Press Room

Boilerplate, facts and images for journalists, editors and organisations writing about Martial Arts Professional, NAPMA or Grand Master Stephen Oliver. Everything on this page may be quoted or reproduced without asking. If you need something that is not here, ask.

The publication, in one line

Martial Arts Professional — The Business Journal for Martial Arts School, BJJ Academy & MMA Gym Owners. Published by the National Association of Professional Martial Artists since 1996.

Boilerplate

Short — 40 words

Martial Arts Professional is the business journal for martial arts school, BJJ academy and MMA gym owners: the definitive resource for building, operating and growing a professional school, academy or gym. Published by the National Association of Professional Martial Artists since 1996.

Long — 90 words

Martial Arts Professional is the business journal for martial arts school, BJJ academy and MMA gym owners — the definitive resource for building, operating and growing a professional martial arts school, BJJ academy, MMA gym, Muay Thai gym or Krav Maga school. Published by the National Association of Professional Martial Artists since 1996, first in print and now digitally at MartialArtsProfessional.com, it reports on what schools charge, how they enroll and keep students, how instructors are trained and paid, and how the profession has changed. Its masthead is drawn from working school owners rather than staff writers.

The association

The National Association of Professional Martial Artists (NAPMA) is the professional association for martial arts school owners, founded in 1994. It maintains professional standards and continuing education for school owners and instructors, publishes Martial Arts Professional, and administers the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The publisher

Grand Master Stephen Oliver, MBA, is a 10th Degree Black Belt and the Founder and CEO of Mile High Karate and Martial Arts Wealth Mastery, one of the martial arts industry’s leading coaching and consulting organizations for professional martial arts school owners, BJJ academies, and MMA gyms. A martial arts school owner since 1975 and business coach since 1985, Oliver has spent more than five decades building, operating, and advising successful martial arts schools. He also serves as CEO and Chairman of NAPMA (the National Association of Professional Martial Artists) and Publisher of Martial Arts Professional magazine. A Georgetown University cum laude graduate, he earned his Executive MBA through the Executive Program at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. He was promoted to 10th Degree Black Belt in April 2026 and inducted into the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame in August 2026. Learn more at MartialArtsWealth.com and StephenCOliver.com.

Facts of record

Publication name

Martial Arts Professional. Some print-era issues carried the title Mastering the Martial Arts Business Magazine; it is the same publication. Please cite it as Martial Arts Professional.

Founded

1996. Volume 1, Number 1 was the Winter 1996 issue; monthly by July 1996.

Published by

Martial Arts Marketing, Incorporated, DBA the National Association of Professional Martial Artists (NAPMA).

Association founded

1994, by John Graden.

Publisher

Grand Master Stephen Oliver, MBA — 10th Degree Black Belt; CEO and Chairman of NAPMA.

Columnists

Grand Master Stephen Oliver; Grand Master Jeff Smith, Chief of Instruction; Chief Master Greg Moody, Ph.D.

Address

825 Neville Lane, Golden, CO 80401, U.S.A.

Telephone

(720) 256-0208

Disclosure

The publisher is also Founder and CEO of Martial Arts Wealth Mastery, a coaching company. See the editorial policy.

Ownership

Martial Arts Professional has had three owners in its history. The record, for anyone citing the publication:

1994

The National Association of Professional Martial Artists (NAPMA) is founded.

1996

NAPMA launches Martial Arts Professional. Volume 1, Number 1 is the Winter 1996 issue; the magazine goes monthly by July 1996 and runs roughly fifteen years in print.

2005

Century acquires NAPMA, and with it the magazine.

August 2007

Grand Master Stephen Oliver acquires NAPMA from Century. He has been CEO and Chairman of NAPMA, and publisher of Martial Arts Professional, since.

The publication’s independence policy, disclosure rules and corrections process are set out in the editorial policy.

The Lifetime Achievement Award

Conferred by NAPMA and Martial Arts Professional for career contribution to the martial arts as a profession. Eleven recipients since the 1990s, two of them posthumous:

Joe Lewis · Grand Master Jhoon Rhee (1999) · Fumio Demura (2000) · Ernie Reyes Sr. (2003) · Grand Master Stephen Oliver (2003) · Tony Robbins (2003) · Grand Master Jeff Smith (2008) · Grand Master J. Pat Burleson (2009) · Brian Tracy (2010) · Nicholas P. Cokinos (2015, posthumous) · Chuck Norris (2026, posthumous)

Full citations, and how the award works, are at the awards register.

Images

These may be reproduced in connection with coverage of the publication, the association or the publisher. Credit: Martial Arts Professional.

Contact

Press enquiries, interview requests and fact checks: contact the publisher or telephone (720) 256-0208. We answer fact checks quickly and would rather correct a detail before you publish than after.