Billy Blanks is a fitness guru and martial artist. In addition, he is also an actor, and the inventor of Taebo.

Blanks was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, the 4th of 15 children. As a child he had dyslexia and a hip abnormality; he did not take up martial arts until the age of 14. However, he quickly excelled, winning several state, local and national championships. He is a seven-time world Karate champion, and holds a seventh-degree black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do. In the 1980s, Blanks was the captain of the U.S. Olympic Karate team. Blanks is a member of the Karate Hall of Fame . He currently works as an athletic consultant for the television show Battledome .