Benny Urquidez

Benny Urquidez (born June 20, 1952) is an American kickboxer, martial arts choreographer and actor. Nicknamed The Jet, Urquidez was a non-contact karate competitor who later pioneered full-contact fighting in the USA. He made the transition from point to full-contact karate in 1974 – the year of its inception in the US – frequently fighting in bouts where the rules were ambiguous and contrasts in styles were dramatic. Between 1974 and 1993, he amassed a record of 58-0-0 (win-loss-draw) with 49 knockouts and three controversial no-contests. Black Belt Magazine voted Urquidez "Fighter of the Year" in 1978. Benny's late brother Reuben was also a competitive martial artist and actor; they appeared together in a 1982 training video, "Al Thomas's World Of Martial Arts"...as did Mitsuru Yamashita, Steve Sanders, Dave Vaden, Victor Ledbetter, Randy Hall, Chuck Norris and John Saxon.

Biography

Urquidez was born in Los Angeles County California, the son of a wrestling mother and a boxing father, and is descended from Basque Spaniards and Amerindians. He began competing in 1958, at the age of five, in "peewee" boxing in Los Angeles. This was followed by martial arts instruction at the age of 8, for which his first formal teacher was Bill Ryusaki. He received his black belt at the age of 14, a feat which was highly unusual during the 1960s. He entered the point circuit in 1964, and earned the reputation as an extremely colorful fighter. In the 1973 Internationals, he fought John Natividad in one of the greatest non-contact bouts in history. He also competed in England and Belgium as a member of Ed Parker's 1974 US team. Also, in 1974, he began his move away from the non-contact style by entering and winning the World Series of Martial Arts Championship, which was effectively a tough-man contest with few rules. Over the next two decades he fought under various different kickboxing organizations (NKL, WPKO, PKA, WKA, AJKBA, KATOGI, NJPW and MTN) to amass a record of 58 wins with no losses. In 1977, Urquidez travelled to Japan for the first time and fought under WKA rules which included leg kicks. In his first fight he defeated Katsuyuki Suzuki by 6th round KO (August 1977). To avenge this loss, the undefeated fighter Kunimatsu Okau came out of retirement to challenge Urquidez. Urquidez won this bout by 4th round KO (November 1977). After 1980, Urquidez' ring appearances became less frequent. Between 1981 and 1984 he fought only sporadically. In 1984, he fought Ivan Sprang in Amsterdam under Muay Thai rules, winning by 6th round TKO. His ring career largely came to a halt after 1985, after which he fought only two fights: once in 1989 against Nobuya Azuka, and once in 1993 (at the age of 41) against Yoshihisa Tagami. He won both fights by decision. From that time on, he devoted himself to acting, teaching kick boxing and martial arts choreography. Urquidez has obtained black belts in nine styles: judo, kempo, shotokan, taekwondo, lima lama, white crane kung fu, jujutsu, aikido, and karate. He is the founder of Ukidokan Karate.Today, he continues to teach at "The Jets Gym" in North Hollywood, California. Urquidez has also authored various instructional books and videos.

Controversial Fight Decisions

Urquidez fought in three bouts which were eventually ruled no-contest (NC). The first, in Los Angeles in March 1977, was a nine-round NC (WKA) against Thai boxer Narongnoi Kiatbandit. The second and most controversial fight was against another Thai fighter, Prayuth (sometimes spelled Prayoud) Sittiboonlert in August 1978 in Tokyo, Japan. Japanese and Thai officials state this was a bout and a loss for Urquidez, who had difficulty with the Thai's aggressive knee and clinch strategy. Urquidez and the WKA state it was a no-contest, that there was no weigh-in, and that larger-than-usual gloves were used. Officially, the fight was ruled a six-round NC (KATOGI). Finally, Urquidez fought to a seven-round NC (WKA) against Billy Jackson in Palm Beach, Florida. The no-contest status of these fights has been corroborated in print by Paul Maslak (Chief Administrator of the Star System) ^[1]. However, recent research has come up with new data which casts a shadow on Urquidez's "undefeated" record. In the November 1984 issue of Official Karate Magazine, on page 45, Paul Maslak in his Star System Ratings (for March 1984) lists Urquidez as the Star System World Super-Lightweight Champion with a record of 56 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw, with 47 wins by knockout, and 14 wins by kick-knockout. Almost a year later in the September 1985 issue of Official Karate (page 44), Urquidez's record is still listed as 56-1-1.

Movie Roles

Urquidez played a leading role in various martial arts movies. The first was Force: Five (1981) starring Joe Lewis and Bong Soo Han. Later, he made two movies with Jackie Chan: Wheels on Meals (1984) and Dragons Forever (1988), where he fights against the characters played by Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, with Urquidez as a tough opponent who is defeated in the climactic fight scenes of both movies. His final fight with Chan in Wheels on Meals is considered to be one of the finest fights of the movie genre. He had a small cameo appearance in the movie Street Fighter (1994), playing one of the prisoners put in a truck with Ken, Ryu, Sagat, and Vega. Urquidez also starred in the film Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) as Felix La Poubelle (note that la poubelle means the dustbin in French), a hitman sent to kill a character played by John Cusack. Recently, he appeared in 1408 (2007), also starring John Cusack, as one of the ghosts in the motel. In reality, Urquidez is Cusack's long-time kickboxing trainer.

References

• J. Corcoran and E. Farkas, Martial Arts: Traditions, History, People. W.H. Smith (New York, 1983)
• Benny Urquidez, King of The Ring. Pro Action Publishing (Los Angeles, 1995) ISBN 0-9615126-4-4

Notes

1. ^ Benny Urquidez, King of The Ring. Pro Action Publishing (Los Angeles, 1995) ISBN 0-9615126-4-4, p. 318

External links

• Benny Urquidez at the Internet Movie Database
• Urquidez biography from the Paradise Warrior Retreat Center
• An interview with Urquidez from Mike Miles' website

See also

• List of male kickboxers