Biography of Senior Master Schreiber

Senior Master Schreiber grew up in a small rural community near Taos, New Mexico. His parents adopted 10 special needs children when he was a child, and they also started a nonprofit special needs adoption agency called Child-Rite. Including biological siblings, he grew up with 8 sisters and 5 brothers. Many of them have taken Taekwondo classes, and his youngest sister Dimitra is now a 2nd degree black belt.

Senior Master Schreiber began his Taekwondo training in 1982, at the age of 9, under now-Chief Master Dan Thor. He brought Senior Master Schreiber to his first tournament, the Grand Nationals in Little Rock, Arkansas, the following year. That tournament has grown and now is called World Championships. As a young student, Senior Master Schreiber enjoyed competing in tournaments. In 1986, the first year there was a national Top Ten for children, he was ranked 6th.

Senior Master Schreiber joined Chief Master Thor's leadership program as a child and began teaching at his school at age 14, when he was a 2nd degree black belt. While he was in high school, Senior Master Schreiber organized annual kick-a-thons to raise money for Child-Rite. With the support of Chief Master Thor and the participation of his students, these events raised enough each year to place a child in an adoptive home at no cost to he parents.

By the time he graduated from Taos High School in 1991, Senior Master Schreiber was a 3rd degree black belt and a certified instructor. He attended Harvard University, where he majored in political science. While he was in college, Senior Master Schreiber started an ATA club. He also taught Taekwondo to low-income children at a local youth center. In addition, he taught high school and obtained a teaching license. His public service activity earned Senior Master Schreiber recognition as a Truman Scholar.

Upon being selected as a Rhodes Scholar, Senior Master Schreiber went to Oxford University in England, where he eventually received a PhD in politics. He wrote his dissertation on bilingual education. He also started a Taekwondo club at Oxford. The club was part of the World Traditional Taekwondo Union, or WTTU, which at the time was the American Taekwondo Association's international branch. While he was in England, Senior Master Schreiber met Helena Echlin. They married in 1998 and now have two children (both of whom are Taekwondo students).

After returning to the United States, Senior Master Schreiber lived for a year in New Haven, CT, where Helena was doing graduate work at Yale. He opened a Taekwondo school in New Haven and taught a large number of low-income children through a local nonprofit organization.

In 1998, Senior Master Schreiber returned to Harvard to attend law school. While there, he continued running his Harvard Taekwondo club, and earned his 5th degree black belt. He also developed the idea for Team PRIDE, a nonprofit organization that helps enroll at-risk and low-income children in martial arts programs nationwide.

After graduating from Harvard Law School in 2001, Senior Master Schreiber moved with Helena to San Francisco and began work as a public defender in the East Bay city of Martinez. He eventually began teaching Taekwondo in Martinez, and he opened this school there. The school was voted Best Martial Arts year after year by readers of both the San Francisco Chronicle and Bay Area Parent magazine. He sold that school to Senior Master Nicholas Schafer in 2021.

Senior Master Schreiber tested successfully for 6th degree black belt at the 2007 World Championships in Little Rock, Arkansas and was inducted as a master at the same event the following year.

In 2012, Senior Master Schreiber went with ATA seniors to Korea, where he tested successfully for the rank of 7th degree black belt. In 2014, he was inducted as a Senior Master. In 2021, he earned his 8th degree black belt.

Senior Master Schreiber is now the Legal Counsel for ATA International.

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