Joe Buck
Joe Buck was the nickname of Gerry Blanck, former owner of Joe Buck's Surf and Sport Shop located in nearby Gulf Breeze, and World Kickboxing Champion from 1983-85. Mr Blanck was a 1972 graduate of Washington High School, and martial arts trainer to many celebrities including Tom Hanks, Pamela Anderson, Bob Dylan, and the late Christopher Penn.
He was also an 8th degree black belt in Yoshukai Karate, owner and sensei (teacher) at Gerry Blanck's Martial Arts Center in Malibu, California, co-host of the annual Yoshukai Karate Winter Workouts on Pensacola Beach and a distributor of the Traditionz brand martial arts clothing line.
On July 4, 2012 he served as marshal for the Independence Day parade in Pacific Palisades, California.
His screen credits include the tv shows "Baywatch", "Dancing With The Stars", also the movies "Full Contact", and "Black-Belt". As of January 2011, plans were in the works to air footage of Mr Blanck and the late world surfing champion Mark Foo in a tv special for The History Channel.
He also made cameo appearances in "The Martial Arts Kid", a movie which won the Sunscreen Film Festival's Best Florida Film award for 2015. It was produced by Gulf Breeze native and retired Womens Division World Kickboxing Champion Cheryl Marie Wheeler.
As of February 2015, Sensei Blanck created his own Youtube channel, which can be accessed by following this link:
