rank and have no plans of slowing
down,” he said. “My next test will be
in my 80s.”
In 2011 my father was honored in
a permanent exhibit at the Western
Pennsylvania Sports Museum and
Senator John Heinz History Center
that recognizes him as the co-creator
of the sport of mixed martial arts. He
and I received the Champion Asso-
ciations Willie Stargell MVP Award
in 2011 for community service. In
2017 we were included in the book
Who’s Who in the Martial Arts: The
Legends Edition.
My father’s life was the focus of
the Amazon best-seller Godfathers
of MMA, which inspired the 2017
Showtime documentary Tough Guys.
I wrote the book and served as a pro-
ducer for the film and am currently
adapting it for the big screen.
Through the years, our dojo has
built a reputation as the most suc-
cessful sport-karate school in the
Pittsburgh region. That followed its
grooming of the only Pan-American
gold medalists in both traditional
karate and kickboxing, as well com-
petitors who own countless national,
international and world titles.
AS KARATE APPROACHES its Olym-
pic debut in 2020, my father is
being recognized for having been
instrumental in the movement. His
involvement started when he hosted
the USA Karate Junior Olympics at
the University of Pittsburgh in 1992
under the auspices of the U.S. Olym-
pic Committee. Clearly, the dojo has
always had its finger on the pulse of
the martial arts, and it continues to
play a pivotal role in the Pittsburgh
karate community.
Over the past 50 years, Allegheny
Shotokan Karate has welcomed
everyone from children struggling
with autism to Olympic-level com-
petitors. It doesn’t matter whether
the person is a professional athlete
or a teenager who’s coping with bul-
lies. Everyone is on his or her own
personal journey of self-enlighten-
ment and courage. Our goal is to
help them reach their potential and
go beyond.THAT FORMULA for success was born
in 1955 when my dad got his first
taste of combat while studying box-
ing with a family friend, the legend-
ary Marion “Slugger” Klingensmith.
He discovered the Asian arts in the
early 1960s. “My friend Medick Capi-
rano picked up karate at WVU in
the ROTC program,” my father said.
“I thought I was pretty tough, but
he threw me all over the room when
we’d work out on the weekends. I
was addicted.”
While attending California State
University, my father continued train-
ing with the All-American Karate
Federation, an offshoot of the Japa-
nese Karate Association. He earned
rank under pioneers Robert Trias and
George Anderson.
He selected the name “Allegheny”
for his school because of its original
location in Allegheny County. The
“Shotokan” portion of the name was a
no-brainer since his base style was the
traditional Japanese art. My dad began
teaching in 1969, and the first student
to sign up was former California State
football player Denny Costello.
The first teacher to come on board
was Keith Bertoluzzi. The former
master of ceremonies at the Holiday
House in Monroeville, Pennsylvania,
Bertoluzzi used his connections to
invite visiting celebrities to attend
karate class, among them several
members of the Beach Boys. “Karate
in the ’60s and ’70s was so popular,”
my father recalled. “We [instructors]
were the rock stars.”
As evidence, he cited the fact that by
1971, the local school district, known
for its progressive policies, offered
him the opportunity to teach a regularelective karate course. It was the first
in an American public school.ONE REASON Allegheny Shotokan
Karate remains a leader in the local
community is its dedication to phi-
lanthropy and community service.
I’ve participated in charitable work
since my senior year at the University
of Pittsburgh, when I established
Kumite International collegiate
scholarships. The partnership pro-
gram with the Western Pennsylvania
Police Athletic League and Eckert
Seamans Law Firm allocated a whop-
ping $50,000 for karate scholarships.
The program made national news
when Lynn Swann, chairman of
George W. Bush’s Council of Physical
Fitness and Sports, and I presented
the scholarships at the 2004 Pitts-
burgh Fitness Expo/Kumite Classic.
The dojo has raised tens of thou-
sands of dollars for various causes,
including the battle against muscular
dystrophy and Parkinson’s disease.
In 2017 former state Sen. Sean Logan
and I launched Kick Parkinson’s Dis-
ease, a cause that was close to both
parties. (Logan was diagnosed with
Parkinson’s while in his mid-40s, and
I spent years caring for my grand-
mother until she passed away from
neurodegenerative complications.)
The members of our dojo have
since made it their mission to Kick
Parkinson’s disease — literally. Each
year, hundreds of students assemble
to execute kicks nonstop over a dis-
tance of 1 mile in conjunction with
Logan’s PIND (Pittsburgh Institute
for Neurodegenerative Diseases)
5K. In 2018 they did so in record-
setting heat, bumping their two-
year total to $15,000 in donations.
Over the past three years, the event
has raised more than $1 million in
appropriations, grants and sponsor-
ships, with every dollar earmarked
for testing and research in hopes of
finding a cure.Over the past 50 years, Allegheny Shotokan Karate has welcomed everyone
from children struggling with autism to Olympic-level competitors.AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019 § BLACKBELTMAG.COM 77