Shihan Athula is a Sri Lankan teacher of traditional karate in Shito-Ryu and kobudo. He currently holds the 8th Dan black belt in Shito-Ryu and the 4th Dan black belt in Shotokan. Shihan Athula Minithanthri was born in May 25, 1960 in Colombo Sri Lanka, where he grew up.

At the age of ten, Shihan Athula began studying karate in a dojo in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Five years later, he already achieved great success at the National Championships in Sri Lanka. From 1975 to 1979, he won gold medals in the lightweight class and became a five-time champion.
Since then, Shihan Athula never lost his love and enthusiasm for karate, that’s why he has more than 50 years of experience until today. While studying karate, Shihan Athula trained and learned under Japanese grand masters such Soke Chew Choo Soot (10th Dan), Soke Teruo Hayashi (10th Dan), Hanshi Hiroyuki Miura (10th Dan), Soke Yasuhiro Konishi (10th Dan), Hanshi Kiyoshi Yamazaki (9th Dan) and Soke Akira Sato (9th Dan).

After gaining experiences from several karate teachers, Shihan Athula co-founded the National Karate Federation of Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka Karate-Do Federation) together with his trainer and other high-ranking members on May 12, 1975. Twenty years later, in 1995, he was asked by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports in the context of a reform to revise the existing rules and regulations in karate. In the following year, he was commissioned by them to draw up a new constitution (1996).

After passing the exam in 1980, Shihan Athula received the 3rd Dan black belt from grandmaster Chew Choo Soot (10th Dan), who was one of the first members of the All Japan Open Karate Tournament Committee and a highly respected Chinese Kung Fu master who was able to handle 18 different Chinese-Oriental weapons. In the following four years, Shihan Athula continued to learn karate intensively under Chew Choo Soot until he received the 4th Dan black belt by him in 1984. It was also Chew Choo Soot who taught him how to use Chinese weapons.

In 1987, Shihan Athula introduced Hayashi-Ha Shito-Ryu to Sri Lanka. It became one of the most popular karate styles there. One year later, he left Sri Lanka to travel to Great Britain where he also introduced the art of Hayashi-Ha Shito-Ryu. In the following years, he held countless workshops and training courses as Chief Instructor for Hayashi-Ha Shito-Ryu in the UK. Not least because of his merits, the name Shihan Athula Minithanthri is closely connected with karate in Sri Lanka and Great Britain.

After he has helped to introduce and spread the art of Hayashi-Ha karate in the UK, he decided to leave Great Britain. Finally, Shihan Athula emigrated to Germany where he founded his own karate association called Japan Karate-Do Dhammika-Ha Shito-Ryu Kai. Since then, Shihan Athula is not only a teacher in karate, but also a teacher in kobudo. As a kobudo teacher, he teaches the use of Okinawan and Chinese-Oriental weapons including nunchaku, tonfa, bo, sai, kama, tekko, eku (oar) and iaido.

In addition, Shihan Athula is one of the referees who can judge both half and full contact karate basing on the rules of WKF as well as kickboxing.