![]() Ed Parker's First ShodanbyWill Tracy 3/8/97 3/1/1997 revised 8/27/1999 - 9/1/1999 ![]() The controversy over who was Ed Parker's first black belt did not surfice until after Ed Parker's death. Some say it was Charles Beeder who trained with Ed Parker at Brigham Young University in 1956. To my knowledge, Charles Beeder never claimed to have been promoted by Ed Parker when Ed was at BYU. Ed Parker often mentioned Charles Beeder as being his assistant instructor in a college course Ed Parker taught at BYU for law enforcement officers, and Ed mentioned Beeder as being his Utah brown belt. However, the Kenpo Karate Association of America records I have shows James Ibrao as Ed Parker's first Shodan, and I was at the Pasadena Studio when Jimmy Ibrao came in wearing a black belt, and Ed told the class that Ibrao was his first black belt. There will always be those who claim Ed Parker taught them in secret, but that just didn't happen. Ed Parker taught private lessons, but he never had a secret student that no one else knew about at the time. These people have only come forward after Ed Parker's death to claim training and rank Ed Parker never gave them. That aside, Ed Parker never promoted anyone to black belt while he was at BYU. Ed Parker had students there, and it may well be that Charles Beeder might have been Ed Parker's first student, but Beeder was not promoted to black belt or Shodan at any time prior to the founding of the International Kenpo Karate Association. Here is why: Ed Parker attended Brigham Young University between Fall 1949 and August 1951, when he joined the Coast Guard. He returned to BYU three years later in the Fall of 1954. Ed and four other Hawaiians began practicing together in the BYU Polyneasian cultural hall from about mid November 1954 until mid May 1955 when Ed Parker formed the "BYU Kenpo Club." There were seven original members, Ed Parker, Tom Loura, Kip Kiphunna, Frank Mohoui, Ralph Mohoui, Mark Kalima and John Kalima, and Ed Parker got permission to use the wrestling room in the BYU Smith Fieldhouse for practice at the beginning of the 1955 Spring Quarter. This was not an official BYU club because it was closed to all but Hawaiians with previous martial arts training. Tom Loura was a Thomas Young brown belt, Kip Kiphunna had trained with Sonny Emperado, Frank Mohoui and his brother Ralph, were Mitose brown belts, Mark and John Kalima were Judo Black Belts. The Kalima brothers were from Ed Parker's Church Ward in Hawaii, and had learned Judo at the same dojo where Ed Parker trained until 1949 when Ed went away to college. Ed Parker was their senior wanted to learn Kenpo from the others. This was not an homogonous group, and they often disagreed with Ed Parker who lead the group. They challenged Ed Parker on every move and technique. This forced Ed to perfect what he knew and eventually develop a method of teaching that answered all the questions in a logical order. Members of the Club came and went as the school terms ended, and in the Fall 1955, Stan Watts, the legendary BYU Basketball Head Coach, asked Ed Parker if his group would put on a demonstration for the first game of the 1955-56 season. |
The Club had put on half a dozen demonstrations for Church groups, but this was entirely different. Everyone in the Club knew all eyes would be on them, and the reputation of Hawaii was at stake. Not only that, but Coach Watts had told Ed Parker the entire BYU administration would be there, and Coach Watts had arranged for Ed to teach a college course for law enforcement. He wanted the demonstration to be spectacular. From that time on the Island Boys spent all their time in the wrestling room devoted completely to practice for the demonstration. Practice intensified, slacking off only for study for Mid terms and Finals which were near the time of the demonstration, and Ed Parker gained not only the respect, but the admiration of all the Club members as a truely gifted Kenpo instructor. Ed Parker worked tirelessly devoting every spare moment to practicing for the demonstration and that took place on December 2, 1955.
The demonstration was a complete success, not just in the response the Island Boys got but also for Ed Parker who began teaching the law enformement class right after that. It was the financial boost Ed needed. One of Ed Parker's students in the BYU law enforcement class was Charles Beeder, who became Ed's assistant instructor and Ed Parker graduated from BYU six months later on June 2, 1956. Ed Parker never promoted any of the Hawaiian Club members while at BYU, and none of them went on to teach Kenpo or any martial arts. But six months is not enough time for Charles Beeder or anyone to have been promoted to black belt. Ed Parker moved to Pasadena, California after graduation. In September 1956 Ed Parker founded the Kenpo Karate Association of America (KKAA) and began teaching Kenpo at Bert Goodrich's Pasadena gym, and in February 1957 he opened his first Kenpo Karate Studio on Walnut Street in Pasadena California. The KKAA records show that Ben Otake was Ed Parker's first brown belt, with James Ibrao being his second brown belt, and Ed Parker's first black belt. There is no doubt that Ed Parker may have owed his very existence as a martial arts master in no small part to the support that Charles Beeder gave him. But Ed Parker never promoted Charles Beeder in the KKAA to black belt or Shodan. Charles Beeder's son came forward to say that his father did not get his Shodan until 1963, so to the best of my knowledge Ed Parker officially promoted Charles Beeder and some of his other former BYU students to black belt after the IKKA was formed in late 1963 but they would have been given IKKA certificates. It can rightfully be said that Charles Beeder was the first one Ed trained for black belt, but the honor of Ed's first black belt goes to James Ibrao, and there were five other Shodans promoted in the KKAA before the first IKKA certificate was ever issued.WAS JAMES IBRAO ED PARKER'S FIRST PASADENA BLACK BELT?
I've tried to avoid the dissension that has racked American Kenpo. I have tried to remain out of the controversy that has sprung up around my brother, Al Tracy. ![]() |
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![]() The photograph clearly shows James Ibrao with a dark belt, kicking Ed Parker. At this time there were only white, brown and black belts in Ed Parker's system. Color belts were not added until after 1964. It is not important whether Sifu Ibrao is wearing a black belt in the photograph. What is obvious is that he is not wearing a white belt in any of the photographs. |
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Now it should be obvious to any reasonable person that if the old studio was closed in 1958, any photographs taken there had to have been taken prior to its closing. (This may seem oversimplified, but it is beyond the comprehension of those who claim Sifu Ibrao was a white belt in 1960.) And it is also obvious that a photograph taken prior to 1958, is older than one taken in 1960; and it should also be obvious that if Sifu Ibrao was a brown belt in the old studio, then he was certainly not a white belt in 1960. I belabor this point because Chuck Sullivan, who might not have even been a student until 1960, and his followers are claiming that Ed Parker didn't have any black belts in 1960. And he claims that he was Ed Parker's fourth black belt. However Ed Parker's family tree lists four black belts who left Ed Parker in 1961 to go with Jimmy Wing Woo. The truth is, the first ten black belts were all Shodan, and Chuck Sullivan was promoted to "black belt" by Ed Parker, and not Shodan. |
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This group photograph, taken in 1958 shows James Ibrao (Ed Parker's right side) and Ben Otake (Ed Parker's left side) as brown belts. (Ben Otake left Ed Parker to train with Oshima before Ed opened his new school.) Rich Montgomery is kneeling on the left (Ed Parker's right) and is wearing a white belt, as are all those kneeling, including Gary Orchard. And for the record, Sifu Ibrao was promoted to black belt not long after this photo was taken. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() (Added by Roarke Tracy) |