Dean Pickard is the founder, and former head instructor, of the USKL. Shihan Pickard began his training in the martial arts in 1965, studying Japanese Shonan-ryu while attending college.
From 1966 to 1970 Shihan Pickard trained under W. K. Nishioka and R. T. Nakano of the Statewide Karate League. Beginning in 1972, Shihan Pickard broadened his studies to include such styles as: Shito-ryu; Shotokan; Korean Tae Kwan Do; and Tai Chi Ch'uan with Prof. Wen Shan Huang. Shihan Pickard has also studied kickboxing and the Filipino and Chinese arts under Dan Inosanto at the Kali Academy in Torrence, California.
In addition to teaching at the United States Karates League, Shihan Pickard has taught martial arts in the physical education departments at Pomona College (serving the Claremont Colleges), L. A. Mission College, and Moorpark College. He also sponsored the Pierce College Karate Club from 1984 to 1992.
Shihan Pickard's publications on the martial arts include:
- "Philosophy, Spirit, and the Martial Arts," USKL,1993;
- "United Stated Karate League Training Manual", Vols. 1-3, with Ty Aponte, 1992;
- "Martial Arts and Meditative Disciplines," Black Belt Magazine, June, 1979.
Shihan Pickard graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a BA, cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa; recieved an M.A. from C.S.U. Long Beach where he was nominated to the Graduate Dean's list; and received his Ph.D. from the Claremont Graduate University where he received two fellowships. He was professor of philosophy and humanities at Pierce College for 25 years and adjunct professor at California State University, Northridge for 11 years. He retired from teaching in 2004 but has taught classes near his home in Venice CA at Santa Monica College for the past 6 years.
His most recent published works include:
- "Nietzsche, Emancipation, & Truth" in New Nietzsche Studies, eds. B. Babich (Fordham/Georgetown) & D. Allison (SUNY) ,Winter, 1997;
- "Logic, Truth, and Reasoning: A Textbook in Critical Thinking", 1997;
- "The Problem of Reflexivity in Habermasian Universalism," Auslegung, Vol. 19, #1, Winter, 1993, pp 1-20.
In addition to his articles, he has written two textbooks on philosophy and has had several book reviews published. He received a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant in 1995, was selected for a Liberty Fund Grant & colloquium in 1998; and was selected for Who's Who Among America's Teachers (by the top 5% of America's students) in 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2004.
