Discipline and determination have always been important to BetterTrades coach Ryan Litchfield. The same discipline required to achieve a black belt in the intricate martial arts form of Aikido is evident in Ryan's stock market trading and the way he trains students who seek his guidance. He believes that discipline and training can help people make money in the market.

"Trading is not natural; it's counter-intuitive to everything you know," Ryan says. "You need someone to coach you through the process. You need someone to show you how to stay calm, follow procedure, and stay with the fundamentals that are taught."

Ryan has the capability to show students how it is possible to become disciplined by becoming less emotionally tied to their trades. Through Ryan's self-designed "Bracket Trading" system, students learn from a series of "if-then" scenarios to overcome the fear that accompanies trading, and trade with confidence.

Ryan realizes that new traders aren't prepared when they enter the trading arena; he was like that when he started. They have limited knowledge and a lot of determination, but don't realize the depth of the pool into which they are stepping. A builder of customized homes for 20 years before beginning his stock market career, Ryan says it's like looking at the plans for a house that hasn't been built; it's more complicated than it appears.

As a coach, Ryan is there to help students learn the potential in trading the market. His "Traders Forge" class expands a student's experience base by putting them through 10 months of simulated trading in two days. It's designed to get students prepared; he compares his role to a flight instructor who refuses to allow the student pilot to leave the runway before it is safe. Ryan wants his students to "hurry up and go slow," until their risk levels and skill levels are equal.

Ryan has years of experience using Japanese candlestick charts, an indicator that encapsulates a stock's movement at a glance. Ryan co-authored the book "Japanese Candlestick Charting Explained, 3rd edition" in which he evaluated more than 14 million days worth of candlesticks for frequency and accuracy. This gives him a unique perspective as a coach.

A technical trader, Ryan is known as "The Chart Wizard" and loves to demonstrate how to find and identify patterns that seem to leap off the chart as he lays down the right lines. Ryan also teaches students to understand how and why patterns are formed. Given that charts are simply a record of the people that trade them, a good deal of market psychology is gleaned by his eager students.