Karate was virtually non-existent in the U.S. in 1971. Yes, there were karate studios (but judo was more popular), but - hard as it is to believe - there were no karate TV shows, no karate movies, and no karate mentality. Bruce Lee hadn’t arrived yet. (Many say the success of ‘Billy Jack’ was the ignition switch that prompted studios like Warner Brothers to go out an find ‘karate’ films like ‘Enter The Dragon’.) The entire world of karate - to most americans - at that point in time consisted of a karate chop.
From that setting comes ‘Billy Jack’, a movie that not only has barely a karate chop in it, but features a rather esoteric form of karate called Hapkido. Bong Soo Han was the highest ranking master of Hapkido in the U.S. Han instructed and doubled Tom in the fight scenes in the film. To help promote both the film and Master Han’s hapkido instruction, Tom set up a karate demonstration on the lot at Warner Brothers, the studio distributing ‘Billy Jack’. It was a standing-room-only event. All the employees and executives flocked to see this amazing fighting technique demonstrated by a true Master.
This clip comes to us courtesy of Michael Appel from his collection. Thank you, Michael.
ive been into regular boxing for years, my cusin tony is a certified ninja and martial arts instructor in nevada, i forget his specific style he teaches, but id like to learn more of bong soo han and hapkido. martial arts are a beautiful way to disipline the self, stay healthy and worry less.
It’s good to see my 16mm film up on your site where other Tom Laughlin / Billy Jack fans can enjoy it.
Thank you, Frank.
Michael