Sensei Michael Oshinsky

Sensei Michael Oshinsky is the Chief Instructor of the Philadelphia Kokondo Academy which has offered classes in Jukido Jujitsu since 2002. He began his martial arts training in Jukido at the Brandeis Kokondo Academy under Sensei Daniel Cohen in 1989 and subsequently began practicing Kokondo Karate as well. He earned his Shodan in Jukido in 1992 alongside his partner Greg Szlyk. “My key memories of training at the BKA in the old days include sweaty workouts in the dojo above the pool, many shows as part of the Demonstration Team, and releasing tension after a difficult physics final with Mr. Szlyk (in street clothes) on the grass in front of class. A full day of workouts every Sunday left me with more energy than I had at the start.”

In 1992, Mr. Oshinsky began graduate school in Ithaca, NY at Cornell University and he opened the Cornell Kokondo Academy, which he ran until 1997. He also took over as the active Chief Instructor at the Syracuse Jukido Dojo from 1993-1995. Some of the students who studied from him at those dojos include Senseis Steve Lisauskas and Dean Ierardi, and Jason Erlich, who is still active in Kokondo in Israel. Among Sensei Oshinsky’s favorite Kokondo techniques are Uchi Mata, Tonfa Kata, pressure points, wrist techniques, Konsho and Pinan 4. In his teaching, he emphasizes that “the students must know where the Kuzushi and Jushin is in each technique at each stage. If they figure it out for themselves, then they really know it!”

Sensei Oshinsky also taught a series of Jukido classes to Kokondo Karate students in Israel in 1992. They included special disarming sessions with anti-terrorist policemen (border guards). “I learned about the seriousness of doing martial arts everyday to save the life of those it is your job to protect.” Recently, Sensei Oshinsky and several of his students attended the Brandeis Reunion Seminar at Rutgers University in New Jersey and was thrilled to be reunited with many of his old friends from the Brandeis, Cornell and Syracuse Dojos.

Sensei Oshinsky earned a B.A. cum laude in Biology from Brandeis University and a Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Behavior from Cornell University. Professionally, he is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. His dissertation focused on neural circuits and his current work involves seeking cures for headaches and Parkinson’s disease. He has published a number of articles during and after completing his Ph.D.

In 1993, Michael married Chanah Leah, whom he met at the Brandeis Dojo in 1991. They now have five children and reside in Philadelphia, PA.