Our teacher, Mr. Bryan Hawkins, has been a student of martial arts for over thirty-five years. He began studying Kenpo Karate in 1980 at the old West Los Angeles Studio. He was a private student of Senior Grandmaster Edmund K. Parker and managed the school in West Los Angeles from 1987 until Mr. Parker’s untimely passing in 1990.
Because of this relationship, we are fortunate to directly receive Mr. Parker’s Kenpo Karate legacy through the instruction of Mr. Hawkins. As a long time private student of Mr. Parker’s, Mr. Hawkins is considered one of the foremost authorities of American Kenpo Karate.
Mr. Hawkins worked as a Kenpo Karate technical advisor with Ed Parker for the film "The Perfect Weapon" and has since advised on numerous television projects and theatrical releases.
Mr. Hawkins owns and operates Bryan Hawkins Kenpo Karate studios in West Los Angeles, Camarillo, and Granada Hills, CA. In addition, he is President of United Kenpo Systems, a martial arts organization with affiliates throughout the United States and abroad.
"Although the Pasadena school is the mother ship of EPAK, the West Los Angeles schools have their own unique place in Kenpo history. In total, there have been seven schools that began with the La Cienega school in 1961 and ended with Bryan Hawkins Kenpo Karate school that exists today on Venice Boulevard. A year after Bryan Hawkins was hired to manage the West LA school, Ed Parker said, "Bryan, my name on that sign is what brings people in, but your name is what keeps them here." Besides keeping the West LA Kenpo flame burning, Bryan Hawkins has made a tremendous contribution to our communal spirit."
from The International Journey by Tom Bleecker
ISBN 978-0-9653132-9-2
Copyright © Gilderoy Publications | Capistrano Beach, California
