Billy Blanks
Billy Blanks
Billy Blanks was the fourth of fourteen children when he was growing up in Erie Pennsylvania. He had a very difficult childhood, part of the problem which wasn't discovered until later in life was he had dyslexia. His physical condition wasn't much better as he had problems with his hip joints.
In his early teens he took his first martial arts classes and was successful with it from the start. He won many competitions along the way and went on to become the Amateur Athletic Union Champion five times. As his skill in the martial arts field progressed he became a 7th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and holds a black belt in several other martial art disciplines. His martial arts accomplishments continued as he became captain of the US Karate Team and won a total of 36 gold medals. Not content with being a dominant force in the karate field he took up boxing. He won Tri State and Massachusetts Golden Glove Championships.
Billy opened his first karate school in Boston Massachusetts. It was here that he came up with the idea of combining dance moves with martial arts, an idea that would evolve in the very successful Tae Bo concept. In the late 1980's he moved to Los Angeles and began teaching Tae Bo classes out of his garage. As people began to learn about this program demand for classes increased and he relocated to a larger facility in Sherman Oaks.
Sherman Oaks is where his popularity started to take off, when he began training singer, dancer, choreographer and later American Idol judge Paula Abdul. Word about the program and how successful it was quickly began spreading among other celebrities and he became on of the most sought after personal trainers. His contacts in the film industry led to him being introduced to Hollywood and eventually landing movie roles. He has appeared in 16 movies and numerous television shows such as "Melrose Place" and "ER".
Despite his popularity he is involved in numerous charitable and humanitarian efforts, including establishing the Billy Blanks Foundation. He travels around the world helping promote humanitarian issues. He also works closely with United States Government helping to improve and develop training routines. This training led to his most recent exercise video the Billy Blanks Boot Camp.
Even with his busy schedule he continues to remain active teaching classes in his Sherman Parks Facility.