Billy Blanks

William Wayne Blanks (born September 1, 1955) is an American actor, martial artist and fitness personality. He was a nationally-ranked competitor in semi-contact and point karate during the 1980s, winning a Bronze medal at the 1981 World Games, before creating the Tae Bo exercise program. Early life and education Blanks was born in Erie, Pennsylvania. He began his study of the martial arts at the age of eleven, attending Karate and Taekwondo classes. He was born with an anomaly in his hip joints that impaired his movement. The resulting clumsiness aroused taunts from Blanks' siblings and led his instructors to believe that he would never accomplish much. Blanks found the answer to these challenges in karate. When he saw Bruce Lee on TV, he decided he wanted to be a world martial-arts champion. Martial arts Blanks holds black belt ranks in taekwondo (7th dan) and karate (5th dan), and a black sash in Hung Ga kung fu (under Sifu Wong Ting-fong). During the 1980s, Blanks was a top competitor of the point competition, semi-contact, and sport karate circuits, notably against Steve Anderson. He finished in 3rd place at the World Union of Karate-do Organizations (WUKO) World Championship in the Male Kumite category in 1980. He represented the United States at the 1981 World Games in Santa Clara, California, and won a Bronze medal in the Men's Kumite Open (Heavyweight). He was Karate Illustrated magazine's National Champion and Rookie of the Year for 1983.