five seconds.

Ernie Reyes Jr.'s Celebrity Fighter

From a diminutive eight-year-old black belt who filled the ESPN television screens in his 1980 national debut, to the big screen star of the late 1980s, Ernie Reyes, Jr. emerged as the leader of a "new generation" of fighters throughout the early 1980s and 1990s. Superbly talented, Reyes took his art to new heights of technical perfection. He's starred in 1985s cult action favorite, Red Sonja, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and ABC TV's Sidekicks.

Deluged by scores of kids everywhere he went, a better role model could not be found. Growing up in the martial arts under the direction of Black Belt Hall of Famer Ernie Reyes Sr. The famous Reyes Sr. had a predictable influence on the disposition of this dynamic young star.

Cynthia Rothrock: First Lady of Karate

Through the martial arts, Cynthia Rothrock rose from obscurity in Scranton, Pennsylvania to international prominence. It all started back in her hometown of Scranton when she was just thirteen years old. Initially, she started karate because her girlfriend's parents did. Three years later, she realized her goal by earning her black belt; she then switched to kung-fu and trained even harder. Soon she was winning local martial arts tournaments, so she ventured out to compete, and win, nationally.

Rothrock left a record-setting legacy that stood unmatched for decades. From 1981–85, she was America's number-one-ranked female champion in forms, at the time the only five-time national woman's form champion in karate's history. In 1982, she was also ranked first nationally in the weapons division, which was coed at the time. It marked the first time a woman ever surpassed men in mixed martial arts competition.

Upon her retirement from competition, Cyndi got a show business break which took her to Hong Kong, and she began acting in Asian martial arts films. Much to her own surprise, she became an overnight success in the far east, where people recognize her on the street and hound her for autographs. In all, she starred in nine Hong Kong-produced films before returning to Hollywood.

Joe Corley The Gentleman

Atlanta's Joe Corley set new and higher standards for the sport of karate while pursuing a vision of major-league eminence for his sport. Along the way he has recruited a host of others to pursue that dream with him.

Corley's Battle of Atlanta tournament began in 1969. In 1975, he challenged Bill Wallace for the world title, and two years later joined the Professional Karate Association (PKA) as executive vice president. His work with the PKA from 1977 to 1986 produced nearly 1,000 hours of programming on ESPN, CBS, NBC, the USA Network, and WTBS. Corley became the "voice of American karate,” but behind the scenes he worked to attract other capable promoters, officials, managers and trainers to the PKA and to create the “grass roots" of professional karate.

Robert Kamen's Karate Kid

Life imitated art, and art copied life in The Karate Kid, thanks to Robert Kamen. “I’m most proud of the impact that The Karate Kid had on our country's young people," said Kamen, who crafted the scripts for The Karate Kid I, II and III. Proud indeed. Starting with a basic real-life premise, he built the rich script around his intense passion for the marital arts, a passion whose origin dated back to his first karate lessons in 1965. Armed with his PHD in anthropology and his black belts from Isshin-ryu and the JKA, Kamen travelled extensively in the far east in the 1970s to pursue his intense love for the martial arts.

In fact, Robert Kamen's adult life had centered around the good feelings he learned in karate. With a natural gift for screenwriting, he adapted his first novel, based on his travels, and sold it as a script for Richard Dreyfus. Frank Price at Columbia Pictures then sought Kamen's input for a movie based on a Los Angeles kid in to karate. From his 25 years of rich martial arts experiences sprang the Karate Kid. Altogether, $300,000,000 at the box office spelled success for Kamen.

More than the fame, the glory and the money, though, Robert Kamen's warmest feelings have come from the knowledge that through his works, millions of kids learned of a safe haven they could seek to build the strength of character they need to survive in today's spiritually torn world. The same courage and fortitude that Kamen himself has incorporated into his work, and his life.

