Gene LeBell

United States
Born 1932-10-09, Los Angeles
Died 2022-08-09, Los Angeles
8.0

Also known as

Ivan Gene LeBell

Description

Ivan Gene LeBell (October 9, 1932 – August 9, 2022) was an American judoka, stuntman, actor and professional wrestler. Nicknamed "Judo Gene" and "The Godfather of Grappling", he is credited with popularizing grappling in professional fighting circles, serving as a precursor to modern mixed martial arts. He worked on over 1,000 films and TV shows and authored 12 books.

Teachers (1)

  • Ishikawa Takahiko
    sports_martial_artsKōdōkan Jūdō Probable
    Probable
    Trained under Ishikawa Takahiko in Japan, mentioned in Mokuren Dojo interview as one of his greatest judo teachers from training in Japan
    The evidence favours the claim and nothing credible contradicts it, but it falls short of establishing it.
    location_onTokyo Metropolitan Police Department badge (1953–1955)
    fact_checkassessed by FSMverified
    Frederico Muñoz
    Researcher, Martialis
    1 source expand_more
    fact_check
    Trained under Ishikawa Takahiko in Japan, mentioned in Mokuren Dojo interview as one of his greatest judo teachers from training in Japan
    “Who do you think were the greatest judo teachers you ever got to learn from? Gene Lebell: In the U.S. Shig Tashma, Larry Coughran, Kenneth Kinyuki, Fuji Nazawa (who just died 2 days ago), and of course I learned a lot from training in Japan (Ishikawa)”
    — Mokuren Interview: 'Judo' Gene LeBell (Mokuren Dojo)link

Ranks (3)

  • sports_martial_artsKōdōkan Jūdō
    military_tech10 dan Probable
    Probable
    Promoted to 10th degree red belt in judo, mentioned in Wikipedia biography
    The evidence favours the claim and nothing credible contradicts it, but it falls short of establishing it.
    Dan-Kyu System (2005)
    fact_checkassessed by FSMverified
    Frederico Muñoz
    Researcher, Martialis
    1 source expand_more
    fact_check
    Promoted to 10th degree red belt in judo, mentioned in Wikipedia biography
    “Rank: 10th degree red belt in Judo”
    — English Wikipedia - Gene LeBell biography link
  • sports_martial_artsBaguazhang
    military_tech9 dan Probable
    Probable
    Promoted to 9th degree black belt in jujutsu by United States Ju-Jitsu Federation in 2000, mentioned in Wikipedia
    The evidence favours the claim and nothing credible contradicts it, but it falls short of establishing it.
    Dan-Kyu System (2000)
    fact_checkassessed by FSMverified
    Frederico Muñoz
    Researcher, Martialis
    1 source expand_more
    fact_check
    Promoted to 9th degree black belt in jujutsu by United States Ju-Jitsu Federation in 2000, mentioned in Wikipedia
    “Rank: 9th degree black belt in Jujutsu”
    — English Wikipedia - Gene LeBell biography link
  • sports_martial_artsKyokushin
    military_tech10 dan Probable
    Probable
    Promoted to 10th degree black belt in Kyokushin Budokai by World Martial Arts Masters Association in 2004, mentioned in Wikipedia.
    The evidence favours the claim and nothing credible contradicts it, but it falls short of establishing it.
    Dan-Kyu System (2004)
    fact_checkassessed by FSMverified
    Frederico Muñoz
    Researcher, Martialis
    1 source expand_more
    fact_check
    Promoted to 10th degree black belt in Kyokushin Budokai by World Martial Arts Masters Association in 2004, mentioned in Wikipedia.
    “Rank: 10th degree black belt in Kyokushin Budokai”
    — English Wikipedia - Gene LeBell biography link

Students (2)

  • Chuck Norris
    sports_martial_artsKōdōkan Jūdō Confirmed
    Confirmed
    Independent sources state it.
    The evidence establishes the claim: it is sufficient and consistent, and any conflicting evidence is resolved.
    fact_checkassessed by FSMverified
    Frederico Muñoz
    Researcher, Martialis
    2 sources expand_more
    fact_check
    Independent sources state it.
    “Norris continued his martial arts training with [...] Judo expert Gene LeBell”
    — American Tang Soo Do (Wikipedia EN)link history info
    “Bob Wall, a former world professional karate champion and a friend of LeBell's, used to bring martial arts stars Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee to train in karate and judo with LeBell.”
    — Jacobs, Mark. (1995-04-03). Tough Guys Wear Pink: In Any Color, Judo Master and Film Stuntman Gene LeBell Is One Hard Hombre link history info
  • Bruce Lee
    sports_martial_artsKōdōkan Jūdō Possible
    Possible
    One magazine profile has him brought to train in karate and judo with LeBell; whether LeBell taught him is not stated.
    Some evidence points to the claim, but it is thin, indirect, or in unresolved conflict with other evidence.
    fact_checkassessed by FSMverified
    Frederico Muñoz
    Researcher, Martialis
    1 source expand_more
    fact_check
    One magazine profile has him brought to train in karate and judo with LeBell; whether LeBell taught him is not stated.
    “Bob Wall, a former world professional karate champion and a friend of LeBell's, used to bring martial arts stars Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee to train in karate and judo with LeBell.”
    — Jacobs, Mark. (1995-04-03). Tough Guys Wear Pink: In Any Color, Judo Master and Film Stuntman Gene LeBell Is One Hard Hombre link history info

Sources

English Wikipedia - Gene LeBell biographylink
Mokuren Interview: 'Judo' Gene LeBell (Mokuren Dojo) link

Identifiers

https://martial.is/entity/01KJJAWN28MWKKSN4J02MVY1SS
Wikidata DBpedia

Cite and reuse

CC BY-SA 4.0expand_more
Plain text
Muñoz, Frederico (YEAR_PLACEHOLDER). Gene LeBell. In Martialis: Martial Arts Lineage Database. https://martial.is/entity/01KJJAWN28MWKKSN4J02MVY1SS - CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed ACCESSED_DATE_PLACEHOLDER.
BibTeX
@incollection{martialis_01KJJAWN28MWKKSN4J02MVY1SS, author = {Muñoz, Frederico}, title = {Gene LeBell}, booktitle = {Martialis: Martial Arts Lineage Database}, year = {YEAR_PLACEHOLDER}, url = {https://martial.is/entity/01KJJAWN28MWKKSN4J02MVY1SS}, urldate = {ACCESSED_DATE_PLACEHOLDER}, note = {CC BY-SA 4.0} }
data_object JSON-LDdata_object Turtle

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