By Serenity Pusher
BUILDING BLACK
COLUMBIA
Tony Thomas, owner and co-founder of Tony Thomas Family Karate, is a renowned instructor and mentor who began his karate journey in 1966. Since then, he has opened three karate school locations and taught students for more than 20 years.
Thomas was inspired to study karate after watching The Green Hornet television show, which featured Bruce Lee.
“He was a small guy that I could relate to because I was a small person growing up too, and he was very fast, very knowledgeable about martial arts,” Thomas said. “He became the most known martial artist in the world. And I kind of patterned myself after him, and karate was what I went into.”
He stated during that time there were limited places where he could go to learn martial arts.
“There was very few places I could go,” he said. “I started in 1966, and things were not quite as open as they are today. People have more options. We had less options then.”
He is a retired physical education teacher where he taught elementary, middle, and high school students for 39 years, and later at a collegiate level for three years at Benedict College. With a background in education, teaching karate to children came naturally when he and his wife,
Surrounded by students, Tony and Brenda Thomas are pictured at the ribbon cutting ceremony of the Tony Thomas Family Karate Building on April 28, 2007.
Real estate developer Charles Gary (right) addresses the crowd at the grand opening ceremony of the Tony Thomas Family Karate Building on April 28, 2007.
Tony and Brenda Thomas at the Tony Thomas Family Karate Building.
Brenda Thomas, opened their first location at Meadow Lakes Park.
“A lot of children now are going to karate schools, and I’ve been very good with
teaching children, so it’s a match made, in as they say, made in heaven,” he said