Legends

THE LEGACY

Patrick E. Johnson (December 31, 1939 – November 5, 2023) was an American martial artist and actor. He was a 9th degree black belt in American Tang Soo Do and was the president of the National Tang Soo Do Congress, which was originally created by Chuck Norris in 1973.

Johnson was famous for the martial arts choreography in The Karate Kid series, in which he also starred as the All Valley Karate Tournament head referee, and was involved in many films, as choreographer and actor, including Enter the Dragon (as a Mafia collection-agent who gets coldcocked by John Saxon), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,^[4] Mortal Kombat, Green Street Hooligans, and Punisher: War Zone.^[5] He was the 1995 Black Belt magazine Instructor of the Year.

• 1963: Began training in taekwondo in South Korea under Kang Do Hee.
• 1965: Received 1st degree black belt in taekwondo.
• 1968: Began training under Chuck and was made chief of instruction for Norris’ school.
• 1968: Formulated the penalty point system currently used in karate tournaments.
• 1968–1973: Served as captain of the Chuck Norris Black Belt Competition Team, which won 33 consecutive national and international titles.
• 1971: Became national Tang Soo Do champion
• 1973: Was named vice-president of the National Tang Soo Do Congress, by Chuck Norris.
• 1975–1976: Won the Golden Fist Award for the best karate referee in the United States.
• 1980: Named as executive vice-president of the United Fighting Arts Federation.
• 1984: Served as the stunt coordinator for The Karate Kid.^[1][12][13]
• 1986: Awarded 9th degree black belt by Chuck Norris.
• 1986: Due to philosophical reasons left UFAF, and reformed the National Tang Soo Do Congress.
• 1989: Served as stunt coordinator for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
• 1993: Inducted into the North American Sport Karate Association (NASKA) Hall of Fame.
• 1995: Served as stunt coordinator for Mortal Kombat.
• 1996: Inducted into the Black Belt magazine Black Belt Hall of Fame as “Instructor of the Year”

Thomas Hearns (born October 18, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 2006. Nicknamed the “Motor City Cobra“, and more famously “the Hitman“, Hearns’s tall, slender build and long arms and broad shoulders allowed him to move up over fifty pounds (23 kg) in his career and become the first boxer in history to win world titles in five weight divisions: welterweight, light middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight.

Hearns was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America in 1980 and 1984; the latter following his knockout of Roberto Durán. Hearns was known as a devastating puncher throughout his career, even at cruiserweight, despite having climbed up five weight classes. He is ranked number 18 on The Ring’s list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.^[2] He currently ranks #78 in BoxRec ranking of the greatest pound for pound boxers of all time.^[3] On June 10, 2012, Hearns was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.