After retiring from the U.S. Coast Guard, Rod Smith earned a Ph. D. in management at the University of California, Irvine and is currently a professor of accounting at the University of Arkansas. After some arm-twisting, Rod started studying Shotokan Karate in 1991 with his son in Northern Virginia, and then he was hooked. Dr. Smith joined the Bob White Karate studio in 1995 after moving to Orange County. He earned a black belt in American Kenpo in 2000.