How Good Was Elvis At Karate?

Back in the late 1950s, The King of rock n roll, Elvis Presley, began training Karate whilst in the US army. Within a few years, he was a 7th Dan black belt in the art. So, what does this mean? Well, firstly, it usually takes a minimum of three years training to achieve the black belt. More precisely, it takes a bare minimum of seven years to reach 7th Dan status. With this said, how did Elvis get to the rank of 7th Dan so quickly?

To answer this question, the devil is in the detail. According to Elvis himself, he had quite a high opinion of his skills at the time, and said “It’s called Karate, man. Only two kinds of people know it, The Chinese and The King. And one of them is me.” It should be noted that Presley’s addiction to opiates and painkillers began during the early ’60s, around the time he would have said this quote and around the same time he was awarded the coveted 7th Dan… read more >