Sensei David Muscarella began his martial arts training while serving in the Marine Corps from 1972 to 1978, studying Hwang Ra Do.  When he left the Corps, he searched for a style that was traditional as well as physically demanding.  His search was unsuccessful, and he returned home to western Pennsylvania without any good leads.

Shortly after returning home, Sensei Dave came upon a dojo in a nearby town where they practiced a karate style of which he had never heard.  He decided to give it a try, but told the instructor that when he found something better, he would move on.  Sensei Dave has been with that style ever since, and he has given up looking for anything better.  He had found Kyokushin Karate.

Sensei Dave trained under Sensei Robert Fabrey of the World Oyama Organization, which was founded by Shigeru Oyama, one of the early legends of Kyokushin.  In 1981, Sensei Dave was awarded his Shodan (1st Dan), and in 1986, his Nidan (2nd Dan).  In 1988, he was named the Pennsylvania State Director of the U.S. Police Defensive Tactical Association.

Around that time, Sensei Dave and Sensei Fabrey became involved with Golds Gym and did a number of self-defense demonstrations for them across the country.  They produced two videos that were presented by Golds Gym – "Officers Right to Survive" and "Ladies Right to Survive".  In April 1998, Sensei Dave and Sensei Fabrey were featured in Police Magazine for a new police night stick, the AKD-48, that they had developed.  During this time, Sensei Dave continued to study karate and was awarded his Sandan (3rd Dan) in November 1988.  The following month, he and Sensei Fabrey hosted the national conference of the U.S. Police Defensive Tactical Association.

In 1990, Sensei Dave graduated from the Ohio Police Academy, and the following year, from the Pennsylvania Police Academy.  Later in 1991, Black Belt Magazine published an article about the AKD-48 night stick, and in 1992, The Armed Forces Journal wrote about it as well.  During this time, Sensei Dave and Sensei Fabrey conducted demonstrations across the United States as well as in other countries.  In June 1992, Sensei Dave tested for the rank of Yondan (4th Dan).  Shortly thereafter, he was named in the Summer and 3rd Edition of Who's Who In American Martial Arts.  In June 1994, the AKD-48 night stick was featured in Chief of Police magazine.

In July 1994, Sensei Dave resigned from the dojo of Sensei Fabrey, who had left the Oyama organization for personal reasons.  Sensei Dave wanted to come back to Kyokushin Karate.  Unfortunately, there was no Kyokushin dojo nearby, so he trained alone in his basement.  In August 1995, he joined the Seido Karate organization, which was founded by another early legend of Kyokushin, Tadashi Nakamura.  Although Sensei Dave was glad to be with Nakamura, he still trained by himself, since Seido's headquarters were located in New York City.  Because of the distance and isolation, he resigned from the Seido organization in November 1996.

Several months later, Sensei Dave contacted Shihan Mike Monaco of the USA - IFK and began the ball rolling on his return to Kyokushin Karate.  He opened his own school in June 1997 in Greenville, PA, a small town along the Ohio border.  In addition to teaching Kyokushin Karate, Sensei Dave has been busy producing a self-defense video for the local hospitals.

Ever since he first walked into that dojo in 1978, Kyokushin Karate has been in Sensei Dave's blood.  It always will be.

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