Where did Ed Parker get his training?        

When I first started studying with Ed Parker in 1957, I asked him what title we should use when we addressed him. His answer was very simple: Ed. Not even Mr. Parker; that made him feel old. Just Ed. And that is the only way I ever addressed him, right up to his death in 1990.

When Ed was about eight years of age his father got him started in Judo. The next endeavor for Ed was Boxing. Most boxing was done at the YMCA and Boys Clubs. As a teenage boxer Ed remembered there was always someone older, bigger and more experienced who wanted to use you for a punching bag. Ed told me they did not let him come back to boxing when one of the big guys would not back off so Ed took him down to the ground  -  gloves and all - and choked him out. Ed remembers what a tough neighborhood he came from. Years later he told me that of his group, only he and Bo Bo Olson - the great middle-weight Boxer - were still alive. Ed's father had been quite a "boxer" and "scrapper" when he was younger and wanted Ed to be able to take care of himself. Ed's father was quite tall - taller than Ed, and slim. Reminded me a lot of Wally Jay.

In about 1960 Ed's father came over from Hawaii to visit Ed in Pasadena. At that time Mas Oyama was making quite a reputation for himself fighting bulls; breaking off their horns with his bare hands and even killing some bulls. One of the students at the studio, Jim Nessie, had trained to be a "Bull Fighter" so we invited Ed, his wife, his father, and Rich Montgomery (Ed's second promoted Black Belt) to come with us to Mexico to see a bull fight. We wanted Ed to see the size and power of a "Real Fighting Bull". I took 8mm films of that trip and I will eventually be putting it on one of the history tapes. I also have films from Ed's early studio in Pasadena.  .

Ed's first real training in the Martial Arts came from a fellow Church member, Frank Chow. Frank taught many of the local youth out of the Mormon Rec. Center. It wasn't long before Frank recognized the young tough Hawaiian's potential and recommended that Ed study with his brother, William Chow. 

Ed's training with Chow would be divided between his tour of duty in the Coast Guard and attending BYU.

His tour in the Coast Guard was a real blessing. Not only was he stationed at home (Hawaii), he had a steady pay check and unlimited time to study with the "Professor".

His relationship with the Professor was much closer than with Chow's other students.

Ed's duty with the Coast Guard let him finish this duty by 3pm. The Coast Guard was notorious for its great food. The ship was small and when Ed left work for the day, he would go down to the galley, where the Cook would give him the food they had not used - usually such things as eggs, bacon, and bread. He would take this home to the Professor; and his wife, Patsy, would prepare a meal for them while the Professor gave Ed a private lesson outside their home.

In addition to the private instruction, Ed attended all the classes the Professor offered. The Professor never had a "Dojo" of his own but taught out of YMCA's and Mormon Rec. Centers. 

Fortunately for all of us Ed had learned from his father to keep good records: not just the typical "Diary" but a "Journal". From his first lessons Ed wrote down everything the "Professor" taught him. His records were simple. He wrote down each technique on a 3"x 5" card. He would then file them in a metal card file. (More on this later.)

As most of the old students will tell you, everywhere Ed went he had his briefcase and was always writing things down and keeping records. While most of us were still using old mechanical typewriters, Ed was into computers. I remember his first was his HP: Hewlett Packard. While we were still using press-on letters for our diplomas, Ed had a "Graphics Plotter." This was before the Apple Mac. 

Despite what has been written by others, he never trained with the Emperado Brothers. Adriano Emperado had a teacher's certificate from James Mitose and received his Shodan from William Chow. Being a Black Belt did not qualify you to teach.

After Ed Parker opened his studio in Pasadena in 1956 he never again studied with Professor Chow.  Ed was so busy with a new family and new business that he could not even take a vacation for over three years to go home to visit his parents in Hawaii.

Ed never studied with James Mitose but knew him quite well. They met many times in the Los Angeles area between the years 1956 and 1970. Ed kept this information pretty much to himself. 

In about 1959 I was in a used book store and saw a book called What is Self Defense (Kenpo Jiu Jitsu);  by James Mitose. I bought the book for $2.

Up to this time the only name Ed had ever mentioned was his instructor, William Chow. 

I showed Ed the book I had bought and asked him how to pronounce Mitose's name. I also asked him whatever happened to James Mitose. Ed's answer came as quite a shock: "He lives right here in town," Ed informed me. Ed did not want to continue the conversation so I let it drop. 

But that answer set off red lights in in my head. Who was this James Mitose? After over 40 years I am still looking for all the answers.

For the next few years Ed quit being a student and set about doing what no one else had ever done: make a full time living teaching  Karate/Kenpo!

Ed's would start studying "Classical Kung-Fu" but that would not be until 1960-61! He would meet Jimmy Lee and James Woo in San Francisco's China town. Ed would talk Woo into coming and living with him in Pasadena while they collaborated on Ed's second Book: The Secrets of Chinese Karate.  Ed and I would meet Bruce Lee for the first time at Ralph Castro's studio in SF. Back then Bruce was a young cocky kid from Seattle that no one had ever heard of.  But  all of his will be a story by its self because it will start a new phase of  Ed Parker's life. This period of time is the least known or understood by most people in American Kenpo because none of them were there.

This period of time (1960-1966) would become known as the "Chinese Years".

 

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©2000 al tracy all rights reserved - last updated  07/17/2009