Trias Karate
Your Subtitle text
O'Sensei Trias
Robert A. Trias (1923-1989), known by some as "the father of Karate in America", founded the first karate school in Arizona. He developed Shuri-ryu karate with its roots in the Okinawan tradition.
While serving in the United States Navy during World War II, Robert Trias was stationed in the Solomon Islands. There he met Tong Gee Hsing, a Chinsese missionary of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, who offered to teach Trias some martial arts in exchange for lessons in American boxing. Trias, who was the Navy's middleweight boxing champion at the time, decided to fight Tong Gee Hsing but he was unable to land a single punch. Hsing became O'Sensei's teacher and taught him Hsing-I, as well as some Okinawan karate, which Hsing had learned from Choki Motobu in Okinawa.
Later O'Sensei studied with Hoy Yuan Ping whose lineage was from the Teshin Shinjo School of Kempo Ju-jitsu in Japan. O'Sensei held a 6th dan black belt in Kodokan Judo and studied under Yju Yamada. O'Sensei was a student of Yasuhiro Konishi and Makoto Gima and was promoted to his highest ranks by them.
When Robert Trias left the Navy, he began teaching martial arts in his backyard in Phoenix, Arizona. Later he opened his first karate school in Phoenix. Robert Trias served as an officer of the Arizona State Highway Patrol for a number of years utilizing his self-defense knowledge. He founded the United States Karate Association (USKA). Through his pioneering efforts in Karate, he became the United States' liason with Korea, Japan, China, and Okinawa for many years. He was instrumental in promoting the first world karate tournament in 1963 in Chicago, IL. His rules for tournament competition are still used today with slight variation.
O'Sensei Robert A. Trias' style was known as Shorei-Goju Ryu, Shorei-ryu and Shuri-ryu. Many organizations claim to trace their roots to O'Sensei and the USKA.
Grandmaster Trias died in 1989 of cancer leaving the Shuri-ryu system to his daughter Dr. Roberta Trias-Kelley, inheritor and Menkyo Kaiden.
O'Sensei Robert A. Trias, 10th Dan
Robert A. Trias is the author of:
Karate is my Life
The Hand is my Sword
The Pinnacle of Karate
The Supreme Way
Render Yourself Empty
For information regarding these books, please contact:
Hanshi@TriasKarate.com
