The following history of A.T.A.M.A. was written by Professor Raymond "Duke" Moore, and can be found on page VI of the 1995 edition of Who's Who in A.T.A.M.A.  It is copied here in its entirety . . .

The American Teachers Association of the Martial Arts was founded in 1981 in San Francisco, California.  Paradoxically, it became a viable organization only because of an "afterthought." The original plan was to expand Zen Budokai, a credentialing organization founded by me in 1960. Its purpose was to promote members of the top ten blackbelters to the ranks of Masters and Professors.

Because it became apparent to me that many of the masters of the various systems were either retiring or going into semi-retirement by not even wearing their gi while in their own dojos, I felt that it was time for the Budokai instructors to begin assuming the responsibilities commensurate with the ranks of Master and Professor.  I called for a meeting of all interested black belters then teaching in the San Francisco Bay Area to discuss and solidify these views.

The meeting was held at the Sutro Cliff House Restaurant in San Francisco.  It was attended by not only active members of the Zen Budokai, but also by instructors of independent schools scattered throughout the bay area.  They liked what they heard and I liked what I saw - a conglomeration of martial arts systems: Kenpo, Kempo, Tai Kwon Do, Shotokan, Zen Budokai, Aiki Budokai, and self-defense schools who taught a mixture of karate, Kung Fu, and Juijitsu.

Budokai diplomas were awarded to all teachers attending the meeting, including Rick Alemany, 8th Degree, Jerry Streeter, 8th Degree, John Pereira, 7th Degree, Leroy Rodrigues, 7th Degree, Jerry Kunzman, 7th Degree, Harold Gets, 7th Degree, James A Moses Jr, 5th Degree, Harry Sherman, 5th Degree, Art Buckley, 5th Degree, Don Jordan, 5th Degree, Bill Grossman, 5th Degree, Sonny Allen, 5th Degree, and Marge Alemany, 5th Degree.

After awarding the diplomas, I then proposed that all the charter members now form an entirely new organization with an entirely new concept - the concept of teachers of every system of the martial arts working together to disseminate all elements of the martial arts through the media of local and national seminars.  It was to be a democratic teachers organization whereby the arts and techniques of each school would be mutually shared.

Two weeks later, the name of this organization became ATAMA - American Teachers Association of the Martial Arts.  It was born on the 19th day of December, 1981, nurtured through the early '80's, and reached maturity as of 1992, when the Sacramento chapter was founded.  Bernie Weiss founded the Southern Counties chapter and was elected its first president.  From this state-wide size ATAMA rapidly grew to national prominence with the establishment of the Mid-America and High Plains chapters in 1994.  The Mid-America chapter being founded by James Copeland and Mike Smith of Missouri, Howard High of Kansas, and Elmar Schmeisser of Kentucky, whereas the High Plains chapter was established by Don Phillip, Chuck Smith (both of Colorado) and Mel Griggs of Nebraska.

At the time of this writing, (1995), the North Atlantic chapter has recently been formed with Harold Glackin as President, Jose Guzman as Vice-President, and Russell St Hillaire as the Secretary.  Chapter organization activities are currently in progress in Puerto Rico (Bill Solano), El Salvador (Milton Navarro), and Australia (Barry Bradshaw and David Vaughn).  In fact, ATAMA's growth towards international proportions is clearly indicated by the first ATAMA formation seminar to be held overseas in Sydney, Australia in July of 1995.  To reflect this the National Board has adopted the ITAMA name and logo for our non-U. S. members.

Raymond Duke Moore, Judan