Sensei Matt Hogan
Matt has 35 years of experience training in martial arts starting with Okinawan Shorin Ryu at the age of 13 and is currently a Godan (4th degree black belt) in Okinawan Shorin Ryu through Hanshi Richie Bernard. He also holds the ranks of Yondan (4th degree black) in Matsumora Orthodox Shorin Ryu and Nidan (2nd degree black) in Hakutsuru (White Crane) through Hanshi Larry Vellucci. Additionally, he holds teaching grade of Waka-Renshi issued through Hanshi Bernard and the ShidokanUSA Federation.
Relocating multiple times for work, Matt had the opportunity to train in Chinese Kenpo for 4 years in Albuquerue, New Mexico under Sifu Jacob Stuyvesant. Additionally, he spent 3 years studying Okinawan Kempo with Shihan Rich Pelletier and 4 years studying American Kenpo under Sensei Elain Chauvin. Matt teaches the Matsumura Seito Shorin Ryu kata passed down by Hanshi Vellucci. He is a member of and Regional Northeast Director for Kobukan Karate Federation. Crane Karate Academy is a proud member with licensure through the ShidokanUSA Federation.
Matt founded Crane Karate Academy to build a stronger community by sharing the physical, spiritual, and mental benefits of traditional Okinawan karate. Classes and enrollment are flexible, do not require a yearly commitment or contract, and are offered on a sliding scale to ensure availability for all who wish to learn.
At Crane Karate Academy, we teach using traditional methods and ask a lot of our students with the goal of helping each person become the best they can be. We offer modifications wherever necessary as we all have different bodies and abilities. We believe in an integrated approach to teaching with both adults and children in the same class. We treat children as full humans and hold them to the same standards as adults.
Dan Mello serves as a Shidoin at Crane Karate Academy under the ShidokanUSA Federation. His martial arts journey reflects a lifelong dedication to discipline, resilience, and personal growth.
He began training in International Taekwon-Do in 1990, studying under Jeff Curry in the Southcoast of Massachusetts and achieving the rank of red belt. After a long-standing commitment to disciplined study across athletics and education, he resumed his formal martial arts path in 2023, joining Crane Karate Academy in Newburyport, MA, where he continues his training in orthodox Matsumura Seito Shorin Ryu and Okinawan White Crane Karate under Waka Renshi Matt Hogan.
Outside the dojo, Dan is an education consultant with a bachelor of science in mathematics, graduating with honors from Northeastern University in 2008. He has taught yoga at the Newburyport YWCA, contributed to the community as a member of the Newburyport Waterfront Trust, and remains passionate about sailing, golf, photography, and learning music (guitar and piano).
As a father of young children, he is especially committed to nurturing the values martial arts instills—humility, perseverance, self-discipline, and indomitable spirit—both in his family and in the next generation of students at Crane Karate Academy.
He approaches both his personal practice and his teaching with humility, discipline, and a welcoming spirit.
