Mr. Michael Pick as a small boy in 1957 when he stumbled up to Ed Parker's old Kenpo Karate Studio doorsteps on Walnut Street in Pasadena, California. At ten years old, Michael Robert Pick had no aspiration of becoming an expert in the martial arts; he only had one thing in mind-- SURVIVAL!!! Earlier that day, Mr. Pick was beaten up by five older schoolmates. Feeling helpless, injured, and defenseless, he decided that at that point he would learn how to defend himself, he would learn how to fight.

At the time the Pasadena school had approximately twenty-five to thirty students, Mr. Pick was the only child. Mr. Parker decided to teach Mike if in return Mike would clean the studio, which for a ten-year-old boy was no easy task. Mr. Pick made good on his word and cleaned and maintained the school. In return, beginning with the horse stance, Mr. Parker began to unfold the martial science of Kenpo.

In the beginning, Mr. Parker had no systematic way of teaching what is now Kenpo; there were no Kenpo manuals yet nor any set curriculums. Mr. Parker would create a move or technique and would test and demonstrate on whomever was around. Mr. Pick studied and imitated every move he saw Mr. Parker execute.

On his sixteenth birthday, Mr. Pick stood in a horse stance for sixteen hours straight. A gift to Kenpo and a gift to himself. His level of commitment to Kenpo now surpassed everything else in his life. As negative destructive forces in his external life battered his young impressionable years, Mr. Pick turned to a spiritual quest via Kenpo.

During this time Mr. Pick wrote a thesis on the peripheral vision of the predatorial tiger. After submitting his thesis to Mr. Parker, on March 19, 1965, Mr. Pick was led onto the mats where Mr. Parker took off his own belt, kicked Mike, and promoted him to black belt.

By 1967, Mr. Pick was an infantryman in the United States Marine Corps. He was attached to Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Division. His unit was deployed for use in Vietnam. Routinely, Mr. Pick and his unit were engaged in small arms and hand to hand combat. Among other operations, his unit was deployed in Operation Pegasus, Operation Kentucky, Operation Napoleon, Operation Thor, Operation Trusdale, Operations Scotland 1, & 2, Operation Mutter's Ridge, Operations Lancaster 1, & 2, and Operation Dragon the United States' pacification program. While engaged in combat Mr. Pick carried the M-14 rifle, M-16 A-1 rifle, .45 caliber pistol, M-60 machine gun, the K-bar, hand grenades, and Kenpo as his weapons.

For his service while in Vietnam, Mike Pick was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Naval Unit Citation, the Good Conduct Medal, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, the Vietnamese Legion of Merit, the Vietnamese Service Medal with two Bronze Stars, the Vietnamese Campaign Medal, and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

When settled back from Vietnam, Mr. Pick continued his studies with Mr. Parker immediately. He worked numerous jobs, which included roofing, bartending, and owning an operating his own painting company. He bought his first home in Monrovia. He was soon married and had his first child, Michael Robert Pick Jr.

At the 25th Anniversary of the International Karate Championships, during the finals on Sunday, Mr. Pick carried Mr. Parker's belt, a symbolic act for things to come. Mike Pick was also Mr.Parker's "ambassador" to schools and individuals that had some grievance with Mr. Parker, or vice-versa. A visit from Mr. Pick was either a blessing or a curse.

Mr. Pick has pursued blacksmithing and horseshoing full time. After graduating from Oklahoma Farriers College, he found himself with a new career, new wife, and his first Kenpo School. He had always taught Kenpo either in other schools or in seminars, but now he began to bring up his own Kenpoists. He began to teach out of his home in Steptoe, WA and would later open a school in Colfax, WA.

During the 1980s, Mr. Pick's skill and insight with the knife blossomed. Part of his training was to go into meat lockers and practice cutting flesh with his knives. This period saw his exponential growth as a Kenpo knife technician. His earnest training and scientific analysis of the knife, led to many breakthroughs which afforded Mr. Pick the ability to carry the Kenpo knife further.

In May 1993, Mr. Pick was named the California Employment Development Department's "Teacher of the Year" and "Outstanding Veteran Employer of the Year" for his blacksmithing apprenticeship program created for Disabled Veterans. His awards were based on his creation of a three-year, six thousand-hour blacksmithing apprenticeship program recognized as the standard for the state of California. His skill and ability in blacksmithing now afforded him the opportunity to teach what he knew.

After Mr. Parker's death, the International Kenpo Karate Association, was left in a state of political rivalry and power struggles. He chose to split with the IKKA. In the early 1990s, Mr. Pick founded the Universal Kenpo Federation. Due to his ongoing personal studies and breakthroughs in the matrix of Kenpo, it was time for Mike Pick to stand on his own and teach what he knew.