This article was published in the April 1974 issue of Fighting Stars magazine, a sister publication of Black Belt. That means it appeared just five years after the original Star Trek was canceled and many years before the sci-fi series became a staple of film and television.
At the time, William Shatner was not the international superstar he’s recognized as today. He was just an actor who’d had a good run on a series that happened to be set in space. And he was a martial artist.