Sensei Thomas A. Casale Sensei Casale has been practicing Traditional Karate-Do since 1977 and is the Chief Instructor of the Japan Shotokan Karate Association - USA. He holds the rank of 6th Degree Black Belt (from Japan) and is a Professor at the world famous Karate Instructors Certification Program at the Long Island University Division of Sports Science as well as a teacher for the New York City Board of Education. Sensei Casale was a member of the U.S.A. National and World Cup Karate Teams from 1988-1994. He competed in 5 World Championships and over 30 International Championships. On the international level, he consistently placed among the top 10 competitors in the world. Coming up the ranks, he competed in over 250 National and Regional Championships and had over 100 1st place victories. He was the 1992 U.S. Military Combat Instructor Full Contact Champion. In addition to this, Sensei Casale ran security teams for many well known night clubs in N.Y.C. and served as a professional bodyguard for many high profile entertainers, such as Frank Sinatra, Sting, Phil Collins, Paula Abdul, Pink Floyd and Donna Summer. His teaching style fuses ancient Japanese training methods with modern principles of sports medicine. Sensei Casale is a master of educational pedagogy and his experience with street self defense is most extensive. No other instructor in the New York area offers a combination of all these benefits to their students. Sensei Casale is an internationally licensed instructor, coach, judge and referee. He frequently travels all over the U.S.A. and Europe to teach seminars and officiate at international competitions. He was the first person to pioneer an “international program and movement” to teach Traditional Karate to the developmentally disabled as a mode of therapy. As a result, his work reached thousands of handicapped children and adults all over the world. Sensei Casale is best known for his masterful teaching skills and his deep insights on Karate Bunkai (application of techniques for actual combat). Students and instructors from all over the world come to New York on a regular basis to live and train in the honbu (headquarters) dojo of JSKA-USA and train directly with Sensei Casale. In 2005, Sensei Casale was awarded with a New York State Proclamation by Senator Marty Golden for his legendary work with the children of the New York community. He was also the recipient of the 2005 Budo Magazine Karate Master of the Year Award.