For a lot of people today, Elvis is a joke. But few remember that Elvis was a highly complex individual and artist. He was a gospel singer. He was father. He was a soldier. He was son. He was a husband. He was a womanizer.And he was a karateka.
Elvis had a legitimate black belt rank under Ed Parker's American Kenpo karate system. Elvis enjoyed the practice and had an area of his gym at Graceland set up as a dojo. He tried to incorporate a little karate into every movie. And some of his trademark concert moves were derived from karate stances.
8 comments:
Sideburns and attitude. Add a chin, and its a winning combination.
I try to remember people for how they lived, not how they die...
BUT...
I just cannot get the vision of Elvis dying on the crapper out of my head.
How 'bout a fried banana and peanut butter sandwich? Elvis is in the building!
THOU SHALT NOT BESMIRCH THE KING!!!!! His actual rank was 8th degree black belt. Because of this he was affectionately referred to as "E8" by his bodygaurds, who also held high ranking in Parker's outfit. A favorite training ritual with ole E8 and his posse was to roshambo each other as a test of loyalty and strength. Now how many of you karate kids can do that?
Weeeellllll...
There is no dispute over Elvis' initial 1st degree black belt. Everyone seems to agree he earned that one fair and square. But there's a lot of conjecture about how much he earned the others and how much was a gimme based on his fame.
In the end, as always, rank is a trap. It's skill that matters, not rank. And Elvis ain't around to prove his skill anymore (sadly).
But I want to point out that Elvis and his bodyguards trained on almost daily basis, and I would expect that a dedicated student like Elvis probably had a pretty high skill level.
So, I might make fun of the gi with a fly collar, but I won't make fun of the King.
The King passing on a throne. Quite the visual. Roshambo, a very difficult art to master. More difficult than awareness drills.
Would dying on the crapper getting a blumpkin be better? I hear that ole E8 was kinda freaky.
Would that be skinny E8 or fat E8 getting the Blumpkin?
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