| Grandmaster Larry Ritchie:
Mr. Larry Ritchie has been the chief instructor of American
Black Belt Academy from the beginning of the school. He
began his long tenured martial arts career in Ft Worth, Texas in January of 1965
under legendary Texas martial arts pioneer, Mr.
J. Pat Burleson. He had just returned to Ft. Worth after serving a
stint in the Navy. He, originally, trained under Mr. Burleson in general Choi's Tang Soo
Do (way of Chinese hand) Tae Kwon Do style, which later became Oh Do Kwan (school of my
way), and finally; Tae Kwon Do Chung Do Kwan (school of the blue wave).
Mr. Ritchie's martial arts roots reach far back to
the masters and founders of karate in America. His instructor, Pat Burleson, was the first
black belt of Allen Steen. Mr. Allen R. Steen
was the first American black belt under Jhoon Rhee. Mr. Ritchie honorably tested
before the "Father of American Tae Kwon Do", Grand Master Jhoon Rhee,
and the "Founder of Tae Kwon Do", Grand Master General Hong Hi Choi for his blue
belt. Other noted who officiated at this test were: "American Karate System
Founder", Mr. J.Pat Burleson, Mr.Allen R. Steen known as the "Father of Texas
Karate" and five-time world champ, Mr. Skipper Mullins
who (at that time) was reigning Light-heavyweight World Champ. |
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| His first classmates included: now, well-known martial
artists John and Pat Worley, Jim Butin, and Gary
Hestilow (who went on to become president of Century Martial Arts). In 1968, after
being promoted to brown belt, Mr. Ritchie was asked by Mr. Burleson if he would like to
run a school for him. At the time he had a high paying union job at Bell Helicopter,
and drove a muscle car; although; the pay wasn't very good, Mr. Ritchie jumped at the
opportunity – as he considered it an honor to teach for Mr. Burleson.
Mr.Ritchie sold his car, quit his job, and moved into the new school. He taught
karate during the week and entered tournaments on the weekends.Mr. Ritchie competed in any and all the tournaments he could travel to.
Some of those included Mr. Steen's U.S. Karate Championships in Dallas, Mr.Burleson's
Texas State Championships in Ft Worth, Mr. Jack Hwang's All-American Open in OKC,
Oklahoma, and Mr. Minshew's Karate Olympics in Houston; to name a few. He fought in
some of the first tournaments, before safety equipment was used, in the bare knuckles
"Blood and Guts" days of karate – which was virtually a full-contact
sport. If you didn't win the match, you probably got knocked out, anyway. Broken
bones and loosened or lost teeth were commonplace. One of Mr. Ritchie's toughest opponents
in those day was Mr. Ronnie Cox, who was a great fighter and instructor (Mr. Cox was a law
enforcement officer who was tragically killed in a drug raid by friendly fire). In a
recount of one of their fights: the match began when Mr. Ritchie flew across the ring and
hit Mr. Cox breaking his nose; one point for Mr.Ritchie. Next, Mr. Cox returned the favor
by "nailing" Mr.Ritchie with a kick, breaking two of his ribs; point for Mr.
Cox. Sounds rough? "It was!"
Mr. Ritchie competed and won in tournaments
for almost twenty years, in both the days of bare knuckles and feet, and after protective
hand equipment was introduced by Jhoon Rhee in 1972.
The same year, Mr. Ritchie moved from Ft.
Worth to Houston for the purpose of opening a new school for Mr. Minshew. After opening
the new school, Mr. Ritchie started a security and bodyguard service. His service was
contracted by the largest concert promoters at the time – Pace Concerts and Concerts
West, to protect the performers and to perform crowd control. Most of the time this was a
very dangerous job, as many of the audience in those days were either; stoned or drunk,
and wild and very rowdy. This venue proved to be an excellent testing ground for his, and
his staff's, martial arts skills. Through his experiences of real life hand to hand
combat, Mr. Ritchie refined the techniques that work, and which he teaches his students
today, while discarding the weaker ones that didn't.
