TKM New York was founded in January 2014 by Head Instructor Eliran Cohen. Eliran began his Krav Maga training in 1987 under Grand Master Eli Avikzar and since 1992 has been a certified instructor. In 1993, he was awarded his Black Belt Dan 1. He has since accumulated years of teaching experience, both military and civilian. Eliran served in the IDF as a Krav Maga instructor for various units in the Israeli Navy, and has opened and operated several Krav Maga schools while in Israel, passing on the knowledge and skills to hundreds of students.
Eliran joined the Traditional Krav Maga (TKM) organization under Grand Master Erez Sharabi from the onset of its establishment and continues to take an active role in operating the organization. He is responsible for the TKM Krav Maga activity in the USA – the organization’s primary mission is to deliver the proven Krav Maga skills of self-defense and violence suppression/prevention, while simultaneously improving physical fitness. In 2017, a few years after the opening of the TKM New York studio in Great Neck, Eliran opened TKM New Jersey. A few years later, in 2022, he was awarded his Black Belt Dan 4.
Throughout the years, Eliran has trained and certified more than 22 black belts and dozens of Krav Maga instructors, while teaching Krav Maga and self-defense seminars and workshops to various Krav Maga institutes, law enforcement members, and organizations in the USA and abroad.
In 2020, when non profit Guardian Self Defense (GSD) was launched as a response to antisemitic-based crime in Brooklyn, Eliran was chosen to lead the pilot program with his TKM instructors. This turned into an ongoing program with hundreds of students training under the TKM curriculum over the last 6 years. Between training students using the TKM method, implementing the TKM belt system, and sending students to Instructor courses, Eliran’s leadership helped bring critical training to hundreds of men and women in the Brooklyn region. The success of the GSD men’s and women’s programs fueled the launch of the TKM Brooklyn organization in 2025. With Eliran’s further support, the TKM curriculum is currently taught to dozens of students across Crown Heights.