SENSEI
Those who made the road
before
Don Nagle
Isshinryu lineage: Tatsuo Shimabukuro >
Don Nagle
 Donald
Hugh Nagle was born on April 5th, 1938 in Jersey City, NJ.
Don Nagle entered the U.S. Marine Corps right out of high school at
the age of 17. In December 1955 he was
stationed on the island of Okinawa. Having studied both Judo and
Goju-Ryu karate in New Jersey, as a teenager, he gravitated to the
martial arts and began his study of Isshinryu with Tatsuo
Shimabukuro in 1956.
Don Nagle returned to Camp Lejeune, NC in mid 1957
and became a partner in the dojo of Sgt. Ernie Cates, eight time
All-Marine Judo Champion and the first non-Japanese Judo-ka to be
promoted to 6th Dan at the famed Kodokan. This dojo in Jacksonville,
NC was just outside Camp Lejeune and was only open to Marines. It
produced a second generation of teachers and fighters, who became
famous in their own right; Rick Niemira, Jim Chapman, Ed McGrath,
Don Bohan, Ralph Bove, Lou Lizzotte, and many others.
Don Nagle founded the Isshando Karate Association
(IKA) in 1958, the first Isshinryu organization in the USA.
After his discharge of the Marine Corps, September
1959, he
returned to Jersey City, NJ.
There he opened his first commercial dojo in Jersey
City, followed by his next dojo at Broadway, Bayonne, which remained
his dojo until his death. During the next three decades these dojo
turned out fighters and teachers that would be revered in Isshinryu,
names such as: Joel Bucholtz, Gary Alexander, and his own cousin
James Nagle.
In 1964 Master Nagle visited his instructor Tatsuo
Shimabukuro for a short time in Pittsburgh, PA. In 1966,
during Tatsuo Shimabukuro's second and last visit to the United
States, Shimabuku stayed for two weeks at Nagle's dojo and promoted
him to 8th dan.
Don Nagle became a member of the Jersey City Police
Department, in 1967, where he served with distinction, serving as an
undercover drug officer and eventually a detective.
He passed away on August 23, 1999 at the age of 61.
Before his death he chose Ed McGrath to be his successor of the
Donald H. Nagle “American Okinawan Karate Association, Inc.”.
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