Donald Washabaugh is a senior member of the Isshinryu World Karate Association headquartered in Okinawa, Japan. In 2015, after forty years of practice, he was awarded the rank of 8th Dan by IWKA President, O'Sensei Kichiro Shimabuku. He has been a student, teacher, and competitor, but simply considers himself a practitioner. Referred to as 'sensei' by his students, Mr. Washabaugh follows the tradition of Isshinryu Karate as transmitted directly from Isshinryu founder Tatsuo Shimabuku (1908-1975) to William H. Duessel (1927-2014), his teacher for four decades. In 2005, Mr. Washabaugh was inducted into the Okinawan Isshinryu Karate and Kobudo Association Hall of Fame and in 2015 was awarded the prestigious Tatsuo Shimabuku Award by O'Sensei Kichiro Shimabuku. Mr. Washabaugh enjoyed success as a tournament competitor since 1981 and is an IWKA certified referee and judge.