(by Dr. James A. Tindall)
Time Magazine referred to Grand Master Parker in 1961 as the "High Priest and Prophet of the Hollywood sect." Grand Master Parker taught many well known screen personalities including, Robert Wagner, Blake Edwards, Robert Culp, Robert Conrad, Darrin McGavin, Hose Ferrar, George Hamilton, Warren Beatty, Dick Martin, Elke Sommers, Joe Hyams, Joey Bishop, the late Elvis Presley (4th degree black belt rank), Audie Murphy, Jeff Speakman (4th degree black belt rank), and many others.
Quoting Black Belt Magazine, "Many Kenpo stylists refer to Ed Parker as the last word on the proper way to do their techniques" (February, 1975). Similar praise for Ed Parker appeared in a special issue of Inside Kung Fu, commemorating 20 years of Karate in America: "You don't become the father of American Karate by being the second in line... Universally acknowledged as the man who introduced Karate to America some twenty-nine years ago, Ed Parker has been one of the most innovative and successful influences in the development of the Art in the new environment" (May, 1974). Karate Kung-Fu Illustrated quotes Ed Parker's Kenpo as being "America's logical and unstoppable fighting system...discovered in America, it's Karate's gold mine of motion" (September, 1986).
The interest Mr. Parker had in employing logic dates to his beginning Martial Arts studies in Honolulu. He approved of the exciting methods that he learned as a novice in Kenpo, but as an experienced street fighter felt that innovations were necessary in order for the classical concepts he learned to become practical concepts on the street. As a result of his research, Mr. Parker generated innovative answers by comparing Kenpo to other fields of endeavor. By relating past experiences with the functional aspects of Kenpo, he has revealed astounding breakthroughs in body motion as it applies to martial arts, power shifting, and strength concepts. Because of his formal education, Mr. Parker was able to extract principles from physics, geometry, mathematics, and alpha-numeric systems and compare them to life experiences that caused a new Kenpo discipline to emerge which is without equal in the world today. As a result, his use of analogies, short sories, and quotes has created distinctive methods to convert verbal language into physical body motion. His unique ability to communicate Kenpo and other Martial Arts information remains unparalleled.
Through formal martial arts training under William K.S. Chow, experience, experimentation and thought provoking study, Mr. Parker developed the Parker Kenpo System as we know it today. The Parker Kenpo System has achieved a steady growth and with it, Mr. Parker developed a timeless Martial Art. The Parker Kenpo System was effective yesterday, is effective today, and will continue to be effective in the future.
Since the time of Grand Master Parker's death on December 15, 1990 at the young age of 59, many have sought to degrade both Mr. Parker and the Kenpo system which he extensively innovated. These people have gratuitously attacked Grand Master Parker making many false claims. The attacks have been basically to discredit Parker, his honor, system of Martial Arts, and his integrity as an individual. It is interesting to note that these people claim to have been intimately associated with Mr. Parker and because of this feel they have every right to condemn and criticize however, most of them were not associated with Mr. Parker at all. It is particularly interesting that these people only surfaced after Parker's death when, as we all know, he can no longer defend himself. Also, why do they make such claims now? It seems very clear that they are making such claims to bring greater attention to their own system of Martial Art or for other selfish desires. Such claims could have been made as early as 1960 or any time before Mr. Parker's death in 1990 in the numerous magazines which printed articles about him and his Art, but no one stepped forward, nor did they step forward in 1963 when Mr. Parker published his book "Secrets of Chinese Karate" which traced the roots of the Ed Parker Kenpo System back to Tamo in the Shaolin Monastery in 515 A.D. As a matter of fact, this single event made it possible over the next decade for other systems to trace their ancestry back to their Chinese origins for which many Martial Arts masters were very grateful.
If the reader will investigate the references listed above from Black Belt Magazine, Time Magazine, etc. one will see that the Martial Arts community in general and the Masters of various systems were very impressed by Parker and his contribution to the Martial Arts in America. He has received praise from some of the most well known Masters including Tak Kubota, Tadashi Yamashita, Fumio Demura, Tino Tuiolosega, Jhoon Rhee, Chuck Norris, and many others. Mr. Parker was similarly praised by many columnists, film producers, and actors including Curtis F. Wong (former publisher of Inside Kung Fu Magazine), Joe Hyams, Ricardo Montalban, Blake Edwards, Robert Culp, Rick Jason, Nick Adams, MacDonald Carey, Darren McGavin, Rory Calhoun, and others. During all this time, these individuals had the utmost respect for Mr. Parker and he respected them as well for who they were and what they did. Perhaps Chuck Norris put it best when he was once asked how many styles of Martial Arts were available, to which he replied, "alot". He was next asked if he had to defend himself against a particular style or system which one would he least like to defend against? The style he named was the Ed Parker Kenpo System because of its principles and philosophies. Mr. Norris did not degrade Mr. Parker, nor by answering this question in such a manner did he degrade his own Art. He simply made a factual statement which he felt was honest. The conduct of Chuck Norris was that of a true champion and one which we should all follow. It never serves the best interest of any individual or group to condemn others for what they believe; it only brings about enmity and anymosity. Respect will never be earned by those who consciously seek to bring disrespect and ill repute upon others in order to serve their own selfish designs. Thus, be a true Martial Artist and "choose the right".
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http://www.tecr.com/rhinehart/history.htm
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