Jack Stern was born in November of 1929 during the height of our country’s great depression (his first bad break in life). Coming from a poor family, he started working at a very early age shining shoes and running errands. He tried to enlist in the service during World War II, but was returned to school because he was too young. During his senior year in high school at the age of 16 he successfully enlisted in the army by forging his mother’s approval.

During Basic Training in Texas, Stern was confronted by the army. During the process of official discharge, his mother approved his enlistment, thereby allowing him to serve a three-year stint beginning in 1947. After Basic Training he entered the airborne units. After his qualifying jumps, he was assigned to occupation duty in Asia.

In those days, all personnel assigned overseas traveled by boat. After 31 days at sea with stops all over the Pacific, Stern was assigned to the 11th Airborne unit, stationed in Korea. It was there, in the beautiful country of “Kimchee” and honey buckets that he became interested in the ancient art of Judo, the gentle way of self defense. In the small village of Chinhae, Korea, he met his life-long friend Kun Lee Chu, a young Korean boy in the R.O.K forces. Chu is currently the liaison for the K.Y.A.

Chu and Jack studied together under Master Tae Ju Chung (deceased). In the middle of 1948, Jackie’s unit was moved out after one year of duty in Korea, one year being the required tour length at the time. The unit moved to Clark Field, in northern Luzon in the Philippines, where Jackie spent 2 years playing war games and learning some Philippine “stick fighting” from a Filipino scout named Bernabe Paragas. Bernabe, too, became a life-long friend, and now resides in California.

In late 1949, Stern’s unit was ready for stateside duty. They were relocated to Okinawa awaiting their return to the U.S. (and Stern’s discharge). After 8 uncomfortable months on Okinawa, during which time he trained with the Grandmaster O-Sensei Yamaguchi Gogen in Goju Karate, and with a fixed return date of June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. All troops were “frozen,” and the 11th Airborne was redeployed to Japan.

After 2 weeks of heavy training, Stern’s unit was grouped with the 187th Airborne Regimental combat team. He went from the replacement depot in Yokohama to southern Japan and into Korea. In 1953, the war ended. Stern re-enlisted for duty in Japan. During this two-year tour, he went back to the brown belt (and the “drawing board”). He also studied Kyokushinkai Karate three nights a week in the main Hombu in Tokyo under Master Mas Oyama, who (happily) recognized Goju ranks from Okinawa.

In 1956, Stern was discharged from the military and lived in Tokyo with the Otani family, whom he met while he was stationed at Tachikawa. In 1958, he returned to the United States for family reasons, where he continued study in the martial arts in St. Louis under Bong Yui Shin and Sung Jae Park. In Connecticut, he continued his studies under In Soo Hwang. In 1960 he opened the famous Paja Dojo school, which has hosted in its 27 years O-Sensei Mas Oyama while on his visit to the United States, Robert Trias, the Korean Olympic team while en route to the Pan American games, and a host of others. In 1964, he was performing two shows daily at the New York World’s Fair in the Japanese pavilion.

Today Stern holds titles as Grandmaster, Soke, Hanshi, Kyoshi Shihan, but most of all, he wants to be called “Sensei,” or “Pappasan”. He holds many honors and over 10 Hall of Fames, and most recently received the martial arts medallion medal of honor.

Grandmaster Jack Stern is the founder & director of the World Organization of Mixed Martial Arts (WOMA). He can be reached at E-mail: womausa@aol.com or Website: http://www.kyha.net.