Author’s Corner
Author’s Corner
The books written by the people who write for this magazine, and by the school owners, champions and teachers who built the martial arts profession. Contributors to Martial Arts Professional come first, followed by other authors whose work belongs on a school owner’s shelf. Each entry has a short biography and the author’s books, linked to Amazon.
Contributors: Stephen Oliver, MBA · Jeff Smith · Greg Moody, Ph.D. · Peyton Quinn · Keith Yates, M.A. · Rob Colasanti · Chris Dewey · Fariborz Azhakh · Douglas Adamson · Tony Robbins · Brian Tracy · Lee Milteer · Jim Rohn · Denis Waitley · Harvey Mackay
Other authors: Greg Silva · Dave Kovar · Buzz Durkin · Keith Hafner · Jessie Bowen · Chuck Norris · John Graden · Tracy Lee Thomas · Ted Gambordella · Walter Anderson
Contributors to Martial Arts Professional
Columnists, school owners and invited experts whose work has appeared in these pages. Their full masthead entries are on Columnists & Contributors.
Grand Master Stephen Oliver, MBA
Publisher · 10th Degree Black Belt
Grand Master Stephen Oliver is a 10th Degree Black Belt, the Founder and CEO of Mile High Karate and Martial Arts Wealth Mastery, CEO and Chairman of NAPMA and Publisher of Martial Arts Professional. A school owner since 1975 and a business coach since 1985, he writes on marketing systems, pricing, staff and the economics of the professional school.
Books
- Everything I Wish I Knew When I Was 22: Essential Skills for Martial Arts School Owners (2010)
- Direct Response Marketing for Martial Arts Schools (2011)
- The Way of the Mile High Maverick: The Ultimate High-Level Business, Management, and Marketing Manual (2013)
- Extraordinary Teaching, Volume 1: Transform Your Martial Arts School Into a Leadership Academy (with Jeff Smith)
- Extraordinary Teaching Workbook: Your Implementation Guide and Training Notebook (with Jeff Smith)
- Six Simple Steps to Add 100 New Students to Your School (with Jeff Smith, Bob Dunne and Greg Moody)
Grand Master Jeff Smith
Chief of Instruction · 10th Degree Black Belt
Grand Master Jeff Smith won the first Professional Karate Association World Light-Heavyweight title in 1974 and served as Senior Vice President of the Jhoon Rhee Institute from 1970 to 1985, training and managing instructors across its Washington-area schools. He coached U.S. teams to ten consecutive WAKO world titles and is Chief of Instruction for Mile High Karate and Martial Arts Wealth Mastery.
Books
Chief Master Greg Moody, Ph.D.
Columnist · 8th Degree Black Belt
Chief Master Greg Moody is an 8th Degree Black Belt and the founder of KarateBuilt Martial Arts, which he started in 1995. He holds a Ph.D. in Special Education from Arizona State University and is a licensed therapist, and his books on leadership skills, bullying and parenting draw on both careers. He has written some twenty books and consults with Martial Arts Wealth Mastery.
Books
- Karate Built! How KarateBuilt Builds Success and Values!
- The Life Skills of Leaders!
- Bullying: Truth, Myths, and What To Do!
- Parent Action Plan… Fear! (with Ryan Sheade, LCSW)
- Parent Action Plan – Grades!
- Parent Action Plan – ADHD!
- Stories of the Black Belts, Vol. I
- Stories of the Black Belts, Vol. II
Peyton Quinn
Contributor · Founder, RMCAT
Peyton Quinn founded RMCAT in Colorado and is a pioneer of adrenaline-stress, scenario-based self-defense training. His columns for this magazine examined the adrenal-stress response and how it changes what a student can actually do under pressure.
Books
Keith Yates, M.A.
Contributor · Dallas karate and taekwondo pioneer
Keith Yates earned his first black belt in 1968 and served for several years on the physical education faculty at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where in 1971 he introduced the first martial arts program for college credit at a southwestern university. He is a longtime leader of AKATO and the author of standard taekwondo references.
Books
Rob Colasanti
Contributor · Former President of NAPMA
Rob Colasanti is a former president of NAPMA, a veteran black belt and former school operator, and a speaker on school operations. His books for school owners grew out of years of consulting with NAPMA members.
Books
Chris Dewey
Contributor · Professor and judo coach
Chris Dewey is a university professor and martial artist with black belts in judo, jujitsu, taekwondo and hapkido. He ran the Starkville Martial Arts Academy and chaired the United States Judo Association’s Coaching Education Committee.
Books
Fariborz Azhakh
Contributor · Team Karate Centers
Fariborz Azhakh is the owner and head instructor of Team Karate Centers in Woodland Hills, California, and the producer of martialinfo.com. His books cover school systems and the purpose behind them.
Books
Douglas Adamson
Contributor · Shorei Kai karate
Douglas Adamson teaches Shorei Kai, an Americanized Okinawan karate system, along with Yamani Ryu classical Okinawan weapons and Pikiti Tirsha kali.
Books
Tony Robbins
Invited expert · Black belt under Jhoon Rhee
Tony Robbins, the peak-performance strategist, earned his black belt under Grand Master Jhoon Rhee and received the NAPMA Martial Arts Professional Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.
Books
- Unlimited Power (1986)
- Awaken the Giant Within (1991)
- MONEY Master the Game (2014)
Brian Tracy
Invited expert · Sales and personal achievement
Brian Tracy is one of the best-known authors and speakers on sales, productivity and personal achievement, and received the NAPMA Martial Arts Professional Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.
