JOHN WAYNE: KARATE MASTER

The dojo is easy to miss. It is a small, modest building, standing off by itself in this little ghost town located at the end of long narrow dirt road in Utah's Monument Valley. 


The town has no name, there are no signs or route markers indicating its existence; if you did not know it was here, you would never find it. When you do find it you are still not sure that it exists, that it is what you think it is, that perhaps everything you heard was myth, was legend, and that this really is not the lost dojo of Marion Morrison.


The door creeks as you push it open, dust rising from the floor as you see a few strands that are remnants of the dojo's tatami matts. On the walls there fragments of framed photo's, pictures of the great master's students: Jimmy Steward, to whom sensei taught the Spur to the Groin strike; Marilyn Monroe who mastered the deadly Double Boob Face Mash; Dean Martin who of course was the original Drunken Master and Ursula Andress master of the Full Frontal Naked Choke ...


The Master's legend has faded a bit with time but there are those who keep his memory alive, acolytes all but hidden now, spreading word of his prowess person to person so that although his memory may fade, Duke Sensei's legacy will never totally be forgotten.


As you stand in the small space, redolent with sweat and effort and all the mystery of the martial arts, the words of Sensei Duke seem to ring in your ears .. "Wax on, wax off, Pilgrim"


John Wayne, Karate Master ... urban myth or fact? I consider myself a big fan of the Duke but I've recently learned that there may be parts of the actor's life of which I was totally unaware. I knew that he was a collegiate football player and that he developed into a pretty effective movie stunt man ... but martial arts? That was a new one for me

But then Collette relayed to me the mystery, not only was John Wayne a Karate Master he was a sensei, a teacher of the arts and his most famous student ... Jackie Chan. Yes, John Wayne taught karate to Jackie Chan.

Collette actually learned the truth behind the man from a couple of her grade 4 boys. She overheard one young fella telling the other "John Wayne is really cool!" That stopped her in her tracks... John Wayne is not really a movie star one expects to hear contemporary kids discussing.

Of course she had to ask the young man why John Wayne was cool.  His answer: John Wayne taught Jackie Chan karate.

It took me a while to delineate this dubious mythology. Jackie Chan made a comedy kung fu western called Shanghai Knights. Loosely based on an older Asian movie called Shanghai Joe (which also served as the base for David Carridine's TV series Kung Fu) it follows a faithful Chinese guard (Chan) as he travels to Old West America to rescue a princess.

 In the course of a story Chan meets a charming outlaw as portrayed Owen Wilson. Chan introduces himself as Chon Wang in his heavy accent. Wilson responds "John Wayne? That's a terrible name for a cowboy"

So, when the two boys were discussing the new version of the movie Karate Kid, the one lad thought no one could beat Jackie Chan in a fight whereas his friend assured him that John Wayne could, as it was John who taught Jackie everything he knows

And thusly, the lengend of John Wayne, karate master was created. Sensei Duke, the man who taught Jackie Chan karate.