About Us

Instructors at Defensive Arts Plus

We have several instructors at Defensive Arts Plus, who each add their unique experiences and thoughts on the arts to our study here.

(left to right) Sensei Hon Chin Lin, Sensei Josh Simon and Sensei Frank Smith.
(Left to right) Sensei Frank Smith and Sensei Josh Simon

Frank Smith Sensei

Greetings. I’ve been training in the martial arts since 1990, earning rank in various arts, and learning material from many more. These experiences include:

  • 1st Dan in Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido
  • 1st Dan in Kosho Shorei Ryu
  • 5th Dan from the Karate Shinbikai

Thus, I have influences from many different arts, but consider Kosho Shorei Ryu to be the “base” of my personal studies and what I teach. In the end, all I can claim to teach, is the sum of my experiences.

Please note, this web site was put together to tell people about Defensive Arts Plus, my dojo. Hanshi Bruce Juchnik should be considered the authority on all matters of the art of Kosho Shorei Ryu itself.

Sensei Frank practicing Japanese swordsmanship
(Left to right) Sensei Frank Smith, Sensei Dave LoPriore, Hanshi Bruce Juchnik, Kyoshi Jeff Driscoll, and unknown student of Jeff’s. The East coast Kosho gathering in the mid to late 90’s.

Hon Chin Lin Sensei

Born and raised in Taiwan, Lin Sensei has learned Qi Gong (or Chi Kung) and Tai Chi (or Tai Ji) from two advanced-level teachers from China, one, a Chinese medicine doctor, in the mid-1990s, and another, in the 2000s. He has practiced both since and has taken a deep interest in their health benefits and can testify that his bursitis was cured without any medical intervention.

Also, he has a decent command in Chinese, both the classical and the modern, and can understand Japanese. He was brought up with training in paint brush calligraphy and has interested himself for years in the Japanese culture, especially relating to Zen and calligraphy.

Hon Chin Lin Sensei

Josh Simon Sensei

As a second-generation martial artist, my training began informally from my father in 1981 at age 6.  He had been practicing Gojo Ryu at the time for about ten years.  My first formal art was the fencing program at Rancocas Valley Regional High School in New Jersey in 1987, and I did that for a number of years until coming into contact with my original martial arts school in Cherry Hill, NJ in 1992.  This class was led by Sensei Merrick and Traci Rosenberg and became my base school for learning the Okinawan art of Wado Ryu.

 

My career took me to various places over the next several years where I joined a number of classes and spent a few years in each of them.  These included Danzan Ryu Jiujitsu (Sensei Barb Gessner) and Isshyn Ryu karate under the guidance of Sensei Arsenio Advincula and Sensei Glenn Wargo.  I have also trained in Western Martial Arts forms through the Association for Renaissance Martial Arts (ARMA) and the Markland Medieval Mercenary Militia.

 

Martial arts can be a powerful vehicle for self-development.  My teachings use the study of a number of different martial disciplines for personal transformation and growth.  The class honors the traditional values of fitness, discipline, and self-defense while weaving in deeper insights from meditation, breathing, and and other elements.  Students will be taught techniques from a number of Eastern and Western styles and guided through their own construction of a life practice both inside and outside of class. Based on Integral Theory, a profound system for understanding the universe, students will ultimately gain insights into themselves.

 

Please see more about Integral Martial Arts (Kanzen Do) at integral-martial-arts.blogspot.com.

Josh Simon Sensei with his two sons, Bryce (LHS) and Aiden (RHS), after receiving their first rank.
(Left to right) Sensei Kevin Meisner and Sensei Josh Simon