What Jim Kelly meant to ME!

           Last night as I watched some of the new interviews I found on Martial Artist Icon, Tennis Icon, and Action film star Jim Kelly I was still gathering my thoughts as to properly describe my feelings on his passing last week. I was still shocked upon reading the news. The shock just came upon heavier than James Gandolfini’s passing as with death of someone you’ve become familiar with it usually comes from out of “left field”. But Jim Kelly was a part of my childhood and stayed with me to present day. Anyone whom has been to my place they knew that I had film pictures throughout. And two collages which included Jim (one was Black Belt Jones based and the second consists of “Three the Hard Way” and “Shaft”).

          Where many have called this a coincidence (as I have learned that there are no such things), I was experienced what’s called “synchronicity” with him a few weeks back as I then watching many of his old interviews that he had given on a number of conventions without being aware of what he was going through. He often spoke about his website for which I was surprised that he had as I always thought that he lived a very private lifestyle after leaving the “Hollywood” limelight. I had looked over the site and I feel like an idiot for not going forward with my purchasing (and having him sign) one of the many photos he had for sale.

  As a kid, I remember on Channel 7 they used to have the 4:00 pm movie and when it was Black history month three films I remembered that came on every year, “Cooley High”, “Shaft” and “Three the Hard Way”. And then next day when I would get to school my old friend Omar Taylor and I would go crazy over Jim doing his thing in “Three”… Omar would imitate, “Gonna Set Me Up! Ouiieee”.

And we went nuts over the scene Where Keys snaps the stick in half and beats on the two Feather’s militant guards… (See the film).

My sister would always bring up the “Jim Kelly switch” as his shoes changed to sneakers before pounding on the cops

Kelly’s character had such a strong effect on me especially after the cop harasses him and looks at his driver’s license and then makes fun of his name

Police officer asks. “Mister Keyes. Now what kind of a first name is that”?

Mister Keyes, “My momma wanted people to show me Respect”.

That response always stayed with me so much that in my feature,
“The Skeleptica Effect”, I created a character named “Mister Keys” (see the film). I also remembered how that drum would kick in after asks “What’s that on the floor there”. It meant his “ass was grass”! I also remember seeing the film in a double feature with my dad when movie theatres used to have double features at many of the smaller theatres (one older film to pay with a more recent film). I also saw “Hot Potato” and “Black Samurai” in the theatre and as a kid I remember Jim being surrounded by a number of Asian guys and he took them out one by one and two by two. When I saw the film many years later, it’s funny realizing how much shorter they were going up against Jim…

           I would It would be many years later before I saw “Black Belt Jones” and I remember laughing so hard especially seeing Jim do a comedy for the first time And the romantic chemistry with Gloria Hendry played well as well.

         Going back to my “synchronicity”, I had more recently been wondering whatever happened to fellow Black martial artist Taimak (whom I saw on the train one day) and I knew that he had interest in doing  “The Last Dragon” sequel. And damn it, I had conceived a teaser idea that included Mister Kelly with Taimak. And last night after learning that Kelly had a Facebook page I found a photo of the two at a convention.

 And as I stated on his FB page, my heart just broke a bit more.