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A Prefatory Note to the Reader
Before you study the family tree,
understand what kind of family this is.

The martial arts are ancient. The techniques have been refined across centuries of warfare, discipline, and genuine sacrifice. Somewhere along the way, someone looked at all of that — the philosophy, the physical mastery, the sacred student-teacher bond — and thought: what if we billed for this monthly?

What follows is not a conspiracy. It is something more mundane and therefore more insidious: a business lineage. A genealogy of decisions, handshakes, consultants, and contracts that slowly, methodically reoriented the American martial arts school away from the question "is the student learning?" and toward the question "is the student enrolled?"

The figures documented here were not, for the most part, frauds in the legal sense. Many held legitimate rank. Most genuinely believed in what they were teaching. But belief in a product does not exempt one from scrutiny of how that product was packaged, financed, and franchised, and this document offers that scrutiny without apology.

Study the chart. Note the names, the dates, the innovations: the third-party billing contract, the camouflage belt, the "guaranteed black belt," the done-for-you marketing box, the private equity rollup. Each one seemed reasonable in isolation. Taken together, they form a coherent inheritance, passed from school to school, consultant to franchise, generation to generation.

This is that inheritance, faithfully recorded.

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The McDojo Lineage

Being a Faithful Genealogy of the Business Bloodlines
that Commercialised the Martial Arts in America
~ Compiled Anno Domini MMXXVI ~
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Progenitors
Billing companies
Consultants & associations
Equipment & media
Franchise organisations
Private equity
The Progenitors
Jhoon Rhee
"Father of American Taekwondo"
Washington, D.C. — 1960s
His organisation became the launchpad for EFC billing and trained both Stephen Oliver & Jeff Smith. The unwitting patriarch of the McDojo ecosystem.
Ed Parker
American Kenpo
Pasadena, CA — 1960s
Trained Greg Silva, who met EFC's Cokinos at the same time. The Kenpo lineage and the billing infrastructure converge in one handshake.
Haeng Ung Lee
ATA — "Eternal Grandmaster"
Omaha, NE — 1969
Created the Songahm system, the camo belt, child black belts, and the closed tournament model. Origin of the franchise-scale McDojang.
↓ ↓ ↓
The Billing Houses & Their Counsellors — 1967–1990s
Nicholas Cokinos
Educational Funding Co. (EFC)
Chevy Chase, MD — est. 1967
Begat: Third-party contract billing • Long-term payment plans managed by outside company • Separation of teaching quality from revenue • Contract-selling to receivables company • International conference as playbook export (Orlando, 1990s–)
First martial arts billing company
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Amerinational Mgmt Services (AMS)
Orlando, FL — est. 1983
Begat: EFC model replicated • Full-stack management ecosystem (billing + software + marketing + consulting) • After-school & summer camp programme add-ons
— Oliver served on EFC's board from inception to 2001; Silva was EFC's #1 client school —
Stephen Oliver
Mile High Karate / NAPMA / MaPro
Lakewood, CO — est. 1983
Begat: "Enrollment conference" scripted sales • Monthly marketing boxes (shipped 25th of each month) • Black Belt Club / Leadership Team / Masters Club upsell tiers • "Done for you" marketing materials (copy-protected) • Dan Kennedy direct-response methods applied to MA • Martial arts franchise with MBA-level revenue engineering
Jhoon Rhee lineage • EFC board • Georgetown MBA
John Graden
NAPMA (founder, 1994) / MATA / ACMA
Tampa, FL — 1994
Begat: Trade association model for MA business consulting • MAPro magazine (first MA trade journal) • Instructor certification tied to business network • "Both arsonist and firefighter"
Joe Lewis protégé • WAKO champion
Greg Silva
United Professionals
Connecticut — est. ~1990
Begat: Universal Curriculum (1989) — first vendor-delivered rotating children's curriculum • High-volume class management systems • The consultant-to-franchise mentorship pipeline
Ed Parker lineage • Met Cokinos with Parker
Mike Dillard
Century Martial Arts / MAIA
Oklahoma City — est. 1976 / 2001
Begat: Equipment company as consulting arm • SuperShow annual convention • maSuccess magazine • MAIA Edge digital marketing platform • The equipment seller became the business adviser, media publisher, and convention host
Barry Van Over
United Professionals → Premier MA
Knoxville, TN — 2004
Begat: "No experience necessary" franchise ownership • Public school talks as recruitment funnels • Consultant-to-franchise pipeline personified • Sold to private equity 2021
Silva protégé • NAPMA regional dir • MAIA keynote 20yrs
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The Franchise Houses — 1969–2000s
— ATA adopted NAPMA marketing methods • Van Over keynoted MAIA SuperShow 20 consecutive years • EFC conferences exported model globally —
ATA / Songahm TKD
American Taekwondo Association
Little Rock, AR — est. 1969
Begat: Camouflage belt & extra belt colours • Child black belts (under age 10) • Closed tournament circuit • "Guaranteed black belt" contracts • Black Belt Club / Leadership Team upsell tiers (1990s, via GM Bill Clark) • Testing fees as separate revenue events • ~1,500 schools
Tiger-Rock TKD
formerly Intl Taekwondo Alliance (ITA)
est. 1983 — franchise 2008
Begat: Association-to-franchise conversion • Full Franchise Disclosure Documents for MA schools • Proprietary curriculum changed multiple times • $39K franchise fee • 100+ locations
ATA offshoot • Monroe / Kollars brothers
Mile High Karate
Stephen Oliver’s franchise arm
Lakewood, CO — est. 1983
Begat: International MA franchise (US, CA, NZ, AU) • $27,500 franchise fee • Revenue-per-student metrics as primary KPI • Franchise + consulting + billing + media integrated under one operator
Premier Martial Arts
Barry Van Over
Knoxville, TN — est. 2004
Begat: "No martial arts experience necessary" franchising • License-to-franchise conversion (2018) • School Talks / ABC’s of Success / Bully Proof as recruitment funnels • 564 franchises sold to 228 owners
Go Kan Ryu (GKR)
Robert Sullivan
Adelaide, Australia — est. 1984
Begat: Door-to-door membership sales (from Amway) • Low-rank students as instructors • "Black belt with white stripe" disguised rank • Non-contact only competition • MLM/franchise hybrid • Non-compete clauses for departing instructors
Amerikick
Dennis Tosten / American Karate Studios
Philadelphia — est. 1967
Begat: One of the earliest franchise-style MA operations • Regional directorship model
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The Private Equity Epoch — 2020s–Present
Michael Browning
Unleashed Brands
Dallas, TX — acquired Premier 2021
Begat: PE rollup of martial arts franchises • Brand President from janitorial franchise world • 54 franchisees sued (RICO claims, 2022) • Lawsuits in 5 of 6 acquired brands • Martial arts as a line item on a PE portfolio
Urban Air • Little Gym • Snapology • Sylvan
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The Ownership Chain
2021–present
Begat: Multiple PE ownership changes: MPK Partners (Perot family) → Seidler Equity Partners → Princeton Equity Group • Each change adds another layer between the student on the mat and the people making decisions about their training
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MAIA Edge / Digital Platforms
2010s–present
Begat: Monthly marketing box → SaaS subscription • Plug-and-play social media templates • Digital "done for you" campaigns • The same standardisation, now at internet speed
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A Chronology of Innovations & Corruptions

