Sensei Dan Jones
9th Degree Black Belt
Sensei Jones has been studying the martial arts for over 34 years. Dan began his study of the martial arts when he was only eleven years old. He was very small for his age, was not doing well in school and was getting into fights on a regular basis. With the help of a college student, who was boarding with his family, Dan was introduced to Shoto-Kan Karate at a dojo in downtown Bloomington, Illinois. Almost imediately Dan's grades went up and he no longer was getting into fights.
Dan studied Shoto-Kan for only a short time before he was introduced to Tae Kwon Do. At this same time Dan was also heavily involved in sports. In high school in Gibson City, Illinois, Dan was a state qualifying pole-vaulter, wrestled at the 105 pound weight division and started varsity as a defensive corner back on the football team. Dan's high school football coach was quoted as saying, "Not only was Dan the smallest player in the conference but also one of the toughest." All teams were conference champions and state qualifiers.
While attending Parkland College in Champaign, Illinois, Dan joined Master Joe Smith's first class, it consisted of only six students. Dan knew right away this was the style he was going to dedicate his life to studying and he began working out seven days a week, two to four hours a day. Soon Dan became Master Smith's senior student and would be Joe's first student to earn a black belt and the only student to ever to earn his black belt in only one year. Dan is the only remaining student, of the original six students, to still be studying Isshinryu.
Dan was a full-time Police Officer for thirteen years. Most of that time was
spent with the
Addison Police Department on the West
side of Chicago. In 1997 Jones was
hired as the Practical Training Manager, a curriculum developer and control tactics
instructor with the prestigious Police Training Institute at the University of
Illinois. In February of 2001 Mr. Jones was offered and accepted a position with
Keane Inc., a computer technology company, in Bloomington, Illinois. Mr. Jones
is now a manager with the company that employs over 9000 employees.
Dan is a state certified Field Training Officer, Crime Scene Investigator, Master Control Tactics Instructor, Police Firearms Instructor and Master Law Enforcement Trainer.
In 1997 Dan was named "Executive of the Year" by the O.K.U. and in 1999 he was inducted into the World Karate Union Hall of Fame. In 2003 he was inducted into the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame and in 2004 was honored with the OKUs highest award, the Master Shimabuku Award. On June 16, 2001 Dan was promoted to 9th degree Black Belt by the Okinawan Karate-Do Union (OKU). Mr. Jones has given presentations on control tactics and training methodology to several Illinois State Agencies, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Canada and the Russian Police in St. Petersburg, Vladimir and Moscow.
Mr. Jones is the author of the book, KARATE-The Isshinryu Way. Distributed by National Paperback Books. He strives to continue the tradition and legacy of Master Joe Smith, the Okinawan Karate Do Union and the Isshinryu Way.