Charles A. Wallace

Hanshi-Dan, Kyoshi-Go

Conducting class at the

Isshinryu Karate Academy of Pittsburgh Dojo 11/24/2007

It is a little known fact that Tatsuo Shimabuku visited the United States for the first time in the late summer of 1964.  His purpose for traveling here was to introduce his “Isshinryu Karate” to a small group of dedicated karate students at a karate dojo in Castle Shannon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The arrangement was made by Harry Acklin and the trip was financed by Jim Morabeto, who was the owner of the dojo.  Master Shimabuku stayed in Mr. Morabeto’s home for the three month period of his visit and the small group of students (about fifty) trained under the direction of Tatsuo Shimabuku most every day of the week.  Although Master Shimabuku’s English speaking skills were less than perfect, he was quite good at communicating in other ways.  He would sometimes go to great lengths to make a point and since his means of communication required the students to use their imaginations, the students were inclined to remember his point, once they understood it.

Master Shimabuku was a pleasure to watch in action.  At four foot ten or eleven inches and about 118 pounds, he was a small man by Western standards, but the speed of his techniques left no doubt in the mind of the observer that there was great explosiveness in all of his punches, chops, elbow strikes, blocks, kicks, and knee strikes.  I shall never forget Tatsuo Shimabuku performing Sanchin Kata in that Castle Shannon dojo.  He seemed to be in a “trance-like” state as he performed the moves of the kata.  One could almost visualize rays of light emitting from his eyes.

For the most part, Master Shimabuku showed great patience with his group of aspiring karateka, but every now and then, he would become impatient with the endless questions asked by his students.  This impatience would manifest itself by the master admonishing the students by saying with disgust in his voice, “Too much yak-yak!”

The group of students assembled for this historic occasion represented quite a cross-section of citizens.  The ages ranged from about 14 to 45 years.  All of the students were male with most being in their late teens and early twenties.  Among the adults, there were professional people and there were both skilled and unskilled workers.  A small percentage of the students had prior martial arts training to some extent.  Among those few students who had some prior training at that time were John Pringle, Lou Race, Dan Janiak, and Chuck Wallace.  William H. Duessel, Harry Acklin, and Joe Pennywell had at that point trained for several years and had received the Isshinryu black belt rank from Harry Smith of the Harrisburg, PA area.  Each of these men downgraded their ranks, during the three month training period, out of respect for Master Shimabuku and to demonstrate humility.  Just prior to his returning to Okinawa at the end of November, Master Shimabuku reinstated black belt rank to Senseis Duessel, Acklin, and Pennywell and presented black belt rank to Jim Morabeto. 

During the course of Master Shimabuku’s stay in the Pittsburgh area, he was visited by Isshinryu black belts from other areas.  Dignitaries such as Don Nagle from New Jersey, Harold Long from Tennessee, Harry Smith from the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area, and Bob Hill also from Tennessee came to Jim Morabeto’s dojo to visit with Shimabuku and to ask him to check various techniques and katas.

Just before the master’s return to Okinawa, a large demonstration was held at the Castle Shannon Memorial Fire Hall with most of the students performing basics, katas, or weapons.  Willie Weutzel’s Kung Fu School from Beaver Falls, PA also took part in the event and there was a kumite contest between representatives of each school.  Joe Pennywell represented the Isshinryu dojo and made a good accounting of himself.  Tatsuo Shimabuku himself showed his skills by performing a sai kata much to the enjoyment of all in attendance. 

Tatsuo Shimabuku, the founder of Isshinryu Karate, returned to Okinawa in the last few days of November 1964 never to return to this area.  In 1966, he visited Steve Armstrong on the west coast. 

In 1974, William H. Duessel visited Tatsuo Shimabuku at his home on Okinawa and was thus one of the last American Isshinryu black belts to train with the master prior to his death on May 30, 1975. 

As a result of the training received in 1964, William H. Duessel and Charles A. Wallace opened The Academy of Isshinryu Karate in Pittsburgh, PA in May of 1970.  During the years it remained open, that school grew to become the largest karate school in the eastern United States with five hundred students at one point.  The academy closed in the summer of 1979.  Harry Acklin moved to the Cleveland area and spread the Isshinryu style extensively to the Cleveland and Akron, Ohio areas and to the Detroit, Michigan area.

In May of 1990, The Isshinryu Karate Academy of Pittsburgh opened under the leadership of Don Washabaugh with William H. Duessel as chief instructor.  Many of the “core” members of the new school were trained at The Academy of Isshinryu Karate, which preceded it.  Later on, leadership was passed to Marvin Prentice with Sensei Duessel still functioning as chief instructor.

Through the years, Isshinryu Karate has continued to grow in numbers of students and the skills of its practitioners have continually improved as evidenced by the quality of competition in the semi-annual world championship competition sponsored by the Isshinryu World Karate Association, headquartered on Okinawa and headed by Kichiro Shimabuku, the eldest son of Tatsuo Shimabuku.

As I look back over the years to that late summer and autumn of 1964 when I, along with the others, trained under Isshinryu’s founder, Tatsuo Shimabuku, I am convinced that because of the training received by that small but dedicated group and the inspiration the participants received, Isshinryu Karate achieved a “jump start” in Western Pennsylvania and Northeastern Ohio that has contributed significantly to the overall growth of Isshinryu Karate in the USA.

Charles A. Wallace

Hanchi-Dan, Kyoshi-Go