Charlene Lawrence was born and raised in San Bernardino California. She graduated from San Gorgonio High School in 1973. She attended San Bernardino Valley College in 1975. In 1976 she married Bobby Lawrence. They have five children and 18 grand children.
Charlene has been studying karate for over 40 years. She is a 6th degree Black Belt in Kenpo. In 1996, Charlene became a certified Tae Bo Aerobics Instructor with Billy Blanks. She was the 2nd person certified outside of the state of California to teach Tae Bo Aerobics. She loved teaching Tae Bo, as it matched her energetic approach to teaching karate. Even today, she is known as a highly energetic teacher, coach, and business mentor.
At age 42 Charlene won the EKL Nationals Grand Champion sparring title. At 45 she won the Golden Gate NBL Nationals in San Francisco in the 18+ Kenpo Forms division that included men and women. At age 59 she took 3rd place in the Kenpo Masters division that included men and women and 1st place in the women’s division.
Charlene is the President of Bobby Lawrence Karate (BLK). She owns three full-time karate schools. The BLK organization oversees ten other BLK licensed schools. Charlene turned 60 in January 2015 and after 30 years of service, she retired from teaching and operating BLK. She still, however, continues serving as an ambassador of goodwill for Kenpo karate schools wherever she is.