Martial Arts Business Pioneers: In Memoriam
The martial arts school became a business because a handful of people worked out how to run one: how to bill tuition, build a chain of schools, promote an event, fund an academy or grow an association. These profiles cover the business pioneers of the industry.
Browse by tradition: American Karate · Taekwondo and Korean Martial Arts · Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu · Muay Thai · Wing Chun and Chinese Martial Arts · Japanese Karate and Shotokan · Okinawan Karate · Judo · Business Pioneers · Martial Arts on Screen · All profiles
The profiles
Nick Cokinos
1921 – 2014
Founder of the Educational Funding Company, who created third-party tuition billing and business consulting for martial arts schools and originated the enrollment and extension procedures still used across the industry.
Ned Muffley
1930 – 2025
Commander, U.S. Navy (Retired). Leader and Conductor of the United States Navy Band from 1973 to 1978 and later General Manager of the Educational Funding Company of Bethesda, Maryland.
Jhoon Rhee
1932 – 2018
Korean-American taekwondo grandmaster who founded the Jhoon Rhee Institute in Washington, D.C. in 1962, invented Safe-T foam sparring equipment, and taught more than 350 members of the U.S. Congress.
Ed Parker
1931 – 1990
Hawaiian-born martial artist who developed American Kenpo Karate, built one of the first commercial karate school chains in the United States and founded the Long Beach International Karate Championships in 1964.
Allen Steen
1940 – 2025
The first American-trained black belt under Jhoon Rhee, founder of the Texas Karate Institute and the American Karate Black Belt Association, and promoter of the U.S. Karate Championships in Dallas.
Mike Anderson
c. 1942 – 2026
American promoter and publisher who created the Top Ten Nationals and Professional Karate magazine’s national ratings, produced the 1974 World Professional Karate Championships that gave rise to the PKA, and co-founded what became WAKO.
Tony Thompson
1950 – 2025
Co-founder, with Ernie Reyes Sr., of the West Coast World Martial Arts Association, one of the earliest American affiliate-school networks, sustained over a 57-year partnership.
Richard Bresler
1953 – 2025
Rorion Gracie's first American student, who funded the opening of the Gracie Academy, invested in the first UFC, and was promoted to coral belt months before his death.
Keith R. Kernspecht
1945 – 2024
Founder of the European WingTsun Organisation, which grew to more than 1,000 schools and made WingTsun one of the most widely taught martial arts in Europe.
Bruce Lee
1940 – 1973
Martial artist, teacher and actor who opened schools in Seattle, Oakland and Los Angeles, named Jeet Kune Do in 1967 and closed his schools around 1970 to protect the quality of his teaching.
Every profile in this section follows the In Memoriam research standard: deaths confirmed before anything is written, every claim sourced, conflicts between sources printed, and promotional claims labelled as such.