About Us
John Graden
Click here to see a 30-second bio on Mr. Graden
As the man who brought the martial arts from the stone age into the modern age, instructors and school owners around the world rely on John Graden to teach, guide, and mentor them to earn a great living doing what they love to do; teach martial arts.
The “Teacher of Teachers”, John Graden has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Dr. Oz show, Publishers’ Weekly, Parade magazine and countless other A list media outlets.
Mr. Graden’s path to success started exactly where most of his clients are at today. Even though he was a World Champion competitor his school was dying. When his monthly gross dropped under $2,000, he made a decision that changed his life and that of many thousands of martial arts schools.
He started to study schools that fit two criteria:
1. The school had to produce excellent black belts. As a protege of the great Joe Lewis, John was not and does not lower his standards for martial arts excellence.
2. The owner had to have a personal income of $100,000 or more.
That combination of doing what you love to do and getting paid well for it is the American Dream and John Graden set out to fulfill that dream.
Over the course of six-months he studied schools from all the major styles and locations. What he discovered was that regardless of the style taught or the location of the school, there were always consistent key systems in place that accounted for the schools’ success.
He implemented those systems into his school and quickly went from around 50 students to 600 within 18-months and was earning over $100,000 doing what he loved most of all; teaching martial arts.
To help other owners like himself he wrote his first book, “Black Belt Management” to provide a blue print to transform a school from a “dungeon dojo” to a modern martial arts school. The book was a huge success and led to Graden creating the National Association of Professional Martial Artists (NAPMA) in 1993.
He sold NAPMA in 2003 and created the Martial Arts Teachers’ Association (MATA). MATA offers a variety of programs to help martial arts school owners and those interested in a rewarding career as a martial arts professional guidance on marketing, management, curriculum design, staff training, classroom management and more.
MATA Executive Director John Graden's Timeline
2012 – Founder, MATA Martial Arts
2004 – Founder, Martial Arts Teachers' Association
2003 – Author, The Truth About the Martial Arts Business
1998 – Author, How to Open and Operate a Successful Martial Arts School
1997 – Founder – American Council on Martial Arts (ACMA)
1995 – Founder – Martial Arts Professional Magazine
1993 – Author, Black Belt Management