Professor Robert J. Cooper began teaching martial arts in 1968, studying with many talented individuals, most notably Grandmaster Duk Sung Son - Grandmaster of Chung Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do, and Professor Florencio Visitacion (known as Professor Vee) - founder and Grandmaster of the Vee Jitsu style of martial arts. Under their instruction Professor Cooper earned the rank of tenth-degree black belt in JiuJitsu and sixth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. What was to become the IMAI grew out of a loose confederation of local martial arts clubs taught by Professor Cooper, and subsequently his students, in the New York City area.

In the Fall of 1982, when Grandmaster Cooper’s son, G. Rogers Cooper, began teaching martial arts at the University of Notre Dame, creating the Notre Dame MAI, the IMAI stepped out of the tri-state area. 1983 marked the first of what would become the annual Notre Dame Spring Promotions and Demonstrations. This event became an anchor not only for the NDMAI as it brought Professor Cooper to campus but for the IMAI as well as many alumni would continue to attend this event. For many individuals, this was their only contact with the Grandmaster and the only opportunity to ensure that their teachings remained true to the art.

1988 marked the first year the NDMAI functioned without a direct voice from New York City as G. Rogers Cooper had graduated. It was obvious that due to the university setting, the turnover rate of instructors would be much higher than at most schools. Soon third generation students were teaching in schools across the continental US, Puerto Rico, France, Austria, Taiwan and Japan. The need for some sort of organizational structure became a priority.

On April 29, 1995, the IMAI ratified its first officially documented curriculum for promotion of students. Since that time, the IMAI has survived through an oral tradition – techniques and philosophies passed down from instructor to student – and through the entrepreneurial spirit of IMAI alumni who continued to open schools.