- published: 24 Apr 2013
- views: 977034
Jeff Speakman (born November 8, 1958) is an American actor and a martial artist in the art of American kenpo karate and Japanese Goju-Ryu, earning black belts in each.
Speakman was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, where he was a springboard diver at John Hersey High School and achieved All-American status. He graduated from Missouri Southern State College.
He has said that the television show Kung Fu got him interested in martial arts, and he began by studying in the Okinawan martial art of Goju Ryu Karate until achieving black belt rank. His instructor then recommended that, if he was really intent in pursuing martial arts as a lifestyle, then he should go looking for Ed Parker, a friend of his master. Speakman sold his car to pay for the moving expenses and succeeded in meeting Parker at one of his famous tournaments. Speakman spent years training in American Kenpo under his principal instructor, Larry Tatum, as well as under Ed Parker, the founder of the system.