Page 27 - Martial Science Magazine April 2017

That was a truly fun experience!…. GM Chuck Norris had seen me fight before at the 1974 Orien-
tal World of Self-Defense in an epic Battle of Kung Fu vs Karate at the “Mecca of Fighting” in Mad-
ison Square Garden against Soke Little John Davis. This was considered the first true Mixed Mar-
tial Arts contest because it was the First over $100,000 gate with a crowd of over 19,567 people in
attendance and seen on ABC’s Wide World of Sports to 20 million people around the world. The
following year I fought World Lightweight Champion Benny Urquidez. After that match Chuck
Norris requested that I join his team for a USA vs Puerto Rico on the island. I was the only Kung
Fu stylist on the team which included Benny Urquidez. Just think a couple months earlier we were
trying to knock each other out and now we’re shouting for each other to win! … What a great trip.
I fought the local champion Amalio Guerrero and won by a Technical Knock Out and Benny won
his match by a straight Knock Out. And it was a beautiful hook punch that dropped his opponent.
Whew!

I am proud to have had an illustrious tournament career where I was ranked in the “Top Ten Black
Belts in the USA” for over a decade. In the fall of 1980 S.T.A.R. Rated # 1 in Kung Fu and won
in some of the most prestigious compet-
itive arenas in North America, such as:
the Battle of Atlanta, Diamond Nation-
als, Superstar Nationals, AKA Grand Na-
tionals, Top Ten National, Bare Knuckle
Knock Out Championship and Nevada
State Grand Championship.

I competed in Forms, Weapons and
Fighting. But it was my snake-ground
fighting that generated the most atten-
tion because I was able to successfully
attack and defend from the ground.

The recognition of my fighting and tech-
nical artistry garnered appearances on
the covers of international martial arts
publications including: 2016 Who’s
Who In The Martial Arts, Inside Kung
Fu, Oficial Karate, Black Sports, Defense
Combat, Martial Arts Tradition: Histo-

ry and People, Men of Steel Discipline, Black Heroes
of the Martial Arts and The Oficial History of Karate
in America: The Golden Age: 1968-1986. I have been

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