JEFFERSONVILLE — The symbol of the Okinawan art of Shotokan Karate is a tiger drawn with a series of lines, but no body outline. Some have interpreted the symbol to mean that only by bringing the individual components of Shotokan together can the system be complete.

Jeffersonville native and Shotokan grand master Chuck Dismang, 50, has spent his life honing his craft and putting it all together. Dismang is the veteran of points tournaments and semi-professional kickboxing matches, and recently he was recognized for his dedication to the Shotokan system.

Along with fellow instructor Tom Thomas, Dismang was inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

“It was actually kind of a surprise,” Dismang said. “I was on a mini-vacation and I got a call from one of the grand masters that I train with. I thought he was joking. ... After a brief conversation, he said, ‘Chuck, I’m not kidding.’”

To be nominated for induction into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame, Dismang and Thomas had to be recommended by their peers.

“I got six letters of recommendation from some of the masters and professors,” Dismang said. “When I read them, some of them brought tears to my eyes. It’s very rough doing this and trying to keep everything in line, and when you read that — people don’t tell you what they feel about you all the time, especially in this. ‘Oh, he’s a good teacher. He’s a great instructor. He’s an excellent martial artist.’ But when you read the letters, they talk about how I’ve given to the community and how I truly believe in the art.”

Dismang, who owns Full Moon Martial Arts along Middle Road in Jeffersonville, also was awarded his Ph.D. in martial arts studies. Dismang believes that his induction into the Hall of Fame isn’t about his exploits as a fighter so much as his work as an instructor.

“I like the role of being a teacher and training people. I’ve been teaching for over 20 years,” Dismang said. “It sounds corny, but I make a difference in people’s lives. I’ve taken troubled kids and turned them around. I’ve taken women who’ve been abused and given them confidence and strength. I’ve taken older guys that think they can’t do this or the kid that’s been picked on and I’ve given them confidence. You make a change in their life.

“Even with the (mixed martial arts) guys. You give them a positive role model and you give them a positive environment, and they’ll grow to be a positive person.”

Dismang got his start in 1978 when he began training with Alan Washnock in Charlestown at Charlestown Karate & Fitness. Then 17, Dismang was a fan of Bruce Lee and Kung Fu Theater. Dismang credits Washnock for showing him how to be a true martial artist.

“He’s an excellent man, an excellent instructor and probably part of the reason I am the way I am today,” Dismang said. “He gave me the belief that someone takes the time to teach you and that this is an art.”

The inductions of Thomas and Dismang into the Hall of Fame brings the total inducted instructors at Full Moon to four, along with two world champions and three national champions, according to Dismang. Dismang opened Full Moon in 2000 after spending years teaching in the schools of other masters. Now with his own training center, Dismang tries to offer something for everyone.

Full Moon offers instruction in Shotokan, Aikido, Wing Chung (the art Bruce Lee first learned), Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Pankration.

Thanks to the rise of MMA and the popularity of the UFC, interest in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, or BJJ, has exploded recently.

“Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the father of all of the MMA,” said Brett O’Loughin, BJJ instructor at Full Moon. “From that, everybody that has some sort of grappling background — be it wrestling, or catch wrestling, judo — tend to come to the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu side.”

O’Loughin has been involved in BJJ for more than a decade, and teaches his craft to police and corrections officers with Louisville Metro Corrections. Recently, O’Loughin was honored with a promotion to the rank of professor.

“A friend of mine got me into it,” O’Loughin said. “He was taking it forever ago, and he said, ‘Man, this is something you’d really like.’ I come from a wrestling background, and I said, ‘Man, yeah, let’s try it.’ I fell in love with it, just loved it. It took a lot of dedication and a lot of hard work, and it’s just something I’ve really enjoyed. It’s always been challenging.”

O’Loughin’s presence on the training staff at Full Moon has drawn a large contingent of law-enforcement officers to the school, and Dismang has incorporated weapons training — namely, disarmament of opponents — into the curriculum of each art.

Although a large contingent of Dismang’s students are interested in learning more about self-defense, some are looking for a source of discipline. Troubled teens sometimes walk in to the school with no way to pay. Dismang sometimes gives them a chance.

“I like the challenge of changing people,” Dismang said. “You can’t save all of them. I mean, I’ve seen so many since I’ve been here come through the doors that have been in and out of trouble, and you give them second, third and fourth chances and some of them you’ve got to cut lose.

“One of my Japanese instructors told me a long time ago, ‘If you change one person in your entire career and you make that one person a true martial artist, you’ve done everything you need to do.’”

For Dismang, it all goes back to teaching each of his students the three tenets of martial arts — discipline, respect and honor.

Dismang wants to teach his students how to be what he considers true martial artists.

“To me, it’s just being a better person,” Dismang said. “If you go back to the days when the samurai trained, they trained to be warriors, but they were poets and philosophers and they became warriors to protect what they had. I think the more you learn how to defend yourself and the more dangerous you become, the more gentle you actually become, because you fear what you’re capable of doing.

“Guys like me, we’ll sacrifice financial gain to train people and really believe in the art. Like anything, in any business, people sell themselves out for the almighty dollar. You just try to be respectful, be disciplined, be honorable more than anything.”