More than four decades ago, 21-year-old Rick Arnold decided he would take the confidence-building art form that he had been studying for around seven years at that time to help change the lives of children and adults in Texoma.
In 1984, Arnold’s Martial Arts was opened, and 41 years later, the studio is participating in the Greatest of All Time Martial Arts Awards weekend taking place Aug. 14-16 at Tanglewood Resort in Pottsboro.
“We have a little over 350 now,” Arnold said. “Our job is to build character. People want, adults want, the discipline and respect that we teach. We use the martial arts to do it.”
Since its inception, the studio has had at minimum 150 students. On an average year, about 300 students regularly walk through the doors of the studio located at 1921 W. Houston Street in Sherman.
We have never had less than 150 and we generally have more than 300 every year.
“The number one thing we do is make people fell better about themselves,” Arnold said. “It is about confidence, self confidence is huge. They fit in here in ways they do not fit in anywhere else. They may not fit in in school. They may not fit in at work. But, they fit into our martial arts family. They get very close.”
The family extends beyond the doors of the studio.
“We try to help the community as best we can as much as possible,” Arnold said of what it means to not just be in this community, but to support this community. “We just did breakfast and lunches for school teacher. We fed 90 teachers at one location and more than that at another. We go into the schools and we encourage and motivate them at the first of the year. Then throughout the year, we do as many community events as we can. We do Chamber of Commerce events, police department events when they have those. We are there teaching children safety. We tell people that Sherman and Denison have been good to us, and we want to give back as best we can.”
Over the years, families have shown their support of the studio by returning.
“Probably 10-20 percent of our students have been with us over 5 years,” Arnold said. “About 20 percent more than 10 years. I have a black belt that has been with me 41 years.
“It is a martial arts family. A lot of people do not want to leave because they have grown up here.”
Four of Arnold’s black belts recently took part in the biggest martial arts competition in the United States.
We just got back two weeks ago from Florida from the US Open. It is the biggest competition in the United States. We took four black belts,” Arnold said of the event that took place two weeks ago. “All four won. We worked diligently to keep our level of professionalism up and make really talented students. We took them to Florida and won. One person had 9 matches in one day and won.”
This week, a group of well-trained, dedicated martial artists — many of whom may have been at the US Open — will be joining Arnold’s at the event celebrating love and support for the sport.
“One of my mentors has published hundreds of books,” Arnold’s said. “What he did was he went online and found what he refers to as the greatest martial artists. The stipulations are they have to have been an adult martial artist for more than 25 years, taught consistently and have to be a fifth degree black belt or higher. He has all of these specifics and then found the top black belts in the world. We put together “The World’s Greatest.” We have invited through the internet all of these black belts to come to Tanglewood, to Pottsboro, Texas.”
There will be eight countries and 22 states represented at the event.
“It is going to be absolutely beautiful,” Arnold said. “It is all in black and gold. They get these World’s Greatest rings that are in black and gold. They get this beautiful plaque with their picture on it, and it is a celebration of their dedication to martial arts all these years.
“They have poured into their communities just like I have in this area, and now my daughters and my sons in law run our school in Sherman. They teach 90 percent of the classes and lead that. I just teach them.”
Arnold said all of the men and women who are coming in have similar background as him.
“They have dedicated their lives to martial arts and improving people,” he said. “We chose people who serve their communities. We did not just choose the competitors, just the hall of famers. We chose all the people who have stayed consistent, been dedicated and changed the world through their martial arts training.”
Arnold is excited this event is taking place in Texoma.
“We are so fortunate to have this here,” he said. “The reason why we are having this here is because the man who did this all, contacted all these people, has cancer. He is very ill and uses a cane. He cannot travel. He lives in Richardson. We were going to have it in a big city like Las Vegas. But, he said no. He said he was not traveling. He wanted to pick a place that was close so he could be there.
“His family is coming with his son and grandchildren.
The expectation is that this weekend will be very prestigious.
“I think martial arts can change our world,” Arnold said of what he would tell to someone who may be considering learning martial arts. “Look at what MMA did and what UFC has done to our country. Everyone wants to see it. So taught well, martial arts can instill the values, Christian values, back to our country. The respect for someone else. The honor that they have. The discipline, self control and how to not lose your temper as quickly. We get upset when the stoplight does not change fast enough. Done well, martial arts is the biggest and the no. 1 confidence builder that you can do out of any activity in the world.
Through these 41 years, martial arts has given Arnold the ability to do something he believes he has been called to do.
“God is good all the time, and all the time God is good,” he said. “We decided that we want to serve our God, and we want to use martial arts to do it. He has just blessed everything we do. He brings people in who need us and he brings people in that need him. We teach love, joy, patience, peace, gentleness, self control. We teach those things. We do not preach them. We just live that lifestyle, and let people see it. Rather than being preached to, children act better around us because they know the values we uphold.
“God is good all the time.”
