Billy Blanks - God's Fighter

Tae Bo® Creator, Billy Blanks, shares the life-changing "secret" that revolutionized his marriage, his business and his entire approach to physical fitness

God's Fighter

By Karen Kassel Hutto

When you watch Billy Blanks blast through one of his famous Tae Bo® workouts, you can't help but notice his carved physique and charismatic teaching style. At 52, Billy is tough, buff and on fire. Thousands flock to his Los Angeles training center every week for workouts, health and nutrition advice and inspiration.
And well they should. Billy's unique body fitness program has transformed dozens of Hollywood celebrities-people like Pamela Anderson, Neve Campbell, Viveca Fox, Goldie Hawn, Queen Latifah, Ryan O'Neal, Lisa Rinna and Brooke Shields, to name just a few. Professional athletes like Wayne Gretzy, Bruce Jenner, Magic Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal consult him as well.
Billy's popular Tae Bo® DVDs have sold thousands, reaching people who live nowhere near California. Beyond Tae Bo®, Billy is a world karate champion, actor, author, motivator, philanthropist and humanitarian. The Billy Blanks Foundation he established in 1999 with his wife, Gayle, assists underprivileged women and children. Billy's passion for helping members of the Armed Forces allowed him and his daughter, Shellie, recent passage to Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as to military bases throughout Europe and Africa.
In short, Billy Blanks seems to have it all-a wildly successful career, a happy, lasting marriage, two great kids, meaningful causes. Billy's story is one of triumph; but he will tell you plainly-none of it came without years of hard work, discipline and the saving power of Jesus Christ.
"I grew up in church, but I never felt like I knew Jesus Christ," Billy recalls. "I went because I was told to go. It was a church where the pastor scared you and told you that you were going to Hell. I was always petrified. As an adult, I realized I understood discipline, but I didn't really understand faith. I finally found it when I moved to California and met Dr. Frederick K.C. Price at the Crenshaw Christian Center."

Hard Years

Between his childhood and his relocation to Los Angeles, big things happened to Billy. Born the 4th of 15 children in Erie, Pennsylvania, Billy suffered early setbacks. Afflicted with dyslexia that would go undiagnosed until age 35, a hip-joint problem that greatly impaired his movements and extreme shyness, the young boy was often told by coaches and teachers that he would never amount to anything.
"My lack of communication was often interpreted as not wanting to learn. I did want to, but I couldn't find a way to tell them," Billy says.
Solace came from his father. Steel foundry worker, Isaac Blanks, ran a small garbage pick-up business in his off hours. Starting at age 6, Billy rode the routes with his father and uncle, learning the value of hard work and an honest dollar.
"I learned discipline and integrity from my father," Billy says. "He always said, ‘Nobody's going to give you something for nothing. You have to work for it.' He lived what he said; he raised 15 kids. Growing up in the black culture, there is a tendency sometimes for fathers to get over-pressured and take off. My father stuck it out. He worked hard. The only time he left my mother was when he went to be with the Lord. He showed me how to be a man. I tell people, if you don't learn integrity in your own household, it will be hard to learn it anywhere else."

Discovering Karate

Billy's homegrown work ethic soon came in handy. At age 11, a new youth center in his neighborhood offered his "dream" sport-karate. "I was terribly uncoordinated, but I was determined to learn karate. The instructor bet me five dollars I wouldn't stick it out. Often I was told I'd never make it; but karate gave me incentive. For the first time, I could see myself achieving something."
And achieve he did. Overcoming his physical disability, Billy mastered the sport, becoming a seven-time world karate champion. He captained the U.S. karate team, won 36 gold medals in international competition and in 1982 earned admission into the Karate Hall of Fame. At age 20, he became the first Amateur Athletic Union Champion, a title he would earn five times. He earned a seventh-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, as well as black belts in five other forms of martial arts. He moved to Boston, opened his own karate studio, and became the 1984 Massachusetts Golden Gloves Champion and the Tri-State Golden Gloves Champion of Champions.
His amazing abilities earned Billy roles in several martial arts movies. Still, he says, something was missing. "I thought becoming a world champion would be the highlight of my life. But it wasn't. I achieved it seven times, trying to get fulfillment from it. Didn't happen. I'd make a Bruce Lee movie, earn good money, but still feel empty. I didn't have any power. I had a lot of stuff the world says you should have to be successful, but it didn't stop the ache inside."
Then something remarkable happened. While in Boston, Billy invented a new workout routine-one that combined Tae Kwon Do with dance moves and kick boxing. The result: Tae Bo. "‘Tae' means foot and leg in Korean and ‘bo' is short for boxing," explains Billy. "It just fit. People loved it."
Relocating to Los Angeles in 1989, Billy taught Tae Bo classes in his garage. It caught on. Soon after, he opened the Billy Blanks World Training Center in Sherman Oaks. People began to line the street to take his classes. When Paula Abdul showed up for training, business really took off. Celebrities and athletes flooded into the Center for Billy's Tae Bo, determined to get the proven results they'd heard about from others.
His success grew like wildfire. And yet...it wasn't enough.

