Just wondering. I saw a picture of him in jail...looked not too old, and he was doing a full split. Wondering if anybody knows if he still trains, or trains the other inmates? Just curious. Also wondering if anybody knows how good he was? I know he was a killer but hand-to-hand was he actually kicking ass?

Not directly related to your question, but he likes to write a lot of letters too. Though, I guess there's not much to do in prison. But I wonder if he knows how many of his letters are out there in the public eye.

I saw he also does art work. Some of the paintings are very good.

He won a bunch of competitions although karate classes attract a lot of wimpy type people as well opposed to a boxing gym for example. I remember when I was young many of kids that joined karate were wimpy and stayed wimpy. Although, there were some legitimate/ hardcire schools that had some real tough guys. I tend to think Tommy was very good at karate, no doubt.

I can see him being a massive Cobra Kai fan. Probably got a Terry Silver tat by now

Looks a little like Kreese

you can't box or participate in any martial arts in prison

Tommy was a dedicated martial artist who trained in Ninjitsu in Japan from a Japanese Master for over two years, that's dedication. That being said, it doesn't make you a good street fighter which is a whole different ball game and is basically life or death and not a point system. I have no doubt he would been able to handle himself against all but the most hardcore street fighters.

Is that true? Haha....Did Tommy Karate really take a 2 year sabbatical from the Luke's and his murder spree to go train in karate in Japan?

Pitera went to Japan in 1969/1970 and is a made man in the Bonanno family.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pitera
At the age of 12, Pitera had been a huge fan of the 1966 The Green Hornet television show and actor Bruce Lee starring alongside Van Williams, triggering his lifelong interest in martial arts. It was later solidified in 1969 with the release of Marlowe (film) starring James Garner and Lee as "Lee Wong". He let his thick, straight, black hair grow down past his ears despite disapproval by his parents for not wanting him to look like a "hippie", started eating sushi as a regular part of his diet and immersed himself in Eastern philosophy. After winning an arduous kumite competition in Sheepshead Bay, Pitera spent 27 months in Tokyo, Japan training assiduously under the revered Japanese martial arts Shihan Hiroshi Masumi in the ways of the Ko-ry? Ninjutsu. While there he ate mostly fish, rice and edible seaweed and read books about war and fighting becoming a martial artist and academic on the subject. He began to think of himself as invincible. His mother and aunt Angelina Bugowski went to visit him and were impressed with the change to his physical appearance, maturity, sensibility and understanding of the Japanese culture and people. He was trained to use the tonfa, nunchucks and katanas. While in Japan, he grew his hair down to his shoulders to adopt the Bruce Lee image.[citation needed] After his scholarship ended, he sought work in a chopsticks factory to underwrite his stay and earn more money. This led him to acquire the nickname "Tommy Karate" by friends and fellow mobsters, despite that he specialized in Togakure-ry? and not karate.



Yes Pitera is watching you,ready to take your life for your disrespect.

Inmates work out like crazy so the probably still does it to keep fit, although at his age he has to be slowing down. I don't think he does Karate practice with others, he probably just trains in his cell.

Tommy Karate was so good, just the mention of his name was enough to shakedown Steven Seagal.

Did anyone know that Tommy Pitera is half German? I was shocked to find out that the Bonannos made a half German guy in the early 1980s.

To let you know how good he was/is, he got into a fight with another inmate, and the story goes that he did extreme damage to the other party without leaving a single mark on him.

“They don’t have the balls to kill me” – Profile of Bonanno Mafia family hitman “Tommy Karate” Pitera https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/b...-to-kill-me-profile-of-bonanno-mafia-fam

Not a bad article but it was short on interesting details like the address of his parents place in Gravesend, the location of the Just Us lounge, The Hole in Staten Island where he buried the dismembered bodies of his victims and the SIKsik murder.

Those kyokushin guys are pretty tough one of the hardest sports!

I just started following a guy on YouTube “ The Sitdown”

He does really good interviews and recently interviewed a guy who was imprisoned for 24yrs and was around many interesting guys including Persico Pitera and many others.

The guy mentioned he was often around Tommy Karate and both helped out in the enfirmary.
Very interesting.

Quick informative podcast about one of Tommy's hitters, Vincent "Kojack" Giattino.