Here it is, proof that any monkey can learn taekwondo:
Okay, I’m just teasing the TKD folks out there.
I’m told Grand Master Robert Trias, the founder of Shuri-ryu, owned a chimpanzee and he taught it karate. He would even walk around with the chimp perched on his shoulders. The thought of a karate master with a trained chimp sidekick really amuses me. I like to think they fought crime together (Trias was also an Arizona State Police officer). I bet BJ and the Bear had nothing on the real thing!
I probably shouldn’t admit this, but this also inspired a pitch I threw at a comic artist once. The artist told me he would be up for doing a weird Western, so I pitched a gunfighter with a trained chimp sidekick. The chimp carried its own sixgun and fought its own duels, and because of his height he often shot his opponents through the crotch. They also dealt with everything from Indians to dinosaurs to zombies.
I never heard from that artist again.
on May 18th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
it was actually vic moore, a trias student, who had the chimp. Her name was trudy. she actually passed for her white belt test. here is a link.
http://www.victormoore.org/image/1970/MTVicMooreTrudyJimmyJones06021979-5.jpg
on May 18th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Niiice.
I’ve since found out Trias had two chimps, Charlie and (I think) Jane. Charlie was the one he taught some karate and Judo falls to.