Tommy 'Karate' Pitera

[Premi]

@GurjantGnostic you heard of him ? What you think of his martial arts training?

I've been aware pf him for a few years

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pitera

 

Thomas Pitera

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Thomas Pitera
Born	December 2, 1954 (age 67) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

Thomas Pitera (/pɪˈtɛərə/; born December 2, 1954) is a Mafia hitman in the Bonanno crime family. Pitera, a soldier and later on captain of his own crew, was suspected by law enforcement of as many as 60 murders.^{[citation needed]} Pitera was well known for his use of karate and other martial arts when fighting, a skill he had learned at a young age and which earned him nicknames like Tommy Karate, and The Karate Guy. Pitera is serving a life sentence at Allenwood USP, Allenwood, PA.

Contents

• 1Early years
• 2Martial Arts
• 3Criminal Career
  • 3.1Trial
  • 3.2Life sentence
• 4References
• 5External links

Early years[edit]

Thomas Pitera grew up in the Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York to parents Italian-American Joseph (Joe) Pitera from Campagna in Province of Salerno and German-American Catherine Bugowski from Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. His father was an independent concession stand wholesale candy salesman that sold Mary Jane (candy), Pixy Stix, Ferrara Candy Company's Red Hots, Lemon drop (candy) and Bazooka (chewing gum).

Thomas attended the David A. Boody Junior High School at 228 Avenue S in Gravesend, where he left little impression with his teachers, daydreamed a lot and was bullied by his peers because of his high-pitched voice.^{[citation needed]} Before he became interested in martial arts he wanted to become involved in professional baseball but was too ostracized by fellow students to join the varsity baseball team. He would later break into Boody and steal the school baseball team's equipment as an act of revenge and sold it to "fences" in the neighborhood. He was later arrested and charged for the burglary but he was convicted as a juvenile and his record was sealed. He attended a Dojo in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn and quickly rose to the top of his class. He had a daily regimen of working out, lifting weights, reading about Kyokushin fighting strategies and tactics and watching violent films, mostly kung fu films.

Martial Arts[edit]

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-ryū 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-ryū and not karate.

 

https://allthatsinteresting.com/mafia-hitmen/6

Dubbed “Tommy Karate,” Pitera was a dutiful soldier for the crime family before he became a caporegime, or captain of his own crew. While he killed on orders from his boss, Pitera also took personal pleasure in his murders — and routinely kept trophies like wedding bands as souvenirs.

And if he suspected anyone of knowing too much about his personal life, he killed them, too. That included friends and members of his crew. Drug dealers were killed at will, with Pitera taking their stash and selling it for his own profit. Anyone suspected of being an informant was killed by Tommy Karate with abandon.

Mafia News/FacebookThomas Pitera serving life in prison.

[GurjantGnostic]

On 1/19/2022 at 6:50 AM, Premi said:

@GurjantGnostic you heard of him ? What you think of his martial arts training?

I've been aware pf him for a few years

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pitera

 

Thomas Pitera

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

 

Jump to navigationJump to search

Thomas Pitera
Born	December 2, 1954 (age 67) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

Thomas Pitera (/pɪˈtɛərə/; born December 2, 1954) is a Mafia hitman in the Bonanno crime family. Pitera, a soldier and later on captain of his own crew, was suspected by law enforcement of as many as 60 murders.^{[citation needed]} Pitera was well known for his use of karate and other martial arts when fighting, a skill he had learned at a young age and which earned him nicknames like Tommy Karate, and The Karate Guy. Pitera is serving a life sentence at Allenwood USP, Allenwood, PA.

Contents

• 1Early years
• 2Martial Arts
• 3Criminal Career
  • 3.1Trial
  • 3.2Life sentence
• 4References
• 5External links

Early years[edit]

Thomas Pitera grew up in the Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York to parents Italian-American Joseph (Joe) Pitera from Campagna in Province of Salerno and German-American Catherine Bugowski from Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. His father was an independent concession stand wholesale candy salesman that sold Mary Jane (candy), Pixy Stix, Ferrara Candy Company's Red Hots, Lemon drop (candy) and Bazooka (chewing gum).

Thomas attended the David A. Boody Junior High School at 228 Avenue S in Gravesend, where he left little impression with his teachers, daydreamed a lot and was bullied by his peers because of his high-pitched voice.^{[citation needed]} Before he became interested in martial arts he wanted to become involved in professional baseball but was too ostracized by fellow students to join the varsity baseball team. He would later break into Boody and steal the school baseball team's equipment as an act of revenge and sold it to "fences" in the neighborhood. He was later arrested and charged for the burglary but he was convicted as a juvenile and his record was sealed. He attended a Dojo in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn and quickly rose to the top of his class. He had a daily regimen of working out, lifting weights, reading about Kyokushin fighting strategies and tactics and watching violent films, mostly kung fu films.

Martial Arts[edit]

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-ryū 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-ryū and not karate.

 

https://allthatsinteresting.com/mafia-hitmen/6

Dubbed “Tommy Karate,” Pitera was a dutiful soldier for the crime family before he became a caporegime, or captain of his own crew. While he killed on orders from his boss, Pitera also took personal pleasure in his murders — and routinely kept trophies like wedding bands as souvenirs.

And if he suspected anyone of knowing too much about his personal life, he killed them, too. That included friends and members of his crew. Drug dealers were killed at will, with Pitera taking their stash and selling it for his own profit. Anyone suspected of being an informant was killed by Tommy Karate with abandon.

Mafia News/FacebookThomas Pitera serving life in prison.

Trying to remember where and when, but I've heard interviews with the guy and I liked him. He'd look a lot better if he'd stuck to Do and left all the drugs and criminality behind him. He looks sick with bad Karam and poor life choices.