B.A. PHYSICAL EDUCATION     YORK COLLEGE          1976                                          M.A. EAST ASIAN STUDIES        ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY  1991                              47 CREDITS ABOVE MASTER'S IN SCIENCE, SCIENCE EDUCATION & JAPANESE

5th DEGREE BLACK  BELT       JUJITSU                2003                                                   4th DEGREE BLACK BELT        JUDO                     2003                                                  4th DEGREE BLACK BELT        RONIN-DO-RYU   1988                                                  3rd DEGREE BLACK BELT        KARATE                 1984

2005 Coach of the Year - Metropolitan Judo Association

2004 Coach, L.I. Judo Team, Empire State Games

Newsday "Winners" column, "Judo Coach", 2/12/06

2007 USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame - "Judo/Ju-Jitsu Martial Artist of the Year" 3/3/07

2007 American Federation of Martial Arts Hall of Fame Inductee - Platinum Lifetime Acheivement Award for 40 years of service to the martial arts - 5/5/07      

2007 Town of Huntington Proclamation for Service to the Martial Arts and to the     Huntington community

Training in the Martial Arts since 1967

Teaching & Coaching since 1975

CERTIFICATIONS 

Senior National Examiner, Ju-Jitsu, USJA

National Examiner, Judo, USJA                                    

Certified Instructor, Coach, Referee, Kata Instructor, Technical Official, USJA

NYS Permanent Teacher - Physical Education, Social Studies, Earth/Genl. Science 

ACCOMPLISHMENTS                            

SENIOR COACH - JUDO & JU-JITSU.                                                            LARGEST USJA JUDO CLUB IN SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY        

HIGHEST USJA JU-JITSU BLACK BELT ON LONG ISLAND.                               CREATED THE FIRST CLASSICAL MIXED MARTIAL ARTS SYSTEM, RONIN-DO-RYU, IN 1981, BY RE-CREATING A SAMURAI WARRIOR CURRICULUM.                         PIONEER OF KARATE BIRTHDAY PARTIES (1984).                                       TAUGHT THE FIRST KARATE CLASS IN NYC PUBLIC SCHOOLS (1975).           CREATED THE FIRST CABLE TV COMMERCIAL FOR MARTIAL ARTS (1984)      ENTERED 36 CONTESTANTS IN NYS EMPIRE STATE GAMES SINCE 1993, 30 MEDALS. STUDENTS HAVE WON THE NAKABAYASHI CUP, ONE OF THE REGION'S TOP JUDO   AWARDS IN 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005.                                                                 CREATED JUDO COMMERCIAL FOR CABLE TV (2006)                                                  

STUDENTS HAVE WON OVER 1200 TROPHIES AND MEDALS IN LOCAL, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL TOURNAMENTS SINCE 1984.

MARTIAL ARTS HISTORY OF SENSEI FUCCILLO                                                                                            

Sensei Paul Joseph Fuccillo started his martial arts training with Sensei Edwin Jackson in 1967. Sensei Jackson was a true martial arts pioneer in the NY area, having learned in Japan after WWII as a military policeman, and after returning to the states, introducing the arts to the NY Police Dept. during the 1950's. By the early 1960's, he had established several schools in Queens, NY. They were called American Dojo. He decided to sell his interests in the dojos by 1966 in favor of building a small private dojo on his property in Hollis, Queens. There he taught Judo, Karate, and Ju-Jitsu to a select group of students, mostly police and FBI. Two of his students became well-known: Malachi Lee, in Karate, and Alan Coage, in Judo. Sensei Edwin Jackson died in 1993, a 5th Degree in Judo, a 4th Degree in Karate, and a 3rd Degree in Ju-Jitsu.

Sensei Paul Fuccillo trained with Sensei Jackson several times a week in Judo, Ju-Jitsu and Karate from 1967-1970. He was also taught staff arts, the police baton, and the sword. In 1970, he entered John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where he started training with Sensei Albert Gotay in Goju Karate. Sensei Gotay then asked him to help start a Judo Club at the college. Fuccillo was the President of the John Jay College Judo Club from 1970-1972. After transferring to York College in 1972, he embarked on a martial art "journey" for three years, training in various arts while resuming practice with Sensei Jackson. Some of the arts he studied were Kenpo, Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, and Muay Thai. During this period, he became intrigued with the inter-relationships of the martial arts, and started to combine them. He received his first Black Belt in 1975, and was given permission by Sensei Jackson to teach.

