Template:Infobox martial artist
George Cofield was born on October 13, 1934 [1] and died on March 22, 2001.[2] George was an early pioneer of karate in America.[3] He is also one of the first blacks to introduce Karate to America.[4] He is well known as mixer of Asian philosophy with African Empowerment in martial arts.[5]
Early life[]
George was raised in NY and would move to Roosevelt, NY.[1] George would join the US Armed Forces, where he would first encounter martial arts.[1] During his time in the Army in the 1950s he would start his study of karate.[6]
Martial arts[]
George had been teaching Karate as early as 1961.[7] George was the founder of Tong Dojo.[8] George would operate a 10 dojo network in New York.[9] His dojo's would host tournaments as far as Ohio.[10] George would also operate the George Cofield's Karate University in Brooklyn, NY.[11] George was known as a very strict and hard instructor.[12] George was known to withhold the rank of white belt for six to nine months until he felt a student was ready.[9] George was known as a man who didn't care if he gained or lost friends, just so long as they learned from him.[13] Some fighters have stated that if George were to judge their fight, they would simply walk off of the mat.[9] George was also an instructor of UFC Fighter, Ron Van Clief.[14] George was the instructor of many competitive karate fighters including Dwight Frazier and Thomas LaPuppet.[15] George would have them both fight at the 1970 All American Championships.[16] George was an advocate against poor sportsmanship.[17] George would give many martial arts demonstrations including those at the Oriental World of Self Defense at Madison Square Garden.[13] George is featured in Black Hero's of the Martial Arts.[18]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "georgecofield". blackmartialartist.com.
- ↑ Karriem ABdAllah. "Karriem ABdAllah Productions LLC.". www.kapmma.com.
- ↑ "WTKO Instructor of the Month". wtko.org.
- ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=LNQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=tong+dojo+cofield&source=bl&ots=yk1EnLcKTQ&sig=GX9YNzegPQjZqU6vQfgjREvtZUI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=feXzVMPkBoWfggSEjICQDg&ved=0CDEQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q=tong%20dojo%20cofield&f=false
- ↑ Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation - Google Books
- ↑ "Martial Arts of the World". google.com.
- ↑ "Black Belt". google.com.
- ↑ "Important Events in Ju Jutsu / Karate". orgfree.com.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Black Belt". google.com.
- ↑ "Black Belt". google.com.
- ↑ "Black Belt". google.com.
- ↑ "Black Belt". google.com.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Black Belt". google.com.
- ↑ "Black Belt". google.com.
- ↑ "SOKE HAISAN KALEAK MARTIALFORCE.COM INTERVIEW". martialforce.com.
- ↑ "Black Belt". google.com.
- ↑ "Stepping Off the Mat". google.com.
- ↑ "Black Belt". google.com.
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