THE MISSION OF THE MUSEUM
The mission of the Martial Arts History Museum is to promote an appreciation of America’s cultural diversity by using the martial arts as its gateway into sharing how Asian history became part of American history. It is not a who’s who of the martial arts, neither is it a sports museum, rather, it is an educational facility teaching visitors about art, culture, history, and tradition.

LEADERSHIP
The Martial Arts History Museum was founded by former magazine publisher Michael Matsuda. An accomplished author, he is considered one of the leading historians for martial arts history in America. He was the former Media Manager for Blue Cross of California and Cal Fed Bank. He is the producer for a variety of commercials and was selected twice for “Producer of the Year” for Producer Magazine and also graced its cover. He was nominated for an EMMY for his producing work on the El Rey Network. He has been the president of the Museum for 24 years. He is also the coordinator of the Dragonfest Expo and was the coordinator for three Regional Karate Championship tournaments. He has produced three additional conventions including the San Fernando Valley Health Fair. A former Disney artist, he has designed most of the Museum.

LONGEVITY
The Martial Arts History Museum has been in operation for 24 years. It is a fully active non-profit 501c3 organization. It began as a traveling exhibit and landed into an actual structure around 2008. In 2023, the Museum celebrates year 24. The Museum has been consistent in its goals of not only keeping history alive, but also servicing the local community. The Museum continues to hold events, workshops, seminars, movie screenings, book signings, health classes, cpr courses, women’s empowerment and more.

SERVICING THE COMMUNITY
It’s important that we, the Martial Arts History Museum, reach out to the community and those who are in need. Look, let me put this plainly. We are a small museum, we don’t have the millions of dollars that these larger museums get, we don’t get the grants that they get, but even though, we still feel it’s important to give back, to help those we can help, to make an impact on ourselves and the community.

– The first Thursday of the month, from 3 pm to 6 pm, we provide free entrance to the community. This way all those who cannot afford the entrance fee, can still have the opportunity to enjoy the Museum.
– We provide a number of free courses for those who have lost their job and looking for different areas of work. For example, in the past, we have provided learning pyrography, how to write a book, using photoshop, etc.
– Over the years, the Martial Arts History Museum have collected uniforms and given to children in underserved communities
– The Martial Arts History Museum provide special free visits to the Museum to those physically and mentally challenged
– The Martial Arts History Museum also provide special free visits to Senior Organizations
– The Martial Arts History Museum provide special tours for those groups that focus on Alzheimer and Deminsia
– The Martial Arts History Museum provides special events such as Anti-Asian Hate Days with methods of protecting yourself
– The Martial Arts History Museum also conducts yearly anti-bully lectures and workshops
– The Martial Arts History Museum also host special dates for Women’s Empowerment courses
– It is our goal if we can raise the funds to move into a new location, to provide special Tai Chi courses for our seniors, health classes and more.

CULTURE AND TRADITION
At the Museum, we strive to enlighten visitors about the arts, culture, dance, music and tradition. As a martial artists, we celebrate our connection to music and artistry. Through unique artwork, photographs, musical instruments and artifacts, we connect the martial arts to its roots and the positive influence it continues to make on the world.

HISTORY
The Museum serves as the only museum dedicated to keeping the history of the martial arts alive. We are the only one of its kind in the world and we do our best to ensure that history won’t be lost or worse, forgotten forever. Through our collection of artifacts, historical photographs, uniforms of pioneers and more, we preserve the sacrifices that so many made coming to the West.

SUSTAINABILITY
The Museum has been fortunate enough to be supported by the martial arts community. Through numerous small donations each month, the museum has continued to function. We do receive grants but because we are not a large location, we cannot apply for large funding. We continue to host events such as our Dragonfest Expo, our charity auctions, and visitation, we are able to keep our doors open for 24 years.

OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE
We are working hard to move into a large enough facility that will allow us to not only house the historical artifacts, but also provide an opportunity to create a Resource Center so the world can access historical information. We hope to create a seminar area so that we conduct a number of health classes, courses for the elderly, women’s self-defense and other workshops. It is our goal to create a store in order to keep the museum operational. It is our goal to purchase a facility so that the Museum will continue 100 years from now.