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KEN KNUDSON
Ken Knudson started Karate on November 5, 1965 and quickly found that his passion was sparring. Ken immediately
searched the entire city of Chicago to find the best Sparring Instructor in the city who was Jimmy Jones then at
the South Town YMCA. As Ken says Jimmy Jones was the best instructor in the world at that time not only in sparring
but Kata's & self defense as well. Jimmy would do everything he asked you to do and more every time. James Jones
created & developed new techniques in sparring, self defense and Kata's.
In 1970 Ken Knudson was the first Black Belt from the Midwest to be on the cover of the May issue of Black Belt
Magazine. It was customary for Black Belt Magazine to provide a celebrity to spend an entire day with you. For Ken
it was Bruce Lee. Such a great bond was established between Ken and Bruce that Bruce mentioned Ken on his now legendary
recordings about Jeet Kune Do.
Ken Knudson was the only person to have won twice 1971 & 1972 the Top Ten Nationals Grand Champion "Gold Cup
Award".
In August of 1978 Knudson became a living legend again catching two-car thieves while driving past his Sybaris
romantic getaway 8 hours after they had stolen his boat. He forced them off the road and then they tried to run him
over with their car to find Knudson flying thru the windshield with a side kick, as though it was right out of a Chuck
Norris movie.
Ken Knudson was the fighting legend out of Chicago “The Windy City”. He was known as a successful Martial Arts
fighter, instructor, official, promoter and business person. He dominated the Midwest Karate scene from 1967 until
1973 winning over 100 Championships. In 1974 Mr. Knudson chose to retire from competition to go back to flying
airplanes and develop his businesses. Ken has entered the ring thru-out five different decades to honor, love and
respect the Martial Arts.
History
- Instructed by James Jones, Ed Wzentik, Jim Koncevic, Chuck Czochara, Algene Caraulia
- 1965 began training six days a week with competition on Sunday’s
- 1967 - 1973 won over 100 Championships
- 1968 Jim Chapman’s Tri State Champion Aurora, Illinois
- 1969 Ken Knudson, Bill Wallace & Jim Koncevic defeated the East / West Coast teams
- 1970 was the first Black Belt from the Midwest to be on the cover of Black Belt Magazine
- 1970 Top Ten Karate Competitor in the United States by Black Belt Magazine
- 1971 USKA heavy weight Champion
- 1971 & 1972 Top Ten Nationals Grand Champion “Gold Cup Award”
- 1972 Missouri State Grand Champion
- 1973 ranked in the Top Twenty Karate Players of North America
- 1973 retired from Karate competition
- 1976 featured on the July cover of Black Belt Magazine
- 1977 sold the balance of his Karate businesses
- 1980 competed point challenge match on the Chicago Flames
- 1985 competed in the seniors Karate Champion Chicago Illinois
- 1989 competed in the seniors Karate Champion 17th Prairie State
- 1997 presented the Martial Arts Pioneers Award
- 1997 inducted into the Blue Grass Hall of Fame
- 1998 inducted into the Battle of Atlanta Centurion Club
- 2000 competed at Tom Letuli’s “Legends Karate Championship”
- 2001 presented Life Time Martial Arts Certificate
- 2001 8th degree Black Belt by Ken Eubanks, John Sharkey, & Bill Wallace
Noteables
- Karate certification official
- Founder of the Midwest Karate Association
- President of the American Karate Association
- Created Midwest Enterprises Martial Arts Supply business
- Manufactured Karate Uniforms under the Midwest Enterprises (ME) label
- Designed the first professional Karate Uniform
- Karate’s first home training audio visual system in 1971 (6 tapes and striking block)
- Created a vitamin supplement named Nutri-Pac for Karate competitors.
- Designed and printed training manuals and log book for each student in 1968
- 10 Karate Schools located in Chicago area and Indianapolis
- Promoted the AKA Grand Nationals 1973, 1974 & 1975
- Implemented the first safety equipment rules in 1973 for mouth guards and cups
- Produced a one hour film documentary of a Karate Championship
- Produced Midwest Karate Championships
Professional Karate Magazine 1973
“Ken Knudson - another human destroyer. When Knudson charges, he shows no mercy. He is one of America’s roughest
fighters and never throws a weak technique or gives one inch of ground. Knudson opponents cringe in pain when he
devastatingly sweeps both their legs from under them. He does not sweep at the back of the legs. He sweeps you
directly into the shinbones and you fall right on your face.”
 After retiring from Karate competition in 1973 Knudson again pursued his love for flying and creating businesses.
All of his business was built with the commitment of a strong team of individuals. The Karate schools were headed
up by such greats as Flem Evans, Bill Jozaitis, Mike Cass, Mike McNamara, Ken Kolodziej, Herb Johnson, Bill Wallace and
Rande Repke.
In August of 1978, Knudson became a living legend while catching two-car thieves driving past his Sybaris romantic
getaway 8 hours after they had stolen his boat. He forced them off the road and then they tried to run him over with
their car to find Knudson flying thru the windshield with his foot, as though it was right out of a Chuck Norris movie.
Ken’s stability started after he settled down in a permanent relationship with his wife, Charlene. With the addition
of a dog named Bunny and his son working along side, he said that his life started to have a decent outlook. “Most of
the time in business, you are living on the edge. Now if we can continue the slow, solid growth we will look to pass
it on to the younger generation”. When asked what you think one should do to become successful he responded with
- do your best at everything you want to do
- surround yourself with good people
- continue to study and learn always
- never give up
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