The first thing one should do when considering the history of Senior Grandmaster Edmund Kealoha Parker, Sr. is to read the other pages in this Who's Who section. That will give you a much greater insight into the effect this man's passion for Kenpo has had. An endless number of people help others through Kenpo, through volunteering, through radio programs for self-defense. The people on the Who's Who section who worked with him will tell you how he effected their lives. The students of those people will tell you about the stories they have heard

Included in this biography is a link to a collection of articles on Kenpo and Ed Parker, Sr. by Black Belt Magazine.

Edmund Kealoha Parker, Sr. was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on March 19, 1931 the sixth child of Arthur and Eva Parker. His great great grandfather was King Kamehameha I, who ruled Hawaii. Ironic, isn't it that Ed Parker ruled the world of Karate? At the age of 16, Mr. Parker had his first experience of Karate, in church. It was here he met Frank Chow, a fellow churchgoer who was talking about how he beat a local bully. Mr. Parker, was astonished that his peer was lying in church, but when Frank showed him how he beat him, Mr. Parker had to learn more.

Needless to say, Mr. Parker's first teacher in Kenpo was Frank Chow, who introduced him to William. To become a member of William's school you had to be recommended for admittance by another student. At the time of admittance, Adriano and Joe Emperado were senior students; after Joe's death, Adriano formed the Kajukenbo system. Professor Chow stressed the need for modifications and innovations and additions into the system so as to meet the needs of the people. It was this teaching that set Mr. Parker onto the path of logical and realistic thinking as well as constant experimentation and evaluation and adjustment if necessary.

In 1949, Mr. Parker enrolled at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. After two years, he was drafted into the Korean War and luckily managed to be stationed in Hawaii for two and half years of his three year term with the U.S. Coast Guard. Of course, he continued training with Chow on a full-time basis. The system intrigued him and the desire to teach Kenpo in the United States grew.

After he was discharged from the military in mid 1954, Mr. Parker returned to Brigham Young to continue his education and opened a club on the campus. All teachers know how much teaching itself helped them learned. I am sure it was no different with Mr. Parker. In December of 1954, during the intermission of a basketball game between BYU and UCLA, Mr. Parker put on a Kenpo demonstration. In attendance were some Utah lawmen who had their interest picqued. Needless to say, BYU soon began issuing credit for the law enforcement personnel to take the martial arts class. Within a week, Mr. Parker began teaching commercially at the Provo Body Building Gymnasium owned by Roy Woodward. Through the lawmen's own experience, he would get firsthand constructive criticism regarding what was working, what wasn't and that set his innovation to work.

After graduating from BYU with a degree in Sociology and Psychology, Mr. Parker was extended an offer to teach at Roy Woodward's new studio in Pasadena, California. Once there, the health center was bought out and Mr. Parker found himself unemployed. In September of 1956, Mr. Parker made a go of it alone and opened a school in Pasadena, which is still in business to this day. Early on in his career, Mr. Parker met Terry Robinson, a World War II combat instructor who was impressed with Kenpo. Through Terry, Mr. Parker began teaching celebrities at the Beverly Wilshire Health Club or at their homes. He taught such notables as: Robert Culp, Robert Wagner, Robert Conrad, Darrin McGavin, George Hamilton, Warren Beatty, Audie Murphy, and many others. It was through Terry, also, that Mr. Parker also met Elvis Presley. Elvis met him after a demonstration at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and was interested in his style of Karate after studying some while in Germany.

Due to the fact that Mr. Parker was teaching actors, directors, and others, Mr. Parker was able to introduce Kenpo to the world of television and movies. Elvis would give demonstrations on movie lots and use some martial arts in his movies. The Kenpo Crest was also known to appear on Elvis' guitar every now and again. Kenpo was also seen in the "Pink Panther" episodes and movies, the picture, "Experiment in Terror," the tv show, "The Dangerous Robin," which lasted a season in 1959, but did help exposure. Robert Culp used Kenpo on his series, "I Spy." Parker's name appeared in Time magazine in 1961. He appeard on "I Love Lucy" and on other shows. There were many more contributions that helped expand the martial arts in the United States, and many were due to their exposure at Mr. Parker's International Karate Championships.

The Internation Karate Championships (IKC) gave the world its first view of Bruce Lee, and in a film of this demonstration which was shown to Bill Dozier, Mr. Parker opened a door for a young martial artist. "The Green Hornet" produced by Bill Dozier starred Lee as Kato, the Green Hornet's sidekick. The IKC was an annual event that lasted for years and opened many doors for many rising stars in the martial arts world. Some of the other future stars who were at the IKCs were Chuck Norris, Mike Stone, and Joe Lewis. It was at the IKCs that Dan Inosanto, a Parker black belt, met and continued a lifelong relationship with Bruce Lee.

Mr. Parker himself also began to publish a number of books about Kenpo and self-defense. He also starred in some movies and toured with Elvis Presley with the bodyguard group as a "protective companion," which consisted of Dave Hebler and others.

The history of American Kenpo itself also starts around here. Obviously from the above, Mr. Parker had a place to begin teaching and to begin promoting the martial arts. He had celebrities working with him who took their interest to their directors, agents, producers, etc. He had a tournament which started many notable celebrities.

He founded the Kenpo Karate Association of America, an association registered with the state of California. In 1960, it was changed to the International Kenpo Karate Association (IKKA).

The tournament, the International Karate Championship, brought out the best martial artists from the around the world. It was here that Bruce Lee was first noticed and signed onto a contract to star as Kato, the sidekick to the Green Hornet. That role later propelled him to stardom.

Others also attended the IKCs other than Mr. Parker's students. Chuck Norris was known to be in attendance before his big break in a role opposite Bruce Lee in Return of the Dragon. That lead to numerous movies up to the latest television project that surprised stations for its high ratings, Walker, Texas Ranger.

Mr. Parker was featured in National and International magazines throughout his life: Time, Look, Strength and Health, Show Business Illustrated, Iron Man, Action Karate, Black Belt magazine, Karate Illustrated, Official Karate, Inside Kung Fu, American Karate, and Karate/Kung Fu Illustrated; in newspapers nation-wide; Martial Arts' magazines world wide; articles in the World Encyclopaedia and many others.

Throughout the years, Mr. Parker also authored many books: "Basic Karate Book", Kenpo Karate, The Women's Guide to Self Defense, Secrets of Chinese Karate, Infinite Insights into Kenpo (Volumes
1-5), The Zen Of Kenpo, Inside Elvis, and others.

Mr. Parker founded the world's largest and foremost Karate tournament,
the International Karate Championships in Long Beach, California. Mr. Parker was also a consultant and advisor to numerous other Karate tournaments worldwide.

Mr. Parker's uniqueness rests in his continuous efforts to combat
traditional restrictions binding progressive thinking. He was truly a creative genius because of his incredible ability to discover the problems within the Martial Arts. His contributions and innovations are endless; encompassing logic and reasoning not yet employed by others. His four decades of experience, contributions, and endeavours establish him as the Master of our system, the author of our training material, and the final voice of approval.

In 1990 Mr. Ed Parker died of a massive heart attack in the Honolulu, Hawaii airport. His death is mourned by his many thousands of students..