Michael J. Bainton was raised in the mountains of western Alberta Canada. In this unusual setting his father, a Police officer and Martial Artist in his own right, raised his family. In the past 60 years Mike Bainton has worked as a  professional mountain guide, chief of police in several different communities in Alberta and the North West Territories, Chief of Police of several Indian reserves in Alberta, training officer for over 20 police classes and anti terrorist S W A T teams  in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and the United States, police canine officer, canine obedience judge, Manager of security for the Pennzoil corporation, consultant to 58 school districts in Texas and Puerto Rico in narcotic prevention, professional body guard and martial arts instructor. From 1985 he managed a personal protection detail for one of the most prominent citizens of the State of Texas, Mari Alice Shivers the wife of Governor Allen Shivers, until her death in1995.

     Mike Bainton has personally supervised the training of over two hundred dogs in police utility and narcotic detection and has had over eight hundred dogs in his obedience classes in Canada and the United States.

    He was educated at Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in police science and in later years studied at the University of Houston.  In 2002 he received his Doctorate in Philosophy. Since 1999 he has been on the Grand Masters Council and an Executive Board Member of the International Martial Arts Hall of fame.

     Since 1992 he has owned and operated an award winning after school program and Martial Arts Studio for children and has produced hundreds of young leaders based on his philosophy of respect for Family, Education and Self Worth. At the age of sixty in 2004 he won six World Championship events at the World Knife Throwing Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is also the founder and Executive Director of the International Knife Throwers Hall of Fame.