Marty Walpole was born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand. At the young age of twenty-three, he headed across the Tasman Sea to Australia. Living in Brisbane, Marty worked in the electroplating industry as well as teaching the martial art of Shodokan Aikido. It was his desire to excel in Aikido that led him to depart the Australian shores and head to Japan. Gaining a teaching diploma, Marty spent many years working as a teacher in public schools around the city of Osaka. It was through teaching English that Marty's interest in writing was rekindled (in junior high and high school Marty en...