Cover Story Throwback: Pat Burleson and Pat Johnson
- Black Belt Team
- 18 hours ago
- 1 min read
The September 1969 issue of Karate Illustrated featured a young Pat Burleson alongside an even younger Pat Johnson—two trailblazers whose influence helped define American martial arts.
Burleson opened one of the first karate schools in the United States in 1959, located in Fort Worth, Texas. He later made history by winning the first U.S. Karate Championships in 1964 and held the highest American Taekwondo rank under the legendary Jhoon Rhee, often called the “Father of American Taekwondo.”
Standing beside him was Pat Johnson, who would go on to become one of Hollywood’s most respected martial arts stunt coordinators, with iconic credits including Enter the Dragon and The Karate Kid.
Both men remained lifelong martial artists—always training, always teaching, and forever inspiring the generations that followed.
Learn more about this cover and the entire magazine preserved in digital format: https://www.blackbeltmag.com