18 Ways to Make Money in the Martial Arts

From: Black Belt Magazine September 2004

Television Actor
Income: $466 per day. $43,000-$52,000 per year

Jason David Frank is a Santa Clarita, California-based karate instructor who co-stars in ABC's Power Rangers Dino Thunder TV series. Although he's an accomplished karateka, he admits that you need not be an expert to land a role on TV. Success in front of the camera has more to do with how you present yourself than how you spar, he says. You just have to be good at what you do, and you have to be charismatic.

"It doesn't mean [having] good looks or anything like that," he says. "It means, What can you bring to the television show? There are some people the cameras just love, and thats important, too."

[In box above picture of Tommy coaching the three new morphed rangers.]
You've Got the Power!

Fans of karate expert Jason David Frank can catch him on the ABC Family network's action/adventure series Power Rangers Dino Thunder. In it, he portrays Tommy Oliver, a high school teacher who believes his past as the Black Power Ranger is behind him. However, when his identity as the former leader of the group is revealed, Oliver is persuaded to rejoin the ranks and don the black uniform to fight evil in the world.

In addition to his success as a Ranger, the 31-year-old Southern California native has appeared on Family Matters and Sweet Valley High. He also runs two successful martial arts studios. -S.F.