Long Beach International Karate Championships

Long Beach International Karate Championships
Competition details
Discipline	Karate
Type	Kumite, biennial
History
First edition	August 1964 in Long Beach, California, United States

The Long Beach International Karate Championships is an International karate and martial arts tournament in Long Beach, California that was first held in August 1964 by Kenpo Grandmaster Ed Parker.^[1]^[2] The tournament is still in existence. Many great tournament fighters earned their stripes at this tournament, including Chuck Norris, Tony Martinez Sr., Mike Stone, Joe Lewis, Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, Billy Blanks, Jerry Piddington, and "Superfoot" Bill Wallace.^[3]^[4] The Long Beach Internationals is also where Bruce Lee was first introduced to the martial arts community in August 1964, with Lee making another appearance in 1968.

1964[]

In 1964, Bruce Lee appeared at the inaugural tournament^[5] and demonstrated his one-inch punch and two-finger push-ups. His volunteer was Robert "Bob" Baker of Stockton, California, who was Lee's student and became the lead villain in Fist of Fury. "I told Bruce not to do this type of demonstration again", he recalled. "When he punched me that last time, I had to stay home from work because the pain in my chest was unbearable."^[6] The only existing, high quality footage of Bruce Lee's 1964 Wing Chun demonstration was filmed with a 16mm camera. The sole proprietor of this 8.5-minute-long video is a California-based company, Rising Sun Productions. The owner of this company and reported discoverer of this video is Don Warrener. Poorer quality generations of this footage can be viewed on the Internet.

1968[]

Bruce Lee made another appearance at the 1968 tournament. The 1968 video footage has been preserved at a higher quality than the earlier 1964 footage. He demonstrates his fast speed, launching quick eye strikes before his opponent can block. Lee then performs chi sau while blindfolded, probing for weaknesses in his opponent while scoring with punches and takedowns. He then performs the one-inch punch on several volunteers. Most notably, Lee then participates in a full-contact sparring bout against an opponent, with both wearing leather head gear. Lee can be seen implementing his Jeet Kune Do concept of economical motion, using Muhammad Ali inspired footwork to keep out of range while counter-attacking with backfists and straight punches. He also halts his opponent's attacks with stop-hit side kicks and quickly executes several sweeps and head kicks. The opponent is never able to connect with a clean hit, but once manages to come close with a spin kick. The fight footage was reviewed by Black Belt magazine in 1995, concluding that "the action is as fast and furious as anything in Lee's films."^[7]