Grandmaster Clarence “Daddy-O” Smith was promoted to 9th Dan (GU-DAN) by the International Martial Arts Council of America, July 23, 2016 and is a member of the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame and inducted into the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame as Ambassador of Martial Arts.
Grandmaster Smith started his martial arts training in San Angelo at the Boys Clubs under Mr. Cooksey from Goodfellow Air Force Base and continued his training under Grandmaster James Cummings. During the 1980’s Grandmaster Smith competed on the state, national and international level and was nationally ranked by Karate Illustrated (Top 10) in Kumite-Fighting and Kata-Forms with his close friends for over 40 years (Grandmaster Johnny Thompson and Grandmaster Tom Balmos). Grandmaster continues to compete in the executive division.
As a martial arts enthusiast, Grandmaster Smith earned and was awarded his title of Grandmaster in 2004 after practicing Tang Soo Do for 35 plus years. Most of his teachings and competitions were on the Texas state circuit where he was mentored by Grand Master James Cummings. Grand Master Smith competed on both the state, national, and international levels. He received many accolades including: four-time Instructor of the Year, three-time School of the Year, 2003 Competitor of the Year, and was also inducted into the National Hall of Fame in 2003.
Grandmaster Smith was the proprietor of the Karate Institute, a state of the art training facility in San Angelo, Texas with multiple satellite training facilities in West Texas. He produced well-accomplished martial artists such as Walter (Putt-Putt) Bryant, Clarence (Juice) Bowman, Jim (JR) Ross and Mike Jones (also instructed by Grandmaster Tom Balmos). Some of his protégés went on to compete nationally and internationally. They competed on multiple tournament circuits – AOK/UMA/Gold Cup Circuit/Texas/Germany/Mexico/California/Atlanta/ Washington.
His tenacity to build a powerhouse karate team and determination to be amongst the best was a driving force that lead to many accolades: Four-time Instructor of the Year, Three-time School of the Year, 2003, 2006, 2010 Competitor of the Year. He has also has been inducted into the National Hall of Fame by the International Martial Arts Council in:
2003 – “Most Distinguished Master”
2007 – “Most Distinguished Grandmaster”
2008 – “Lifetime Membership Award”
2009 – “Silver Life Award”
2010 – “Golden Life Award”
2011 – “Excellence in Teaching Award”
While in Los Angeles, California Grandmaster taught at 5 Learning Centers, Churches for Christian Ministry and Boys and Girls Clubs. He had an opportunity to teach and compete with great martial artists Tory Russo and Stephanie DeLoach. Grandmaster Smith was named to the Directorship of Southern California.
Professionally, Grandmaster Smith has achieved an MBA in Global Business and BBA in Business Management, Blackbelt in Lean Six Sigma Methodology.
In his spare time, Clarence enjoys reading, music, movies, playing golf and attending church with his family. Grandmaster Smith currently resides Grand Prairie, Texas and is an avid Cowboy’s Fan.