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Jeff Speakman (born November 8, 1958) is an American actor and a martial artist in the art of American kenpo karate and Japanese Goju-Ryu, earning blackbelts in each. Speakman was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, where he was a springboard diver in high school and achieved All-American status. Jeff broke several school district and conference records while never having a coach. His grades while at John Hersey High School did not allow him a scholarship, so he had to work for his tuition to go to college. He graduated from Missouri Southern State College with a bachelor's degree in... MORE

Jeff Speakman (born November 8, 1958) is an American actor and a martial artist in the art of American kenpo karate and Japanese Goju-Ryu, earning blackbelts in each. Speakman was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, where he was a springboard diver in high school and achieved All-American status. Jeff broke several school district and conference records while never having a coach. His grades while at John Hersey High School did not allow him a scholarship, so he had to work for his tuition to go to college. He graduated from Missouri Southern State College with a bachelor's degree in psychology and a minor in biology six years after graduating high school. He has said that the television show Kung Fu got him interested in martial arts, and spent years training in American Kenpo under his principal instructor, Larry Tatum, as well as under Ed Parker, the founder of the system. Jeff received his 1st degree black belt in American Kenpo in 1984. He has subsequently obtained an eighth-degree rank in kenpo karate with other instructors, and also currently holds a 7th-degree black belt in the Goju-Ryu Karate style which he began to study under Grandmaster Lou Angel starting in LESS