NOTE: John Palmer Parker died in 1868, and his estate was divided between his son, John Parker II and Sam Parker, the son of Ebenezer Parker. Mismanagement forced the ranch into a trust that took control from the Parker family in 1887. John Parker III, the son of John Parker the II married Elizabeth Jane Lanakila Dowsett, but died shortly after his daughter, Annie Thelma Parker, was born and his half of the estate was put in trust for their daughter, Thelma.

Colonel Sam Parker tried to take control of the ranch and the court battles that followed went all the way the Supreme Court. However, in 1906, Sam Parker sold his interest to Thelma Parker's trust, and she became to sole heir to the Parker Ranch.

Thelm Parker married Henry Gaillard Smart when she was eighteen and had one child, Richard Smart, who survived her (a daughter died young). Both Thelma and Henry Smart died before Richard was two years old, and in 1924 their son, Richard Smart, became the sole heir to the Parker Ranch estate. Richard Smart died in 1992 and he (Richard Smart) was the sole heir to the Parker estates during Ed Parker's entire life.

NOTE: The Parker ranch began in 1847 when King Kamehameha III gave a land grant of two (2) acres to John Parker for $10. His wife, Kipikane (Rachel) had a dowery of 640 acres, and John Parker bought 1,000 more acres the following year for 75 cents per acre. He then bought more land and created the famous Parker Ranch. His daughter, Mary Ann, married Kameeiamoku Waipa, and she received her inheritance as a dowry and no part of the Parker Ranch passed to her when her father died. It was through Mary Ann's line that Ed Parker's family descended. Mary Ann's dowery dissipated with her nine children, and no wealth passed to or through her children. Further, from the note above, it should be clear that neither Ed Parker nor his family had any claim to the Parker Ranch trust.

NOTE: My brother Jim and I began training with Ed Parker in 1957 and my brother Al Tracy began in 1958 after he was discharged from the Air Force. I first met Ed's father in Hawaii in early 1959, and he and I took the same flight to Los Angeles later in 1959. My brothers and I showed Ed's father around Los Angeles and we developed a close relationship. One of Ed Parker's, Jim Nessy, was a bull fighter, and we took Ed and his father to the bullfights in Tijuana, Mexico.

NOTE: When I went to Hawaii in 1959, Ed Parker gave me a list of Kenpo men for me to look up. Frank Chow was not one of them. He had never mentioned anything about Professor Chow having a brother, and Professor Chow never mentioned his brother to me either. Likewise, Ed's father talked about Professor Chow, and many of Ed's fellow students, but during the entire time I was in Hawaii, he never once mentioned Frank Chow.

There are some who say Ed Parker never studied Judo. Ed Parker in Infinite Insights into Kenpo : Mental Stimulation (p. 23) Ed wrote: "Having learned Judo, I could see that handeling two or more men was not a problem utalizing the Kenpo methods taught me." And it should be noted Ed does not say he "trained," or "studied" Judo, but the "learned Judo."

NOTE: I went to Hawaii in 1959 on the Matson cruise ship, SS Luriline. One of my Army buddies was the Communications Officer, and I was given free passage. However, I had been the manager for the Pasadena American Health Studio, and I filled in as a trainer at the ships gym. That saved me from having to join the union where I would have had to wait in line for two years to get that job.

Ed Parker told me he would never go on a Matson ship because of something they did when he was going to BYU. The local Matson agent had agreed to have Ed work for his passage, but at the last minute said he couldn't do it. That meant all the money Ed had earned at the pineapple cannery went for airfare. Ed had to borrow money from the Church to fly to Los Angeles, and Ed wasn't able to begin paying the Church back until he was in the Coast Guard, when he was able to pay about half the money back; and it wasn't until I was going to Hawaii that he finally was able to pay the rest of the money.

NOTE: Leilani Parker would later claim that Ed Parker came back to Hawaii during the summer after he went to BYU. He did not, and I doubt that she wants to try to prove me wrong, as I know the family Ed Parker lived with at Provo, Utah from 1949 to 1951, who said Ed Parker worked in Provo during the summer of 1950. So suffice it to say that once Ed Parker left for BYU in 1949, he did not return to Hawaii until after he was in the Coast Guard.

Ed Parker states in Infinite Insights into Kenpo : Mental Stimulation (p.25)"After two years at the Brigham Young University in Provo Utah, I was drafted into the Korean War in 1951 and managed to be stationed in Hawaii for two and a half years of my three year hitch with the U.S. Coast Guard...."

