Black belt brings martial arts tourney to Bayside
By Elizabeth Stein
07/12/2007
The self-proclaimed “world’s greatest promoter,” martial artist Aaron Banks, now in his seventies and a Forest Hills resident since 1978, is holding the U.S. Open of Martial Arts at the Hotel Adria in Bayside Sunday.
Before Bruce Lee brought martial arts to the “Green Hornet” on television, Banks began training at a small Manhattan karate studio in 1958.
But his road to a black belt was not a straight one.
An aspiring actor, Banks worked at the Colony Record store by day in Manhattan in the late 1950s. One day, Banks and a colleague had an argument that came to blows. Their fight lasted 30 minutes and had to be broken up by the police, he recalled.
“I couldn’t sleep that night because when you know you’re in the right and somehow you more or less get beaten up, well, that bothered me,” he said. He wanted to learn to fight.
The very next day he stepped into a Manhattan karate studio and began the training that would change his life. Something of a hard partier before, Banks soon gave up smoking and drinking and was feeling the full effects of the disciplined martial arts lifestyle.
“As time went on, it made me feel so good and I felt more in contact with myself than I ever felt in my whole life. I just thought the public should know about it,” he said.
Banks, now a grandmaster and a 10th degree black belt, said karate and the other martial arts were not well known in the United States when he opened his own karate school, the New York Karate Academy, and began holding tournaments. His was one of the first martial arts schools to offer instruction in various disciplines and Banks contends that he brought martial arts from the streets to the classroom and eventually to arena stages.
“Before you knew it, I was on television, I’m doing demos … I had no agent, there was no manager. It was all by my own thinking. I thought some samurai spirit got inside me,” he said.
Banks taught the likes of Louis Armstrong, Paul Sorvino and Muhammad Ali at his school and in 1966 launched the Oriental World of Self-Defense, a popular event that was televised on ABC in 1974. His Oriental World of Self-Defense show has attracted fighting greats like Chuck Norris of “Walker, Texas Ranger” fame.
“I sold out the [Madison Square] Garden, 20,000 people. The show was like the Icecapades … It was on that level. The word got out and I was on TV all over the place. People were saying that I turned marial arts into a form of entertainment,” Banks said.
This year will mark the 26th U.S. Open of Martial Arts, sponsored by Banks’ organization, the World Professional Martial Arts Organization. He is running the event with co-chairman and fellow grandmaster Robert Ornes, who said the event would bring competitors from around the world. Ornes runs the American Shotokan Kodokan Dojo in St. James, L.I.
In addition to being entertained, Banks said people should come see the tournament to learn about martial arts.
“Parents should bring their children so they can see how other children - whatever their ages might be - they can see the discipline, the respect the children have,” he said.
Children as young as five compete in pee-wee tournaments, and there are first, second and third place trophies for children’s men’s and women’s divisions. But women sometimes compete against men, he said.
While most competitors are pre-registered, interested martial artists can sign up on the day of the event with information to prove they attend accredited schools.
There will also be a demonstration from gold medalist Grandmaster Tony Loupakis.
The event starts at 3 p.m. at the Hotel Adria at 220-33 Northern Blvd. on July 15. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children.
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30 minute fight? Was that split into rounds?