Jeff Smith's DC Bomber

Quite often, a man's fighting style reflects his personality outside the ring. "Aggressive" would have understated the “DC Bomber's" approach to fighting, which in the 1970s won for him the first PKA world light heavyweight championship after years among the nation's top five point fighters.

In his professional career, Washington DC's Jeff Smith parlayed his assertive personality into one of the more successful karate studio operations. As a champion, Smith would quickly assess his opponents' strengths and weaknesses and pick them apart. His approach to business was equally efficient.

Bill "Superfoot" Wallace

The most popular champion ever to slip on a safety kick, Bill "Superfoot" Wallace charmed us all with his Howdy Doody smiles, while shielding from the world the true complexity of his being. Standing ovations from Hawaii to Berlin fueled his fire for most of his early career. But he battled with his inner demons and his need for speed, from sports cars to lifestyle. Retirement has been more of a breeze.

“Terrific Troy" Dorsey

Two-time world champ “Terrific Troy" Dorsey, was one of the most successful professional karate champions ever to climb the ranks of pro boxing. On August 10, 1989, he TKOed number-one-ranked Harold Rhodes in a nationally televised bout to capture the North American Boxing Federation featherweight championship and earn a title shot at world champ Jorge Paez. On February 4, 1990 he lost a controversial split decision to Paez.

This Texas samurai came from a long line of Lone Star karate champions. But few of his predecessors came as far. Dorsey first rocketed to prominence in London, England in 1985 when he won an unprecedented two gold medals, with an injured hand at the 4th WAKO World Championships—a feat he almost repeated again at WAKO's next world event in 1987 in Munich West Germany. There he won a gold in full contact, but only a silver in point karate because he was disqualified for excessive contact.

Linda Denley

Ask anyone who the best female karate fighter in history is and many will name Linda Denley. She had been number-one in her sport for so long she wrote the record book. Some call her the Joe Lewis of her gender.

A native of Houston, Texas, Denley first burst into the pinnacle position back in 1977. She was consistently and persistently ranked number one for an unprecedented number of years. Linda might have reached her zenith when she won the WAKO World Championship in 1987 in Munich, West Germany. In that memorable victory, she made a cakewalk of her world-class competition, dusting entrants from numerous countries while virtually polishing her nails.

Dolph Lundgren

"That's the man!" once said singer Grace Jones, pointing out the imposing figure who had just won the All Australia Open Karate Championships. The disco queen had made up her mind back then, just who was to be her personal bodyguard for an Australian tour. He accepted her offer and took the first step toward what was to become a rapid rise to film stardom.

The ensuing publicity made the rest of the story common knowledge: the love affair between the ice-cold Swede and the sultry black queen sparked intense mass media coverage, opening doors to glitzy Hollywood parties and the right people. Opportunity soon came. He made his film debut in the 1985 James Bond flick, A View to a Kill, in which Jones co-starred as a Bond-girl villainess.

Rocky IV was in the pipeline at the same time and the search was on for Rocky Balboa's newest awesome opponent, Ivan Drago, the Russian fist of fury. The role fit like a glove.

But long before he faced Sylvester Stallone as the Ominous Russian powerhouse, Sweden's Dolph Lundgren survived the battlefield of Mas Oyama's rugged "kyokushinkai knock down” competitions. Dolph, christened Hans Lundgren, was born in a suburb of Stockholm and in 1975 he started training at the Stockholm Karate Kai under British karate trainer Brian Fitkin. By 1977 Lundgren had won the Swedish Heavyweight Championship, which he held for three consecutive years.

In 1979, he switched to Oyama's knock down competition where full-contact is permitted except to the head and no protective equipment is worn. He marched through several competitions and ended up a participant in the Oyama's All-Japan Open in Tokyo. There, only after two overtime periods, Lundgren lost to the grand champion, Mokoto Nakamura, on points. Incredibly, Dolph was only a green belt at the time! The following year Lundgren led the Swedish Kyokushinkai Team to victory at the European Knock Down Championships. In 1981, Dolph finally earned his black belt.