NOTE: Castro was released in 1955 after serving four years in the Coast Guard, and began training with Professor Chow in Hawaii after that. At that time (1955) Castro learned that Ed Parker was one of Professor Chow's brown belts.

Leaving Frank Chow out of the picture, or even assuming that Ed Parker had some training with Frank Chow, it's certain that Ed Parker took his first Kenpo lessons with Sonny Emperado, and Ed Parker was in the Coast Guard at the time.

NOTE: In 1965 (less than a year after Ed Parker's first International Tournament in 1964) Sonny Emperado put on a demonstration at a Kajukenbo tournament in the San Francisco Bay area. Ed Parker was an invited guest of honor, and my brother Al and I were there. After Emperado told the audience that he had been Ed Parker's first instructor, Sonny gave Ed a certificate, awarding him 5th degree black belt. Ed graciously accepted the certificate and made a few remarks about what a tough instructor Emperado had been, and how Emperado opened his (Ed's) eyes to what Kenpo was.

NOTE: There is a printed black belt certificate some are claiming Professor Chow gave Ed Parker in 1953. Professor Chow never gave a printed certificate. All his belt promotions were either given in Mitose's book, or on a common certificate that could be purchased at any 5 & dime or stationary store. A student filled out the certificate and Professor Chow would sign it. This was the kind of certificate Professor Chow signed for Masaichi Oshiro in 1953, which incidentally was after the date on the Ed Parker certificate.

NOTE: Dates in Kenpo are sometimes wrong because events, not dates, stick in our minds. What many, including myself, remember as happening in one year, actually occurred either before or after that time. I had once written that I had been with Professor Chow in the summer of 1960 when Chow went on a four-day drinking binge. I was off by one year. The drinking binge actually took place on August 21, 1959. I know the exact date because it began the day Hawaii was admitted as the 50th State, and it was the event, not the year that stuck in my mind.

Ed Parker also confused the date of some events. I brought these to Ed's attention and he simply stated it wasn't important. At the time it didn't seem important, but looking back, those dates of those events have become the "lies upon which American Kenpo exists."

This confusion of dates is common not only in kenpo, but throughout the martial arts. Dave Hebler told me he was promoted to Shodan in 1962, and I am in the picture at that promotion. The year was actually 1963, as Dave stated in his biography given to Black Belt Magazine.

Added by Roarke Tracy: Larry Tatum, makes an unusual claim in the "history" part of his website, stating "Larry Tatum began his study of Kenpo Karate in Pasadena, California in 1966, and has become one of this style's most prominent figures." This may be, but he is selling a 1975 video interview with Ed Parker, made "...right after he received his first degree black belt." That means it took Larry Tatum nine years to get his black belt. My father told me th 1975 date is correct for Larry Tatum's black belt, and Frank Trejo and Tatum got their black belts at the same time.

Another problem is transposing names, events or people. This is usually a simple mistake that is not caught in editing. This is usually found in inconsistent dates, where a time, date is given and then a different date or time is given for the same event. These are simply writing errors and are easily corrected in addendum's or subsequent writings, and no one should Ed Parker or anyone for this.

What is beyond dispute is that Ed only taught Island boys prior to a demonstration Ed put on during half-time at a BYU, UCLA basketball game.

"While completing my education at B.Y.U. I formed a closed club teaching only students from Hawaii...I was asked to put on a Kenpo Karate demonstration during the basketball half-time intermission (early in December 1954) between B.Y.U. and U.C.L.A. The success of this demonstration launched an entirely new dimension in my life...In a matter of weeks I began teaching commercially in downtown Provo...."

In September of 1954, I resumed studies at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. It was difficult to readjust. Self-discipline now had to replace regimentation. There were some rough moments, but I managed to weather the first few months before finally getting back into the swing of things."

Not too long after its inception, one of these spectators, who was in charge of half time activities for all sporting events, asked me to demonstrate at a B.Y.U. v.s. U.C.L.A. basketball game.

Ed had always told us it was the half-time demonstration of the basketball game between BYU and UCLA that opened the door for him to teach Kenpo Karate to law enforcement agencies and led to him putting on Kenpo demonstrations throughout Utah, and that is what Ed Parker wrote in his book.

NOTE: BYU was on the quarter system, with four quarters (not the usual three of most colleges) because all Mormon young men were expected to go on missions for two or two and a half years, when they were nineteen. This made it easy for them to end or start college within any three months of the year.

All young men were expected to go on missions when they turned nineteen, and it was at that time they were ordained Elders in the Mormon Church. Anyone who really knew Ed Parker knew why he did not go on a mission, even though he was ordained as an Elder.

