The History of Tokyo Joe

Bobby "Tokyo Joe" LaMattina is a 10th Degree Black Belt, and has been studying the martial arts for over three decades. Bobby started his martial arts training in 1971, at age 11, at the United Studios of Self-Defense in East Boston. There he studied Shaolin Kempo Karate for several years under Master Fred Bagley, a top student of Grandmaster Fred Villari.

At the same time, Bobby was also boxing in East Boston at the Paris Street Gym. It was here that he developed his now-familiar fleet, dancing footwork. "By combining my boxing footwork techniques with my karate sparring skills, I was able to develop a highly effective fighting style that's all my own," LaMattina explains. This training in a wide ranges of fighting techniques, from karate and boxing, to tae kwon do, judo, aikido and more won Bobby countless tournaments and titles over the years, and formed the basis of the unique Tokyo Joe System that he teaches today.

At age 16, Bobby picked up the nickname that the martial arts world has since come to know him by. "At football practice one day, I was horsing around with some of the other players and threw out a karate kick. The coach saw me and yelled 'Cut it out Tokyo Joe, or you'll be benched!' " The name stuck, and has been his trademark ever since.

In 1980, Bobby received his black belt, and earned himself a job with Master Bagley managing the Fred Villari's Studio in Boston. It was during this period that his reputation began to grow, and the name Tokyo Joe started gaining recognition in the karate world. He also began meeting and training with some of America's top martial artists. Among these was Al Shakil, a Blackbelt in Jiu Jitsu and Tae Kwondo, who started training at Bobby's studio. The two eventually became friends, and began and exchanging techniques with each other.

Shortly after that Bobby met Billy Blanks, another martial artist who was to have a significant influence on him. Blanks had just moved to New England and was looking for a place to train. Bobby began working out with him, and learned many of Blanks' fighting techniques - adding to his own growing arsenal of martial arts skills. Blanks of course would go on to achieve national fame with his Tae Bo training system.

In 1982, Bobby moved to Nashua, and opened up a karate school under the banner of Fred Villari's Studios of Self Defense.

During this period, Bobby also studied Aikido with National Aikido Champion Dan McFarland. He learned much from Mr. McFarland and has incorporated many of his techniques into the Tokyo Joe System.

At a national karate tournament in Bermuda in 1983, Bobby crossed paths with World Champion Steve "Madd Dawg" Curran. They hit it off and became friends, training together in weapons, forms, and fighting. Eventually, Bobby became Steve Curran's student, and began learning his freestyle techniques. Mr. Curran's aggressive style and unique techniques has had a great influence on Bobby. In July of 1992, after a grueling two-day test, Bobby was promoted to the rank of 6th Degree Black Belt by Mr. Curran.

In 1991, the Fred Villari organization split, and for Bobby, this turned out to be a great opportunity. He decided to start his own independent school where he could teach his unique Tokyo Joe System, and with several of his fellow black belt instructors opened up "Tokyo Joe's Studios of Self Defense."

Since that time Grandmaster LaMattina has been dedicated to building his school and teaching. Because of his outstanding reputation as a martial artist, the school has been very successful and has grown. There are now many Tokyo Joe's locations in New England, and thousands of students have been trained in the unique Tokyo Joe System.

He was recently bestowed the title of 'Grandmaster' as a result of his considerable efforts within the community and his exemplary performance in the Martial Arts. In addition to being awarded the rank of Doctor of Philosophy in October 2002, Bobby "Tokyo Joe" LaMattina was awarded karate's highest rank – the 10th degree Black Belt – by America's top governing body for karate certification.