instructor profile

Sensei Joe Schoenig

Sensei Schoenig was born in 1947, and is employed as a project manager within the construction industry. He began training in shotokan karate in 1966, and was a member of the ISKF and JKA for over thirty years. He graded to Sandan in 1986, one year before founding Dartmouth Shotokan.

Sensei Schoenig teaches according to the principles passed down from his teachers Teruyuki Okazaki (1931- ) and Robin Reilly (1942- ) to himself. Over the past four decades, he has been most fortunate in having had the opportunity to study under many of the finest masters of Shotokan Karate-Do in the world both in Japan and the USA. They include: M. Nakayama, H. Nishiyama, T. Asai, H. Kanazawa, T. Mikami, Y. Yuguchi, S. Koyama, S.Takashina, K. Kissaka, M. Mori, M. Tanaka, and Y. Osaka. His teaching is based on "giving back" something that has been instrumental in the shaping of his life.



Sensei John Gravel



John, 61, began practicing Shorin Ryu Karate in the early 60s. He moved to Japan and trained with the Chitose City Wado Kai school 68-72, switching to Shotokan Karate under Sensei Schoenig in 1990. John was Graded NiDan in 1970 by the Hokkaido Wado Kai.

Dan Grades


Darren Clark

Darren Clark is the senior student of John Gravel's White River Dojo and a member of the Dartmouth College Shotokan Karate Club since 1996. He has trained with a variety of martial arts schools in the region and abroad, most recently having completed a half year of training under 7th dan Fujikiyo Omura in Bangkok, Thailand.





Yoshi Kitani

Yoshi was born in Japan, raised in the United States, and he is currently a Software Developer/Engineer as full time professional occupation. He began Shotokan Karate under Sensei Schoenig when he was in high school, during his knee rehab when he was forced away from soccer. He graded to Shodan under Sensei Schoenig.






Neil Jerome

Neil hails from England and is currently working at Dartmouth Medical School. He began karate at manchester university at age 19, and fought on the univeristy team for several years. He graded to shodan under Sensei Keinosuke Enoeda in 2002; he is currently third dan, and an instructor with the Karate Union of Great Britain.