|
Benny Urquidez (born June 20, 1952) is an American kickboxer, martial arts choreographer and actor. Nicknamed The Jet, Urquidez was a non-contact karate competitor who later pioneered full-contact fighting in the U.S. He made the transition from point to full-contact karate in 1974 – the year of its inception in the U.S. – frequently fighting in bouts where the rules were ambiguous and contrasts in styles were dramatic. Urquidez is also known for once holding the rare achievement of six World Titles in five different weight divisions, and Urquidez remained largely undefeated in his 27-year career. His only loss came in a Muay Thai bout. Between 1974 and 1993, he amassed a documented professional record of 49–1–1 (win-loss-draw) with 35 knockouts and two controversial no-contests, although he is also supposed to have an additional record of 10–0–1 (10 KOs) in undocumented pro fights, making a total of 59–1–2–2 (45 KOs). However, sources vary with Ratings listing Urquidez as 63–0–1, (57 knockouts) and on his own official webpage, Urquidez lists his fight record as 200–0, and says he was 63–0, with 57 knockouts in title defenses. Also, he claims to have been undefeated in the "Adult Black Belt Division" prior to entering full-contact karate. ''Black Belt'' magazine voted Urquidez "Competitor of the Year" in 1978. ==Biography== Urquidez was born in Los Angeles County, California, the son of a wrestling mother and a boxing father, who was born in Granada, Nicaragua and is descended from Basque Spaniards and Blackfoot American Indians. His sister Lilly Rodriguez was a pioneer in kickboxing for women. He began competing in 1958, at the age of five, in "peewee" boxing and wrestling in Los Angeles. This was followed by martial arts instruction at the age of 7, for which his first formal teacher was Bill Ryusaki.〔("Bill Ryusaki" ). www.kenponet.com, Retrieved 2011-06-04〕 He received his black belt at the age of 14, a feat which was highly unusual during the 1960s. He entered the point circuit in 1964, and earned the reputation as an extremely colorful fighter. At the 1972 Santa Monica Kempo Open, Urquidez lost in the finals to Brian Strian. In the 1973 Internationals, he fought John Natividad in one of the greatest non-contact bouts in history. In an unprecedented 25-point overtime match, Natividad won the match and the Grand Title, 13-12 and the $2,500 purse. In May 1974, at the PAWAK Tournament, Urquidez lost a 4-1 decision to Joe Lewis. He also competed in England and Belgium as a member of Ed Parker's 1974 US team. Also, in 1974, he began his move away from the non-contact style by entering and winning the World Series of Martial Arts Championship, which was effectively a tough-man contest with few rules. Over the next two decades he fought under various kickboxing organizations (NKL, WPKO, PKA, WKA, AJKBA, Shin-Kakutojutsu Federation, NJPW and MTN) to amass a record of 58 wins with no losses. This undefeated record, though official, is controversial and highly disputed. In 1977, Urquidez traveled to Japan for the first time and fought under the WKA's compromise US-Japan rules which included leg kicks and knees to the body.〔 In his first fight he defeated Katsuyuki Suzuki by 6th round KO (August 1977) as part of the professional wrestling event in which Antonio Inoki fought Everett Eddy in what was said to be the wrestler/karate fighter mixed match (in reality this was just another pre-determined pro-wrestling match). The Suzuki fight was materialized due to the fact that the WKA, then newly formed organization, could not compete against the PKA in the stateside, therefore, WKA president Howard Hanson and vice-president Arnold Urquidez had to look for actions in overseas.〔Japan〕 At the same time, the Japanese professional wrestler Antonio Inoki, who gained the worldwide fame by fighting Muhammad Ali in the controversial boxer/wrestler mixed-match in the previous year in Japan, had been looking for new opponents for what he called the world martial arts championship series. Eventually, promoter Ron Holmes discovered Everett Eddy for Inoki. By that time, Eddy had been coached by Arnold Urquidez, and suffered the 1st round KO to the PKA world heavyweight champion Ross Scott in the previous year. In the same event, Benny Urquidez knocked out Howard Jackson, but soon his lightweight title was stripped by the PKA, and so both Eddy and Urquidez had no action in the US, and had to look for fights overseas. Even though the Inoki/Eddy bout was successful, it was the fight between Urquidez and Suzuki, which shocked Japan, where Japanese Kickboxing had been very popular. Though never tested for or achieved any rank in Japanese karate, he has decided to bestow upon himself, the rank of Sensei. A Japanese term, which at the most shallowest term, would mean "Guide." The All-Japan Kickboxing Association, for which Suzuki had been rated as No.2, became interested in the American sport of full-contact karate, decided to promote series of mixed-rules bouts between the American full-contact karate fighters and Japanese kickboxers. On November 14, 1977, the AJKF held the first of such event which featured Benny Urquidez, his brother-in-law Blinky Rodriguez, Marc Costello, Brendan Leddy, Tony Lopez, Leonard Galiza and Freddy Avila. Only Benny Urquidez and Costello came out as the winners for the American team.〔(“Urquidez Retains Title with Knockout Over Okao” ) (April 1978). ''Black Belt (magazine)'' (digitized by Google Books), p. 10. Retrieved on 3 November 2010.〕 Urquidez's victory over Kunimitsu Okao convinced the Japanese fight fans, and eventually began to be featured as the central figure for what was supposed to be the documentary comic book called, "The Square Ring" until he declined to avenge his loss against the Thai opponent Prayout Sittiboonlert. After 1980, Urquidez' ring appearances became less frequent. Between 1981 and 1984 he fought only sporadically. In 1984, he fought Ivan Sprang in Amsterdam under modified Muay Thai rules (no elbows), winning by 6th round TKO. His ring career largely came to a halt after 1985, and he retired after facing Yoshihisa Tagami at the age of 41. From that time on, he devoted himself to acting, teaching kick boxing and martial arts choreography. Urquidez's late brother Reuben was also a competitive martial artist and actor; they appeared together in a 1982 training video "World Of Martial Arts", together with Steve Sanders (karate), Chuck Norris and John Saxon. In 2000, Urquidez and Emil Farkas founded the Los Angeles Film Fighting Institute, which was one of the first schools of its kind in the United States to teach martial artists the intricacies of stunt work. Urquidez has had training in nine styles: judo, kajukenbo, shotokan, taekwondo, lima lama, white crane kung fu, jujutsu, aikido, and karate. He is the founder of Ukidokan Karate. He continued to teach at "The Jets Gym" in North Hollywood, California. Urquidez has also authored various instructional books and videos. He also has a special friendship with actor/client John Cusack with whom talks of opening up a bigger gym in Santa Monica, targeting former champions as clients and trainers are in the works as Cusack has shown interest in taking part as co-owner.〔 "The Jets Gym" in the North Hollywood location closed in 2007, to make way for a shopping mall. Today, he is still very active teaching privately, and working as a stunt coordinator in the entertainment business. He teaches Ukidokan Kickboxing at (Team Karate Center ) in Woodland Hills, which is now the official "Jet" Training Center. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Benny Urquidez」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|