Elvis,The King of...Karate! by Dave Goode

Faux poster by Vance Capley

   
 Though you can make the argument pro or con that Elvis Presley was the "King of Rock & Roll. There is no denying that he was a pioneer. Nor should there be any doubt that he was a pioneer of the martial arts in America. Elvis was using karate in his movies long before Bruce Lee became a household name in the United States.

 Elvis was introduced to the martial arts via a judo demo at Ft. Hood , Texas shortly after he was drafted. While stationed in Germany he discovered karate through a book that many believe to have been written by kyokushin karate master Mas Oyama. Tales of Oyama's feats of strength and stamina must have seemed like having super-powers to Presley who had been a member of the first generation of comic book fan-boys. No doubt part of what inspired him to study the martial art.




 

After leaving the service and reentering show business he began incorporating martial arts moves into the fight scenes in his movies. This began in the movie BLUE HAWAII (1961). And still later when he went back to performing on stage he would punctuate a number of his songs with a quick karate kata.

  Though he never starred in a martial arts movie during the era of "kung fu-mania" he was involved in a martial arts movie project during this period. In 1973 he helped to finance a karate documentary titled THE NEW GLADIATORS. Unfortunately it wouldn't be released during his lifetime. And the footage that was filmed was believed to have been lost. In 2001 the footage was found and THE NEW GLADIATORS was released on video in 2002. In 2009 Elvis Presley Enterprises released a version of the film that included footage of Elvis training. If you're a fan of Elvis or the history of American martial arts you should seek this documentary out.

-Dave Goode

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