He was born in Salinas, California, USA on the 12th of February 1947 to parents who had emigrated from The Philippines. He began his martial arts experience in old school Tang Soo Do, as student of Moises Arizmendi.

He transferred to San Jose State University where he met his Korean Grand Master Instructor Dan Choi when he joined the Tae Kwon Do Club. At the same time, he met his training partner and friend for life, Tony Thompson. Together they would go on to co-found the West Coast World Martial Arts Association, which also gave birth to the famous West Coast Demo Team.

The WCDT consisted of Reyes' Taekwondo students, many of which went on to become martial arts actors, including: Cynthia Rothrock, Geogre Chung; Scott Coker and his own children, the eldest being Ernie Reyes Jr. who starred in several Hollywood movies.

It was in 1983 while with the WCDT in LA California that his most famous student (Rothrock) was first discovered as an actress. Corey Yuen Kwai was looking for men to audition to be his next action star, but Reyes suggested bringing the women too. Corey was instantly impressed by Cynthia's skills and cast her in a starring role in Yes,Madam! [1985].

He was the motion capture performer for the character Akuma for the 1995 Street Fighter: The Movie arcade game, based off of the 1994 film of the same name.

He has five children: Ernie Jr.; Lee; Destiny; Espirit; and Ki, all of whom performed as part of the WCDT and have all made film appearances. Ernie Sr. and all five children appear together in the 2012 film Money Fight.

J.J. Hayden [05-Feb-2025]