World Champion martial artist awarded South Carolina’s highest honor
March 23, 2026
Picture 1 L-R – Keith Vitali, Tom Mullikin, Steve Vitali, and Bruce Brutschy in 2024; Picture 2 L-R – Van Griffin, Keith Vitali, and W. Thomas Smith Jr. in 2026
Keith Vitali becomes the second Vitali brother to receive the Order of the Palmetto
By Chris Carter
Keith Vitali, world-champion martial artist, Hollywood martial-arts movie star, former #1-ranked U.S. karate champion, and one of BLACK BELT magazine’s top 10 fighters of all time, received the Order of the Palmetto during a special ceremony at the S.C. State House, March 18, 2026. The ceremony, attended by 30 guests – primarily friends, family, fellow S.C. Black Belt Hall of Famers and seven prior recipients of the prestigious Order – was presided over by S.C. Governor Henry McMaster. “This is the state’s highest honor,” said McMaster. “There is nothing higher.”
Accepting the award, Vitali said: “I’ve received many awards over the course of my career, but this for me is the pinnacle, the crowning achievement of all.”
Among the seven prior recipients was Vitali’s younger brother retired U.S. Marine Colonel Steve Vitali, also a S.C. Black Belt Hall of Fame inductee, who received the Order almost two years ago to the day, March 28, 2024. The younger Vitali was then-recognized not only for his distinguished military career – including commanding U.S. and foreign forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan during the Global War on Terror – and his lofty achievements as a karate fighter, but his postwar service and leadership as operations officer for the National Security Task Force, S.C. Floodwater Commission.
“A tremendous honor for me personally back in 2024, now equally rewarding for me to see my brother Keith receive the Order of the Palmetto today,” said Col. Vitali. “My only wish is that our late father Joseph Vitali who passed away in 2022 would have lived to see two of his sons receiving the state’s premier award. He would’ve been so proud.”
Among the attending prior recipients and Black Belt Hall of Famers was Dr. Tom Mullikin, director of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, who led the charge in nominating the elder Vitali for the Order late last year: Then there was the strict follow-on nomination process including the vetting of the nominee and several letters of support from legislators, other state leaders, and the governor’s final approval. “There are no two recipients more deserving than Keith and Steve Vitali,” said Mullikin, a world-renowned global expedition leader who himself received the Order in 1998 from then-Governor David Beasley. “I’m thrilled for both of them, and today we’re celebrating Keith, an absolute giant in martial arts circles.”
Like Keith, a Columbia native who today lives in Atlanta; Midlands-area martial-arts legends Mike Genova and Bruce Brutschy are both 10th-degree black belts, both Black Belt Hall of Famers, and both recipients of the state’s highest award (Genova in 2021, Brutschy in 2024).
“We have to first acknowledge Keith’s tournament career,” said Genova. “He was #1 in the U.S. for four years in a row. He won every major tournament; more than the triple crown of karate. No one else has ever achieved that goal before or since Keith Vitali.”
Genova added: “Keith has graced the cover of national magazines 13 times. Only Bruce Lee, Bill Wallace, and Chuck Norris have more… So, numerous magazine articles, TV appearances including the Oprah Winfrey Show.”
Brutschy agrees.
“What Keith Vitali has contributed to this state, the nation, and to martial arts worldwide is simply unmatched,” said Brutschy. “Karate here in South Carolina owes this man a debt that can never be fully paid.”
Col. W. Thomas Smith Jr., a 2019 recipient of the Order of the Palmetto and a 2025 inductee in the S.C. Military Veterans Hall of Fame, also had high praise for both Vitali brothers.
“Keith is quite literally a superstar,” said Smith, a retired S.C. Military Department officer and formerly deployed U.S. Marine Infantry leader. “And Steve is, well, not only a fellow Marine who chewed some of the same sand that I did in Iraq’s Anbar Province during the war though with entirely different responsibilities – Steve as a combatant commander, me as a civilian military analyst – but Steve is like the older brother I never had: Love and respect Keith and Steve both.”
Established in in 1971 by Governor John C. West, the Order of the Palmetto recognizes and honors extraordinary lifetime achievement, service, and exceptionally significant contributions to the state and the nation. The Order is officially the Palmetto State’s “highest civilian honor,” but it is in fact the highest S.C. honor presented by the governor.
Chris Carter is a former semi-pro football player and U.S. Air Force veteran whose articles have appeared in Ops Lens, Human Events, Canada Free Press, Deutsche Welle, and NavySEALs.com among other publications.
