William Viola Jr. (born April 9, 1977) is an international martial arts champion, promoter and author. He is the producer and founder of the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Pennsylvania based Kumite Classic.Kelly, Jack (April 16, 2007)
“Festival puts emphasis on physical fitness”
''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...

''.

Early life

Bill Viola Jr. was born in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. He was introduced to the art of

Shotokan is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" thro ...

Karate by his father Bill Viola Sr. who is the founder of Allegheny Shotokan Karate and co-creator of the modern sport of MMA.Jones, Rachel (March 2015) "Family Traditions".

WHIRL Magazine ''WHIRL Magazine'' is a lifestyle and sports magazine published in Pittsburgh, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States) ...

, p.38. Viola Jr. followed in his father's footsteps beginning martial arts lessons at the age of 3.Dopirak, Dustin (June 16, 2002)
“Karate instructor passionate about foundation”
''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'', p. B7.

Career

In 2019, the city of Pittsburgh named September 23 as "Sensei Viola Day" recognizing the Viola Family for their 50-year dojo anniversary. The date was symbolic as it was Viola Jr.’s son's William Viola IV's birthday.

Competition retirement

In the summer of 1999, Viola was involved in an automobile accident on US Route 30 in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. He sustained a serious cervical neck fracture injury that effectively ended his competitive karate career (1981–1999).

Coaching

Viola has remained active in martial arts serving as head coach of "Team Kumite," an all-star karate team based in

, Pennsylvania. The team is noted as the most successful sport karate competition team in the Pittsburgh region, winning 12 National Black Belt League (NBL) World titles in 2013.

Kumite Classic Entertainment

Viola graduated summa cum laude from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

in 1999 and moved to Hollywood, California, to work in the entertainment industry. He earned acceptance into the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and American Federation of Television and Radio (AFTRA). After working with top industry professionals he established his own production company, Kumite Classic Entertainment in 1999.Zuchowski, Dave (February 12, 2015)
“Karate kids: Viola family keeps kicking at World Games”
''

'' p.EZ-4 The company's signature event is the annual self-titled Kumite Classic, a multi-sport and fitness expo in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Viola has worked as a consultant for a number of major motion pictures, including ''Warrior'' (2011). He is credited as an associate producer for the mixed martial arts-inspired film ''

Tapped Out ''The Simpsons: Tapped Out'' was a City-building game, city-building mobile game for iOS and Android (operating system), Android based on the American media franchise ''The Simpsons''. It allowed users to create and maintain their own version of ...

'' (2014).

Author

Viola is the co-author of the mixed martial arts-inspired ''

Tough Guys ''Tough Guys'' is a 1986 American action comedy film directed by Jeff Kanew and starring Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Eli Wallach, Charles Durning, Dana Carvey, and Darlanne Fluegel. It is the eighth film of Touchstone Pictures, and the fina ...

''. The book chronicles CV Productions, Inc., the first mixed martial arts league in America and the introduction of the Tough Guy Contest. Godfathers of MMA is the subject of the documentary film ''Tough Guys'' (2016) produced by MinusL Inc. He established Kumite Quarterly Magazine in 2003. It was published until 2007. As a freelance journalist, he was contracted by Sport Karate Magazine to cover The National Black Belt League World Games on location in Canada, Mexico and across the United States.Solomon, Marlena (December 23, 2003 ). "Bill Viola Jr. named ‘NBL Promoter of the Year’". ''The Advisor'', p. 1. Volume 27 No. 13 The commemorative release of Tough Guys (2017) peaked at No. 1 on Amazon sports category coinciding with the Showtime film Tough Guys debut. In 2016, Viola created the Sensei Says educational curriculum and was awarded a Federal Trademark for the courses.

Producer

Viola Jr. was an associate producer of the documentary film Tough Guys. It was broadcast on Showtime in 2017. Viola made a cameo in Tough Guys playing his father. He has co-produced and worked as a consultant on several films:

Warrior A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal society, tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, social class, class, or caste. History ...

(2011),

(2014), Gridlocked (2015), and The Sound (2017).

Filmography

Bibliography

*Viola Jr., Bill (2014). Godfathers of MMA: The Birth of an American Sport. Kumite Classic Entertainment. *Viola Jr., Bill (2016). Go Ask Your Dad: Questions, Answers, and Stories about Fathers, Fatherhood, and Being a Parent (Volume 1). Kumite Classic Entertainment. *Viola Jr., Bill (2017).

. Kumite Classic Entertainment. *Viola Jr., Bill (2020). CommonSensei: Sensei Says. Kumite Classic Entertainment. *Viola Jr., Bill (2020). CommonSensei: Goal Pagoda. Kumite Classic Entertainment.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Viola, Bill Jr. Living people American male karateka 1977 births Shotokan practitioners Martial arts writers