Billy Blanks

Billy Blanks
Blanks in 2017
Born
William Wayne Blanks

(1955-09-01) September 1, 1955 (age 69)
Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actor, martial artist, fitness personality
Years active1981–present
Spouses
Gayle H. Godfrey
​
​
(m. 1974; div. 2008)​
Tomoko Sato
​
(m. 2009)​
Children5, including Billy Jr.
Style
TeamAtlantic World Karate (formerly)[1][2]
Teacher(s)
  • Park Jong Soo[2]
  • Wong Ting Fong[2]
  • Chuck Merriman
Medal record
Men's karate
Representing the  United States
World Games
Bronze medal – third place 1981 Santa Clara Kumite open[3]

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,[4][5] winning a bronze medal at the 1981 World Games,[3] before creating the Tae Bo exercise program.[6][7][8][9]

  1. ^ "Atlantic World Karate Team". Martial Arts Encyclopedia. April 15, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Billy Blanks". Martial Arts Encyclopedia. November 11, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Result history of The World Games | IWGA". www.theworldgames.org. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  4. ^ "Steve Nasty Anderson Remembers the Decade He Spent on Top of Sport Karate - Black Belt Magazine". blackbeltmag.com. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  5. ^ "NASKA National Ratings 1987". Martial Arts Encyclopedia. July 30, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  6. ^ "Blanks' life not letter perfect". CNN. September 26, 2002. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  7. ^ Green, Penelope (March 21, 1999). "MIRROR, MIRROR; Punching and Kicking All the Way to the Bank". The New York Times. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
  8. ^ Doyle, Alicia (November 4, 1994). "A New Exercise Kick". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
  9. ^ "On Top of the World". Inside Kung Fu. Archived from the original on December 16, 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2011.