Allan Tafoya is a Native American actor who is a member of the Apache Nation, and is of Apache descent, his forefathers including Apache Chief Mangus Colorado. Mangus Colorado was also known as Red Sleeves, and he was a knife fighter that wore red sleeves to cover the scars he had acquired from his knife battles. Alan Tafoya was the grandson of Chief Mangus’ granddaughter, making him Mangus’ great great grandson. Tafoya is best known for his martial arts skills, and because of his ancestry he felt that he had an instinctual skill for fighting as well as skill with a knife. Tafoya sees martial arts and knife fighting as a form of art and not simply for warfare or violence. His prowess with a knife has been proven in numerous tournaments, including the Soldier of Fortune Knife tournaments in 1999 and 2000. In one of the films he played, named Dancing on the Edge, his skill and preparation for the tournaments is documented. In addition to this, he remained undefeated as a knife fighting champion for quite some time.
