Robert A. Trias (pronounced "Tray-us") was one of the most influential and enigmatic martial arts masters of the 20th century. He put together his own karate system, Shuri-ryu, through a synthesis of the Chinese, Okinawan, and Japanese systems, opened the first American karate dojo in 1946, directed what became the largest international karate federation in history, and trained many of the American masters. the best karate competitors. He was by turns paternal, arrogant, extroverted, and reserved, and had at one time or another associated himself with virtually every consequential karate master in Japan. Sources confirming much of his personal history are fragmentary (like much of karate history in general) and his daughter, Dr. Roberta Trias-Kelley, a superb martial artist to whom he bequeathed leadership of the system upon his death in 1989. , continues to build Shuri-ryu karate and sell his father's publications from the dojo at his headquarters, Trias Karate, in Phoenix, Arizona. After returning from the war, Trias served for 15 years as an officer with the Arizona State Police Highway Patrol, rising to the rank of lieutenant and precinct commander for five of Arizona's 14 counties. In 1946 he opened a tiny karate dojo in Phoenix, with most of the Highway Patrol members as his first students. It was, in fact, the first karate dojo opened in the United States. He charged nothing for training until 1961, when he began charging his students $32 a year for the privilege of training with him circadianly. Trias conducted the first karate seminar for police officers in April 1951, attracting a number of high-ranking law enforcement officials including Fred Struckmeyer, Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. , but reluctantly came to accept it in later years. And this is where things stand today. National karate championships are held independently by the USKA (usually in Albuquerque), the USAKF (usually in Ohio), the USANKF (in various cities nationwide), and the AAU (in Orlando, Florida). (The ISA also organizes tournaments but does not consider them "national championships.") And there are newer organizations as well, including the International Sport Karate Association (ISKA), the North American Sport Karate Association (NASKA), and others that organize however the national championships. It is unlikely that there will ever be another American Grandmaster like Trias capable of bringing together hundreds of thousands of bickering, highly competitive, and naturally opinionated karate-ka from dozens of styles around the world under the umbrella of a single organization..