Books
- Maximum Achievement (1993)
- Eat That Frog! (2001)
- The Psychology of Selling (2004)
Lee Milteer
Invited expert · NAPMA Inner Circle success coach
Lee Milteer is a performance and success coach for entrepreneurs and a longtime coach to NAPMA’s Inner Circle members.
Books
- Success Is an Inside Job (1996)
- Spiritual Power Tools for Successful Selling (2005)
- Reclaim the Magic (2015)
Jim Rohn
Invited expert · Business philosopher
Jim Rohn (1930–2009) was a business philosopher and mentor to a generation of personal-development teachers.
Books
Denis Waitley
Invited expert · The Psychology of Winning
Denis Waitley is the author of The Psychology of Winning and a peak-performance adviser to athletes and executives.
Books
- The Psychology of Winning (1979)
- Seeds of Greatness (1983)
- Empires of the Mind (1995)
Harvey Mackay
Invited expert · Sales and business
Harvey Mackay is a bestselling business author, syndicated columnist and founder of MackayMitchell Envelope Company.
Books
Other Authors from the Martial Arts Industry
Operators, champions and teachers whose books have shaped how professional schools are run and how martial arts are taught.
Greg Silva
School owner, consultant, United Professionals
Greg Silva opened his first karate school in 1973, the year he graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Business, and ran five Connecticut schools by 1982. In 1994 he founded United Professionals, which provides tuition billing and consulting to martial arts schools. He was one of the nine members of Educational Funding Company’s first Board of Directors in 1987 and has coached school owners privately since 2010.
Books
Dave Kovar
Founder, Kovar’s Satori Academy
Dave Kovar began training in 1973, opened his first school in 1978 and built Kovar’s Satori Academy into a multi-location organization in the Sacramento area. Through Kovar Systems he coaches school owners and instructors. He received the U.S. Martial Arts Association’s Instructor of the Year award in 1992 and the Martial Arts Industry Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.
Books
Grand Master Buzz Durkin
Headmaster, Uechiryu Butokukai
Buzz Durkin began Uechi-ryu training in 1966 and in 1971 was among the first Americans to travel to Okinawa to train in the style. He opened his school in 1974 and in 1984 founded the Uechiryu Butokukai, which he leads as headmaster. His organization credits him with the first junior black belt program in Uechi-ryu. Success Is Waiting is his guide for school owners.
Books
Keith Hafner
Keith Hafner’s Karate, Ann Arbor
Keith Hafner began taekwondo training in 1973 and built Keith Hafner’s Karate in Ann Arbor, Michigan, into one of the best-known professional schools in the Midwest. He was one of the nine members of Educational Funding Company’s first Board of Directors in 1987 and was promoted to ninth degree black belt in 2019. His books cover raising children and running a small business.
Books
- How to Build Rock Solid Kids (2001)
- Small Business Mastery (2019)
Jessie Bowen
Founder, American Martial Arts Alliance
Jessie Bowen has taught martial arts in Durham, North Carolina, since opening his school in 1980. In 2005 he founded the American Martial Arts Alliance, which publishes Who’s Who in the Martial Arts, and he has compiled and published a long series of biographical directories of martial artists.
Books
Chuck Norris
Martial artist, actor, author (1940–2026)
Chuck Norris was a six-time undefeated Professional Middleweight World Champion who founded Chun Kuk Do in 1990 and held an 8th Dan in taekwondo. He learned American karate from J. Pat Burleson, starred in Walker, Texas Ranger, and in 1990 founded Kickstart Kids, which teaches character through karate in Texas schools. He died in March 2026 and was posthumously inducted into the Martial Arts Professional Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Books
John Graden
Founder, NAPMA and Martial Arts Professional
John Graden founded the National Association of Professional Martial Artists in 1993 and launched Martial Arts Professional in 1996. A black belt under Joe Lewis, he also created the American Council on Martial Arts instructor certification and later the Martial Arts Teachers’ Association.
Books
Tracy Lee Thomas
Founder, Go2 Karate
Tracy Lee Thomas is the founder of Go2 Karate, a platform that connects families with martial arts schools, and publishes Go2 Karate Business Magazine for school owners. A veteran of Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he ran a small chain of martial arts schools and now works as a growth strategist for small-business owners.
Books
Ted Gambordella
Dallas martial artist and author
Ted Gambordella is a Dallas martial artist, fitness author and instructor with more than five decades in karate, jiu-jitsu and weapons. He has written more than forty books on self-defense, weapons, grappling, flexibility and motivation, including a biography of Jeff Smith, and developed the “Obsessive Mental Attitude” success philosophy.
Books
Walter Anderson
Author and former Parade editor
Walter Anderson served as editor of Parade magazine from 1980 and as its chairman and CEO from 2000 to 2009. A Marine Corps veteran and member of the Horatio Alger Association, he writes on courage, confidence and taking risks.
Books
- Courage Is a Three-Letter Word (1986)
- The Greatest Risk of All (1988)
- The Confidence Course: Seven Steps to Self-Fulfillment (1997)
- Meant to Be (2003)
Book titles and years are as published; where a year is not shown we could not confirm it. Authors and publishers can send corrections or new titles to the editors and we will update this page. For the history behind many of these names, see The History of the Martial Arts School Business in the United States.