About Paul Coffey

For more than three decades, Paul Coffey has dedicated his life to the study, practice, and teaching of martial arts. What began as a young student’s search for a means to end an abusive situation became a lifelong pursuit of personal growth, self-discovery, and service to others.

Paul has martial arts experience spanning multiple disciplines, including Shaolin Kempo Karate, Taiji, Wing Chun, boxing, and other combative and internal arts.

Throughout that journey, one lesson has remained constant: martial arts are about far more than fighting. They are philosophy in motion.

As the founder of Jutsu Aiki Karate Centers and the nonprofit Jutsu Aiki organization, Paul has spent years helping students build confidence, resilience, awareness, and personal responsibility both on and off the training floor. His teaching philosophy emphasizes principles over techniques, encouraging students to develop adaptable skills that serve them throughout their lives.

Paul is also the creator and host of Keep Kicking Podcast, where he sits down with martial artists, instructors, authors, historians, coaches, and thought leaders from around the world. Through hundreds of hours of long-form conversations, the podcast explores not only martial arts techniques and systems, but also the deeper lessons of discipline, community, leadership, trauma recovery, self-development, and human potential.

Beyond martial arts, Paul is a writer, producer, creator, and lifelong student. His work has included documentary production, animation, educational projects, community outreach programs, and creative storytelling. Whether teaching a class, recording a podcast, developing a new project, or mentoring a student, his mission remains the same: help people become stronger, kinder, and more capable versions of themselves.

At the center of everything Paul does is a simple belief:

Kind by choice.

Because strength is not measured by what we can do to others. It is measured by what we choose to do with the abilities we’ve been given.

“As martial artists, all we really have is intent and perspective. We control our intent, and we share our perspectives.”

— paul coffey

Keep kicking.

Watch the Interview

Recorded on Whistlekick’s Martial Arts Radio, this was the first time Paul shared his story publicly — including how martial arts helped him overcome abuse and adversity — and the beginning of his relationship with the Whistlekick community.