The title Soke (pronounced So-key) means Grandmaster or head of the family.
The founder of the Tsu Shin Gen International Budo Association is Soke David C. Cook 9th Dan. He has 40 years experience of teaching Kyokushin Karate, Ashihara Karate, Ashihara International Karate and more recently Senshin Karate,  Kickboxing and a Mixed Martial Art. During this time he has studied in Japan and other countries under various Karate and more recently, Grappling Masters. He also spent some time studying the Wing Chun style of Kung Fu at the Chinese Legation in London in the early nineteen seventies. From the very beginning he was very interested in improving his knowledge of Martial Arts and he did not allow himself to be confined by a style. In his opinion Budo can be much more than just fighting arts. It can be a way of life or even a vehicle for understanding the purpose and meaning of life.

During the long arduous hours of Budo training one goes through many physical and mental tests. These tests develop a strong character, because one is often forced to go beyond one’s imagined limits.
As one reaches a new grade or level, and one has mastered one set of techniques, the next level is always waiting and requires more hard work and hardships. Just as in everyday life, when one has learned to cope with one set of problems a new and often more difficult set crops up.
The never ending effort to improve one’s techniques is what develops a strong “fighting spirit”. The fighting spirit attained by those who have trained Budo for many years, often helps them to overcome problems  in life that would break the spirit of another person.

Soke Cook spent fourteen years with Sosai Mas. Oyama's Kyokushin Organisation. He is the author of the two excellent instruction books based on the Kyokushin Style - Power Karate, Volumes I & II.

In 1977 he was one of the first two Europeans to complete the 50 Man Kumite. (Fifty rounds of full contact Kyokushin knockdown fighting, two minutes each, without any rest periods)
At one time he was the Chairman of the Swedish Karate Kyokushinkai and a Kyokushin Branch Chief.

He has also trained Shito Ryu Karate and Kobudo under Soke J. Ruiz 10th Dan, in the USA. Soke Ruiz is one of the world’s most knowledgeable Karate Grand Masters and he has had a lasting influence on Soke Cook, who also has a Black Belt in Kobudo.

In 1987 he visited Kancho Ashihara in Japan, because he had heard that Kancho Ashihara had started to break with the traditional way of teaching Karate in Japan, and this seemed like it might be an interesting path to follow.
On his return from Japan, he started promoting the Ashihara Style in Europe. Within a few years with the help of his good friend, Shihan Dave Jonkers from Holland, he developed the couple of European Dojos that had been established under Kancho Ashihara, into a large multi-national organisation with branches in more than ten countries.

In 1990 at the Ashihara European Summer Camp, he was unanimously elected to be the President of the European Organisation, which was formed at a meeting of all the European Country Representatives and Black Belts, attending the camp. Although he thought that Ashihara Karate was a step in the right direction, he felt that there was still room for a lot of improvement, so he continued to develop the system adding fighting combinations for every grade and developing the Kata so that they could always be practised with a partner (Uke). This variation of the system was renamed Ashihara International Karate.

In February 1991 he was invited to be the guest of honour at a Tournament held in Irkutsk, Siberia. He was also asked to teach and demonstrate the techniques of Ashihara International in the former Soviet Union. This was the beginning of the Ashihara International in what was the Soviet Union. Since then he has made more than twenty trips to the Russia and Ukraine. The progress of Ashihara International and the standard of the students in that part of the world are of the highest calibre. Many international tournaments have been held in Russia.
Some of these tournaments were shown on Russian national television. He also developed new tournament rules which proved to be a success both for the fighters and the spectators.

Soke Cook’s path from a traditional Karate style, Kyokushin Karate, to a less traditional style, Ashihara Karate, to a more modern style, Ashihara International, has one thing in common - application (Bunkai).

When he first came into contact with Soke Ruiz, 10th Dan, in the USA in 1982 one of the things that impressed him most was Soke Ruiz’s knowledge of Kata Bunkai. Having trained Kyokushin Karate where Bunkai of Kata was not a well developed concept, he was impressed by the ability of Soke Ruiz to go back to the roots of the Kyokushin Kata and demonstrate the original Bunkai of the Kata.

Therefore when he developed Ashihara International Karate from the Japanese Ashihara Karate, he was determined that all the techniques of every Kata could be performed with a training partner (Uke). This made the Bunkai automatic because the students learnt the Kata in the Bunkai form and this is thanks to the influence of Soke Ruiz.

In 1995 at the Ashihara International Summer Camp a guest Instructor demonstrated some throws and grappling (Newaza). This and the suggestion of his good friend Shihan Dave Jonkers is what gave Soke Cook the idea of developing an Mixed Martial Art system together with a Karate system that was based on his own personal way of teaching.

The first version of this system was presented at the 1996 Summer Camp in Holland and the name chosen for the style was Tsu Shin Gen - Mixed Martial Art (MMA). At the same time the TSG-Shurakai (fighting) Karate that Soke teaches was developed.
 

In 1996 he was introduced to Shoot Style by Omar Bouiche from Stockholm, Sweden. Omar Bouiche, together with World Shoot Champion, Erik Paulson from Los Angeles was a source of inspiration. He considers these two to be among the absolute best teachers and fighters he has ever had the privilege of meeting.

In 2002 Soke Cook completely revised the Tsu Shin Gen - Mixed Martial Art system and a new version was introduced at the Swedish Summer Training Camp.

Also in August 2002, Soke Cook was inducted into the “World Head of Family Sokeship Council”. (Soke is the title used for a person who is the founder of a style. He is the Grandmaster of the style.)

In November 2002, he had the privilege of meeting and training for Roy Harris of San Diego, USA. Roy Harris is a Grappling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Master of the highest calibre. See www.royharris.com for more information about Roy Harris and his unique organisation.

In 2004 Soke Cook completely revised the Mixed Martial Art system once again and the Tsu Shin Gen Grappling Drills were introduced. These Drills have greatly improved the standard of grappling within the Organisation.

The first Tournaments were held using the Organisation’s new Competition rules: AFC (Allround Fighting Competition).

The production of the Tsu Shin Gen - Mixed Martial Art Instruction films was started.

In 2005 Soke Cook turned his attention to the education of the Tsu Shin Gen Instructors and the production of the Instructor’s Guidelines.

The Tsu Shin Gen web site was opened and the international interest for Tsu Shin Gen started to grow, especially in the Russian Federation under the leadership of Shihan Ivan Titenkov 6th Dan.

In 2006 Soke Cook also released the Tsu Shin Gen - Kickboxing as a training method and as a complement to the Tsu Shin Gen - Senshin Fighting Karate system. The Kickboxing training is built around realistic and effective fighting combinations. These combinations are suitable for various forms of Competition such as K-1 among others.

In 2008 Soke J. Ruiz promoted Soke Cook to 9th Dan, in recognition of the contribution that he has made to Budo during the past 40 years.

In 2009 Soke Cook released the Tsu Shin Gen-Senshin Fighting Karate as a complete system. This modern fighting karate system is built around 10 newly developed Kata containing realistic and effective fighting combinations that are suitable for various forms of competition a

Also in 2008 the films of the Senshin Fighting Karate Kata were produced.
 

Shihan Lars Utter 5th Dan, Soke, Shihan Mikael Forsman 5th Dan