An In Depth Interviews with : JACK AUTRY: 35 year veteran and instructor of Mr. Parker's American Kenpo. Well we have Mr. Autry with us here today. Mr. A. Hi Paul how are you doing? Mr. D. All of us here in Southern California know Mr. Autry very well, and hopefully at the end of this interview people across the United States and all of the other people who visit the web site over seas will know a little bit more about the man. We know your stories are credible because you spent time with Mr. Parker, and the time you shared with him was special, so hopefully some of this will come across in the interview. Mr. D. Why don't you give us a little bit of history on your Kenpo background. Mr. A Sure, well I was born in New York in 1942. I was born in the projects in Buffalo, NY and if any of you folks out there that were raised in the projects know that you learned to fight early on in life and that was the means of survival. I moved to El Monte where again the protocol was street fighting and it wasn't by choice it was by survival that I learned to fight a lot in the street. And this is how it was all the way through high school. I didn't meet Mr. Parker 'til I was about 26 years old but a fairly seasoned street fighter, or at least I thought I was anyway, and I can remember the first time I walked into the Ed Parker Studio in West Los Angeles, which was sometimes referred to as the Santa Monica school. I was chomping at the bit to get into something physical and to be honest I didn't even know what karate was. We are talking about 1966. I walked into the studio and there was Mr. Parker sitting behind the desk, and he said, "What can I do for you?" I said, "Well I have been kind of a physical guy, I played football in school." Mr. Parker said, "Well, have you done any fighting?" I said, "Well I don't like to brag about it but I have been in my share of fights." And Mr. Parker said, "Well what happened to your tooth?" He had noticed that my two front teeth were missing. I told him that there was a little fisticuffs after a football game and that I did a perfect block against some brass knuckles with my teeth. Mr. Parker said, "I can tell you have been out there, fought a lot and you're confident." Mr. Parker had a way to look at you and in your eyes and he could tell if you were afraid or not. He said, "Well what do you know about karate?" And I said, "I don't know anything about it." He said, "Well let's step out here on the mat. Why don't you punch me here right in the nose." And you know, Paul, I threw about a 50% punch and he just kind of stepped out of the way. Mr. Parker said, "I do not think you can hit me. I want you to hit my nose." So I did the old John Wayne roundhouse punch and tried to hit him with everything I could, and the next thing I know I was on the ground looking up with him saying, "That was a nice try, wasn't it?!" So I started immediately. I was there 5 to 6 days a week for the next several years. Mr D So who was running the school at that time? Mr A Mr. Paul Dalton was running the school at that time. After he left a man by the name of Tom Kelly ran the school. And the next most important thing other than meeting Mr. Parker was meeting Mr. Kelly. Mr. D So what was it like to bare knuckle fight Mr. Kelly? Mr A Now that was something to behold. When Mr. Kelly came to the studio I was weighing about 215 pounds and he was 100 pounds more than I was. And he could move like you could not believe. I can remember that we went to fight in San Francisco and I took 1st place in my division and he took 1st place in his division. I was a brown belt and he was a black belt. I was 215 lbs. and he was 315 lbs. I had never seen anybody move like Tom Kelly before or since. Mr D What was his control like? Mr A Tom Kelly had very good control. I could not believe that a man that size could roundhouse me in the head before I could block it. I was fortunate to learn from Ed Parker and Tom Kelly. Mr D I know that you mentioned that belts were white with no color to them. Was it true that they were white with markings on them to show rank? Mr A That is absolutely right. When I started with Ed Parker it was white belt with markings added for promotion, and it was not as organized as it is today. Mr. D Let me ask you this Do you remember the day you tested for Black Belt with Mr. Parker sitting in the center chair? Mr A I don't think anybody forgets testing in front of Mr. Parker. I can remember that my Black Belt test was in 1972. My cousin Lincoln Conti was working out of Pasadena, and I was working out of West L.A. We decided to combine our efforts and test for Black together. I do remember that it was the same night Mr. Trejo was promoted to Brown Belt. I think anybody in Kenpo knows who Mr. Frank Trejo is. I say this with great respect. Mr. Parker always had a unique way to run a test, and it was run his way. I know that when I sit on testing boards the students are nervous and their adrenaline is pumping, but there was nothing quite like the adrenaline rush with Mr. Parker there. There was something totally unique about performing in his presence. He was the best of the best. Mr. D Maybe there is something we should clarify for some people, and that is that Mr. Parker did not run the test. Mr A He never ran the test. Mr. D Can you tell them how the test was run? Mr A Sure The person who ran the test was not Mr. Parker. He would appoint someone else to call out the test. Sometimes they were aware that they were going to run the test and sometimes they were not. Mr. D What was the average time of the tests? Mr. A Our tests were usually around the 3 ½ hour mark. Mr. Parker enjoyed seeing one's stamina, or lack of stamina. And in those days we didn't know any better, so we went all day long. Mr. D Let's carry things down the timeline a little further. Now that you are one of his senior ranking Black Belts, can you tell us what it was like to sit to his right side on the testing board? Mr. A That is a good question, Paul. While sitting in his office after the test, if there was ever a question about a student's performance, he would ask the instructor of the student for input. The instructor would give us the information we need to assess the student's performance. Mr. Parker never wanted to fail a student. He did not feel that was his job. When people were put in front of him they should be ready to be promoted. If there was a problem with a student it was not the student's fault, it was the instructor's fault. There were times I saw Mr. Parker chastise the instructor for sending a student to the test without being ready yet. It amazes me that I sat on many boards with him, and I can tell you he never forgot a name of a student or the way the student moved on the mat. He would remember that the person performed better this test than last and why that was. He was not real big on saying what you were doing wrong. He would rather point out things that you were doing right. |
Jack Autry Interview |