Many of the finest black belts in Texas worked for Mr. Ritchie's
security service which he ran until 1980. In 1978 Mr. Ritchie finally earned his black
belt under Mr. Minshew.
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Mr. Ritchie on the winner stand at Mr. Burleson's
tournament
Mr. Cox and Mr. Ritchie on the winners stand
Mr.
Ritchie lands a round kick on Chuck Beard Mr. Ritchie's Karate Family Tree
1965-1972
Trained under J. Pat Burleson to 1st Brown
1972 Moved to Houston to run school for George Minshew
1978 Promoted to 1st Black by Mr. Minshew
1985 Promoted to 3rd Black by Joe Lewis
1985 Promoted to 4th Black by Mr. Lewis
1997 Promoted to 6th Black by Mr. Burleson
2004 Promoted to 8th Black by Mr. Burleson
Click here to find Mr.Ritchie under
World
Champion Joe Lewis Black Belts
Mr. Ritchie's Black Belt Staff in the 80's
Left to right to: Mike Gilbert, Kevin Lavorgna, Doug
Wilson, Carol Long,LR, John Epling, Rick Williams, Sally Morales.
Still kicking in his 40's, Mr. Ritchie scores with a
kick
Mr. Ritchie has held many kick boxing
matches at his schools. Here he is with Jimmy "Gata" Tabares
and Raymond McCallum
1997 and 1998 IAKSA American Kickboxing team members Doug &
Shelly Walrath. MS. Shelly won the world championship in 1998.
1999 Staff left
to right: John Darner, Doug Walrath, Chris Saylor, Shelly Walrath, Mr. Ritchie, Stevie
Caruana, Scott Holman III, Nathan Burcham 
2001 ABBA Staff - Scott Holman III, Mr. Larry Ritchie, John Darner, Dan Smith, Julie
Stauffer and Wanda Reves
 2004
ABBA Staff - Jeff DeNicola, Wanda Reves, Honored Guest Grand Master
Richard Jenkins,
Mitch Tiffin, Mr. Ritchie, Scott Holman III,
Elizabeth Udah (not pictured Rosie Udah) |
| Along
with running his school and security service, Mr. Ritchie also worked as a freelance
photographer. He had taken pictures at tournaments he competed in for
years. Many of his pictures were published in national magazines. Most of the time he
wasn't given credit for his photos when he sold them to the staff photographer for the
magazine, who then would submit them as their own. Even so, you can still find him
credited for his photos in "The Original Martial Arts Encyclopedia".
Mr. Ritchie’s timely photographs have helped preserve the history of American Karate
for many future generations of martial artists. I n 1985, after much deliberation due to the respect for Mr. Minshew, Mr. Ritchie
and his black belts felt it was time to separate from Black Belt Academy. They
selected the name "American Black Belt Academy" to retain a connection to the
school’s history while simultaneously, moving in a new direction. Also, in 1985 Mr.
Ritchie affiliated with Joe
Lewis' American Independent Karate Instructors Association (AIKIA). Mr.
Lewis promoted Mr. Ritchie to 3rd Dan that same year. AIKIA was designated as
"an association for independent thinking martial artists", which Mr. Ritchie
certainly is. Over the years, he has taken the techniques he was taught; and, through real
world practical application, has refined them into the ones that work. These are a strong
part of the art which he has developed and teaches, now.
At the end of 1985, Mr. Ritchie tested for 4th Dan under Mr.
Lewis, who was one of the greatest full-contact fighters in American Karate history. To be
promoted to 4th Dan, Mr. Lewis required the candidates to fight him in a 3-round full
contact match. During that same year, Mr. Lewis tested four other candidates and had
knocked them all out.
Upon Mr. Lewis’ arrival for the test, he was shocked to see the school
jammed packed with students and parents who had come to watch the match between he and Mr.
