Behind the Scenes at Mile High Karate: What Members See on a School Visit

Most coaching shows you slides. Martial Arts Wealth Mastery members get the keys to the building.

Mile High Karate has been operating since August 1983, and it is still running the systems we teach, on real mats, with real families, every week. Members who come to our live meetings can visit a Mile High Karate school and watch it all work: the front desk, the classes, the Leadership program, the paperwork. No holds barred. Nothing staged for visitors.

One newer member visited our Thornton, Colorado school during the live meeting this fall. Here is what he saw, what surprised him, and what he went home and changed.

Why See It Instead of Hear About It?

Because some systems are impossible to picture until you watch them run. Then it is hard to imagine running a school any other way. Rotating curriculum is the classic example: blindingly obvious once you see it, and a lot of work to understand and set up from a description. The same is true of pulling your whole student body up to assist and instruct, regardless of age.

The member put it this way:

“It took theoretical things that I’ve been reading about, that we’ve been talking about, and I saw it actually being implemented by the staff there.”

— Martial Arts Wealth Mastery member

What Surprised Him Most: The Blue Jackets

Basic students train in white uniforms. Students in the Leadership program wear blue jackets. He expected advanced students to move slowly toward Leadership, perhaps starting in the Black Belt program first. That is not what he saw:

“When I looked at the more advanced classes, it was astounding that 90% of all the students chose not the Black Belt Masters program, but to get the best for themselves… It’s more expensive. And the answer I kept getting back was because they want the best for their families and for themselves.”

— Martial Arts Wealth Mastery member

That is the lesson most owners resist: when the program is worth it, families choose the premium option, and they do it for their children’s sake.

Black Belt From the First Class

The second thing he noticed was the language on the floor. Families are not signed up for a month, a membership or a six-month term. They are signed up for the goal they walked in with: Black Belt. The instructors and assistants reinforce it constantly.

“Take this stance, Black Belt stance. Clap once, clap twice, you rock. Black Belts. Everything was striving towards Black Belt… We’ve never been doing that, but now we’re doing it.”

— Martial Arts Wealth Mastery member

The Instructor Rule of Three

Every guest is greeted within three feet of the door. Then, in every class, each student hears their name three times, gets eye contact three times and gets hands-on help. It sounds simple. Watching a team do it for an entire evening is what makes it stick.

The Paperwork Behind the Character Development

Visitors see the systems most schools never build: circle worksheets and character development sheets, required readings, homework sheets that students turn in, and attendance tracking. The member’s parents noticed the difference as soon as he introduced them:

“Already we’ve got great feedback from parents who have seen those and said, wow, this is terrific, what you’re doing now.”

— Martial Arts Wealth Mastery member

What He Changed When He Got Home

• Tuition. Raised his membership to $397 a month, after one of the group’s top operators told him his biggest regret was not raising prices sooner. New families are enrolling at the new rate.
• Welcome book. Rewritten.
• Event marketing. Booking live events aggressively, using a prize spin wheel at the booth.
• The intro lesson. Reworked, with more comfort delivering it.
• Character work. Circle worksheets, character sheets, readings and homework sheets.
• The rule of three. Implemented with his instructors.
• Short-term rewards. A stripe system, because quick rewards keep students motivated.
• Testing. Moving from quarterly toward every two to three months.

The Value Is in the Room

His summary of the trip:

“It was probably equivalent to about six months of the Zoom meetings that we have weekly.”

— Martial Arts Wealth Mastery member

That is why the school visits and live meetings exist. More on that in Why One Live Meeting Is Worth Six Months of Zoom Calls.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can anyone visit a Mile High Karate school?

Behind-the-scenes school visits are part of Martial Arts Wealth Mastery membership, typically scheduled around the live members’ meetings in Colorado.

How long has Mile High Karate been operating?

Grand Master Stephen Oliver founded Mile High Karate in Denver in August 1983, and it still operates today.

What is the blue jacket program?

Students in the Leadership program wear blue jackets, while basic students train in white. At the school this member visited, about 90% of advanced students had chosen Leadership.

What is rotating curriculum?

A curriculum that cycles in fixed blocks so every student, at every rank, can train in the same class on the same material. It is far easier to understand by watching it run than by reading about it.

Individual results vary.

About the Author

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.