New Owner Guarantees End To Turmoil At Martial Arts Studio

-- SNOHOMISH

Parents of students at Snohomish's only martial arts studio might be forgiven for wondering last year whether there was some connection between tae kwon do and crime.

In August, one owner of the studio was convicted of killing the man who sold it to him. Three months later, the next owner of the business pleaded guilty to importing heroin.

Jack Pierce, the studio's new owner, has assured parents the crimes had nothing to do with the studio. But there's no doubt that last year's events have affected the studio's reputation - leaving him the challenge of rebuilding it.

Pierce has the help of many students and instructors who have remained at the school, working through the shock and disappointment by relying on the tae kwon do principles they learned from the two men they all thought were good leaders.

``We talk about perseverance,'' said Terri Rice, a black-belt expert who trained with Larry Sullens, imprisoned for murder, and Melvin Huntley, sentenced earlier this month for dealing drugs. ``That's one of the things you learn.''

``You can't always put your instructor up on a pedestal,'' said James Connor, another black-belt expert who now teaches most of the school's classes and who knew both men.

Sullens was convicted last August of murdering Charles Glanville, who sold him the martial arts studio, and Glanville's wife, Betty, in Okanogan County. Huntley pleaded guilty to the heroin charge in November and was sentenced this month to 10 years in prison.

Pierce said he briefly considered closing the school after Huntley was arrested. The new owner, who also runs schools in Everett and Tacoma, had been asked by the American Taekwondo Association to take over in Snohomish as well.

But Pierce said he felt an obligation to the students to keep the school going. He did close it for several weeks, then reopened it under his name in the same mall in downtown Snohomish.

``The incidents were not related to tae kwon do,'' Pierce said. ``I don't think the students should be held responsible for other people's mistakes.''

Pierce said some students and their parents have asked him to explain the reasons behind Sullen's and Huntley's actions, but he doesn't have any.

``I thought I knew them,'' he said. ``Everyone really liked them. They were almost the perfect image for instructors.''

Sullens and Huntley trained under Pierce at his Everett school.

``They both apologized, but that doesn't do the students any good,'' he said.

Rice, Connor and Becky Banghart, another instructor, said the arrests took them by surprise.

``It was just a total shock both times,'' said Banghart, who has three children who attend classes at the studio. ``It was something that kind of left your mouth hanging open. They just didn't fit whatever image you had of a criminal type.''

Sullens, she said, was a young man, engaged to be married and with plans to open other schools. The afternoon before the murder, he seemed like a perfectly normal person, she said. And Huntley, she said, was a family man well-liked by the students.

``The school was going very, very well,'' she said.

Some students, including those with black belts, left the school after Huntley's arrest.

``It was discouraging, I will admit, for a while,'' Rice said. ``People that you are training under, you develop some trust there.''

But Rice, who has a black belt, said she stayed because she enjoyed the exercise and the discipline. She also thought she could be a stabilizing influence. ``I felt it was worth working through,'' she said.

``We have to turn it around and make it positive for people,'' Connor said. ``Turn around and show them the right way.''

Banghart said the adversity brought students closer. ``It brought a determination not to give up,'' she said.

Pierce said the school is going in the right direction now. ``I think everybody feels that,'' he said.

And although he has no explanations for Sullen's and Huntley's actions, Pierce said, he guarantees parents that nothing similar will happen while he's around.