One of Arkansas’ most well-known martial artists, Ron Turchi, passed away on August 7 at the age of 71.
During his martial arts career as both a practicing martial artist and a teacher Turchi won 6 Grand Championships and numerous regional and national titles. He had the reputation of being one of the toughest fighters in the country during the mid-70’s.
Several area martial artists who either trained with or who learned from Turchi shared their thoughts about the local martial arts legend.
Sensei Andy Rinchuso said Turchi is the reason he still trains in martial arts today.
“Sensei Ron Turchi was my first instructor,” said Rinchuso. “If it wasn’t for Sensei Turchi who knows what I would have done with my life. Taiho-Ryu is my family, and Sensei Turchi played an instrumental part in that.”
Sensei Liam Jackson – owner of White Hall and Star City Martial Arts – said the martial arts community lost a “true pillar” when Turchi passed away.
“The martial arts community lost a true pillar,” said Jackson. “Sensei Ron Turchi leaves a legacy throughout the delta region, the state and the country.”
Turchi spent many years of his martial arts career in Pine Bluff starting his career in the Taiho-Ryu Karate discipline under Sensei Bo Hardy. Hardy recently spoke about Turchi and some of his accolades as a martial artist.
“He was one of the three or four that was left after we weeded some of the students out,” said Hardy. “We traveled to tournaments every weekend and they did outstanding. One of the highlights when they were new black belts was in New Orleans. We fought in the team competition and they had a team from Japan that came over here thinking they were superior to American martial artists and Mr. Turchi, Doyle Rowland, Cliff Puttman, and Dickie Moore all from Pine Bluff were on the team, and we ended up beating the Japanese team. It was very humiliating for them because of all people the Consulate General of Japan had to present the team trophy. That was one of the highlights of a lot of things.”
Hardy said Turchi began his training in 1971.
“He started with me in May of ’71 when I moved back to Pine Bluff,” said Hardy. “When we came back to Pine Bluff, I ran an ad in Pine Bluff News, and we had about 30 people show up. At that time martial arts were new, and a lot of people didn’t know what martial arts was. They knew about Judo because Judo was strong in Pine Bluff during that period. Mr. Turchi, Doyle Rowland, and Cliff Puttman came with the 30, and after about six months they were some of the only ones left. We were old school and I don’t know what I was thinking trying to run a commercial school while running a lot of people off, but that was kind of how it was back in those days. Of course, I had more people come in, but after about six months they were the only three left out of the original class that stayed with it and made it to Shodan (Black Belt). They were the original three.”
Hardy said that he didn’t think Turchi would stick it out in the beginning, but he just kept coming back.
“I’ll be honest, I never thought he would stick it out,” said Hardy. “He struggled at first and that is credit to his fortitude because he did not give up.”
Hardy said Turchi had “a long run” as a black belt competitor
“He had a long run as a black belt competitor from 1974 until who knows how long,” said Hardy. “He won national titles, regional titles, and won almost every weekend in different tournaments. I would have to say that in his prime he was competing against many of the top five in the United States and beat many of them. If he lost, I was only the sidelines as his instructor saying ‘How did you miss that kick? Or how did you miss that punch?’”
“We used to go down to Texas and Oklahoma a lot and we called that the blood and guts circuit,” Hardy continued. “You almost had to draw blood back in those days, and there was no safety equipment. You just taped your knuckles to keep from cutting them on someone else’s teeth. You didn’t get a point back in those days unless you doubled someone over or drew blood. That was the early stages of what has now eventually become known at MMA.”
Hardy said that despite Turchi being short in stature, and maybe even weighing more than other competitors, he could often time outlast them due to the condition he was in.
“As far as Mr. Turchi goes, he won a lot,” said Hardy. “He fought Jeff Smith one time over in Memphis, and Jeff was ranked in the top five. He beat Jeff Smith. He beat a lot of the top five competitors. Mr. Turchi was not a tall man or a slim man but was tenacious in spirit and would never give up. He was always very aggressive. I had him in such cardiovascular condition that in a lot of fights he would just outlast people. He probably won over 100 tournaments. He and Joe Stewart – who didn’t start training with us until he was about 55 and trained on the senior division – they probably won more tournaments than any of our other students did in our lifetime.”
Turchi practiced several styles of martial arts – achieving the rank of Grand Master – during his active years in martial arts.
Additionally, Turchi was inducted into several Halls of Fame including the Southern Martial Arts, Taiho-Ryu Karate, Universal Martial Arts, and U.S. Martial Arts Halls of Fame.
Turchi is survived by his wife Peggy, his brother Rodney, and three children – Tiffani Reynolds, Angel Amick, and Lee – in addition to his two step daughters Amy Jo Nokes and Beth Barnes, along with five grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren along with a host of nieces and nephews.
