Jeff Speakman

Jeff Speakman (conceived November 8, 1958) is an American performer and a military craftsman in the specialty of American kenpo karate and Japanese Goju-Ryu, gaining dark belts in each.

Early life

Speakman was brought up in suburbia of Chicago, Illinois, where he was a springboard jumper at John Hersey High School and accomplished All-American status. He moved on from Missouri Southern State College.

He has said that the TV program Kung Fu got him keen on military arts, and he started by concentrating on in the Okinawan military craft of Goju Ryu Karate until accomplishing dark belt rank. His teacher then suggested that, in the event that he was truly goal in seeking after hand to hand fighting as a way of life, then he ought to go searching for Ed Parker, a companion of his lord. Speakman sold his auto to pay for the moving costs and succeeded in meeting Parker at one of his acclaimed competitions. Speakman invested years preparing in American Kenpo under his main teacher, Larry Tatum, and in addition under Ed Parker, the organizer of the system.

Speakman got his first degree dark belt in American Kenpo in 1984. He has thusly gotten a ninth degree rank in kenpo karate with other instructors, furthermore as of now holds a ninth degree dark belt[5] in the Goju-Ryu Karate style which he started to think about under Grandmaster Lou Angel beginning in 1978.

Speakman is likewise organizer and executive of American Kenpo Karate Systems (AKKS), a universal kenpo karate association with more than 50 schools. 

In 2013, Speakman was sick with throat growth, be that as it may he has subsequent to completely recuperated from it. He has proceeded with his hand to hand fighting work, changing his past affiliation, AKKS into Kenpo 5.0. Refering to some of Ed Parker's last articulations about American Kenpo, Speakman chose to make an endeavor to incorporate ground battling systems to Kenpo's self preservation educational programs. Speakman is unyielding that in doing this he is safeguarding the will of Parker, who constantly planned Kenpo to keep developing, and that his augmentations to the framework will build the understudies capacity to repulse any kind of attack.

Career

Speakman began acting in 1988 and turned into an on-screen character in 1991 with the arrival of The Perfect Weapon, He tailed this up with the element film Street Knight. In the United Kingdom, this motion picture was discharged straight to video in 1993. Other activity movies took after, including The Expert and Deadly Outbreak.

Speakman holds preparing camps each year (Jeff Speakman International Kenpo Camp) for American kenpo. In 1993, Jeff was drafted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame for "Teacher of the Year". He was additionally perceived for greatness in combative technique and was accepted into the Masters Hall of Fame in 2009 where he got the "Silver Life Achievement Award".