When Shihan Amato opened his first Karate School at the age of 17 years, he was still in high school. Captain of the Keansburg Varsity Foot Ball Team in 1972, he was also selected for the all shore, all county team as well as track, tennis and basketball.

He has appeared in two motion pictures and on Cable TV, and produced his own cable TV show "Amato's Fight Nights." He was the only Martial artist to put on half time shows at Giants Stadium .

Professionally, Master Amato was also the personal body guard of the President of Cambodia, Lon Nois' children, Dura and Rith Lon Nol during the Viet Nam war conflict.

A businessman who gives back to the community, he has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars for all type of charities and fund raisers for sick children.

Master Shihan has five daughters, almost all of them black belts. Danielle Amato is 28 years old, Nicole Amato 26 years old, Lauren Amato 23 years old, Samantha Amato 20 years old, and Raven Amato is 9.

Grand Master Amato is in 23 halls of fame and is on the board of directors for most of them.

He was the first person to promote children to black belt level in the Jersey shore area, and has been in business for over thirty years. Master Amato owns and operates the largest Karate and Martial school in the state and one of the largest in the world.

In addition, he is one of the very few that have attained the level of tenth degree black belt.

He had his life story in all major Martial arts publications including:

• Black Belt Magazine
• Karate Illustrated
• World Karate
• M.A.P.R.O. Magazine
• Who’s Who Magazine

He has published a martial’s book on the Karate Obi/belt and also created a DVD on katas and forms.

In the past, he was also a highly decorated full time Police officer. Because of these decorations, he became a member of the elite Honor Legion of Police for the State of New Jersey, honored for saving lives and heroism in the line of duty. He graduated Top Gun out of the DOD Police acadmey and was selected as Captain of Cadets at the Middlesex County Police Academy. He also won the P.T.C. polices training commission award, the highest award top contenders can receive.

Master Amato was appointed to the Sheriffs advisory board council in 2002 and has had his own Martial arts column "WORDS FROM THE DOJO" for several years now that appears weekly in the Courier newspaper.

Other achievements include:

• ERECTED THE FIRST IN THE WORLD WORLD TRADE CENTER MONUMENT ON SITE IN HAZLET.

• TEACHING THE CHILDREN OF THE VICTIMS OF THE 9/11 ATTACK FOR NO CHARGE SINCE THE ATTACK HAPPENED.

• RECEIVED THE N.A.A.C.P. AWARD IN 2003 AND WAS FEATURED IN BLACK HISTORY MONTH FOR SAME.

• HAS HAD HIS OWN COLUMN FOR OVER THREE YEARS IN THE COURIER NEWS PAPER WITH THOUSANDS OF READERS.

What We Teach

At our NJ-based Karate School / Martial Arts and Weapons Academy, we teach numerous styles including:

• Goju-Ryu Karate - Japanese for "Hard-soft style", Goju-Ryu karate utilizes a combination of both hard and soft techniques. Hard techniques include striking attacks (kicks/punches) with the softer, blending/circular motions for blocking, throws and the like. We also provide sparring classes for children and adults alike.

• Aikido - Aikido is the Japanese martial art that was created by Morihei Ueshiba. It focuses upon using one's own personal energy to gain the upper hand in combat and incorporates a plethora of dynamic, circular, smooth motions. We offer both adult and kids Aikido classes.

• Nunchaku - Nunchaku (sometimes called "nun-chucks") is part of the weapons classes that we offer. All weapons are rubber or foam and we teach beginners, intermediate and advanced. The best of our students are invited to perform in our Demo team for community events.

• Kendo - Kendo is another weapons class we teach. Kendo is the 'art of the sword' and our students learn both the traditional forms and sword katas.

• Karate Katas - Karate Katas are one of the most important aspects of Martial Arts, and we teach a large number of them. We offer kata classes for children and adults alike in New Jersey.

• Bo-staff - The Bo Staff is traditionally a 6' long wooden staff that can be used for both defense and katas. It is part of our weapons class offerings.

• Tai Chi - Tai Chi Chuan is a wonderfully effective martial art that promotes good health and long life. A soft martial art, it involves slow motion routines that emphasize finding balance and calmness.

• Escrima - Escrima is a Filipino martial art that utilizes stick fighting. Eskrima is also known as Kali; we offer classes in this martial art as well.

• Kick Boxing - We offer two types of kick-boxing at our NJ academy - traditional kick-boxing and cardio kickboxing.

• Cane Class - Did you know that common, simple walking canes can be extraordinarily effective for self-defense? Come to our cane class and see for yourself.

As you can see, our offerings are many and diverse. Please check out our schedule to see what works best for you!

[ Return to top ]