About Academic Explorers
Developed specifically for students with a deep interest in China’s rich cultural traditions, Academic Explorers offers a uniquely comprehensive study of Mandarin Chinese and martial arts. Combining a rigorous course of Mandarin language study with daily classes in martial arts, the Academic Explorers program provides a once in a lifetime opportunity for complete cultural immersion. Through Academic Explorers, students gain exclusive access to personalized martial arts instruction led by renowned masters and past national champions. Recognized for its physically and mentally demanding curriculum, Academic Explorers offers unparalleled results.
Academic Explorers Staff
In China it is said that if a teacher wants to give his student just one cup of water, the teacher must have two large buckets of water to draw from. This ancient Chinese proverb exemplifies our teaching philosophy. Academic Explorers teachers have an ocean full of knowledge to share with their students. All staff members are chosen for their exceptional abilities and their passion for education. The health and well being of our students remain our primary concern — but our joy is sharing daily with our students all that China has to offer.
Sabrina B. Cohen, Founder and CEO
Sabrina B. Cohen has been living and working in China since 1997 and has nearly a decade of experience developing and directing study abroad programs. She is recognized for her innovative approach to language acquisition and regularly conducts intensive training seminars for Mandarin Chinese teachers in the United States. Notably, Cohen spent four years serving as Dean of Concordia Language Villages Chinese language village, Sen Lin Hu, where she developed a Mandarin language curriculum that has been used extensively in the United States.
Cohen earned her B.A. in Asian Studies, graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Vermont. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and has served as an interpreter for a variety of events including international athletic competitions, private programs in China and legal depositions in the United States. Cohen is a gifted teacher and has taught Chinese language and culture at public and private schools in Chicago, including Walter Payton College Preparatory High School and The Latin School of Chicago.
Cohen is an award-winning martial artist and has been featured on Chinese national television (BTV and CCTV) as well as PBS. She was the first student to complete the Zhang Style Swimming Dragon Bagua form, which she demonstrated in a celebration honoring the 60th anniversary of the United Nations. Cohen has traveled in 15 different countries spanning five continents and has studied Spanish, Russian and Kiswahili.
Zhang Shifu (Master Zhang), Martial Arts Coordinator
Zhang Shifu is an internationally recognized martial arts champion with an unparalleled understanding of traditional kungfu history and philosophy. He has been a lead instructor for the special forces at the Beijing Police Academy, demonstrated at various UN celebrations including the 60th anniversary, and has been featured on the BBC, NBC and China’s CCTV.
Since childhood, Zhang has devoted his life to the study of a vast range of martial arts, with his earliest practice focused on different forms of Shaolin, Sanda (Chinese kickboxing), Wrestling and Taekwondo. While studying at the Sichuan Athletics University, Zhang won two consecutive national titles in the China Lightweight Men's Sanda Boxing Championships. For the last two decades, Zhang’s work has focused on Chinese internal martial arts. After moving to Beijing, modern China’s cultural hub of internal martial arts, Zhang trained daily with the city’s most famous elder masters while teaching at the Beijing Capital Sports College.
Zhang believes that the study of martial arts is empty without philosophy, and his understanding of traditional Chinese philosophical texts, such as the Daoist Yi Jing (I-Ching) and Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching), is deeply evident in his practice. His students come from a wide range of academic backgrounds and countries. Zhang Shifu thinks of his classes as a means to learn martial arts styles as well as a forum for the exchange of ideas.
Zhang holds an honorary research appointment at Peking University for his work promoting martial arts and culture, and is also a noted calligrapher whose work is endorsed by the Beijing City Government. He has published articles on martial arts and philosophy in a broad range of China’s top national publications. With the aim of furthering the perfection of a unified internal and external kungfu practice, Zhang has now developed his own renowned style of Taiji, Bagua and Xingyi.
