The Mile High Karate Black Belt Extravaganza

The Mile High Karate Black Belt Extravaganza is the annual graduation ceremony and stage show for Mile High Karate’s new Black Belts. Held once a year since 1990, it is where students who have passed their Black Belt test receive their belts on stage in front of their families, at every level of Black Belt, and where Mile High Karate Black Belts put on demonstrations and performances. Grand Master Stephen Oliver, who founded Mile High Karate in 1983, has been present at every Extravaganza. Special guests over the years have included Grand Master Jhoon Rhee, the father of American Tae Kwon Do.

What is the Black Belt Extravaganza?

For a Mile High Karate student, the Extravaganza is the public finish to the Black Belt journey. Candidates earn their rank at the Black Belt Retreat in the Colorado mountains; a few weeks later they walk on stage at the Extravaganza to be presented with it. The school’s student requirements describe “an annual Black Belt Extravaganza and Mile High Karate awards Banquet. Held to celebrate newly graduating Black Belts and to recognize outstanding contributions within our student body and staff.”

The evening is three things at once:

• A graduation ceremony for new Black Belts at all levels: Conditional Black Belts, Certified 1st Degree Black Belts, and Black Belts promoted to 2nd, 3rd, 4th Degree and above.
• A show of demonstrations and performances by Mile High Karate Black Belts: solo forms, weapons routines with bo staff, nunchaku and kama, board breaks, routines set to music and large team pieces.
• An awards night recognizing outstanding students, instructors and staff across the Mile High Karate schools.

Students of every rank are encouraged to attend, “to support your instructors and assistant instructors and to aid in your personal goal setting.” For a white belt, watching a new Black Belt receive a belt on stage is the clearest picture of where the training leads.

How the evening runs

The surviving recordings, from 2005 onward, show a format that has stayed consistent:

1. Opening. The national anthem; the 2005 show opened with “The Star-Spangled Banner” sung by a 4th Degree Black Belt, and the 2006 program included “God Bless the U.S.A.”
2. Introductions. Each new Black Belt is introduced by name and home school. In 2005 the graduates came from the Lakewood, Westminster, Thornton, Lafayette and Englewood schools.
3. Performances. Graduates and senior Black Belts perform forms, weapons and team routines. Team pieces such as “America,” “Exodus,” “Star Wars” and “Stargate” recur across the years.
4. Belt presentations. Each graduate is called forward and awarded the new belt.
5. Awards. Recognition for students and staff, which is why the program is also called the Mile High Karate Awards Banquet.

In the 2005 recording the emcee ties the evening directly to the mountain test: the performers “went up to our Breckenridge testing… worked their buns off to pass to their next belt,” and “survived Breckenridge to come here and move on and perform for you this evening.”

Grand Master Jhoon Rhee and other guests

Mile High Karate’s American Freestyle system descends from Grand Master Jhoon Rhee’s Tae Kwon Do, and Grand Master Rhee was among the special guests who attended the Extravaganza. Mile High Karate Black Belts continued to honor him on the Extravaganza stage after his death in 2018: the November 2018 show included an “America” routine performed as a tribute to Jhoon Rhee. The Extravaganza has drawn other special guests from the martial arts world over the years, and visiting school owners have described it as a window on how Grand Master Oliver relates to his students and Black Belts.

Size of the show

The Extravaganza is Mile High Karate’s largest gathering of the year outside the retreat. In November 2025, instructors told students that about 60 Black Belts would perform, called it “a huge event,” and reminded them that “this is once a year.” Spectator tickets were $15 in 2002, the Mile High Karate Activities Pass included Extravaganza spectator passes from 2004, and in 2025 families picked up their tickets at the school’s front desk.

Timeline

In the mid-2000s Mile High Karate also held a spring Extravaganza after the May Black Belt progress check, in addition to the main fall show.

Watch the Extravaganza

Two complete shows survive, from 2005 and 2006, first published online at milehighblackbelt.com and posted to YouTube by Stephen Oliver in 2022.

Black Belt Extravaganza 2005, complete show:

Black Belt Extravaganza 2006, complete show:

Black Belt presentation, November 16, 2012:

“America” team performance, 2015 Extravaganza:

“America”: tribute to Grand Master Jhoon Rhee, 2018 Extravaganza:

Rehearsing for the November 15, 2025 Extravaganza:

Complete Extravaganza video index

Every Black Belt Extravaganza video we could find on YouTube, 74 in all, grouped by year. Videos were posted by Mile High Karate, Stephen Oliver and by Mile High Karate families. A clip is listed here when its title or description names the Extravaganza, or when it was uploaded in the same batch as clips that do. Upload dates are YouTube’s; titles have been shortened to describe what each clip shows.

2005: Black Belt Extravaganza, Saturday, October 29, 2005

2006: Black Belt Extravaganza

2008: Black Belt Extravaganza

Spring Extravaganza (titled “May 2010,” uploaded May 2011)

Winter 2011: Black Belt Extravaganza (uploaded December 11, 2011)

2012: Black Belt Extravaganza, Friday, November 16, 2012

2013: Black Belt Extravaganza

2015: Black Belt Extravaganza

2018: Black Belt Extravaganza

2025: Black Belt Extravaganza, Saturday, November 15, 2025

Possibly Extravaganza footage

These performances were posted around Extravaganza season or show routines performed at the show, but their uploaders do not name the event.

Help us complete the record

The Extravaganza has run every year since 1990, but the online record only begins in 2002, and many years have no surviving video or program. If you performed at, graduated at or attended an Extravaganza, Mile High Karate would like to hear from you, especially if you have programs, flyers, tickets, photographs, DVDs or video that show the year and venue. See the Mile High Karate archive to share materials.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Mile High Karate Black Belt Extravaganza?

It is Mile High Karate’s annual graduation ceremony and stage show for new Black Belts, held once a year since 1990. New Black Belts at every level receive their belts on stage, Mile High Karate Black Belts perform demonstrations, and the school presents its annual awards.

When is the Extravaganza held?

Once a year, usually in November, a few weeks after the Black Belt test at the Black Belt Retreat in the Colorado mountains. In the mid-2000s there was also a spring show.

Who attends the Black Belt Extravaganza?

New Black Belts and their families, students of every rank, instructors and staff from the Mile High Karate schools, and special guests. Grand Master Stephen Oliver has been present at every Extravaganza, and guests have included Grand Master Jhoon Rhee.

Which Black Belt ranks graduate at the Extravaganza?

All levels: Conditional Black Belts, Certified 1st Degree Black Belts, and Black Belts promoted to 2nd Degree and above.

Can I watch past Extravaganzas?

Yes. Complete recordings of the 2005 and 2006 shows are on YouTube, along with clips from 2008, 2010–2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2025. All are linked in the video index on this page.

Related

• The Mile High Karate Black Belt Retreat
• The Nine Qualities of a Mile High Karate Black Belt
• The History of Mile High Karate
• The Jhoon Rhee Lineage Behind Mile High Karate
• Grand Master Stephen Oliver
• Grand Master Jeff Smith
• Classes at Mile High Karate Thornton