Master Daniel Cohen

Master Daniel Cohen is the Chief Instructor of the NJ Kokondo & Jukido Academy and the Brandeis Kokondo Academy (Waltham, MA). He also serves as the IKA's International Karate Director and the Director of the Inter-Collegiate Kokondo Alliance (ICKA).  He began his martial arts training in Jukido Jujitsu in 1977 as a direct student of Shihan Arel at the Honbu (HQ) dojo in Connecticut. He commenced formal training in Kokondo Karate under Shihan Arel and Master Robert Longo in 1981. He currently holds the ranks of Godan (5th Degree Black Belt) in Kokondo Karate (2004), Yondan (4th Degree Black Belt) in Jukido Jujitsu (1999) and an IKA Master of Weapons Certification (2004). He is an active member of the Yudanshakai (Black Belt Association) where he continues to study directly from Shihan Arel.  He has been formally recognized for his contributions to the development of the IKA on numerous occasions, including a presentation of an engraved tanto (knife) in July 2007 celebrating his 30th anniversary in Kokondo.  He is a former Jukido Randori champion, and in the 1980's competed in open karate competitions, winning Gold in a Regional and Silver in a National tournament. He is a senior official at Jukido Randori shiai (tournaments) and has refereed at state, national and New England Collegiate Karate Conference (NECKC) tournaments.

Teaching Background

In 1986, Mr. Cohen earned his Instructor's Certification in Jukido and opened the Kingswood-Oxford Jukido Academy in West Hartford, CT, becoming the IKA's youngest Chief Instructor (until Sensei Scott Cohen assumed that title in 1989) In 1988, he founded the Brandeis Kokondo Academy in Waltham, MA, the longest running martial arts club at the university.  He has also taught Kokondo at Camp Ramah in New York (with Sensei Len Glazer), the University of Connecticut in Storrs (1992-93), at the Cambridge School of Weston, MA (1992-93) and at SUNY Stony Brook in New York (1994-1996).  Mr. Cohen has trained more than fifty students to black belt level, many of whom have opened their own dojo throughout the United States and internationally.  Among his most senior students are Sensei Jean Bowe and Sensei Johanna Glazer, the highest ranked active women in the IKA, and his highest ranked student is the BKA Instructional Supervisor Sensei Steve Lisauskas (4th Dan Jukido & 3rd Dan Karate).    

In 2005 he opened the NJ Kokondo & Jukido Academy, which has included classes and seminars at schools, businesses and synagogues in Union, Morris and Middlesex Counties and a special Brandeis Kokondo Reunion at Rutgers University.   With his students Dr. Jennifer Vance and Shira Nafshi, Master Cohen’s teaching plans for 2008 promise a year of growth for New Jersey Kokondo.  

In addition to traditional IKA classes for children, teens and adults, Master Cohen has taught many specialized seminars and clinics on self-defense and safety awareness, mostly directed to the unique needs of women.  At Seattle University, Shihan Arel and Master Cohen delivered a research-based lecture entitled "Personal Security- Fighting Back is the Best Defense."  They addressed practical topics and tactics related to everyday self-defense scenarios, with a special focus on campus-based attacks against women.  The materials and content from this lecture are currently being used as part of self-defense seminars internationally. 

As part of the IKA’s Executive Committee and Promotional Board, Master Cohen contributed extensively to the revised edition of Sankosho: A Warrior’s Path to Kokondo Martial Arts (2005), Shihan's forthcoming text Jushin-The Center Line Principle, and other IKA media publications, including the DVD re-release of Art of the Ancients (2003), narrated by Sensei Lisauskas.  

International Martial Arts Involvement

While traveling in Japan and China in 1986, Mr. Cohen trained briefly and intensively at the Kodokan and the Aikikai Honbu Dojos in Tokyo, the World Headquarters of Judo and Aikido respectively. Two years later, he trained at the Italian Judo HQ in Venice, Italy where he also taught an introduction to Jukido at the request of the Judo Director. Mr. Cohen conducted month-long Kokondo seminars in Israel in 1990 and 1993, the latter beginning with Shihan Arel and concluding with Sensei Len Glazer.  His student Sensei Eyal Klein is currently Israel’s Kokondo Chief Instructor.

In 1988, Mr. Cohen became the first American IKA Sensei to visit and teach in Kokondo’s Finland dojo.  During this trip he demonstrated Jukido in Europe for the first time. He has since played an active role in European Kokondo and will make his 13^th teaching trip to Finland in 2008.   He has contributed to and co-written published articles in several Finnish martial arts magazines with Sensei Vesa Toropainen.  In 2000 and 2003 he was featured in Budo-ka Magazine, Finland's premier martial arts periodical.  Budoka writer and Editor Jarmo Osterman also completed interviews with Mr. Cohen for a forth-coming article on the history and principles of Jukido Jujitsu.  

Professional Credentials

Mr. Cohen received his BA in History, American Studies and Secondary Education from Brandeis University in 1991 and his MA in History from the University of Connecticut in 1993. He has taught history at the secondary and university levels.  In 1996, he advanced to candidacy for a Ph.D. in United States History from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has researched and written on US-Israeli Relations, and his dissertation is entitled "Cultural Diplomacy through Empty Hands: The Significance of Traditional Okinawan and Japanese Karate in Post-War United States History." His dissertation research includes lengthy personal interviews with senior Japanese and American Sensei who were the Founding Fathers of karate in the U.S., including such masters as Don Nagle (Isshin Ryu), Gary Alexander (Isshin Ryu), Anthony Mirakian (Goju Ryu), Chuck Merriman (Goju  Ryu), Masataka Mori (Shotokan) and Shihan Paul Arel of Kokondo.  

Mr. Cohen has worked for more than a decade in Leadership and Organizational Development Consulting.  As Regional Director for the metro New York area for a global firm, Mr. Cohen works in a consultative diagnostic and sales capacity with global organizations, and also facilitates workshops in the areas of leadership, coaching, change management, organizational development and strategic human resources.  A life-long music lover, Mr. Cohen plays the trumpet and flugelhorn and sings harmony whenever possible, especially with the music of David Crosby.    

For further information about Sensei Cohen’s Kokondo classes in NJ or MA, please contact him at 732-710-9894 or by email at Dan@Kokondo.com.