Japan Karate

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Shihan Dale A. Coker officially founded Japan Karate Institute in 1985 in Goose Creek, South Carolina. Originally the dojo's name was Nippon Kokusai Karate Center. That was changed in 1994. He had taught privately and in his home from 1977 until 1985.
He started training at Japan International Karate Centers in 1971 under Nida Soke Ronald C. Woodard, who was directly under Soke Kiyohisa Hirano. Shihan Dale graduated from the JIKC Instructors Academy and took over the o first JIKC dojo in the USA. This dojo was located in Birmingham Alabama in 1974 under the authority and guidance of Sensei Ronnie Woodard.
Shihan Dale was a active competitor and excelled in kumite. He competed actively in the South East USA in many tournaments and rarely won less than 2nd place in the Kumite divisions. In 1974, he won 1st place in Kumite at the JIKC USA Nationals, "Tournament of Champions". As a result of this victory, he was selected to represent the USA JIKC team at the "JIKC International Tournament of Champions" in Honolulu Hawaii along with the 2nd place winner, Ralph McDonald.
There he distinguished himself again as the JIKC International 1st Place Kumite Champion. He competed in the 1st degree and 2nd degree black belt competition and came away as the champion when he was a 1st degree black belt.
After the competitions, there were great memorable moments when he got to personally interact with Soke Hirano and other high ranking Japanese Instructors.S.Dale still has pictures sitting around the table on the floor conversing with him and other instructors at Soke Hirano's home. On this trip, he traveled to another JIKC dojo in New Orleans. In San Francisco he trained with one of the original members of the JIKC dojo in Hawaii. Another high point of Shihan Dale's journey was meeting Katsumi Sensei Godan, from Yokohama Japan. He is Soke Hirano's younger brother. He won first place in the higher divisions tournament for Sandan, Yodan and Godans. Homer Sempai,Yodan, the first student of Soke Hirano in JIKC, was at the tournament. S.Dale sparred with him, to see if he could go up to the higher divisions for this tournament. But Homer Sempai, the most Senior Sempai of JIKC Hawaii defeated Shihan Dale.
While in Hawaii, he was able to visit Maui. He was wowed by these special moments and it was a highlight of his life to be able to do all of this for a guy from North Charleston South Carolina who had hardly been out of the state of South Carolina until he was almost 18 years old. For Shihan Dale, one of his most memorable and proud moments was when his dojo, put over 600 students from his Fairfield Alabama Dojo on the competition floor at the 1974 "Tournament of Champions" dojo kata contest and they won 1st place. The only trophy he ever kept and still has is this plaque which hangs on the Headquarters dojo wall to this day in Charleston South Carolina. In 1992 he traveled to Yokohama Japan and stayed with Soke Hirano's brother, Katsumi Shihan. He taught and trained there for about 1 month. While he was there he traveled to Tokyo to the world famous Japan Karate Association Shotokan Headquarters. Also Katsumi Shihan took him to the KudoKan, the official World headquarters of Judo. He then spent approximately 6 weeks in Hawaii training and learning at the main dojos of JIKC. Later in 2002, he again went to Yokohama Japan to visit with Katsumi Shihan and taught and trained at his dojos again. He has fond memories of staying at Katsumi Shihan's home and being immersed in the Japanese culture. He still loves to recall some great stories of his time there and the humor of Katsumi Shihan and family. Shihan Dale was promoted to Shodan (1st Degree Black Belt) in 1973. The last time he was promoted was in 2012. He was promoted to Hachidan (8th Degree Black Belt) and received the title of Shihan from his long time teacher Sensei Ronnie Woodard. Shihan Dale has trained thousands of students and many have become Black Belts and Instructors. Shihan Dale has helped many students become tournament champions on regional and National levels. Some have been involved in international competitions too. Shihan Dale also is a Godan in the National Institute of Pressure Points, under the authority and guidance of Master Robert Moran, of Boston, Mass. In 2009, Master Moran promoted him to Shihan. Shihan Dale is his most Senior ranked student in the National Institute of Pressure Points.
Shihan Dale has studied a wide range of martial arts at various times while actively pursuing his training in Wado Ryu. Here is a brief list: Judo, Jyu-Jitsu, Shotokan, Shorin-Ryu, Iadio, and Muay Thai. He has actively been involved with the founding of more than 25 JKI locations in South Carolina and North Carolina. Many of those locations are still active and consider Shihan Dale their Instructor.
He will tell you, irregardless of his many accolades and titles, he would rather just be called Sensei Dale over Shihan Dale. He wishes to thank every Instructor who taught him and the many students who graced his dojos with their presence. He feels his life has benefited immensely from the many friendships developed from teaching karate. Shihan Dale is very active practicing and teaching karate. He has resided in Chiang Mai Thailand since 2010. He enjoys mountain biking in the beautiful hills of Chiang Mai.