Dale Gatchalian,
Kata Coach / Advanced Team Trainer
Coach Dale Gatchalian has been a part of the competition team since he started karate in 1992 as an athlete, coach, trainer, and referee.

As an athlete, he won the titles of National Kata Champion in 1996, National Kobudo Champion in 2001, and was a member of USA National Team Pool for Kumite in 2001. He has also won numerous National, Regional, and State Championships and Medals in Kata, Kumite, Kobudo, and Team events.

In 1994, Coach Gatchalian began coaching the team and is certified in coaching through the American Sports Education Program and as a Technical Coach in the AAU. He has coached some of the top Kata athletes in the US including the 2006 WKC World Wado Kata Champion. He has had the honor of training with some of the most respected Sensei in the world including his Sensei, Tatsuo Suzuki (Wado-ryu); the late Teruo Hayashi (Shito-ryu), former Chairman of the WKF Technical Commission; Kiyoshi Yamazaki (Shotokan), Chairman of the WKF and USA-NKF Technical Committees; Kunio Miyake (Shito-ryu), Sensei of a former US National Kata Champion; Chuzo Kotaka (Shito-ryu), Sensei of numerous kata and kumite champions; and Tomohiro Arashiro (Ryuei-ryu), Sensei of a former US National Kata Champion.

His certifications include Performance Enhancement Specialist and Certified Personal Trainer by the National Academy of Sports Medicine, which allows him to tailor workouts to meet the needs of both the elite athlete and the general fitness enthusiast. He is also a National Referee in the USA National Karate-do Federation and the AAU in both Kata and Kumite. He is currently working towards becoming an International Referee in the PKF and WKF.

It is the goal of Coach Gatchalian to continue to produce top Kata athletes as well as implementing a strength and conditioning program for the Elite, Advanced athletes of WIKF Texas which helps them achieve their full potential in both Kata and Kumite and to someday become Olympic-caliber athletes.