March 19, 1931- December 15,
1990
Honolulu, Hawaii
Senior Grand Master Ed Parker is
known worldwide as the "Father of American Kenpo Karate". Mr. Edmund Kealoha
Parker was born on March 18, 1931 in Honolulu, Hawaii where he lived until 1950,
when he left to attend college in Utah. He studied and earned his Black Belt in
Kenpo Karate under the late Professor William K.S. Chow, one of the world's
leading Kenpo Black Belt holders and innovators of the Art.
Soon after he began his study of
Kenpo, Mr. Parker knew that Kenpo would become a way of life for him. He
opened his first private Kenpo Club in 1954 at Brigham Young University, and his
first public school in September of 1956 in Pasadena, California. Early in his
training, Mr. Parker realized the need to further modify the Art of Kenpo to
suit modern day fighting situations.
Professor Chow had taught Mr.
Parker a number of "Master Key Movements" which provided Mr. Parker his start
on becoming a creative innovator. "The Parker System
of American Kenpo" is based on principals,
theoretical innovations, and logic not yet employed by other systems. Mr. Parker
founded the International Kenpo Karate Association in 1956 (albeit, the Kenpo
Karate Association of America). He traveled frequently to share his vast
knowledge of Kenpo, and he was also very active in writing books (most notable
are his five volume series in Infinite Insights into Kenpo).
On December 15, 1990 in
Honolulu, Hawaii, Mr. Parker passed away at the age of 59.
That was a very sad day for Kenpoist all over
the world. His death was unexpected and
untimely. At the time of his death, he was in the midst of completing his first
series of Kenpo instructional videos and his Encyclopedia of Kenpo. Thousands
attended his funeral to pay their respects to
one of the world's greatest martial Arts
or specifically Kenpo innovators of all time.
Although Mr. Parker has gone, his spirit carries
on, and the many hundreds of Kenpoist who
were fortunate enough to have known and studied with Mr. Parker, continue his
legacy.
