1-You are known as the film star and many may not know that you have been a superb karate competitor,could you please tell us about your records and background as a competitor?

I was fortunate to take 1st or 2nd in all of the major karate championships of my era from 1963 to 1972

These were the Internationals, The United States, All American, Nationals, Tournament of Champions and World Karate Championships, plus I was a member of the 1969 to 1972 World Professional Team champions with chuck Norris, Joe Lewis, Mike Stone and Skipper Mullins.

Chuck Norris and I fought on teams that were undefeated and our teams won all of the above team titles through the same time frame.

2-You were the friend of late Bruce Lee,what is your opinion about him?

I loved Bruce Lee and am proud that I was able to make 3 films with him.

3-Do you have special memory of him?

Yes, Bruce left me with ten years of wonderful memories.  Bruce was a very fast paced, hard working, exciting guy to be around.

4-What made “Enter the Dragon” the greatest martial arts movie of all time?

What made “Enter the Dragon” such a great classic was a combination of Bruce’s film experience from the age of 5 to 19 (20 films!) and his nineteen years of martial arts training with great martial artists, his hard and focused workouts, a good script, excellent music and camera work, Bruce’s understanding of what looked real, his good fortune in having Fred Weintraub as Producer and the loyalty and talent of the martial artists he chose for the film.

5-What was the role of late Bruce Lee in popularity of martial arts?What he did for martial arts do you think?

Bruce’s role in popularizing martial arts was immense because he was great looking, had a terrific build, outstanding martial art skills and was a fantastic communicator in addition to having an abundant, energetic love of the martial arts.

Bruce, because of his excellent films and the above martial art popularity explode worldwide.

6-You were active in martial arts golden era,the 70s,tell us about those days.

I began taining in Judo in 1957 and made Black Belt under the Great Gene LeBell, then made Black Belts under Joe Lewis and Chuck Norris.  So, when Karate competion began in 1962 I was able to compete and train with those great American legends and others including Pat Burleson, Jim Harrison, bill Wallace, Mike Stone, Louis Delgado, Steve Saunders, Howard Jackson, Ed Danials, Bruce Lee and the list goes on and on all the way thru to 1972.  The sixties and seventies were a terrific time because it was from points to serious contact to full contact and we all beat the hell out of each other, but developed tremendous respect and affection for one another.

7-What has changed in comparison to those years?tell us about the differences of these and those days of martial arts.

The changes are mostly for the better, the techniques, training, cross training, use of safety equipment and now the no holds barred have advanced martial arts.  I doubt though if the competitors have as much fun as we did because it was all new and exciting then.

8-Introduce us Your best friends and favourite fighters and favourite martial arts actors,and why are they your choice?

My best friends are the people I trained and fought with, like the great Chuck Norris, Gene LeBell, Pat Burleson – the 1st National Karate Champion in 1964 – Jim Harrison, who put a whole lot of stitches on a whole lot of people, Joe Lewis, one of the toughest karate fighters ever, Bill ‘Superfoot’ Wallace, Howard Jackson, Wally Slocki and Jim Bottems.

My favorite martial arts film actors are Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Gene LeBell, Wesley Snipes and Jeff Speakman because they are all outstanding martial artists, humble, kind, tough, talented and have a great screen presence.

9-What have you done and are doing for martial arts?

My love affair with the martial arts is now 45 years old and because of what it has done for me I’ve become the CEO and Co-Founder of World Black Belt, the worldwide martial art community for martial art enthusiasts to masters.  We have over 200,000 members from all over the world with over 27,000 schools listed in the United States alone and tremendous discounts and products like our fitness recovery ‘KNOCKOUT’ Water and our great protein bar, The Kickbar, The World Black Belt MasterCard, collectables, videos and much more.  Please check it out at www.worldblackbelt.com