THE TEACHER
At the young age of 17, Mr. Grove was asked to do a seminar at a local martial arts facility.   His demonstration was advertised and to his amazement, almost two hundred people attended.   Making a very positive    impression, he was asked to teach a class.    He agreed, but not because he wanted to be and instructor, he did so because he wanted to organize his experiences and ideas pertaining to the Ninja path in an effort to develop them further.   However, after a short time on this quest, he realized teaching the art was an integral part of who he was.   He continued teaching religiously for many years, and in 1988 he was hired as the Martial Arts instructor for the Lowry Air Force base in Denver Colorado.     Beyond his normal students, Mr. Grove has also taught the Denver Police, National Guard, ATF, and after 9/11 he has been involved with training the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) with terrorist  response skills.

THE AUTHOR
Mr. Grove has written dozens of training manuals known as the “Arcanum of Ninja Tactics”.   These books have been available to his student’s since the mid 80’s.     His first book, “Clan of the Dark Lone bird,” is an overview of the Kurai Kotori Ninjutsu system.   His other books include; Path of the Earth Dragon, Path of the Water Dragon, Path of the Fire Dragon, Path of the Wind Dragon, Path of the Celestial Dragon, Path of the Warrior Mystic, Path of the Shadow, Path of Concealment, Path of Weaponry volumes 1-4, Path of Swordsmanship, and Path of the Deadly Flower.      Beyond these non-fiction works, he wrote a series of fantasy genre novels entitled “The Adventurers of Arkayne”.

THE CRAFTSMAN
Since the inception of the Kurai Kotori Tradition, Mr. Grove has made many specialized weapons and tools available to his students.   Most weapons in the Ninja arts have never been mass produced, and the ones that have are not sturdy enough for actual training.   To remedy this, Mr. Grove created “Ninja Armory,”   a wood and metal shop where he makes a multitude of weapons and training equipment.   Practice swords, staves, knives, blowguns and many other items are custom made for his students.

THE APPRENTICE
In 1988 Mark began a secondary career in the film industry as a stuntman.      He enrolled in a stunt workshop being taught by veteran Stunt Coordinators and Stunt Performers and quickly proved that his ability to perform stunts was equal to his ability to perform martial arts.   He was taken under the wing of influential stunt professionals who exposed him all aspects of the industry.  A few months after embarking on his journey, he was on-set as an apprentice.   After playing various acting roles requiring the use of his newly acquired stunt skills, Mark’s thirst for more knowledge blossomed.   Inspired by watching the behind the scenes process, he decided to focus his attention learning special effects. 

THE SPECIAL EFFECTS TECHNICIAN
Mark’s first exposure to special effects were those related to pyrotechnics.   He learned everything from the smallest bullet hit effects to the explosions that destroy cars and buildings.   He excelled in this arena and  began developing processes for how to give bullet hits and blood effects his own signature look.   He employed his ideas on a few movies and very soon after, received an award for his innovation in the field.   His desire to continue learning led him to sculpting, prosthetic make-up, weather effects, chemical effects, wire effects and firearms handling.   Anything pertaining to physical effects became his passion.

THE STUNTMAN / SFX ARTIST
Fully entrenched on his new path, he has made use of his extensive knowledge of Martial Arts, Stunts and Special Effects to serve in such prestigious positions as Actor, Stuntman, Stunt Double, Fight Choreographer, Pyrotechnician, Prosthetic Make Up Artist, Special Effects Supervisor, Firearms Handler, Historical  Consultant, and Action Coordinator on dozens of films and television shows.

THE TEAM LEADER
Fully entrenched on his new path in the entertainment industry, he has made use of his extensive knowledge of Martial Arts, Stunts and Special FX to open a full service Stunt and Special Effects company that supplies film, television, theater and live shows with rentals, and expendables.  At the same time he committed to  training a team of stunt professionals in Colorado who wanted to strive to pursue the same dream.

THE SCREENWRITER
Taking his career into the creative aspect of the business was the next logical step.    In 1994 Mr. Grove wrote his first screenplay, Shadows: The Path of Deception.    It was almost immediately optioned by a production company for the biggest paycheck he had received thus far is his career.      Since that time, he has ghost written on many films as well as writing more original works such as; Gathering of Heroes: Legend of the Seven Swords, Prime Evil: Spirits of the Fallen, Tengu: The Immortal Blade, and Rogue Space: The Adventures of Saber Raine.

THE DIRECTOR
After Years of working the industry, Mr. Grove made his what most believed he destined for.   He mad his  directorial debut in 1999 with the action/martial arts film Dragon and the Hawk.   In 2005 he directed the    Action/Horror film The Shadow Walkers, which was released by Lionsgate.   In 2008 He Co-Directed and starred in one of his own screenplays, Gathering of Heroes: Legend of the Seven Swords, which was adapted from a novel titled The Adventurers of Arkayne, which he originally wrote in the mid 80’s.   Very motivated to keep performing in front of the camera, in 2001 he wrote and directed Tengu: The Immortal Blade, an action/scifi adventure.   Later in 2001 he was hired to direct Mind’s Eye, a chiller starring Malcolm Mcdowell and Dean Cain.   Next on the horizon is the retro scifi/adventure Rogue Space: The Adventures of Saber Raine and the western/martial arts Bladeslinger: Curse of the Black Crow.

THE PRODUCER
In 2005 Mr. Grove served as Executive Producer on the horror film Back Slash: The Ultimate Internet      Predator.    Since that time he has helped produce various films, including; The internationally acclaimed  martial arts/drama The Sensei, the grindhouse/horror film Best Ribs in Town,  the teen drama Stained Glass Windows,  the chiller Mind’s Eye, and his own films Gathering of Heroes: Legend of the Seven Swords, and Tengu: The Immortal Blade.