![]() Vernon Presley had purchased the white Cadillac, customized with the Continental rear-end and silver front-end grill, for Elvis as a gift. On June 4, 1973, Elvis Presley gave Kang Rhee a custom-delux Eldorado Cadillac. It is safe to say that Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace was one of the biggest names in the world of martial arts in the 1970's and 80's but he also gained some additional mystique as one of Elvis Presley's karate instructors, as the King was an ardent fan, even once flying in an acupuncturist to treat Wallace at Graceland following an injury to his leg. Photos exist documenting that four year period. Upon learning of this problem regarding a young 9 year old boy, he called the boy aside, spoke privately with him and presented him with his own 'Elvis Presley' engraved watch.Ĭlose friends of Elvis call this four year period the Golden Years - the years of peace and spiritual contentment for him. Younger students in the classroom were often frightened by the presence of Elvis. After repeated attempts by Elvis to get her to perform properly, the exasperated student came down so hard against his shins that he almost fell down with pain. Once during a training session he was instructing a female student in a break-away technique which called for the victim to scrape the shins of the assailant. Elvis was awarded 7th Degree Black Belt in 1973 by Master Rhee and on occasion had the opportunity, himself, to test and promote students of lower rank.Įlvis was an instructor in the Pasaryu Karate Association under Master Kang Rhee, and served with such Karate greats as Master Rhee, who had been a Korean Grand Champion, and Bill Wallace, World middleweight Karate Champion. Classroom discipline was so strict that Elvis was allowed the same freedom of training as the ordinary students without the usual press from adoring fans. Tiger' because of existing political implications associated with the name 'Panther' at that time.Įlvis trained with the other students in a regular training session. Panther, that name was later changed to 'Mr. During the four year period under Master Rhee, Elvis, like all the other students, selected an animal title by which to be addressed in the training area. He said Master Rhee had a good reputation and had come highly recommended by Ed Parker, his former instructor, of California. He is said to have sent word back to Ed Parker 'Your boy ain't pretty anymore, but he's a black belt'.ġ.) 49 minutes of footage narrated by Wayne Carmenģ.) 1968 'It Hurts Me' Karate footage takesĤ.) Interview about Elvis' Karate with Wayne CarmenĮlvis trained from 1970-1974 under Master Kang Rhee in Memphis, TN. It was Hank who promoted Elvis to 'Black Belt' on Jand personally gave Elvis his own personal Black belt when he promoted him. Parker introduced Elvis to Hank Slomanski, an Instructor at Fort Campbell to test for his black belt. In 1960 Elvis, with Japanese style training under his belt, Elvis met the Father of American Kenpo, Ed Parker at the Wilshire Beverly Hills Hotel after a Karate demonstration. His next Instructor was Japanese Shotokan Master Tetugio Murakami who became the Shotokan master of Europe. It was during this time that Elvis would also start conditioning his hands for board breaking by banging his knuckles against hard surfaces. With a lot of spare time on his hands Elvis would spend hours training with Rex Mansfield, another soldier stationed with Elvis in Germany. On one occasion he spent nine straight days studying for several hours each day with Murakami. ![]() During his vacation in Paris he would take private lessons with Tetsugio Murakami, one of Japan's top shotokan stylists, who would help pioneer shotokan in Europe. One nice thing about the military was that you got thirty days of paid vacation (leave) each year. His first instructor was a German shotokan stylist named Juergen Seydel who taught Elvis at his off-base housing in Nauheim until 1958. Elvis was first exposed to Karate in 1958 after he was drafted into the Army and stationed in Germany.
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