We have been involved in Texas martial arts for 47 years and during that time we have seen some of the best of the best fighters, and martial artists in the World come out of Texas. Texas had produced World Champions in Karate, Full Contact Kick Boxing, the UFC, MMA, Judo, Aikido, Jiu Jitsu, and professional Boxing. The men of Texas martial arts are some of the greatest fighters the World has ever known, but so are some of the women. And during the last 40 years one woman has proven to be the best of the best. Winning championships in fighting and forms for over 40 years, and that woman is Margaret Beasley.
There may be some debate on who was the best fighter in Texas in the woman's division in the 1980's with the great Linda Denley dominating the tournament scene for so long, but Margaret Beasley was right there,. giving Denley she could handle and and she keep fighting and winning until 2009, when she had double hip replacements. She even won the National Karate Championships in 2008 and we are happy to say that she is back and in actually training to compete again, like the true champion she is.
Texas has a long tradition of producing the best woman fighters in the World and it started with Marian Erickson, who was one of the first woman black belts in America. She was a fearless fighter who told Grandmaster Keith Yates in an interview why she started karate,
"I was just born competitive. I came up in an atmosphere that made it necessary to learn how to defend yourself efficiently because if you only had two dresses and you ruined one of them by fighting you only had one left. In high school we had a judo demonstration where the littlest, petite cheerleader dumped the biggest football player and I can remember thinking that I wanted to do that—it was fast and efficient! My mother didn’t raise me with the perspective that women were handicapped". She was a living legend and the first great Texas woman karate star. "
Joy Tuberville was another early Texas Karate legend and she is considered one of the toughest fighters man or women to ever fight and teach karate in Texas. She would go toe to toe with men and if you were not ready for a real fight, you would get hurt. She expected no quarter for being a woman and gave you no mercy for being a man. We remember having some real blood and guts fights with her at Texas Karate in the 1980's.
Then there is perhaps the most beautiful woman to ever be a World Class karate fighter and teacher, Julie Woolems Doshier who recently retired from teaching, after teaching 2 classes every week for the last 30 years and producing some of the best students and black belts in Texas and America. But don't let Julie's beauty fool you, she would kick your teeth out, smile and hand them back to you. She was one of the first young women promoted to Black Belt by Allen Steen, and that was back when a black belt meant something. GM Steed never promoted anyone to Black Belt who wasn't tough, deadly and committed to the martial arts. Julie was all three and here two sons are some of the best fighters and black belts in Texas today.
Finally there was the deadly Linda Denley. Perhaps the meanest lady in the ring in Texas Karate history. She was so powerful, strong and effective that other fighters simply crumbled under her relentless pressure and technique. She could hurt any man or woman she fought, and she fought all over the World. She dominated the Texas and US karate tournament scene for 20 years and still is teaching and training in Houston.
But the best of the best is Margaret Beasley because she has done it for 40 years and is still planning on doing it again. She was winning the big Karate Championships in 1980's and she won the National Karate Championships in 2008. 30 years of fighting and winning. And she is still a champion. And that is the reason she is the greatest woman's martial arts champion in Texas and perhaps US history.
My friends, let me tell you something that you think you understand but actually have no idea what we are speaking of until you actually experience it first hand. Getting old. When you are in your 20's you can go hard for a long time, you can recover from injuries and even fight hurt and sick. You can stay up all night partying and fight the next day in the big tournament, but when you get into your 30's it gets about 2 times harder. The nights get shorter and the recovery longer. When you get into your 40's the problems double again.The night comes very early and the aches and pains last forever. When you get into 50 it triples and when you get 60 it is beyond description. Stay alive and you will find out what we are talking about.
For Margaret Beasley to be fighting and competing for 30+ years is so far above and beyond the normal it simply can not be understood or comprehended by ordinary people. Most black belts quit fighting competitively at 25 or 30, very few go until they are 35 and fewer to their 40's. It is just too hard and requires too much time and dedication, pain and suffering for ordinary people. But Master Margaret Beasley is not an ordinary woman, she is extraordinary in very sense of the word. Her 30+ years of fighting, doing kata and winning are unparallelled in sport Karate. No one before her has ever done what she has done and now it remains to be seen if some young lady out there today will have the fortitude, strength, mental courage, determination and obvious love of the sport to do it in the future. Margaret Beasley is the greatest woman's martial arts champion in Texas history and as fine a person as you will ever meet.
And you can meet her and her husband at the U. S. Karate Championships, Dallas, TX. Saturday, June 19, 2010. This is one of the largest tournaments and oldest tournaments in America and the Beasley have been running it for 10+ years or more and for several years have been donating all the profits to the Guns and Hoses Foundation for fallen police and firemen's families. If you want to meet a true living legend and support a great cause plan on being at the US Karate Champions this year.
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