mae magazine vol 2

After taking two consecutive Judo Championships, Gene decided to try his hand at Pro Wrestling. "I had won over 200 trophies, and if I cashed them all in, they wouldn't make a single house payment." The highlight of his professional wrestling career was in Amarillo Texas when he beat Pat O'Connor (from Australia) for the world's heavyweight wrestling championship. Then, while flaunting the championship belt, Gene accidentally hit the commissioner and split open his head. Even though it was an accident, Gene was disqualified, and his belt was taken away.

"At least I was the champ for 12 seconds." Unbelievably, lawsuits were actually filed against Gene, and he decided to take a trip to Hawaii while the heat died down.

On Dec 2 1963, in Salt Lake City Utah, Kenpo master Ed Parker told Gene about a boxer named Jim Beck - a man who claimed that a professional boxer could easily best any martial artist.

Gene agreed to step into the ring and prove Jim wrong, but upon arrival Gene realized that they had pulled a bait-and-switch; instead of Jim Beck stepping into the ring, Gene was facing off with Milo Savage - the no 5 ranked light heavywieght boxer in the world. Unfazed, Gene held true to his end of the bargain and took his place in the ring. Milo Savage was wearing brass knuckles - not only that, Milo was greased from head to toe, making it nearly impossible to keep a hold of him. After 4 hard fought rounds, Gene choked out Savage. He stayed out for 20 minutes (for those that would like to see it, this fight is available on VHS in the Products section).

During Gene's more than 25 years of wrestling he did far more than wrestle. He was also doing stunt work for movies and television, and still is today. In his ongoing career to date, Gene has appeared in more than 1,000 movies and TV shows. Gene is considered one of the greatest martial artists of all time, in addition to being a teacher of champions. He has taught grappling to such greats as Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Benny "the Jet" Urquidez, Gokor Chivichyan, Bob Wall, Ed Parker Hayward Nishioka, and Bill "Superfoot" Wallace just to name a few. Gene says "It wasn't a one-way street. I learned a lot from each of these champions.“ Some are suprised to discover that Gene got his pioneer spirit from his mother Aileen Eaton, former owner of the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles for 38 years. She was one of the only female boxing/wrestling promoter's in the history of those sports.

Not only did Muhammad Ali fight for her, but so did legends such as Sugar Ray Robinson, Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, Archie