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Dennis Conatser
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| Mr. Dennis Conatser studied Judo in 1967 for a short time, but his formal
martial arts training in American Kenpo began in August of 1971 under
the direction of Mr. Lonny Coots in Tempe, Arizona. Mr. Conatser remained
with Mr. Coots until he achieved his 1st Degree Black Belt on February
14, 1976. It was then that Mr. Coots then directed Mr. Conatser to study
with Mr. Gary L. Swan, President of the National Chinese Kenpo Karate
Association (NCKKA) in San Antonio, Texas. After a year, Mr. Conatser
elected to study with Mr. Steve LaBounty, then the Senior Advisor to the
NCKKA and past President and Founder. Then in the summer of 1979, the
opportunity arose for Mr. Conatser to study directly with the founder
of American Kenpo and Mr. LaBounty's instructor, Mr. Edmund K. Parker.
Mr. Conatser began studies and became one of a few Kenpo instructors over the past decade to study directly with Mr. Parker, even staying at his house as a guest. This relationship continued until Mr. Parker's untimely passing in December 1990. Mr. Conatser continues to be active in teaching, researching, developing, and exploring all aspects of American Kenpo. While studying the Art of Kenpo, Mr. Conatser has had extensive experience in competition, promoting events, teaching, writing, conducting seminars while traveling throughout the United States, Canada, England, and Australia many with Mr. Parker and interacting with other notable Black Belts such as Steve LaBounty, Tom Kelly, Frank Trejo, Bob White, Skip Hancock, John Sepulveda, Dian Tanaka, Lee Wedlake, Huk Planas, Craig McCoy, Joe Palanzo, Jeff Speakman, Larry Tatum, Paul Mills, Gary Swan, Ralph Castellanos, Gil Hibben, Bryan Hawkins, Bob Liles, Mike Pick, Ron Chap'el, Harvey Clarey, Tom Riskas, Tom Connor Sr. & Jr., Steve "Nasty" Anderson, Ray Sua, Byong Yu, Joe Lewis, Mike Stone, Chuck Norris, Bill Wallace, John Natividad, Pat Johnson, Steve Sanders, Al Decascos, Eric Lee, Anthony Chan, Cynthia Rothrock, James Lew, Y.C.Wong, Paulie Zink, Ark Wong, Ted Tabura, Benny Urquidez, Brendan Lai, Wally Jay, Robert Trias, Tom Schlessinger, Robert Haliberton, Roy Kurban, George Chung, Roberta Trias Kelly, Tom Bleecker and many others. Mr. Conatser has also trained many international and state champions, proving his techique and fighting methods are valid for anyone who will devote time and effort into learning and practicing the challenging and awesome art of American Kenpo. Having placed at the prestigious Long Beach Internationals several times, as well as being a five-time Arizona State Champion in forms, breaking, and sparring, Mr. Conatser has produced two of the state's finest karate tournaments: The Arizona State Open Karate Championships and the Fiesta Bowl Karate Classic (now Fiesta Karate Classic). He was also featured in the pictures of Mr. Parker's Infinite Insights into Kenpo. Mr. Conatser now devotes his time to the International Kenpo Karate Organization, which he founded in 1991, and the AKSC (American Kenpo Senior Council) which he was voted into in 2000. Like his teachers, he is currently engaged in several projects, and is writing several books on American Kenpo and his experiences. He is one of the 24 honorees in the new book by Joe Hyams, The Journey, about Kenpo's foremost leaders today. "To keep American Kenpo alive and expanding is now my journey
and obligation ......... 'He' would have wanted it that way." |