Carter Hargrave is a well-known name in the field of martial arts, and now has a Martial Arts News Blog "Carter hargrave blog" that offers detailed news and information on multiple martial arts, including those offered at the private academy Hargrave Martial Arts. He was passionate of martial arts ever since he was a child and it meant to him more than a hobby. It was a full time job that took over his life. He began his career in the martial arts at the Oklahoma Karate Academy as an assistant instructor, and is now a triple Grandmaster and currently holds seven black belt rankings.

Carter Hargrave is the head instructor and president of the World Jeet Kune Do Foundation and the World Kempo Association. Besides these, he also owns Hargrave Martial Arts System, Hargrave Arts LLC, Hargrave Media and Combat Martial Arts Press. All this companies help him follow his dream of spreading the teaching of martial arts and self defense throughout the world.

Early in his career, while still in Tulsa where he was teaching Tae Kwon Do and Kuk Sool, a form of Korean Ju Jitsu, he had the opportunity to meet a student of the Bruce Lee School in California. He then realized that he wasn't satisfied with what he had achieved so far and accepted the student's offer to train in the new style and to become an instructor. He started training in various styles for the next couple of years. He remembers that period as being the hardest in his life, but he doesn't regret it at all. His passion for martial arts fueled him with energy in order to accomplish everything he desired.

In the early 1992, the art of Jeet Kun Do was nothing like it as it should have been. It was promoted very badly because the instructors weren't getting along due to political issues. Since there was no governing body to put an end to this chaos, this form of martial arts was almost entirely neglected. Carter Hargrave decided then to do something that was never attempted before. In 1992 he founded the World Jeet Kune Do Federation. This stayed away from the political problems of the time and followed the purpose in which it was created. Its main goal was to bring teachers and students together in order to spread the teachings of Bruce Lee. Carter considers these teachings as life changing and feels that everyone should have the opportunity to learn about them. No one ever attempted before him to bring Jeet Kune Do to the masses. Not only that he tried, but he also succeeded in doing so.

In the same year, 1992, he also founded a new martial art style. He named it American Combat Kempo. Many schools all over the world now recognize this and the US marines are using some of its techniques. In what concerns the style, Carter Hargrave has the title of Grandmaster. He is also Grandmaster in Kun Fu and Ju Jitsu. This new style was born because at the time Carter was training in four styles and was also experiencing others. Keeping them separately turn out to be difficult, but he managed to meet the expectations of his teachers from back them. He then noticed that people were interested in self-defense and in learning self-defense skills in order to protect themselves at work, at school and even on the street.

Their needs remained unsatisfied because no school was teaching this kind of stuff at the moment. Carter Hargrave saw the opportunity and created this new style by modifying two existing martial arts systems. He also included weapon fighting and adapted the techniques to real world situations. Besides traditional Okinawan weapons, like sai, bo, tonfa or katana, he also introduced modern firearms. He thinks that if you are not superior to you attacker, you don't stand a chance and he considers that superiority needs to be achieved by all means whether they are fair or unfair. The original arts that stand at the base of American Combat Kempo are not recognizable anymore, after Hargrave modified them. It wasn't simply a matter of combining styles it also involved creativity. World Kempo Association is currently promoting the principles of this new style worldwide. Hargrave is its president and head instructor. As well as his other organizations, this one is also staying away from the political area.

In order to spread his knowledge to all those interested in it, Carter Hargrave also wrote three books on martial arts. "The Original Jeet Kune Do Training", which was an international best seller. It is the first Jeet Kune Do manual released on the market and photos for a better understanding of the information presented also accompany it. The other two books are "Japanese Kempo Karate Manual" in which the author tackles the American Combat Kempo system and "Japanese Kempo Karate Entrance to Secrets Manual", for those interested in advanced training.

Carter Hargrave's achievements were recognized worldwide. In 1995 he received the Instructor of the Year award. He was the youngest person to be promoted to Professor of martial arts at age 33. In 1995 he was appointed Executive Director World Martial Arts Hall of Fame Board Member. The same year he was also appointed Director United Kung Fu Federation of North America. One year later, in 1996, he received the award for Best Martial Arts School in the United States. The US Congress and the United States Senate recognized his achievements.