Living Legends will honor some of the top fighters and form champions of sport karate at the Celebrity Roast on Saturday evening.  “Living Legends was created to educate this generation on the people who actually started the sport of karate.  The Southeast is a haven for great sport karate competitors and pioneers who promoted this sport to a new level in the last 30-40 years,” says the host of Living Legends, Ricky Smith.  Joe Corley, promoter of the thirty-six year “Battle of Atlanta” which launched the career of many of these great champions, will be the master of ceremonies for the Celebrity Roast. 

Friday, 6:00 p.m. — Martial Arts schools are sending their best competitors to perform in a Best of the Best Forms Competition.  Judges will select winners to perform as a tribute to the Living Legend on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. during the banquet dinner and show

Saturday, 9:00 a.m.  — Mr. Piddington will conduct a forms (empty-hand kata) Tomoe Warrior Test opened to all styles.  There will be a five kata, ten kata, and seventeen kata test.  Students will receive a handmade Tomoe (the Okinawan karate symbol) pendant and a certificate signed by a panel of Living Legend judges.  “This will be a lifetime opportunity for instructors and students to perform for some of the martial artists who actually pioneered the system of kata they are performing,” says Ricky Smith.

Saturday, 11:00 a.m. — Mike Genova, who has owned and operated a successful karate school in Columbia, SC, for thirty years, will conduct a kids safety seminar called Stranger Danger.  It is designed to teach kids how to protect themselves against bullies and strangers.  This is a must for kids from 4 -12 years old.  Genova is considered one of the martial art industries leading instructors and will be inducted as a “Living Legend Sport Karate Fighter” at the banquet on Saturday evening.

Saturday, 12:00 noon — Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris fans can participate in a seminar with Bob Wall.  Bob Wall is the only actor to co-star in three of Bruce Lee’s five movies. He is best known for his role as the evil O’hara in Enter the Dragon, one of Warner Brothers top ten grossing films of all times.  Bob trained with Bruce Lee for 10 years.  This year marks the thirtieth year anniversary of Bruce Lee’s death.  Also, Mr. Wall has been Chuck Norris’ business partner and friend for 38 years.  He will give a presentation on his life experiences with these two great legends. 

Saturday, 2:00 p.m. — Martial artists can fine-tune their fighting skills with four of the greatest karate fighters of all times — Joe Lewis, Howard Jackson, Jeff Smith, and Don “The Dragon” Wilson.  This dream team of Living Legends is slated to teach some of the fighting skills that made them champions.  Joe Lewis actually started kickboxing by fighting the first kickboxing match in history and was voted “greatest karate fighter of all time.”  Howard Jackson, Chuck Norris’ training partner, is the only fighter to hold championship titles in point karate, full-contact karate, boxing, and kickboxing.  Jeff Smith is a seven-time World Light-Heavy Weight Kickboxing Champion and the first recipient of the Bruce Lee Award for “fighter of the year.”  Don Wilson is the only fighter to win 11 Kickboxing World Titles in six different weight divisions.  He has a record of 71 wins with 47 KO’s.  All of these champions are members of the prestigious Black Belt Hall of Fame.

Saturday, 4:15 p.m. — Don “The Dragon” Wilson will conduct a seminar on “Breaking into the film industry as a martial artist.”  His next film called Sci-fighter will be released in February 2004.  “The Dragon” is one of the very few martial artists who have successfully bridged a career as a full-contact champion and a movie star.  You can visit www.donthedragonwilson.com for a resume of his long list of film credits.

Saturday, 7:00 p.m. — An all-star lineup of celebrities and martial artists, who are some of Mr. Piddington’s closest comrades, students, and past opponents, will toast Mr. Piddington in a Hollywood style roast which usually ends up in a tell-all of the funniest experiences of their career in and out of the ring.  Jerry Piddington is the seventh pioneer of sport karate to be honored by Living Legends.  “Mr. Piddington is the epitome of sport karate.  I have admired his fighting ability since I was a kid,” says Living Legends originator Gary Lee.  “I met Ricky Smith, Mr. Piddington’s student, at Bob Wall’s Celebrity Roast in Burbank California, last year and asked him if he would host a Living Legends event honoring Mr. Piddington in Charlotte, NC.  Ricky gladly accepted the invitation.”  Mr. Piddington is the founder of American Open Style Karate and American Karate Academies National Association, with most of his schools in the OR, NC, SC, and VA area.  He now resides in Jacksonville, Oregon.

Spectator tickets for the martial arts events on Friday and Saturday are $10 for adults and $5 for kids 12 years old and under.  People who are interested in the seminars, forms competition, or Tomoe Warrior Test can call 1-800-560-5425(kick) or visit www.sidekickkarate.com.  The dinner/roast/show is RSVP with a limited amount of seating.