By Joseph Manniello
For nearly five decades Banks has been involved in martial arts. And finding someone who knows more about that subject would be as difficult as driving through a dozen cement blocks.On Aug. 15, Banks, 76, who also goes by the moniker “Great Grandmaster Banks,” will bring the 2004 World Karate Championship to the Adria Ramada Conference Center at 220-33 Northern Blvd. in Bayside.This is the fourth of its kind, with the other championships taking place in 1982, 1992 and 2000. The event kicks off at 1 p.m., and admission is $20 per adult and $10 for children under 10.Banks, who has put on 361 tournaments, is expecting a full house.”I think it's important that people come,” said Banks, a Bronx native who lives in Forest Hills, “especially the children and teenagers so they can come and see the discipline involved in such an affair.”Coming from all over the world, those participating, including men, women, children and senior citizens, will be split up into several divisions, competing in events such as weaponry, kata-forms (fighting techniques), self defense and wood-, glass- and cement-breaking.A 10th-degree black belt, Banks said he put karate on the map in the 1960s, when he said the sport was a virtual unknown, an underground spectacle at best. That is, until Banks came onto the scene.”When I started to do demonstrations, I was the only one doing it,” said Banks, who appeared on such television programs as “The Mike Douglas Show,” “The Dick Cavett Show” and “The Merv Griffin Show.”Starting in 1966, his show went by the name “Oriental World of Self-Defense,” and, according to him, was the No. 1 martial arts show in the world. After selling out Madison Square Garden, he toured Europe, including a command performance for Queen Elizabeth in 1977 at the Royal Albert Hall, Europe's version of the Garden.”What I did was turn martial arts into a form of entertainment,” said Banks, who has been featured in many magazines and was going to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1974 but was bumped due to former Brave Hank Aaron's breaking the all-time home run record, he said. “I took martial arts into the living rooms of the people in the United States via television.”So how did Banks become who he is today, a man who promotes karate at the same rate Don King promotes boxing?It was the winter of 1958. Working at a record store in the city, Banks said a fellow salesman, jealous that he was earning all the bonuses, challenged him to a street fight.Blood, bruises and a bevy of punches later, Banks, who said “the result was that I didn't win it, I didn't lose it,” was a new man.”I've got to learn how to defend myself scientifically,” he told himself. And so the then 30-year-old actor, who appeared in some Broadway plays and would later team up with Bruce Lee in “Fist of Fear, Touch of Death” (1977), decided that learning self defense was his top priority.”That was the turning point in my life,” he said of the street brawl. “I wanted karate. I wanted my body to have as many techniques possible with the kicks and the hands. I have a feeling something got inside me, a samurai guy (maybe).”I should really congratulate that guy (the salesman) because if it wasn't for him I would have never been in martial arts.”His purpose then became to educate people. He has opened nearly a dozen martial arts schools, his first in 1961, and his most recent, the New York Karate Academy at 98-120 Queens Blvd., will open Aug. 22. His involvement and love for karate had nothing to do with money or fame, he said. Instead, what drove Banks was the satisfaction of helping an individual develop himself as a human being. To him, karate was never meant to be a sport, just a form of self defense.”It's a wonderful thing to know that you can walk away from a fight knowing that you could have destroyed an individual within seconds,” he said.Does Banks, who works out almost every day, have any plans to stop teaching, promoting and talking non-stop about karate anytime soon?Not a chance. His response: “When I drop dead.”Reach contributing writer Joseph Manniello by e-mail at timesledger@aol.com.
