William Wayne Paul

Who is William Wayne Paul?

William Wayne Paul was an American martial artist, educator, psychologist and social/political activist.

Born in Nevada County, California, Bill Paul lived in three group homes and attended four high schools during adolescence. He began his study of judo with Richard Takemoto in Oakland, continuing with Mits Kimura at the San Francisco Judo Institute from 1957 and competing successfully in numerous judo tournaments during the later 1950s and early 1960s. Between 1962 and 1964 he worked as a bouncer at Pierre's Bar in San Francisco's North Beach area. Having spent time training in Japan, in late 1964 he was an alternate on the US Olympic judo team, and he captained the US team at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg during 1967. Thereafter he largely switched to the study of the Chinese martial arts, especially T'ai chi ch'uan.

It was also during the late 1960s that Paul became politically active. A keen photographer, he documented clashes between police and student protesters during the unrest at the San Francisco State University and was later reported to have defended Vietnam War protesters from assaults by angry onlookers during peace marches in San Francisco.