Hawaii based William C. C. Hu, Black Belt's unofficial martial arts historian, gave readers much to absorb in his article, "Historical Roots of Karate". Hu gave much readers much more to ponder with his three part series The Origin of T'ai-Chi Ch'uan. During these early years, Black Belt's east coast editor, Robert Wells, contributed articles and provided tournament coverage. Within a few years, Wells was promoted to Executive Editor of Black Belt. Taking over for Wells on the east coast was Mel Applebaum who would make significant contributions to Black Belt.