Robert Trias

Robert A. Trias (March 18, 1923 – July 11, 1989) was an American karate pioneer, founding the first karate school in the mainland United States and becoming one of the first known American black belts. He also developed Shuri-ryū karate, an eclectic style with roots in Chinese kung-fu, and indirectly some Okinawan karate.

Life before karate
The son of Jesus B. Trias (1895-1966) and Dolores A. Trias (1896-1984), Robert Aquirre Trias graduated from Nogales High School in Nogales, Arizona in 1941. He was employed by Southern Pacific Company as a boilermaker apprentice from 1937 to 1939 and as a boilermaker from 1939 to 1942.

Introduction to karate
Robert Trias enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve in Phoenix, Arizona during World War II, on September 22, 1942. After completing recruit training, he attended Advanced Naval Training School Naval Station Treasure Island in San Francisco, CA, where he trained as a machinist. Trias was then temporarily attached to a patrol squadron at Section Base Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo County before returning to Treasure Island in September 1943.

By the summer of 1944, Trias was deployed to the South Pacific, where he participated in the Battle of Saipan. By September 1944, Trias was a Machinist's Mate First Class. On Tulagi, in the Solomon Islands, Trias tried his hand as a middleweight boxer. It is said that he met Tung Gee Hsiang, a Chinese missionary of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, while on Tulagi. Hsiang often watched Trias work out and imitated his boxing footwork, and he asked to practice with Trias. Trias refused because Hsiang was "just a tiny little guy," but Hsiang was persistent and at last Trias agreed to spar with him. Hsiang gave Trias "the biggest thrashing of his life" and Trias then asked Hsiang to instruct him in the martial arts. Trias returned home to the United States in November 1945.

Karate in the U.S.
In late 1945, shortly before Trias left the Navy in January of the following year, he began teaching martial arts in his backyard. He later opened the first public karate school operated by a Caucasian in the United States mainland in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1946. Trias served as an officer of the Arizona State Highway Patrol from 1946 to 1961 utilizing his self-defense knowledge on duty and teaching his fellow officers. In 1948 he founded the United States Karate Association (USKA), the first karate organization on the American mainland. Jointly with John Keehan, Trias hosted the first national karate tournament in the United States, called the 1st World Karate Tournament, at the University of Chicago Fieldhouse in late July 1963 in Chicago, IL. This event was re-titled the USKA Nationals in 1966 and the USKA Grand Nationals in 1968. His rules for tournament competition are still used today with only slight variation.

Trias' style was once dubbed, by Trias himself, as Shuri Karate Kenpo, Goju-Shorei-Ryu, and Shorei-Goju ryu though there is no relationship or direct ancestry to the Goju-Ryu currently practiced in Okinawa or the original form of Shorei-ryu once practiced by the Okinawans. His style is now referred to as Shuri-ryu to imply roots to traditional karate though his style is much different from any martial art originating from the Okinawan islands. It has much more Chinese influence and overtones than Okinawan. The naming of his style was as eclectic as the style itself. A few US organizations claim to trace their roots to him and the USKA, including the United States Karate-Do Kai, Professional Karate Commission, United States Karate Alliance, International Shuri-Ryu Association, and Kondo No Shokai.

Career accomplishments
Robert Trias was responsible for the following developments in karate in United States:
 * 1955 - Wrote the first rules for karate competition.
 * 1955 - Conducted the first karate tournament.
 * 1958 - Wrote the first textbook.
 * 1959 - Made the first instructional film.
 * 1963 - Conducted the first world karate championships.
 * 1968 - Conducted the first professional karate tournament.

Published works
Trias authored  Karate is my Life (1963), The Hand is my Sword (1974), The Pinnacle of Karate (1980), The Supreme Way (1983), and Render Yourself Empty (1984).

Honors
Trias  was the recipient of the 1989 Black Belt Hall of Fame Honorary Award.

Legacy
Trias formed the United States Karate Association in 1946, which continued after his passing until 1999. An arm of the USKA was the Trias International Society, which honored the outstanding competitors of the USKA in its heyday. The Trias International Society froze all new inductions after Master Trias' passing. Trias International members carried on the tradition by forming extended halls of fame such as USKK Bushido International Society, USKA (alliance) Hall of Fame, Hawkes International Society, Bowles International Society, Rabino Shuri-Te Society, PKC Elite, and the International Warrior Society.

Death
Trias died from a stent of reoccurring illnesses. Including a number of infections and stage 2 cancer complications exaggerated by an unspecified preexisting condition on July 11, 1989, leaving multiple branches of the Shuri ryu system. Most of the highest ranks and Chief Instructors followed Robert Bowles in the formation of the International Shuri-ryu Association