KATY, Texas (Covering Katy News) — Bob Cruise, a Taylor High School graduate who attended Katy High School before transferring, has been inducted into the U.S. Martial Arts Hall of Fame for the second time.
For this second induction, which took place July 19 in San Antonio, Cruise received the Golden Life Award. He holds a fifth-degree black belt in American Full Contact Karate. He said his induction came at the recommendation of other martial artists.
"They all wanted me in there and nominated me for it because I made a splash with them at the first Hall of Fame induction," Cruise said.
From World Champion to Hall of Fame
Cruise's first induction, in 2023, was for his dedication to the martial arts, evidenced in part by his winning the 2022 World Karate Championship, four Texas state championships and two Karate Olympics championships.
His dedication to the martial arts has been demonstrated over decades. Cruise said he began teaching himself at age 13. He said when he later signed up for classes, he began to see how much he had to learn — and in some cases, unlearn. He was quick to honor his many mentors in an interview. One of them, the late Joe Lewis, was the first world heavyweight karate champion.
"He's the guy who was the father of full contact karate," Cruise said. "He was one of Bruce Lee's proteges back in the '60s, and he was Bruce Lee's only world champion fighter."
Career as Hollywood Stuntman
Cruise took his skills and became a stuntman for the movie industry. He is a member of the Houston Stuntman Association and Screen Actors Guild, along with the Sport Karate Museum.
Cruise said he retired from fighting for a period in the 1980s, where he met David Sanders, then the leader of the Houston Stuntman Association.
"I started training other stuntmen and we started working in movies," Cruise said. "I was doing car stunts, fire gags and fight scenes. I even ended up doing a fight scene with Dolph Lundgren in one of his action films they filmed here in Houston called 'I Come in Peace.'"
The film was alternatively titled "Dark Angel" and released in 1990.
Cruise went from the movie industry to the health and fitness industry and eventually returned to fighting.
Katy High School Memories and Clint Black Connection
Though he now calls Houston home, Cruise has wonderful Katy ties and memories. He first attended Katy High School before transferring to Taylor High School when that school opened. He's a member of Taylor's inaugural graduating class — the class of 1982. At Katy High School, he was a classmate of future country music artist Clint Black.
"We shared a fourth-period class together with Mrs. Sandra Taylor back then," Cruise said. "That was my freshman year."
Book About Martial Arts Journey Coming in 2026
Cruise is writing a book about his experiences, which he hopes to publish next year.
"I'd say the book's going to be pretty good," Cruise said. "It's going to have a lot of names in there. It's going to talk about a lot of my beginnings."
Cruise says the book is also instructional about karate.
"There's some very interesting training points that'll be beneficial to a lot of people reading it. The book is funny and it's action-packed. There's even a few — I've got to admit — emotional parts that are put in there."