Thomas Ran Garver was born and raised in Northern California. He has a B.A. in Japanese language from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law. He has had a lifelong interest in the martial arts and has been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu since 1995. He holds black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo. He lives in Tokyo, Japan, with his wife and two sons.