Historical Events  People
Elvis was a Karate Black Belt

Alternate:
Elvis was not a black belt

Current:
 Elvis was a black belt

Martial arts

Records today show Elvis trained with Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee, and reached the 7th degree.

This surprises many, including life long Elvis fans, because every detail of his life is thought to be common and widespread knowledge by now. Those caught out are pointing to the Mandela Effect as the cause for this news "suddenly" appearing from nowhere.

He was awarded his 7th degree black belt in 1972, and went on to teach kenpo at the Pasaryu Karate Association. The similarity to the white fighting suits he wore and the later high collared ones in his Vegas years is striking too.

White suit

The extravagent white suit he became famous for in later years? Starts to look familiar now you see the videos of him in his karate gear from when he was younger.

First black belt in 1960

Whilst in the Army in Germany in the late 1950's, met Juergen Seidel, who got him first interested in karate. He returned to the US he continued with Ed Parker, a Kenpo Master, who he studied with right until his death in 1977. He went on to study with several other big names in martial arts, and even opened his own centre, the Tenessee Karate Institute.

Debate continues, however, regarding if he was any good or not. You'd have thought he must have been to achieve a black belt, but this is the world famous King of Rock 'n' Roll we're talking about, so who would be brave enough to deny him, or so the theory goes. It's known there was a trend in the late 1950's for celebrities to be awarded phoney black belts, which became seen as a status symbol at the time. Was the one Elvis achieved one of these?