About

We are passionate about martial arts and self-defense. We believe everyone should know how to defend themselves and their family. We have been serving the Atlanta community since 2003.

Our story

Our story begins in 1984, at Georgia Institute of Technology, when two freshmen roommates, Nils Onsager and William Hayes, headed up to the sports facility to do some Judo. They encountered Marlon Walker, a PhD student who was starting a new martial arts class. That martial art was Hapkido.

William and Nils also studied Jujitsu taught by Ben Waldrop, Ninjutsu taught by Roy Wilkinson, and any other art they ran across. In 1988 they earned their Hapkido black belts under Master Eric Richards and Grand Master Ki Duke Lee. William went on to other martial arts and moved to Florida. When Marlon earned his PhD and moved to Washington DC, Nils tested to 2nd degree black belt and took over the Georgia Tech Hapkido class.

In May of 2003, Master Nils Onsager opened Black Knight Martial Arts in Atlanta. The school is still focused on teaching Hapkido and self-defense.

In 2022, Nils and his partner Melissa Johnson moved to Australia with their two kids, and are working on opening Melissa's martial arts school there. Grand Master Nils Onsager still conducts classes in Atlanta virtually, and when he is in town for black belt testing. William, Marlon, and Nils are still friends.