Karate Stories
A Firsthand Look at the Early Days of American Karate
Before protective equipment became standard... before today's tournament rules... American sport karate was a very different world.
Grandmaster Jim Butin was there.
Jim began training in 1965 at the age of 16 under legendary Texas karate pioneer J. Pat Burleson. By 1968, he had earned his Black Belt and entered an era of tournament karate that competitors would later call the “Blood and Guts” years.
Karate Stories is Jim's firsthand account of those remarkable years — the tournaments, the fighters, the friendships, the injuries, the victories and the lessons learned along the way.
These aren't stories Jim researched.
They are stories he lived.
Gary Lee... Curator of the Sport Karate Museum Stated...
"No other man in martial Art history has had first-hand experience in the bare-knuckle era of the 60's. the 1st World Tae Kwon Do Championships, and the "1974 Dream Team" the U.S. vs. Europe team fights"