Back in the 70s, the martial arts were all the rage. In magazines, books, comics, movies, tv and even on the radio, popular culture was inundated with it. Although there had been a handful of instances where the martial arts had made appearances in the US (e.g., Teddy Roosevelt studied judo and jiu jitsu, early police techniques included jiu jitsu, Elvis Presley studied kempo karate) it wasn’t until Bruce Lee that “kung fu fever” took hold. Honestly, it seems that although the interest in the martial arts is still present in modern culture, it was the 70s where the love affair burned the hottest!

Black Belt, Inside Karate and Inside Kung Fu were just a few of the magazines that helped spread the news about “secret techniques”, notable instructors and the up and coming sport of kickboxing. It was because of these magazines that names like Mike Stone, Chuck Norris and Bill “Superfoot” Wallace became almost household names. Plus, these magazines featured interviews from behind the scenes of shows and movies like Kung Fu, Billy Jack and Enter The Dragon, just to name a few. And martial artists were all in the comics! The likes of Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter, Deadly Hands of Kung Fu and Iron Fist were all present to feed the curious’ karate passions. And who could forget the classic song, and namesake of this post, Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting? That and the Saturday morning matinee of Shaw Brothers Kung Fu classics had you all set!

I have to admit, I look back at that time and it seems almost magical. Although there was a lot of BS about the martial art out there at the time, they were still somewhat revered. Now, the martial arts seems to be either a way to hand out beatdowns or a great pastime. I know for a fact that there are still legit schools and students out there, but modern society seems to have lost that loving feeling. Maybe it’ll come back? I’m definitely crossing my fingers to see that day come again.