Concord Self-Defense Academy
Concord Self-Defense Academy
About the Concord Self-Defense Academy
The Concord Self-Defense Academy offers self-defense training for adults and teens, as well as private lessons, and specialized self-defense seminars for groups and individuals of all ages. We teach two martial arts, Seirenkai Karate and Seirenkai Jujitsu, both of Japanese origin and focused on authentic and effective techniques for the purposes of self-defense.
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Senseis Len and Johanna Glazer have over 70 years of collective martial arts experience. As a martial arts family, we believe that working, training, and playing together builds family bonds, trust, and respect while learning personal safety. Martial arts training not only promotes an active and healthy lifestyle, it also provides a fun activity that families can do together.
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The Concord Self-Defense Academy is part of the International Seirenkai Organization. Seirenkai dojos maintain a clear set of guidelines pertaining to etiquette, ranks, and responsibilities, and they have become a tightly-knit and warm family of diverse people. Our members include individuals from all backgrounds and all walks of life who appreciate the values of our traditional arts. Discrimination of any type is not allowed in our dojo or the others in our network, and therefore we attract considerate people who enrich the organization through their participation as students and teachers (sensei).
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The Concord Self-Defense Academy does not emphasize competition as so many martial arts systems now do. Instead, our youth and adult members tend to value learning and self-improvement rather than “winning at all costs.” As a result of our emphasis on “doing one’s best,” the environment in our dojo fosters an ethic of “mutual welfare and benefit.”
Our Chief Instructors.
Our highly trained and experienced instructors are dedicated to helping our students grow as martial artists and as individuals. Instructors are certified by the International Seirenkai Organization and have extensive experience as instructors both in and out of the dojo
Len Glazer
Master Len Glazer has been studying martial arts for over 40 years. He commenced training in Okinawan Karate in 1982 and began studying Karate and Jujitsu with Master Dan Cohen in 1990 at the Brandeis Academy. He was promoted to the rank of Godan (fifth-degree black belt) in Seirenkai Jujitsu in 2019, and in Seirenkai Karate in 2022. Mr. Glazer is a certified instructor of both arts having earned his Instructor Certification and the title of Sensei in 1994 and has been a Chief Instructor in multiple Massachusetts dojo since that time. He also continues to train as a member of the Yudanshakai (Black Belt Association) and at International seminars. He has taught Jujitsu programs at Camp Ramah in NY, at the Cambridge School in Weston, MA and served from 1994-1996 as the co-Chief Instructor of the Brandeis Dojo. In 1993, Sensei Glazer conducted an extended seminar with Master Cohen to introduce Jujitsu in Israel. Mr. Glazer often incorporates his academic and professional background in Psychology with his martial arts teaching and training. He has taught physical intervention and crisis prevention to mental health professionals in psychiatric hospitals in the Boston area. He has also taught Karate and Jujitsu at inpatient psychiatric facilities across the Northeast. He is a Brandeis graduate with Doctoral study in Clinical Psychology. Professionally he works as an Account Executive for MEDITECH, a healthcare information technology firm.
Johanna Glazer
Master Johanna Glazer has trained with Master Daniel Cohen since 1990, beginning as a freshman at Brandeis University. She was promoted to the rank of Godan (fifth-degree black belt) in Seirenkai Karate in 2019, and in Seirenkai Jujitsu in 2022. Ms. Glazer is a certified instructor of both arts having earned her Instructor Certification and the title of Sensei in 1994. From 1994-1996 she was the co-Chief Instructor of the Brandeis Karate and Jujitsu Academy. She has taught numerous women’s self-defense and safety seminars at many schools and universities, and taught Karate and Jujitsu at the Taunton, MA State Hospital and the Judge Connolly Youth Center. As the founder and Chief Instructor of the Concord-Carlisle Adult Education Karate and Jujitsu program beginning in the 1990’s, she has directly impacted the community through clinics as well as on-going Jujitsu and Karate classes. She holds an Masters Degree in Education and is a history teacher and Social Studies Department Chairperson at Concord-Carlisle High School.
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Stephen Lisauskas
Master Lisauskas holds the rank of Rokudan (sixth-degree black belt) in Seirenkai Jujitsu and Godan (fifth-degree black belt) Seirenkai Karate. He began his martial arts training in 1990 and received his first black belt in 1995. He began teaching in New York and Massachusetts in the 1990's and internationally since 2002. He also serves as a Director of the International Seirenkai Organization. A nationally recognized innovator in public policy and city administration, Master Lisauskas brings outstanding communication and leadership skills to the Emerson community in his teaching of Seirenkai Karate.