1883 — Kano introduces the belt system (white & black). Educational, not commercial.

1967 — EFC founded. Third-party billing & long-term contracts enter martial arts.

1969 — ATA founded. The franchise-scale association is born.

~1970s — Contract-selling model emerges. Schools sell receivables to billing companies.

1976 — Century Martial Arts founded. Equipment → consulting pipeline begins.

1983 — ATA creates Songahm system. Proprietary curriculum — schools can’t leave with it. Mile High Karate, AMS, and ITA (Tiger-Rock) all founded same year.

1984 — GKR founded. Door-to-door sales from Amway applied to martial arts.

Late 1980s — Testing fees become separate revenue events. Camo belt & extra colours proliferate.

1989 — Silva develops Universal Curriculum. First vendor-delivered rotating children’s curriculum.

~1990s — Black Belt Club and upgrade tiers emerge in ATA (via GM Bill Clark). "Enrollment conferences" replace "sales pitches."

1994 — NAPMA founded. Monthly marketing boxes begin shipping. Consulting industry crystallises.

1997 — EFC expands to UK. International conference exports the model globally.

Late 1990s — "Guaranteed black belt" contracts become common. Pay for the belt; get it on schedule.

2001 — Century creates MAIA. Equipment company enters consulting, media, and conventions.

2004 — Premier MA founded. Consultant-to-franchise pipeline in action.

2008 — Tiger-Rock converts to formal franchise. FDDs, territory rights, franchise fees.

2010s — Marketing boxes go digital. SaaS replaces physical shipments.

2018 — Premier converts license to franchise. "No MA experience necessary" for owners.

2021 — Private equity enters. Unleashed Brands acquires Premier MA.

2022 — 54 Premier franchisees sue. RICO claims. Five of six Unleashed brands in litigation.

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"Every step makes the teaching less important and the revenue structure more important.
That is the lineage."

~ A Working Document — Corrections & Additions Welcome ~