Finding Jesus

One Sunday morning in 1996, Billy caught a sermon on television by Dr. Price.
"The next day I went to work and asked people if they knew anything about Dr. Price and this Faithdome place," recalls Billy. "A guy in my class said ‘yes.' He took me to church the next Sunday."
Heads turned as Billy Blanks walked into the 5,000-seat auditorium. "People knew who I was. I sat down and listened as Dr. Price preached the Word, explaining how to live by faith. At the end of sermon he asked if anyone wanted to receive Jesus Christ. I got up, and I ran to the front. Here I was, this big tough fighter, crying like a baby. I didn't care. I knew this was IT-the thing I'd been looking for all my life. I received Jesus Christ into my heart."
With his usual drive and focus, Billy began to learn all he could about the Bible, regularly attending church and Bible study. As he grew in the Lord, he yearned for Gayle, his wife, to join him. She said ‘no.' "She'd had some bad experiences in church. She didn't want to have anything to do with it," Billy shares.
But he didn't give up. For more than a year Billy continued to grow, all the while praying for Gayle. Then one Sunday, as Billy watched Dr. Price talk about the importance of a Biblical marriage on TV, Gayle sat down beside him. "She listened for awhile," Billy says. "Then she asked me to take her to that church."
Billy took her, and at the end of the service, Gayle accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Billy says, "That was one of the biggest moments of my life-far bigger than winning any national championship."

Life Changes

The couple quickly realized that, even though they'd both grown up in church, they knew very little about Christian living. "We saw our life take a huge turn when we became saved," Gayle shares. "We started basing every decision we made in business and in our lives on God's Word and His principles. We would ask ourselves, ‘if Jesus were to pop in front of us right now, what would He say or think if he looked at the actions we were taking?' We began to let that guide us as husband and wife." It also impacted their family and their children, Shellie, 34, and Billy Jr., 32, became believers then as well.
What happened to the Blanks 11 years ago shines even stronger today. "Having Jesus in our hearts and allowing people to see Jesus in us is essential to what we do," Gayle says. "We know that the Lord has blessed us because we made a decision to walk by His commandments. People see we aren't going to compromise. Sometimes they don't understand; but that's how we run our lives, whether it's with family or business or charity."
The spiritual transformation caused Billy to think more deeply about his life work. "When I started studying the Word, God showed me how to make Tae Bo not just a physical message, but a spiritual message too," Billy says. "When I started doing that, Tae Bo really took off. It revolutionized the whole fitness world. I credit God with that success."

The Good Fight

Today, Billy's Christian beliefs drive his fitness philosophy. "Most people are looking to improve only the outside, and that's certainly a challenge," he explains. "But there's more to it. I tell people physical fitness is a battle between your flesh and your will. What happens 20 minutes into your workout? You get tired. Your senses tell you to quit, give up, it's too hard. That's when your will needs to step in and say, ‘no, I'm going to fight through my exhaustion and get stronger.'
"It's the same with spiritual strength. After you walk with the Lord a little while, maybe your senses start telling you to quit going to church; that God's principles don't work. But deep down, you know that's wrong. So you fight back and you keep going. It's a battle, 24-7. Our natural instinct is to give in. We have to learn to die to our senses."
Billy adds, "As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit within us. We need to remember Jesus can empower us inside and out so that we can run the race that is set before us, both physically and spiritually. But we still have to do the work. It's a battle we'll fight every day, but it's a worthy fight. Why? Because people will want what we have, and that opens the door to tell them about the saving power of Jesus Christ."

Billy and Gayle Blanks attend Crenshaw Christian Center in Los Angeles, CA, pastored by Dr. Frederick K.C. Price.

Come work out with Billy in his new gym! Visit www.billyblankswof.com for more details. To purchase Billy Blanks products go to www.billyblanks.com and to learn more about Billy and Gayle's foundation, visit www.billyblanksfoundation.org.

Pull quotes:
"I saw in my own eyes that I could beat somebody in karate. I saw I could achieve. That empowered me."-Billy Blanks

"I know God has His hand on Tae Bo. It's a tool He's given me to go around the world and speak to people about physical fitness and how Jesus Christ can change their lives." -Billy Blanks