Joe Corley

Joe Corley is an American karate and kickboxing competitor, instructor, broadcaster and promoter who helped achieve the success of the Professional Karate Association and the early establishment of professional kickboxing in the United States.

Early years

Joe Corley began studying Tang Soo Do at age 16. At 19 he earned his black belt and opened his first martial arts studio.^[1] He won the National Karate Grand Championship in 1969, 1971, 1972; the Southeast Grand Championship in 1967, and the Southern US Open in 1971 and 1972.^[2] Corley opened Atlanta's first karate studio in 1967 and founded Joe Corley's American Karate System in 1972.^[3]

Later career

With Chris McLoughlin, Corley founded the annual Battle of Atlanta karate event in 1970, and in 1979 he became a partner in the Professional Karate Association (PKA), which was a martial arts organization instrumental in establishing professional kickboxing as a sport in the United States.^[2] Corley also became a commentator for American Karate on national television, along with Chuck Norris and Pat Morita, appearing on NBC, CBS, ESPN, Showtime, USA Network, SportsChannel America, Prime Network and Fox Sports South.^[1] In February 1990, Corley was featured in a Black Belt Magazine article.^[4] Joe Corley was named Man of the Decade by Official Karate magazine and was inducted into the Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame as Man of the Year in 1998.^[5] He appeared in the documentary films Modern Warriors (2002) and Mystic Origins of the Martial Arts (1998).^[6] He also appeared in the Joe Lewis film Force Five in 1985. In 2014 Corley was seeking financing for the new era of PKA Kickboxing and organizing broadcasts for these events. He serves as Master Instructor at Atlanta Extreme Warrior, founded in 2010, which includes Joe Corley Karate in its curriculum.

External links

• Joe Corley's Website
• Battle of Atlanta

References