This coming Saturday, Nov 14th is shaping up to be an extremely special night for Pilipino & Pilipino-American fighters as well as for their fanatical followers! Boxing’s Pound-for-pound King, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao will be battling his most dangerous foe in a career chock-full of superlatives when he faces Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto this weekend. In turn, the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) has countered by scheduling the most decorated of the growing number of Pil-Ams in their roster, Brandon "The Truth" Vera, to fight MMA legend Randy “The Natural” Couture that very same night to headline UFC 105.
It is, however, important to recognize that this proud and historic evening for Pilipinos & Pilipino-Americans has not only been years, but literally decades, in the making. Along with fellow Martial Artist Mark Dacascos and Action Star Lou Diamond Phillips, Ernie Reyes Jr. has played a significant role in the integration of the Pil-Am fighter into the mainstream media.
The g
randson of Pilipino immigrants, Ernie Reyes Jr. started his martial arts career at the tender age of four when he began to train in Taekwondo under his father, decorated Martial Artist Ernie Reyes Sr. When Ernie Jr. was just a seven year old red belt, he borrowed a black belt from a friend and held his own in the adult division at a national karate tournament. By the time Ernie was eight, he had made history as the first and only child to achieve a national top-10 ranking in the adult competitor ratings of a national martial-art magazine. When Ernie was ten he rarely failed to win the open creative forms in any tournament that he joined, and even taught seminars for other martial artists as a member of his father’s Ernie Reyes West Coast Martial Arts Association. He finally retired from competitions at the ripe old age of twelve so he could pursue his acting career.
The following are some of Ernie’s Martial Arts achievements:
- 4th Dan (degree) black belt in Taekwondo
- named ‘Instructor of the Year” by the Professional Karate Association (PKA)
- hailed as "One of the Greatest Martial Arts Masters of the 20th Century"
- received a "Life Time Achievement Award" for phenomenal demonstrations for over 25 years
- has trained and competed in Muay Thai
Ernie started his acting career in 1985 in the cult classic Berry Gordy’s “The Last Dragon“ and as Prince Tam in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Red Sonja.” His popularity as America’s youngest action hero blossomed when he became the lead human in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, The Secret of the Ooze”. Since then Ernie has appeared in dozens of action films and television shows, and has won awards in recent years such as Best Action Stunt Man in “The Rundown” with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, “Rush Hour 2” with Jackie Chan, and most recently in “Indiana Jones and The Legend of the Crystal Skull” with Harrison Ford.
His last movie, The Red Canvas, features the entire Reyes family (father Ernie Sr., and the next generation Reyes’ - Ki, Destiny, Lee, Espirit and Margie) plus 10 World Champion Fighters, including Frank Shamrock, Dan “The Beast” Severn, and Gray Maynard. The Red Canvas is currently undergoing staggered international release.
