Mile High Karate was founded by Stephen Oliver in Lakewood, Colorado, on August 6, 1983, with $10,000. The first school passed 150 students in 90 days; the organization reached five schools in 18 months and six in 36 months, and more than 2,500 active students and $1,700,000 in annual revenue by its founder’s 25th birthday. It went on to promote more than 1,000 Black Belts, run the NASKA World Tour’s Denver stop from 1989 to 1999, franchise internationally from 2000, and still teaches Colorado families today in Thornton.

Timeline, 1969–2026

Date Event
1969 Stephen Oliver begins training in Tulsa, Oklahoma, under Jhoon Rhee Institute Black Belts Bob Olinghouse and Gran Moulder
1975 Oliver opens his first school, under Jhoon Rhee, at age 15
August 1978 Earns his 1st Degree Black Belt from Grand Master Jhoon Rhee in Washington, DC
1980–1982 Head instructor, then branch manager, at the Jhoon Rhee Institute while at Georgetown University
August 6, 1983 Mile High Karate opens in Lakewood, Colorado; 150+ students in the first 90 days
Within 18 months Five Mile High Karate schools open across the Denver metro area
Within 36 months Six locations; more than 2,500 active students and over $1,700,000 annual revenue by Oliver’s 25th birthday
1985 Oliver begins coaching other school owners while opening Mile High Karate’s first six locations
April 1987 Oliver joins the original Board of Directors of Educational Funding Company (served until 2001)
1989 First Mile High Karate Classic in Denver, with NASKA World Tour status; Oliver joins the NASKA Board as National Sanctioning Director
1992 Oliver completes his Executive MBA at the Daniels College of Business, University of Denver
1994 Promoted to 6th Degree Black Belt by Jhoon Rhee
1999 The last Mile High Karate Classic
2000 Mile High Karate begins franchising internationally; Oliver founds Stephen Oliver’s Inner Circle, later Martial Arts Wealth Mastery
2001 Promoted to 7th Degree by Grand Master Jeff Smith
May 2002 Parker and Thornton locations announced as the newest Mile High Karate schools
2003 Amanda and Stephen Christensen begin leading Mile High Karate in the Thornton/Westminster area; Mile High Karate’s “Secrets of the Last Samurai” school program reaches 19,732 Colorado elementary students
2006 Promoted to 8th Degree by Grand Masters Jeff Smith and Joe Corley; Mile High Karate schools covered by the Rocky Mountain News, The Salt Lake Tribune, Black Belt and Tae Kwon Do Times (see the archive)
2007 Oliver acquires NAPMA and Martial Arts Professional magazine
April 2026 Oliver promoted to 10th Degree Black Belt by Grand Master Jeff Smith
August 2026 Oliver inducted into the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame (Lifetime Achievement)

The founding: Lakewood, 1983

Stephen Oliver graduated cum laude from Georgetown University in 1982 after two years running Jhoon Rhee Institute schools in Washington, DC. With Jhoon Rhee’s blessing and support he moved to Denver and opened the first Mile High Karate school in Lakewood on August 6, 1983. He started with $10,000. The school had more than 150 students within 90 days.

How Mile High Karate grew from one school to six

Mile High Karate opened five locations in its first 18 months and six within 36 months. By Oliver’s 25th birthday the organization had more than 2,500 active students and more than $1,700,000 in annual revenue — roughly $5,200,000 in today’s dollars. It then grew to more than 3,500 students, and that was not the ceiling: growth continued, including international franchise locations from 2000.

The growth rested on a small number of repeatable systems: a structured introductory process for new families (the first and second lessons and the enrollment conference), a Black Belt goal set at enrollment with roughly 48 months to reach it, Black Belt tests that required students to bring school grades and teacher sign-off, internal tournaments large enough to rival open events, and a leadership program for advanced students. The 2007 Mile High Karate welcome booklet in the archive documents several of these in their original form.

Oliver began teaching these methods to other school owners in 1985, while Mile High Karate was still opening its first six locations.

Mile High Karate in Colorado schools

Since 1983 Mile High Karate instructors have worked with educators across Colorado — in Cherry Creek, Douglas County, Jefferson County, Adams County, Boulder County and Denver Public Schools — through character-education programs, PE and gym-teacher programs, school carnivals, career days, fundraisers and teacher training. A 2004 announcement reported that Mile High Karate’s “Secrets of the Last Samurai” program had been taught to 19,732 Colorado elementary students in 2003. Mile High Karate was a leading supporter of Chuck Norris’s Kick Drugs Out of America program and The Children’s Hospital.

The Mile High Karate Classic, 1989–1999

For a decade Denver was a stop on the NASKA World Tour. The Mile High Karate Classic held World Tour status every year from 1989 to 1999, and Stephen Oliver served those same years on NASKA’s Board of Directors as National Sanctioning Director.

Where Mile High Karate has taught

Mile High Karate materials from 1999 to 2022 name schools in Lakewood, Arvada, Westminster, Thornton, Parker, Englewood, Lafayette, Denver and Highland in Colorado, and licensed or franchised locations in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Utah, California, Florida, Kansas, Ohio, Louisiana, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Locations were independently owned and operated by licensees. Dates for individual openings and closings are being documented; if you trained at a former location and have records or photographs, we would like to hear from you.

Mile High Karate today

Mile High Karate Thornton, at 3979 E 120th Ave, Thornton, CO 80233, is the organization’s Colorado school, owned and operated by Amanda and Stephen Christensen. Grand Master Jeff Smith serves as Chief of Instruction, responsible for instructor training, Black Belt testing and curriculum.

From building schools to teaching school owners

After building Mile High Karate into a multi-location organization, Stephen Oliver began teaching other martial arts school owners the systems he had developed and refined. Today that work continues through Martial Arts Wealth Mastery.

Related

Sources: Mile High Karate’s own records and published background material (1999–2007); the Mile High Karate press archive; Martial Arts Professional. Where a figure comes from Stephen Oliver’s own account rather than an independent record, it is his account. Last reviewed September 29, 2026.