American actor, martial artist and fitness guru (b. 1955)
Billy Blanks
Blanks in 2017
Born William Wayne Blanks
(1955-09-01 ) September 1, 1955 (age 69) Occupation(s) Actor, martial artist, fitness personality Years active 1981–present Spouses
Gayle H. Godfrey
(
m. 1974;
div. 2008)
Children 5, including Billy Jr. Style Team Atlantic World Karate (formerly)[ 1] [ 2] Teacher(s) Park Jong Soo[ 2] Wong Ting Fong[ 2] Chuck Merriman
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]
^ "Atlantic World Karate Team" . Martial Arts Encyclopedia . April 15, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2023 .
^ a b c "Billy Blanks" . Martial Arts Encyclopedia . November 11, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2023 .
^ a b "Result history of The World Games | IWGA" . www.theworldgames.org . Retrieved May 10, 2023 .
^ "Steve Nasty Anderson Remembers the Decade He Spent on Top of Sport Karate - Black Belt Magazine" . blackbeltmag.com . Retrieved May 10, 2023 .
^ "NASKA National Ratings 1987" . Martial Arts Encyclopedia . July 30, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2023 .
^ "Blanks' life not letter perfect" . CNN . September 26, 2002. Retrieved June 10, 2010 .
^ Green, Penelope (March 21, 1999). "MIRROR, MIRROR; Punching and Kicking All the Way to the Bank" . The New York Times . Retrieved August 12, 2010 .
^ Doyle, Alicia (November 4, 1994). "A New Exercise Kick" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved August 23, 2010 .
^ "On Top of the World" . Inside Kung Fu . Archived from the original on December 16, 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2011 .