Joanna Wong, Director of Marketing
Joanna Wong is a Chinese-Canadian with a passion for Asian culture, language and martial arts. She has been facilitating youth development programs for the past decade, running outdoor leadership programs at Boys and Girls' Club residential camps and directing youth programming for community centers in Vancouver, Canada. Wong has been living and working in China since 2005, and most recently spent two years managing youth programs for Future Generations China, an American non-profit organization. She has been the Academic Explorers Interim Program Director since 2006.
Wong has a B.A. in Asian Studies from the University of Victoria and studied Mandarin on scholarship at East China Normal University and the Beijing Language and Culture University. She has a black belt in karate and has studied Brazilian Capoeira, Praying Mantis Kung Fu and internal martial arts. She is certified in Standard First Aid and CPR Level C.
Jacob Gill, Summer Program Coordinator
Jacob Gill is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has lived and worked in Taiwan and mainland China. He has studied both traditional and simplified Mandarin Chinese intensively, with a current focus on Tang and Song dynasty poetry. Gill has recently published two of his Chinese articles in the Milwaukee Chinese newspaper. In 2009 Gill lived in Beijing and worked for CNN’s Beijing Bureau doing translation, research and various other tasks that gave him further insights into Chinese politics and culture.
Gill has diverse experience as an educator, having worked at Concordia Language Villages, as a teacher of International Chess, and as an Interim Chinese Language Instructor at Academic Explorers. He has also served as the President of the UW-Milwaukee Chinese Club, working to further promote Chinese language and culture. Gill continues his Chinese language study beyond what his University provides by pursuing independent study courses in translation and classical Chinese literature. He works closely with facilitators and students at the University of Wisconsin to constantly improve the quality of Chinese courses and teaching styles.
Zhang Laoshi, Martial Arts Instructor
Originally from Henan Province, Zhang Laoshi has been the leading disciple of Master Zhang for almost a decade. He is a noted national Sanda (Kickboxing) champion, and in 2002 he won the title in the China Lightweight Men's Division. Zhang studied Sanda Boxing and Taekwondo at the Beijing Capital Sports College and Qinna, an intricate study of locks and releases, at the Beijing Police Academy. Under the guidance of Master Zhang, Zhang Laoshi has excelled in the internal martial arts of Taiji, Bagua and Xingyi. He won first place demonstrating Zhang style Taiji at the Peking University International Martial Arts Open in Beijing in 2005 and 2006.
Zhang is a highly sought after practitioner and has been filmed by top international media outlets. He has demonstrated Zhang Style internal martial arts on CCTV, China’s national Chinese television station, as well as the BBC and NBC. Zhang has taught martial artists from all over the world and travels annually to give workshops in the United States.
Jin Shifu (Master Jin), Shaolin Instructor
Jin Shifu is one of Beijing’s few traditionally trained Masters of Chuojiao Fanzi, one of the oldest Shaolin martial arts still in existence. Chuojiao means 'Piercing Foot' and emphasizes strong legwork and effective kicking methods. Throughout history many legendary heroes and masters were practitioners of Chuojiao Fanzi including past bodyguards for the Chinese Imperial family and Shi Dakai, the leader of the Taiping rebellion.
Passionately committed to martial arts since childhood, Jin is a disciple of Wu Binlong, who was selected as one of China’s 10 Great Martial Arts Masters in 1945.
In his teaching practice, Master Jin focuses on the key fundamentals of Shaolin kungfu. He excels in helping students understand the complex relationship between external and internal martial arts. In 2006 at the Peking University International Martial Arts Open, Jin took first place in Fanzi Forms and in Sword Forms.
Zhao Laoshi, Shaolin Instructor
Zhao Laoshi is from Henan province - the “Cradle of Chinese Martial Arts." He started his practice of kungfu at a young age and spent four years at the Shaolin Temple studying at Tagou School, China’s most famous traditional Shaolin kungfu academy. Tagou is renowned for its strict training and its students are put through all levels of physical hardship to attain a high level of ability. Following three straight years of intensive daily training at Tagou, Zhao was a selected 2006 Shaolin Temple Men’s Hand and Weapons Forms Champion. In 2008 Zhao performed in the Closing Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics and the Beijing Paralympics. He is a specialist in fitness and physical conditioning for martial arts training.