Sijo Saabir Quwi Muhammad (born Steve Sanders; July 2, 1939) is an American martial artist and police officer.

Early life

Sanders was born in

Indianola, Mississippi Indianola is a U.S. city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta. The population was 10,683 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Sunflower County. History In 1891, Minnie M. Cox was appointed postmaster of Indianola, b ...

on July 2, 1939. He was the youngest of several siblings. As a youth, he learned

tai chi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. ...

. He attended

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public insti ...

on a Football Scholarship. Sanders joined the

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (ref ...

, where he was exposed to

Gōjū-ryū , Japanese for "hard-soft style", is one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Both principles, hard and soft, come from the famous martial arts book used by Okinawan masters dur ...

karate. He served in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

while in the Marines. Afterwards, he worked as a security officer for

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is th ...

Career

Despite racism during the era, Sanders became a champion fighter. He won many state and national titles. Sanders is said to have had the fastest hands in

karate (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fuj ...

. Sanders earned his black belt from

Dan Inosanto Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivo ...

and Chuck Sullivan. Sanders faced

Chuck Norris Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts championsh ...

and holds wins in Ed Parkers Long Beach Internationals . Sanders developed the five speed theory and the 12 basic moves of

kenpō is the name of several arts. The word kenpō is a Japanese translation of the Chinese word "''quánfǎ''". This term is often informally transliterated as "kempo", as a result of applying Traditional Hepburn romanization, but failing to use ...

. Sanders founded the Black Karate Federation. In 1982, Sanders joined the

Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...

and changed his last name to Muhammad. He would as a result convert to Islam. Sanders played the instructor of

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...

in ''

Enter the Dragon ''Enter the Dragon'' ( zh, t=龍爭虎鬥) is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and written by Michael Allin. The film stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly. It was Lee's final completed film appearance before his deat ...

''. Sanders received the Battle of Atlanta Hall of Fame award in 2012. Sanders was nominated to the '' Black Belt'' magazine hall of fame. Sanders holds a 10th degree black belt. He is the author of ''Bkf Kenpo: History and Advanced Strategic Principles''. Sanders appeared in the 1982 training video ''World Of Martial Arts'' with

Benny Urquidez Benny Urquidez (born June 20, 1952) is an American kickboxer, martial arts choreographer and actor. Nicknamed "The Jet", Urquidez was a non-contact karate competitor who later pioneered full-contact fighting in the United States. He made the tr ...

, Chuck Norris and

John Saxon John Saxon (born Carmine Orrico; August 5, 1936 – July 25, 2020) was an American actor who worked on more than 200 film and television projects during a span of 60 years. He was known for his work in Westerns and horror films, often playin ...

. His student Ray Wizard fought in UFC 2.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Steve 1939 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people African-American United States Navy personnel African-American police officers African-American sportsmen American male karateka United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War Karate coaches Members of the Nation of Islam People from Indianola, Mississippi Shotokan practitioners Sportspeople from Mississippi United States Marines African Americans in the Vietnam War

Early life

Career

See also

References

Sources