Ritchie. Mr. Lewis told Mr. Ritchie, "No one else has ever invited their students to
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| watch the test, because they didn't want them to see their teacher get whipped!" Mr.
Ritchie not only successfully completed his match against Mr. Lewis, he was the only
candidate to finish the fight on his feet that year, and was one of only two to be
promoted! After Mr. Ritchie "earned" his
4th Dan, he promoted Ms. Carol Long to 3rd Dan. Ms. Long had been one of Mr. Ritchie's
instructors and a prominent competitor in the 1980s. She was featured in a local magazine
and on television commercials. Ms. Long helped manage Mr. Ritchie's school for a
number of years. Business was very good during the 1980's as students from
"American Black Belt Academy" were quite successful on the tournament circuit.
Mr. Ritchie, remarkably, continued to compete in tournaments until he was 42-years old.
Most competitors rarely compete for more than a few years, and usually retire in their
early thirties or sooner.
In the early 1990s; although, karate schools popped up at almost
every block within a few miles from his school, Mr. Ritchie continued to run his school in
the rough and tough Texas tradition pioneered by his teachers, while other schools opted
for softer styles and training (what we call black belt factories). Mr. Ritchie
still holds his standards high while other schools have dropped theirs to keep a student
base. Mr. Drew Scoggins replaced Ms. Long as Mr. Ritchie's manager when she retired from
karate.
In 1996 Shelly (Michelle) Taylor joined ABBA as Senior Instructor. MS. Shelly "Taylor" began her training under Sam Chapman and Bobby
Tucker in South Carolina, at the age of seven. Both, Mr. Chapman and Mr. Tucker were well
known fighters in the 1970's and 1980's. |
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Her karate career has taken her across the country and to Europe as a member of the
U.S. team for the World Association of Kickboxing Organization (WAKO) and the
International Amateur Kickboxing Sport Association (I.S.K.S.A.).
In 1991, MS. Shelly was
inducted into the Karate Hall of Fame. In that same year she was the Black Belt Women's
Fighting Champion on the Professional Karate League National circuit. MS. Taylor has won
so many of the nation's largest tournaments that there is not enough room here to list
them. In 1996, Ms. Taylor and her then - fiancée, Doug Walrath, joined Mr. Ritchie's
school. Some of her many achievements include:
- 2001 1st place and World Champion I.A.K.S.A
- 1998 1st place and World Champion I.A.K.S.A.
- 1997 at the WAKO World Games where she won 1st in point and placed 2nd in continuous
- 1997 2nd place I.A.K.S.A. World Championships
MS. Shelly has
dominated her division in all the tournaments in Texas that she has entered,
some include The Masters in Austin and The Yellow Rose in San Antonio. She
also has fought in two amateur full-contact fights, and won them both. |
Today Mr. Ritchie's
black belts staff comprises of the Wanda Reves 4th Dan, Scott Holman III 3rd Dan, Elizabeth Udah
3rd Dan, Rosie Udah 3rd Dan, Jeff DeNicola 1st Dan and Terry Davidson
1st Dan.
Elizabeth and Rosie Udah teach Kardio Kickbox
classes. Mr. Holman was a brown belt of Mr. Ritchie's in the 1970's
and worked for his security services.
In 1997 Mr. J. Pat Burleson promoted
Mr. Larry Ritchie to 6th Dan and MS. Shelly Walrath to 5th Dan. Of the seven original
Black Belt Academy Schools, Mr. Ritchie's and Mr. Jimmy "Gata" Tabares school on
the are the only ones still operating.
In 1998 Mr. Burleson posted a ranking association for the hundreds of current black
belts in American Karate. Click to see Mr. Ritchie's and Ms. Walrath's links.
In 2004 Grand Master Larry Ritchie was inducted into the
Texas Martial Arts Hall of Fame on May 15th in Waco, TX. Along with his
induction into the hall of fame, Mr. Ritchie was promoted to 8th Dan,
Grandmaster rank by Grandmaster Pat Burleson in a
special
presentation. 
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