Mma biography movies of elvis

PRESLEY, ELVIS (1935-77). Elvis Presley had two major obsessions in life secondary only to his music: karate and gospel music. In fact, he was by far the most famous celebrity ever to legitimately achieve the rank of black belt.

Presley’s interest in the martial arts commenced in 1958 when he saw a demonstration of either judo or jujutsu at Fort Hood. His first karate instructor was a German named Juergen Seidel, who began teaching Elvis while he was stationed in Germany with the U.S.

Army.

Mma biography movies of elvis presley

He also studied briefly with orientals, probably Vietnamese, during his leaves in Paris. He qualified for 1st degree black belt in 1960 in Memphis with the late Hank Slemansky, a Chito-ryu stylist. Slemansky was killed on active duty in Vietnam sometime in the mid 1960s.

Very little else is known of Presley’s early involvement in karate, other than his dedicated practice of his hobby with Rex Mansfield, another U.S. serviceman stationed in Germany. Whatever endeared Presley to karate