Gallup mourns Frank V. Sanchez, martial arts pioneer and UNM-Gallup instructor

Frank V. Sanchez left more than memories in Gallup. For more than 20 years at the University of New Mexico-Gallup, he taught self-defense, karate and eskrima, organized two martial arts tournaments, and helped turn discipline into a living part of McKinley County’s civic fabric.

Sanchez died Feb. 14, 2026, in Gallup after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 82. Memorial services were held March 6 at Grace Bible Church in Gallup, a sign of how closely his name remained tied to the town he helped shape.

Born Nov. 14, 1943, in Gallup, Sanchez built a life that reached far beyond the classroom. He worked as a barber at Deluxe Barbershop in downtown Gallup for 55 years, owned a martial arts school and also ran an upholstery business. That mix of trades and teaching made him a familiar figure in the city’s daily life, from the barbershop chair to the training mat.

UNM-Gallup described Sanchez as a sabum nim, a Korean title meaning instructor sir or respected coach, and as one of the pioneers of martial arts in the Gallup region. His family says the local martial arts scene in Gallup and Grants traces back to the 1970s, when Sanchez and relatives brought the practice to the area through a lineage connected to the Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan Association out of Seoul, Korea. He also traveled around the country to learn martial arts, extending that tradition through his own instruction.

His teaching at UNM-Gallup evolved with the campus and the community. A 2020 faculty profile showed Sanchez teaching Jiu-Jitsu, military fitness, defensive tactics and weight training online and through video formats, keeping students engaged even as instruction changed. The university’s community course materials also show that martial arts programming continued to include Tae Kwon Do, Moo Duk Kwan rank promotion, weapons work and competition training.

That legacy is now being carried forward by his son, Frank Sanchez, a technical analyst in UNM-Gallup’s Information Technology Department. The younger Sanchez is scheduled to teach self defense law enforcement for the criminal justice program and cardio kickboxing for fitness in fall 2026. UNM-Gallup said he took over the martial arts program around 2009 or 2010, continuing a family tradition that linked physical training, mental toughness and public service.

In Gallup, Frank V. Sanchez’s influence can still be seen in the people he taught, the businesses he built and the campus programs that grew from his work. His legacy remains embedded in the routines of the town, and in the next generation now stepping onto the mat.