Master Robert Teller is the director of the Okinawan Karate Academy He began his karate training in 1965, while stationed in the Orient, with the U.S. Air Force. He remained in Okinawa for 14 years, studying under a veritable "Who's Who" of renowned karate masters. Married into an Okinawan martial arts family, Master Teller was exposed to styles and techniques seldom shown to outsiders. Today he is a major representative of Master Seiyu Oyata's Ryu Te system in the United States. Mr. Teller is also among the nation's leading authorities on the art of Okinawan weaponry, or kobudo. His articles on karate, both technical and biographical, have been featured in the nation's premier karate publications.

Among Mr. Teller's instructors wer Shoshin Nagamine of Matsubayashi Shorin-ryu, Shuguro Nakazato of Kobayashi Shorin-ryu, Honhan Soken and Fusei Kise of Matsumura Orthodox Shorin-ryu, the late Shosei Kina and Masanobu Kina of Rengeikan, and Shian Toma of Seidokan. Mr. Teller currently studies under Taika Seiyu Oyata of Ryu Te.