Legendary martial artist Bill ‘Superfoot’ Wallace - who trained Elvis Presley - visits Chesterfield

The veteran American, who trained Elvis Presley and became a good friend of the iconic singer, was brought to the town by Unit1 Fitness and Martial Arts.

After passing on tips to a group of 40 taking part in the session, Wallace said: “They did absolutely superb. I had a blast.

"I’m 77 and I have an absolute ball doing this. I’m living the good life.”

Wallace, who has appeared in films alongside the likes of Jackie Chan, Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi, recalled his time as Elvis’s personal trainer, saying: “He was a good martial artist. He couldn’t spar because he couldn’t take the chance of getting hit or getting hurt, but he was very, very good at self-defence. If you look at his movies, he did a lot of the karate stuff in his movies.”

Dave Cartawick, the founder and head coach of Unit1 Fitness and Martial Arts, was delighted to be able to bring Wallace to Chesterfield.

He said: “What a legend the guy is. It was our first seminar for three years and what a man to pick.

“You think of Pele in the football as being the best one ever and Bill is the kickboxing equivalent of Pele. He’s a phenomenal guy.

“He’s someone I’ve wanted to get to Unit1 for some years and we finally managed to get him to come. Everybody enjoyed it. When you have someone as famous and charismatic as that, they’ll be talking and thinking about the experience for months and years to come.”

Wallace won 23 consecutive professional fights between 1974 and 1980, becoming the Professional Karate Association middleweight world full-contact karate champion and retiring undefeated.