GM Stacy T. Picascia
IKCA Legal Advisor
IKCA Certified Instructor – Ancient Warriors Academy
My Journey with Ed Parker and Chuck Sullivan:
I am GM Stacy Picascia, IKCA Legal Advisor. I began my incredible martial arts journey when I was a teenager, and Chuck Sullivan was my barber. In those days the only people who used “hairstylists” were women, while men went to “barbers.”
Every time I went to Chuck’s for a haircut we would talk about karate. Chuck was intent on getting me to start training with him and Ed Parker. Chuck and Ed co-owned a school in Los Angeles, which we still refer to as the “Crenshaw school” because it was located on Crenshaw Boulevard.
Early Motivation
To this day, I remember hearing on the news about a young couple that were walking along a moonlit beach in Playa del Rey. They were attacked by a gang of thugs who gang-raped the girl and unmercifully beat the young man to a point that one or more of the thugs actually pushed the young man’s eyes back into his skull.
That was early in 1963, and was the impetus that made me take Chuck up on his offer. I had vowed I would never let that happen to myself or someone I loved. In March of that year I received enough money on my birthday to afford the fee for the first month of lessons. As I remember the monthly fee and the Gi came to a total of $25. That month my journey began with Chuck teaching one night a week (Tuesday or Thursday) and Ed teaching on the opposite night.
During those beginning years, when I achieved the rank of “3rd Tip” and “4th Tip” White Belt, I was honored to be tasked with the responsibility of teaching the “Basic” and “Intermediate” classes. I continued teaching when I was promoted to Brown Belt. On June 16, 1967 I was promoted to 1st Degree Black belt.
During the subsequent years, I was fortunate enough to accompany Ed Parker to a number of appearances. I would assist Ed as he demonstrated the skills he had perfected and showcased. I was a member of his Demonstration Team for the Ed Parker International Karate Championships, held in Long Beach, California.
Stacy Picascia: Law Enforcement
In 1967, I joined the Inglewood Police Department. During my tenure with Inglewood, and because of my training, experience, and rank with Ed Parker’s International Kenpo Karate Association, I was chosen to train with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and became certified as a “Weaponless Defense Instructor.”
While at Inglewood PD, I trained city employees, including police personnel, in the Art of Kenpo Karate.
In 1977 I joined the Seal Beach Police Department as a Captain, and three years later I was appointed Chief of Police. During my tenure with Seal Beach, I continued training city employees and police personnel in Kenpo.
Stacy Picascia’s Class was Featured in the Newspaper
Law Practice & Post Active Duty Law Enforcement
During my time as a Captain I passed the State Bar and was sworn in as an Attorney at Law in 1977. I maintained a part-time law practice with the law firm of Kahn, Stern, Blainey and Kittrell, located near the Los Angeles airport.
Retiring from police work in 1988, I joined the Law Firm of Martin J. Meyer, in Long Beach, California. Mr. Meyer was my “Legal Advisor” while I was Chief of Police. His firm represented Police Chiefs throughout California. This became my responsibility in addition to acting as “City Attorney” for cities without full-time legal representation.
My career in the law continued when I joined the Law Firm of Brennan, Cheren & Picascia, in Newport Beach, California.
In 1994, I was employed by Butts Manufacturing Company in Garden Grove California as President/CEO. I also represented the same company in a legal capacity for several years.
Present Day:
For almost the past 10 years I’ve been fortunate enough to continue my training each week with Chuck at his private dojo. I have to say, this is truly an exciting time for me.
In those beginning years, no one ever thought of, or dared, question anything that we were taught or how we were training. With the passage of time we’ve built very close and lasting relationships, in addition to our accumulation of knowledge and experience. We now have the freedom to examine what we have been doing in the past and what we are doing now. We study everything we do to see what works or if there is a better way of doing something.
And, it almost goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, that this is all possible because of Chuck. As long as I’ve known Chuck, he has never hesitated to examine every aspect of the Martial Arts, and change something if it would make it work better and be more effective.
I’m also very honored that Chuck has the trust and confidence in me to open his home and dojo during the times he is away on a vacation (cruising the world) and conduct our weekly training classes in his stead.
ANCIENT WARRIORS: Concept
An idea came to me one day of wanting to honor the first 15 Black Belts that were promoted out of the “Crenshaw School.”
I wanted to, in some way, celebrate the fact that of those 15 students, a number of us were still close friends, not always physically close, but always close in “spirit,” for over 50 years. Those enduring types of friendships and brotherhood I have only experienced in a very limited number of cases. Friendships that are developed in law enforcement – possibly due to the inherent danger of the profession, and karate – Martial Arts.
I designed a patch and had the patches manufactured using an embroidery process. I also developed a preamble of sorts, explaining the intent and symbolism incorporating the concepts of Wisdom, Strength, Patience, Spirit, Honor, and Courage.
SOCIETY OF ANCIENT WARRIORS: Cofounder with SGM Chuck Sullivan.
The name Ancient Warriors came to me because of something Chuck has said over and over. When we all started with Ed Parker, we were all young, with some of us in our teens. Even Martial Arts was in its infancy here in America. Some 50 years later we were, for lack of a better term, “seasoned” practitioners, no longer those youngsters from yesteryear.
I had patches made for the original 15 members of that group. I also had made one patch each for SGM Edmund K Parker and SGM Chuck Sullivan. Only eight (8) members remained while the other members couldn’t be found or were known to have passed away. One patch was presented to each of those members that could be found. One patch was presented to Chuck, along with another patch for Chuck’s partner and the Crenshaw school’s cofounder Ed Parker. Because Mr. Parker had passed, his patch was framed and is held in honor by Mr. Sullivan, where it hangs in his home office.
One day during a conversation between Chuck and I, Chuck mentioned he thought the concept of Ancient Warriors could be much more. In essence, he felt there were a number of practitioners in various martial arts that have developed similar types of friendships throughout the years. He felt they deserved to be honored in the same way and for the same reasons.
As a result, the “Society of Ancient Warriors” was created!
Educational CV:
- Juris Doctor Degree – June 1977 – University of West Los Angeles School of Law.
- Master of Arts Degree – June 1977 – Chapman University:
- Education/Educational Systems Management.
- Bachelor of Science Degree – 1973 – California State University at Los Angeles:
- Police Science and Administration.
- Associate of Arts Degree – 1966 – Los Angeles Harbor College:
- Industrial Technology – Electronics
As a concluding comment, I sincerely have to say that Chuck continues to be one of my closest friends. He’s also “still my barber” to this day, and frankly the best I have ever had in both categories – bar-none!
Today, GM Stacy Picascia serves as the official IKCA Legal Advisor as well as a valued member of the Leadership Team.
Back to Leadership page.