Pickel, a black belt under Eiichi Miyazato had studied in Okinawa while in the US Marine corp.
He a qualified pilot, avid musician and 5th degree (dan) black belt in Okinawa Gōjū-ryū (剛柔流) with the Shōgō (称号, "title", "name", "degree") of Renshi (錬士 : れんし) he is a direct student of Shihan Kyōshi (教士:きょうし) Ronald Yamanaka who was a student of the late Eiichi Miyazato.