Wallace was born in Portland, Indiana, and trained in wrestling during his high school years. He began his study of Judo in 1966 and was forced to discontinue his Judo related activities because of an injury he suffered to his right knee during practice. He then began to study Shōrin-ryū Karate under Michael Gneck in February 1967 while serving in the U.S. Air Force. After entering the point fighting tournament scene and achieving success there, he switched to full-contact competition. With the coaching help of veteran fighter Jim 'Ronin' Harrison, Wallace won 23 consecutive professional fights between 1974 and 1980, becoming the Professional Karate Association middleweight world full-contact karate champion and retiring undefeated. He was known for his fast left leg kicks, especially his roundhouse kick and his hook kick, which was clocked at about 60 mph. He focused on his left leg because of the Judo-related injury to his right knee, using the right leg primarily as a base. He also suffered the loss of one testicle during a point fighting tournament, when his protective cup was struck at an unfortunate angle. A year later, Wallace turned professional and captured the PKA middleweight karate championship with a second-round knockout. He relinquished the crown in 1980, undefeated. The PKA promoted the sport of full-contact karate. Full-contact karate differed from kickboxing in that leg kicks were allowed in kickboxing and forbidden in full-contact karate. It was PKA President, Don Quine, who coined the phrase "Superfoot" to describe Wallace after witnessing his fight first with Mark Georgantas and then with Jem Echollas. In 1990 Bill Wallace fought one last exhibition kickboxing/karate match with friend Joe Lewis on pay per view. Both Wallace and Lewis were refused a boxing license because of their age. The exhibition ended with one judge in favor of Wallace and the other two judges scored the bout a tie; ending the exhibition in a draw.
Bill Wallace was a personal trainer and close friend of both Elvis Presley and John Belushi. On March 5, 1982, Bill Wallace found John Belushi dead of a cocaine and heroin overdose, in his room in Bungalow 3, at the Chateau Marmont, on Sunset Boulevard, in Hollywood, California. Wallace has written and co-written a number of books, including:
Competitive Karate: Featuring the Superfoot System
The Ultimate Kick
Dynamic Kicking & Stretching
Karate: Basic Concepts & Skills
DVD format:
BOOST Karate for Children
Karate: Basic Concepts & Skills
Bill Wallace also starred in the 1985 James Glickenhausaction film "The Protector" alongside Jackie Chan and Danny Aiello. Wallace played a tough ex karate champ bodyguard, who has an extended fight scene with cop Jackie Chan in a Hong Kong warehouse.
