In 1981 after a brief football career and a tryout with the New England Patriots that resulted in an injury, Sensei Black longed to get back into contact sports and begin his martial arts training in Traditional Tae Kwon Do under Scott Burbach and American Tae Kwon Do under Ed Dietch.

             In 1987 Sensei Black had the opportunity to meet and begin training under future Isshin-Ryu Grandmaster Ed McGrath; who trained under the legendary Don Nagle.  Nagle established the first Isshin-Ryu dojo in America, which was located in Jacksonville, North Carolina outside of Camp Lejeune, home of the Second Marine Division.

             Sensei Black soon realized  that Isshin-Ryu was a superior fighting style then what he had been exposed to.  He had the good fortune to train with Frank Klos and John Pinghero, two of Master McGrath’s senior black belts and toughest fighters.

             Sensei Black learned from his years as a competitive bodybuilder and power-lifter, that strength and power were an asset, but not necessarily an asset in Isshin-Ryu karate.  As Master McGrath always stressed, speed, focus and balance were the three most important components in Isshin-Ryu karate.

             Sensei Black started his own dojo in 1991 and has taught various dedicated students as well as tournament fighting champions in the northeast.  Most prominently; Sensei’s Lee Snyder, Jim Pase, Mike Costa and Frank Montalbano.

             Sensei Black was most recently promoted by Grandmaster McGrath to Hachi Dan (8th Degree Black Belt), and was inducted into Don Nagle’s AOKA Hall of Fame as Master Instructor in 2000.

Sensei’s Biography