NOTE: The freshman female students outnumbered the combined freshman through senior student body at BYU - it's where a girl went to find a husband.

The first game ever played between BYU and UCLA was during the 1929-30 season, (December 21, 22) at UCLA in Los Angeles. The two teams met again during the 1949-50 NCAA Championship game at Kansas City (BYU beat UCLA 83-62), and Rich Montgomery, who would become Ed Parker's second black belt, was on that B.Y.U. team. It's a matter of public record (SEE: B.Y.U. Basketball All Time Results) that 1955 was the first year in the history of BYU basketball that BYU played UCLA at BYU (Provo) and they only played two games that season on December 2 and 3.

Ed Parker had the game right, but the year was wrong.

NOTE: BYU hired Ed as an adjunct instructor for an 055 class in self-defense for law officers. This meant law enforcement students could get college credit for the course, though the credits were not transferable and did not count towards a degree - 100 and above courses were transferable.

NOTE: Many in American Kenpo have questioned why any criticism of Ed Parker was not published until after his death. Everything I have written on Kenpo has been published on the Internet. Ed Parker died in 1990. The World Wide Web was not chartered by CERN until 1992. The InterNIC was created by NSF in 1993. My writings began in 1995, and were originally posted on tracyskarate.com.

For those who are incapable of understanding this time line, Ed Parker died before the World Wide Web was created. What I have written is of interest to only a handful of people, those who want to know the history of Kenpo as one who was there saw it; and, there is certainly not enough interest to justify a book. Additionally, some of the information I have presented in the past was known only to a handful of people. However, with the Gathering of Eagles earlier this year, most of what I have written was confirmed by Sonny Emperado, Ralph Castro and others. But more importantly, some things that didn't seem important in the past have proved to be quite significant, especially in light of the out and out lies that have been presented by many in American Kenpo.

There's another fallacy in the argument against saying anything about Ed Parker after he died. Others are writing about him, and not only repeating inaccuracies, but creating a whole new line of lies. Then there are those like Leilani Parker who wrote in Memories of Ed Parker, Delsby Publications 1997 (page 27) "...Ed was invited to demonstrate his skills during intermission of a basketball game between BYU and UCLA early in December 1954..." that date is impossible, since the first game ever between BYU and UCLA at BYU was in December 1955. Yet this error is repeated by many in American Kenpo, and the perpetuation of this lie promotes the assertion that Ed Parker taught his Utah students for eighteen months, instead of the six months he actually taught. And that additional year has given credence to the absurd claim that Charles Beeder was Ed Parker's first black belt.

Then there is an interview Ed Parker gave for Karate International magazine, that was not published until after Ed died. Speaking from the grave, Ed stated, "The Tracy brothers were students of mine back in the late 50's and early 60's. When they left me they were brown belts." That is patently false, as will be shown later

NOTE by Roarke Tracy: My father and Uncle Jim began training in October, 1957, and my Uncle Al was in the Air Force. About two weeks later Uncle Al had over two months of leave time and came went Pasadena where he began training. He came back on another thirty day leave in mid 1958, before going discharged from the Air Force, when the began training each week.

I trained with Ed Parker until the March 1959 and having access to Ed Parker's Kenpo techniques he kept on 3x5 index cards in his desk my brothers and I copied them by hand because there were no copy machines back then. As my brothers an I went through the cards to pick out the techniques he would teach the advanced class each night it became obvious that Ed had taught us just about everything he had on the cards; which was everything he knew. I told Ed I wanted to go to Hawaii to train with Professor Chow and Ed liked the idea, because he knew from the Island boys who had come over, that Professor Chow was not happy with him. Ed wanted to make amends, and he wanted Professor Chow to promote him to a higher rank. But Ed also wanted to add forms to his system. All of the Japanese karate demonstrations were getting great response from their forms, but Ed didn't have any. I suggested that we go to San Francisco where I knew several Kung Fu men, and Ed could see what Chinese forms were like.

Ed had turned the Pasadena studio over to Al and Jim Tracy in August 1959, to finish the photographs for his book so he could go to Hawaii, and Al and Jim raised the first months gross receipts from its usual $600 to over $1,000. When Ed returned from Hawaii in late September 1959, he found the school doing so well that he saw no need to go there to teach, and that gave him time to go over the final draft for his book. Over the next few weeks, Ed taught private lessons to the Beverly Hills students, and train Al and Jim in his back yard each day when they brought the studio receipts to him. By the end of the year, December, which was always the worst month for money in the school, Al and Jim brought in $2000.