i was a wrestler in high school
i used to go to the wpb auditorium and see these shows
bill wallace, steve sheperd, don wilson, benny the jet , and rick roufus were some of the guys i grew up watching!!!
made me respect different forms of fighting
Bad Brad Hefton?
Karate Champ was the bomb!
shootfightermike - Hell, you go way back if you saw Shepherd fight. I think he promoted most of the shows in WPB and was usually the main event on his shows also. He is one of my all time favorites from the PKA/WKA days. Shep always had a realistic attitude about training even back then. He was a karate guy, but didn't do katas or anything he felt was not effective. And he was also a rebel, refusing to fight for just one organization (PKA) and fighting for whoever he wanted. A pioneer inside the ring as well as in the promoter's chair.
i saw bad brad i think
i have posters and programs in my garage so i will ck
I saw a few live shows
Jeff Smith vs. Wally Slocki - Light Heavyweight Championship. Smith UD
Ernest Hart Jr. Vs. Eddie Andujar for the Welterweight Crown, Hart UD.
I have a story. I was at the Battle of Atlanta, in maybe 1980 or 79. Was at a meeting the night before the event, Friday night. There was a fight on tape on a tv - Jeff Smith versus I forget who. Jeff is right there so I sit down and ask him a couple of questions and then I notice his corner is a kid.
A kid of 8 or something. Maybe 12 I guess?
And the kid walks up and is talking too, and was explaining everything that was happening. Anyway, the kid was Rick Roufus :-)
Remember it? Here's a little story from my past:
That was my first taste of taste of "full contact fighting" , other than a couple street fights. Me and a buddy that trained TKD and were winning often in point fighting(I know, I know) thought we'd try it out when I guy came into our club to invite some of us to compete.
So we show up at this shady looking gymnasium on the Eastside of Detroit. This is in 1991. We didn't even know the rules until that day. The majority of people that were competing were black, we were white, and back then there was a certain 'vibe' that some of the black karate schools carried.
I thought for sure we were going to get fed to the wolves. But it ended up being a good time. My buddy medaled and I won a trophy. After some of the other competitors loosened up I made some friends that I trained with for years after that.
FC Karate doesn't get the respect it deserves, there were guys getting cut down with kicks to the legs, one guy got his nose smashed with a kick, I got accidentally punched in the throat too. Also, those bare punches to the chest can leave some nasty bruises.
1- kirik you are old :)
2-i did the free 2 week thing at steve sheperds on military trail in wpb/lake worth area way back
How was Ernest Hart? He come up with a panther series of tapes on "SHootfighting" before groundfighting became hip.
DIdn't seem like there was much groundfighting on his tapes... seemed kind of hokey, actually.
Max
In 1980 or 81 there were some live fights here in my hometown of Anderson IN. Ross Scott ( who lives in Anderson) knocked out Jaque (sp) Bazemore. And Bill Wallace fought on the card. His fight was on live TV. I think on Wide World of Sports.
ttt
Anyone heard of Dan Boccagno, he was one of Jeff Smith's guys? He fought for the PKA and was a champion I believe.
what about benny the jet, taking on thai boxers and actually winning.. that fool was quik as fuc...
I saw Brad Hefton fight in the seattle center colloseum as a kid. I was training at a kempo school at the time and that was my first time seeing live "pro" fights. I was hooked on any type of combat sport from there on out. Brad was up against some brother they called the Janitor lol. This was of course way before Vladimir took up the moniker :P
ttt
Who is Rick Rofous?
And 79...damn, I could barely use sentences.
Those old days of FC karate and kickboxing were great. I had the honor and privelege of sparring sessions with Bill Wallace, Joe Lewis, and "The Jet" in the mid 80's. Man, I'm getting old.