The Jet

by Benny Urquidez, Tom Bleecker

The life story of Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. Proclaimed by renowned masters to be the greatest pound-for-pound kickboxer of all time, Benny Urquidez was nicknamed "The Jet" because of his explosive spinning back kick. After competing for ten years in non-contact point karate, he pioneered full-contact fighting throughout the world, often fighting in bouts where the rules were ambiguous and contrasts in styles were dramatic. In the 1970s, he won the PKA and WKA World Kickboxing Championships, and then went on to defeat Japan's World Champion. Highlighting his stellar career that spanned two decades, Urquidez came out of semi-retirement at the age of 42 to seal his legendary status by defeating Japan's 25-year-old reigning World Champion. Victorious in six World Championships in five different weight divisions, Benny "The Jet" Urquidez has remained undefeated for 27 years as the longest reigning World Champion ever. Unofficially retired from professional kickboxing in 1995, Sensei Benny Urquidez continues to teach martial arts at the Team Karate Centers in Woodland Hills and the Hayastan MMA Academy in North Hollywood, regularly works in the Hollywood film industry as an actor and fight choreographer, and travels the world with his wife, Sara Eaglewoman, as a spiritual teacher.

Genres: Martial Arts, Nonfiction

214 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2014

Reviews

[John Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good autobiography of Benny, but seems like a skimming of his life. Lots of stories I've heard from other sources are never mentioned here. Also, the passages about Benny's spirituality have me thinking it is meant for the faith-based book market. Quite decent for what it is.

[Anders · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really interesting to read about Bennys life and his competitions in particular. The could easily have been three times thicker, filled with more anecdotes, training methods, people and memories from the competitions.
It got a bit spiritual at the end, which is also an important part of who he is.

[Fernando Suarezserna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. One of the best books I've read in my life!