Sensei Jackson was very interested in Fuccillo's combining of arts, although he himself taught Judo, Karate. and Ju-Jitsu as separate arts. He urged Fuccillo to keep learning other arts, as he felt that Fuccillo was on to something special and unique. Jackson then complimented Fuccillo by stating that Fuccillo was becoming an American samurai, as those feudal warriors learned a multitude of arts. It was to become a pivotal point for Fuccillo, and set the stage for what was to follow.

 In 1975, Fuccillo wrote a curriculum for teaching Karate at Beach Channel High School in Rockaway, Queens, while he was a student teacher. Along with Mr. Neal Aronin, his supervising teacher, and also a Karate practitioner, they taught the first martial art class as a Physical Education elective in NYC public school history. It was a resounding success, attracting 150 students. Mr. Aronin continued to teach the curriculum for many years after Fuccillo finished his student teaching.

In 1976, Fuccillo came up with the name "Ronin Dojo", and started to teach in several community centers in the NY metro area over the next few years. He continued to train with Sensei Jackson, until Jackson moved in 1980. Also during this time, he trained in Shotokan, Uechi-ryu, Goju, and Kendo. A highlight of his career was when he rented Sensei Jackson's dojo from the new owners from 1980-1984. There he taught his combined system,which he called Ronin-do in 1981, and built up enough students to finally open his first full-time dojo in New Hyde Park, Nassau, NY in September of 1984. Sensei Jackson promoted him to a Sandan, 3rd Degree Black Belt, at that time. His students started to compete in both Karate and Judo tournaments, and did especially well in the self-defense competitions in the Karate tournaments, as these were the closest thing to a Ju-Jitsu event. His students started to dominate the tournaments, establishing the reputation of the school as a no-nonsense, traditional dojo.

Another pivotal event occured in 1985, when Fuccillo met Sensei Ivan Villegas, a 7th Degree in Judo, and a very traditional and principled teacher. They established a very close relationship that lasted until Sensei Villegas' death in 2001. Villegas started to teach Judo clinics at Ronin Dojo, and then taught regular Judo classes. Fuccillo was promoted to 3rd Degree in Judo in 1995, and was in the process of acheiving 4th Degree in 2001 when Sensei Ivan passed away. Fuccillo received an abundant amount of Judo knowledge from Sensei Ivan's strong tutelage.

A major turning point for Fuccillo occurred in 1987, when he entered St. John's University to study East Asian Studies. After one semester, he became a Graduate Assistant in East Asian Studies, specializing in Japanese History, especially the samurai. His Master's thesis was on the role of the ronin in Japanese history. That thesis is published and on file in the St. John's library. He received his Master's Degree in East Asian Studies in 1991. Fuccillo decided to pursue East Asian Studies to further his knowledge of the martial arts from a literary viewpoint, and to become a better sensei.

During the mid to late 80's, Fuccillo continued to train in other arts, including Kuk Sool Won, a Korean warrior art, and Ninjutsu, under Shoto Tanemura. In 1989, he started training in Daito-Ryu Aiki-ju-jitsu under Roy Goldberg and Hayawo Kiyama, an art he studied for ten years. During the 80's and 90's, he additionally trained in Naginata, the Japanese halberd, and Yari-jutsu, the Japanese spear.

In the 1990's, Sensei Fuccillo started to send Judo students to the Junior Nationals and the NYS Empire State Games. To date, over 40 Ronin students have represented Long Island Judo in the Empire State Games, and over 30 medals were won. In 2004, Fuccillo was named as a coach for the 14-member Long Island Team, and 13 medals were won. 

In 1997, Fuccillo started the St. John the Baptist HS Judo Club, the only HS Judo program on Long Island from 1997 to 2004. Several SJB students were in the Empire State Games during those years, and 6 medals were won.

In 1999, Sensei Fuccillo closed the New Hyde Park school, and, like his first teacher, built a dojo on his property and taught martial arts privately. However, by 2005, the urge to re-open a full-time school consumed him, and the present school was born. The main driving force to re-open is his desire for the public to be presented with a traditional martial arts school, a classical dojo where the martial arts that have been handed down for generations can be safely studied. This is not a modern, get- promoted-quick "belt factory", but a serious school where the "old-fashioned" values and ethics of the original martial arts schools can be pursued. Sensei Fuccillo incorporates Bushido, the code of the samurai warrior, into his teachings. He believes that the world could use more of the principles of Bushido: Honor, Courage, Loyalty, Truth, Benevolence, Politeness, and Justice. He feels that the martial arts are more than methods of combat; they are the path to the striving of the perfection of human character, and any school that does not teach in this way can not be called a traditional martial arts school.