Karate Stories: From the Blood and Guts Era of Tournament Karate

Karate Stories reflects on the ＂Blood and Guts＂ are of Tournament Karate as documented by Grand Master 10th Degree Black Belt, Jim Butin with humor and insight.

Gary Lee, the curator of the Sport Karate Museum in Houston Texas stated. ＂No other man in martial art history has had first-hand experience in the bare knuckle era of the 60’s, the 1st World Tae Kwon Do Championships, and the ’1974 Dream Team’ (which included Jim Butin, Superfoot Bill Walace, Joe Lewis, Jeff Smith and Howard Jackson) and the U.S., vs, Europe team fights.

In my experience, I have been blessed to be a part of martial arts history in the U.S. since 1966. As a 16-year-old high school student starting classes with Master J. Pat Burleson in Ft. Worth, Texas, I was like a sponge from my very first class.

This book also pays honor to his longtime friend and Mentor J. Pat Burleson. History records J. Pat Burleson as America’s karate pioneer and ＂Father＂ of all karate champions.

Jim Butin is recognized as a tenth degree Black Belt by both the World Martial Arts Ranking Association and the American Karate Black Belt Association. He owns and operates National Karate and Tae Kwon Do, in Oklahoma City.

After making Black Belt in June of 1968, Jim competed in and won every major tournament that was prevalent in the Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas area. He has won over 150 awards, all in fighting divisions.
He won four National titles and was rated as the #2 light heavy weight in the world by the PKA from 1974 to 1978. He was inducted into Official Karate’s Legion of Honor and he is listed in four Martial Arts Halls of Fame including an inaugural induction to the Tae Kwon Do Hall of Fame, and can be found in the Who’s Who of Martial Arts.

Besides competing and winning the silver medal in the first World TKD Championships in Seoul, Korea in 1973, Jim also competed in Europe in 1974 with another famous U.S. team, which included Joe Lewis, Jeff Smith, Howard Jackson, and Bill Wallace, against Germany, and the Netherlands. The team was undefeated in six separate contests. Jim is also a history general for the Sport Karate Museum.

Jim ran a successful and profitable karate school for 47 years. He felt like he owed it to other schools, whether established or new, to share his experiences as both a competitor and a school owner.