JULY 4, 1974 – Elvis Presley opened his new karate school with an hour-and-a-half long karate demonstration featuring the King and karate master Ed Parker, portions of which will later be included in the documentary “This Is Elvis.”Elvis loved karate and after training with Master Kang Rhee (Elvis soon received his 8th Degree San Black Belt certificate from Master Rhee at a private ceremony which would place in September 1974), the King helped establish The Tennessee Karate Institute of Memphis with National Karate Champion, Bill “Superfoot” Wallace. Elvis, Red West, Ed Parker, and others filmed a karate documentary at the school titled “The New Gladiators” which was lost and was not released to the public until August 2010. It has been reported that Elvis was very proud of the film project. The building, which was demolished in the year 2011, was located at 1317 Overton Park Avenue in Memphis.
