Elvis Presley Gladiators Project 1974

[Jimbo]

Everybody has seen the humorous Elvis impersonators who mimic his karate moves. This old footage of the real Elvis shows that many of the imitators were not far off. I'm not much of an Elvis fan, however, I will not openly speculate on whether I think Elvis was a "good martial artist" or not. At this point, who really cares? The fact is, he really did seem to have a passion for MA.

Regardless of any of that, I find this footage interesting, as it shows a snapshot of karate in the U.S. during the early '70s. IMO, the most interesting parts feature Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace, who at the time was one of Elvis' trainers. Here, Wallace demonstrates more of a classical karate approach, as opposed to later, when he went into "full-contact karate", a.k.a., kickboxing.

I've always been dubious of the manner of many of the demos, particularly the Kenpo style of a dozen hits on an attacker who steps in with a punch and stands frozen like a mannequin.

Elvis looks a bit drunk to me. His dojo attire in interesting, "because he's Elvis."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-_Mxqb6hHo&sns=em

[boxerbilly]

Thanks Jimbo. I have never seen this at such length.

Just a guess but I think Elvis was probably on Quaaludes and speed or cocaine. Used the speed to avoid the Quaalude crash. It is probably why he is profusely sweating. Quaalude side effect after you have used them for a couple of weeks. We all should know. Elvis was a HUGE anti drug guy. STREET DRUGS. But a HUGE proponent of prescription narcotics. Clean drugs ! Quaaludes could be bought over the counter. If this was filmed in 1974 then it is likely they had been pulled from shelves. Still available by prescription until sometime in "74" I believe. Of course, Elvis likely stockpiled before the drug went scheduled. Pain killers mixed with booze can cause a lot of sweating but it is doubtful Elvis would have been able to perform even this badly had he used enough to make him sweat like that.

Prior to his heavy use of drugs. It is said, he was rather good at karate. Ed Parker sent him to Hank Slomanski for his black belt. It was like a 2 week test. Hank would never have gave him anything if he did not deserve it from what I have read. The only rule was no one can touch Elvis's face. Other than that they beat the **** out of the guy and he fought back hard. Parker did this to avoid a Ricky Nelson problem Tegner had.

Watching this, Elvis looks like he sucked. If we could see footage say 5-10 years prior to this film we would still say he sucked by todays standards but for the standards of that day, he was probably very good.

[mickey]

Greetings,

Thank you for the share Jimbo.

I found the film depressing. Elvis had all of these people around him. Would one step forward to speak to him about his addiction tp prescription meds? I guess the money was more important. I guess they were too jacked up to realize that dead celebrities do not pay. All is see here is Elvis and his Welfare Line:absolutely disgusting.


mickey

[Jimbo]

Hi, mickey.

I think you're being a little judgmental in lumping everyone together into the same category. I do know that Bill Wallace was not a member of Elvis' "Memphis Mafia" entourage. He helped train Elvis for a few years. At a week-long 'full-contact karate' (kickboxing) training camp taught by Wallace that I attended in 1982, one of the fighters asked him about Elvis. Wallace was very candid about some things regarding his time with Elvis. I did NOT get the impression that Wallace was a 'yes man' or hanger-on like some others were. Keep in mind that this training camp took place only a few short months after Wallace discovered the body of another celebrity student of his, John Belushi, at the Chateau Marmont. Someone else asked him about Belushi, but he wasn't ready to discuss it. A few years later, I read the book 'Wired', about John Belushi, and it mentioned Wallace as his personal trainer, who did not tolerate Belushi using drugs. Wallace has stated in print that after losing a second celebrity student to drugs, he no longer took on celebrities as private clients.

mickey, have you ever dealt with people who were addicts? I've had three different people in my life who were addicts. It's virtually impossible to make them stop using. They'll find a way, or simply disregard your efforts to stop them. I'm certain Elvis was surrounded by a bunch of enablers, but I won't lump everyone who knew him into the same category.

Did I really know Bill Wallace? Of course not. But I got a general idea about his basic character after having trained under him for more than 40 hours (8 hrs/day, over 5 days), not counting nighttime events at the training camp, plus a day at the beach everyone voted for. He could be funny and he could be hard-core serious. But he did NOT give me the impression of being an @ss-kisser or a leech.

[mickey]

Hi Jimbo,

Thank you for clarifying about Bill Wallace.

I have worked addicts, CAMI and MICA, and, yes, it is difficult trying to reach them. I have never stopped trying to reach them. And then there are those who do not ever want to be reached. And even with those, one can not give up on them.

mickey

[Jimbo]

I have worked addicts, CAMI and MICA, and, yes, it is difficult trying to reach them. I have never stopped trying to reach them. And then there are those who do not ever want to be reached. And even with those, one can not give up on them.

mickey

I never was able to help any of the three addicts I knew to stop using. In all cases, we eventually drifted out of each others' lives, as happens in life. Years later, I learned one of them had died; I don't know if it was due to addiction or not. I have no idea about the other two, but I wish them the best.

[mickey]

Greetings Jimbo.

The most difficult thing for me was in keeping myself from attaching. I had to learn not to bring the job home with me.

Even though success is near impossible, you are validating their existence through the counseling. You are providing them with a supportive base to. Essentially, you are providing love. So, in many ways, the counseling is a double edged sword because the people are being provided something that will come to an end when they recover. So we really have to assist those people develop strong social supports, aside from the program, that will be there for them at every level. That is difficult because of "people, places and things" that make behavior modification a real task..

mickey

[Jimbo]

Thanks for sharing, mickey.

Here's another vid of Elvis and karate. He says he that after 16 years of daily practice, he was awarded the 8th degree black belt. As dedicated as he may have been, it's painfully obvious that Elvis was awarded that because he's Elvis. From the certificates shown, it appears his 8th degree would have been in Kenpo, as opposed to the Korean style he also studied (his Kenpo certificate says 7th degree). Which kind of surprises me, because it was usually Korean teachers who awarded artificially high 'honorary' promotions. If he were not Elvis, or anyone else super-famous, he would NOT have been ranked so highly and so quickly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iOKyjvkNEs&sns=em

[GeneChing]

MartialArtsMart used to carry it, but it went out of print. It's amusing. I think I have a copy of it somewhere.

Elvis has always been a iconic figure in the martial arts. Like David Carradine, he inspired a unique generation of practitioners.

Here are some related Elvis threads:
Elvis-wore-patches-on-his-gi
Elvis-Bruce-Lee-demos-and-karate-fights-circa-mid-70-s
Fat-Elvis-types

[mickey]

Good Gosh,

Because he's Elvis.

That being said, I believe William Smith (Rich Man, Poor Man) earned his rank with Ed Parker. I don't know how far he went. And I believe he could make that stuff work.

mickey

[Jimbo]

I just remembered this song from when I was about 13. Hard-core Elvis fans will probably find the song disrespectful of Elvis, but it still kinda cracks me up today. Admittedly, it is a bit cruel. BTW, the song came out in 1976, while Elvis was still alive. The Elvis impression is pretty much spot on.

He Ate Too Many Jelly Donuts (by Rick Dees)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShIXQw5fcJ8&sns=em