A legendary eater

Ed Parker was not only know for his pioneering of kenpo and the martial arts in the US but stories abound of how he could eat. The standing joke is "You gonna eat those bones?" amongst those who knew him. If you were at the table with him and looked like you were not going to finish what you had in front of you, he'd often ask if you were going to eat it. If you weren't, and many got the hint, he'd swoop down and the food would disappear. The joke implies he'd even eat the bones.
   I was told that Mr. Tom Kelly was eating with him and a group one evening at a Chinese restaurant. Mr. Parker was talking and had a piece of meat in his chopsticks. Mr. Kelly snatched it out of his chopsticks with his own chopsticks with an underhand pick. You had to be pretty close, friend-wise, to do that to Mr. Parker. I think if I tried that I wouldn't get my arm back.
   I was in Honolulu with him, coming back from Australia. He took a group of us to his favorite restaurant, the Golden Duck, for Chinese. He ordered for us and soon the lazy susan on the table was full of food. He said "You guys stared at it and didn't do anything. Then I thought "They don't like it". Then, you attacked it!"
It was great food. It's a shame the place was later torn down but I'm told by Ed Jr. that's it's re-opened.
    Steve White tells a story about being at a home where Mr. Parker was the guest of honor. The host's wife baked a cake, cut it into small pieces and stacked them on a plate. Mr. Parker, of course, was the first to get the plate. He was in the midst of telling a story and while he talked he ate a piece of cake. He kept eating while he finished his story and Steve said he also finished the cake. It reminds me of what Tadashi Yamashita said when he watched Mr. Parker eat when on a trip to Chile. His comment was "Unbelievable".
  I could go on with more stories but they're a fun part of the lore of the system and you'll hear some from time to time at some gatherings when the seniors are present. The down side is that in his later years his appetite caused him to gain weight and develop gout but it sure didn't slow him down. I don't tell these stories to tarnish his memory, I tell them fondly. I smile when I remember. His birthday is coming soon, it's in March and he's been on my mind.