Rolf Cahn(1924-1994)

Cahn was a German-born folk singer, political activist, author and martial artist. His Jewish family fled Hitler's oppression in 1937 for America, settling in Detroit. He then moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and then to Berkeley, California, where he recorded albums of folk music. Married briefly to fellow folk and blues singer Barbara Dane, their son, Jesse, also became a folk musician. Cahn popularized a self-defense technique called k'ang jo fu in his 1974 book K'ang Jo Fu: Self Defense for Gentle People. He retired to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was a popular local musician there. He died there in 1994.