The name synonymous with the growth of martial arts in America

Grandmaster Villari is a 10th degree black belt, the highest rank one can attain in a martial art, and is the founder of the Shaolin Kempo Karate system – an innovative approach that combined Japanese martial arts with Chinese martial arts and Western boxing.

His organization is the world's largest chain of professional martial arts studios, and has been so since its inception more than four decades ago. This method has spread throughout the world as more than 500 schools have been opened that teach his method. He has been inducted into the World Masters Hall of Fame alongside Bruce Lee, Jet Li and Jackie Chan.

For more than 40 years, Fred Villari has been a pioneer in the martial arts. By bringing many styles together to form an effective unity of disciplines, he revolutionized the way martial artists thought about fighting. Over the years, his schools have brought Asian martial arts to the western world on unprecedented levels. He has developed many of the respected masters teaching today in the United States and Canada, and overseen the training of more than 20 million students.

“Martial arts has become accepted as part of the mainstream of America,” noted Villari who was one of the leading pioneers of the industry.

"I see a very bright future for the sport
and innovative ways that are evolving with these challenging times."

With the threat of terrorism and street crime, there is an even greater need to be prepared to defend yourself. Villari continued, “From the oil crisis to the high cost of living, there is a lot of stress today. Stress leads to bad things. Working out via martial arts helps relax the student and, at the same time, develops a calm, confidence that they can manage any situation that may come along.”

Growing up Fred Villari studied martial arts with his father. Later he was exposed to and studied several martial arts styles. During this period he trained under Nick Cerio that was a student of Professor William K.S. Chow. Fred Villari's approach to Kempo was to maintain the style as he learned it through Nick Cerio and that is how it is presented in the Fred Villari System today.  Fred Villari realized, because of his varied wealth of experience and his dedication in seeking the ultimate fighting system, that each method offered something unique, and each also had its glaring weaknesses that could make a fighter vulnerable.

Grandmaster Fred Villari realized that the ultimate in self-defense lay not in one way or style of fighting.

By combining the "Four Ways of Fighting." he devised and developed ways to integrate diverse methods of fighting into one, eliminating weaknesses and vulnerabilities. This is the central theory and method behind Villari's art of Shaolin Kempo Karate. The backbone of the Fred Villari's style is the Shaolin system since he felt it was the best for promoting overall good health, wisdom and longevity. This system is well balanced, incorporating mind, body and spirit into one.

Grandmaster Villari promoted his ideas well through solid instruction and modern business practices. Eventually his method was spread throughout the world. His contribution helped open the way of the Asian martial arts, on a massive scale, to the ordinary layman. Grandmaster Villari is still actively teaching and demonstrating the martial arts in his schools today.