He was America’s most gifted fighter. The winner of the top titles and records, Joe Lewis leaves a legacy of multiple accomplishments. In the 1960s, he was the most feared karate fighter on the planet. He was perhaps the strongest, best-conditioned athlete that ever stepped on the tournament mat and his athletic prowess did not go unnoticed. Joe Lewis made believers of everyone who fought him.
In 1967, the great Bruce Lee invited him to train under his tutelage. For almost two years, Lewis learned the most advanced martial arts theory of the day directly from the innovative mind of Bruce Lee. Joe Lewis is the only world champion to have been personally coached by Bruce Lee.
In tournament competition, Lewis was simply unstoppable. He won the top karate titles of his day. In 1970, Lewis entered the first kickboxing match ever presented as a grand finale to a national karate tournament. According to a 1970 article in Sports Illustrated magazine, Lewis was initially opposed to the term “kickboxing.” He had intended that the new sport be called “Joe Lewis Self-Defense Systems,” but the term kickboxing caught on, and Lewis became the first fighter to earn the title of “United States Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion.”
Lewis defended his title ten times. Each fight ended in a knockout in the first or second round. Lewis became known as the father of American kickboxing. In 1974, Lewis won the first Professional Karate Association World Heavyweight Full-Contact Karate Championship. In 1975, Lewis was inducted into the prestigious Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame as the Full-Contact Fighter of the Year. His teacher, Bruce Lee, had been inducted in 1972.
In the late 1970s, Lewis’ good looks and acting skills landed him roles in Hollywood movies. His 1977 breakout role as the lead in The Jaguar Lives was screened without the promised marketing budget, resulting is less than expected box office receipts. Still, Lewis was larger than life on screen. A second leading role quickly followed, but again the all-important marketing budget was insufficient to earn the box office income that investors expected. The broken promises and cut-throat lifestyle of a Hollywood actor eventually led Lewis back to his childhood home in Knightdale, N.C. It was in late summer of 1982 that Joe returned to his roots.
In the 1980s, Lewis served as the National Director of the American Independent Karate/Kickboxing Instructors Association (AIKIA) leading the group to national prominence. In a 1983 issue of Karate Illustrated, Lewis was voted “Greatest Karate Fighter of All Time” by former champions that included Chuck Norris and Bill Wallace.
In 1988, I had the honor of working with Lewis and former champions Jeff Smith and Bill Wallace to produce the nationally famous Karate College, a mixed martial arts summer camp. In the 1990’s, Lewis produced a series of highly profitable videos and conducted in-demand seminars across the country.
Lewis enjoyed excellent health and was considered to be at the epitome of martial arts fitness, but in 2008, he began to experience occasional, severe headaches. By July 2011, the headaches were so bad he finally sought professional help. Tests revealed that Lewis had been suffering from a brain cancer. He survived an operation and weeks of chemotherapy, but the cancer was terminal.
Word quickly spread that Joe Lewis was dying and he was met with an outpouring of love and support. At a conference in Florida, in November 2011, Lewis was greeted by 200 well-wishers including other world champions, and longtime friends Linda Lee Cadwell (widow of Bruce Lee) and Walter Anderson, the former publisher of Parade magazine. Anderson met Joe in Okinawa in 1963 and the two remained close friends for life. The conference had provided a fitting tribute to a much loved and highly respected warrior.
As a U.S. Marine who served in Viet Nam, Lewis was admitted to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Coatesville, Pennsylvania in July 2012. By mid-August he entered hospice care where he spent the last days of his life.
During his hospice stay, Lewis received hundreds of cards and letters from friends and admirers. Chuck Norris, a longtime friend, chartered a flight to visit him. Bill Wallace and Jeff Smith made multiple trips to lift the spirits of their friend. Lewis’ daughter, Kristina Lewis moved into her father’s vacant apartment to be close to her dad. On Friday, August 31, while surrounded by his family Joe Lewis passed. He faced death as he had lived life with valor and courage
His memorial service was attended by over 400 friends and admirers at his childhood home of Knightdale, North Carolina. More than 100 of his Black Belts attended. There will never be another Joe Lewis. Not since Bruce Lee has a fighter done so much to influence the way we practice martial arts worldwide. Joe Lewis was a fighter to the end and a friend forever.
Dr. Jerry Beasley, author of The Greatest Karate Fighter of All Time: Joe Lewis and His American Karate Systems, is Professor of Health and Human Performance at Radford University (VA). In 1995, Dr. Beasley ranked 8th-Dan in the Joe Lewis American Karate/Kickboxing Systems. Visit his web site at www.aikia.net.
