Bayonne karate school celebrates 50 years
Thursday, September 27, 2007
By LAUREN BULL
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
An anniversary is good reason for getting some attention, but Ralph Passero, president and owner of Don Nagle's American Okinawan Karate Association, has seen what it's like when you reach the one that's golden.
"This phone has not stopped ringing in the past three weeks," he said at his desk last Monday.
On the other end of the line, people were asking about the annual Don Nagle World Open Karate Championship, which took place on Saturday at Marist High School. The tournament, open to all styles of martial arts, typically attracts between 300 and 500 competitors, and also features a special needs division. As opposed to charging for individual events, all access tickets are sold for $40 in an effort to make the event more affordable to the public.
What makes this year unique is the 50th anniversary celebration of the Isshinryu School of Karate that Nagle opened in the United States in 1957 when, as Passero says, "Karate was really brand new."
Nagle became a master of Isshinryu-meaning one's heart-after studying with a martial arts master on the Japanese island of Okinawa. Over 40,000 karate students in the country can trace their lineage to Nagle.
The Bayonne branch of Nagle's school has been in operation since 1966 and is the oldest karate school in Bayonne. Passero, who has been with the AOKA for 40 years, moved the school to the 805 Broadway location in 1995. He is also quite accomplished in martial arts, having been inducted into several karate halls of fame. He still honors the memory of Nagle, who passed away in 1999.
"I represent him," Passero said.
Passero has plenty to say about Nagle, with whom he was friends for 30 years. "I swear, he could jump off the gym floor and kick the basketball rim, bending it...People said, 'This is (continued below: http://aokainc.blogspot.com/2007/10/jersey-journal-of-teaching-martial-arts.html)
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