Instructor Bio
Sensei Mark R. Allio was introduced to the martial arts in 1969, when his father introduced him to the Japanese grappling art of judo. In 1974, he began studying Japanese Goju-ryu karate at a Long Island satellite school of the Goju-ryu Brooklyn Dojo of New York City. In 1975, he moved to Toronto, Canada, where he trained sporadically with different teachers while pursuing his college studies.
After returning to the U.S., in 1983 he was accepted as a student by Sensei Anthony Mirakian, 9th degree black belt, a martial arts pioneer who was the first to introduce Okinawan Goju-ryu to the United States. Sensei Mirakian’s Okinawan Karate-do Academy, located in Watertown, MA, is the headquarters of Meibukan Goju-ryu Karate-do in the United States. It is the first authorized Western branch of the Meibukan School of Goju-ryu Karate-do with main headquarters in Naha City, Okinawa.
In 1991, Sensei Allio established his own school in Santa Fe, New Mexico, under the auspices of the Santa Fe Parks and Recreation Department, where he taught for nearly three years. Returning to New England in 1995, he continued to serve as an Assistant Instructor to Sensei Mirakian, who promoted him to the rank of Renshi, Godan (5th degree) in October 2003.
In November 2003, Sensei Allio established a traditional Okinawan Goju-ryu Karate-do school in Barrington, Rhode Island. A year later, Sensei Robert Morton of Ocean State Karate and Jujutsu offered him the opportunity to move his school to Sensei Morton’s dojo (now in Bristol), where Sensei Allio continues to teach traditional Okinawan Goju-ryu karate.
Sensei Allio has been exposed to a broad range of other martial art disciplines including Tae Kwon Do, Kyudo (Japanese long bow), Chinese Kung Fu (Northern Shaolin long fist), and Kobudo (traditional weapons- Matayoshi-style and Yamani-ryu). He has participated in numerous seminars and martial demonstrations in the United States and abroad, including Okinawa and the Netherlands.
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