Martial arts are filled with frauds. Some folks just lack the inner strength to stand on their own. The macho image that people expect from martial artists attract those like Frank Dux, a man who has no real ability at anything and lacks the essential essence of a man. By playing the role of a martial art master, combat vet and ex-spy, people like Dux get to pretend to be something they can never be.
So common are some of the dodges that someone has come out with an entire book on how to spot fakes in martial arts by use of satire. “A Monkey’s Guide to Faking Your Martial Arts Credentials” by “Lordus Sapiens” is a tongue in cheek look at some of the frauds best known in martial arts such as Dux, “Bohdi Sanders”, “Ashida Kim” and others as well as the type of things they do to pull the wool over the eyes of the gullible.
Now, I don’t know who Lordus is, nor do I really want to. Bohdi Sanders (born William Sanders) seems intent on making the world believe that it is really Alain Burresse, whom he has an incredible hard on against. Sanders keeps making slanderous accusations against Burresse, refusing to back them up with proof. Lordus has put up a lot of evidence pointing out the lies that Sanders has made. So I can see why Sanders thinks the way he does.
While I can probably find out who Lordus really is, why bother. All I can say is that the return post stamp on the package when he sent me a copy of his book proves Lordus sent it from hundreds of miles away from where I know Burresse lives.
As for the book, you can finish it in a few hours and walk away looking at claims in martial arts in a new, more skeptical, light. When you read how easy it is to use photographs and such as “proof” you won’t look at the pictures on a web site in the same light again. Examples of the huge mistakes some of the major frauds in martial arts are given, but then better ways that someone less stupid and less tied to their ego might try is given so that you don’t fall for anything.
Organizations and such are all covered. Some claims can be checked really easily. William (Bohdi) Sanders proudly puts “Ph.d” after his name. But for those that bother to check, you find that he claims his doctorate from Clayton College of Natural Health. A simple web search shows that it was a notorious diploma mill forced to shut down. And yet Sanders still uses the title of Ph.d knowing that all the founder of the college was looking for in him was not academic effort, but a check that would clear with the back.
Bohdi Sanders and his degree is a great example of how if you do even a little checking, you can usually find plenty of holes in their story. Lordus points things like this out as obvious examples, but warns against methods even harder to detect because they attract less attention than claiming a Ph.d.
Here is where I differ from Lordus in my way of looking at the matter. Lordus seems to think there is a need to warn people from the more subtle and more believable stories a person could try. A smart person trying to set himself up as a high ranked martial artist could take the low profile route that would be harder to poke holes in, and Lordus shows how this could be done and lets the reader know how to spot even such devious means. By comparison, people like Ron Collins, Ashida Kim, Bohdi Sanders, etc are easy to spot as the frauds they are.
I question if this level of examination is needed. Frauds do not make up stories to keep a low profile. Sure, claiming an existing art would be easier to pull off. But by creating their own art, they get to be the big daddy that all must bow to. They can’t help themselves from making big claims to attract attention, and these claims are the easiest to debunk.
Case in point, Frank Dux has tried to say that he fought in a secret death match. Supposably it was the basis for the movie Bloodsport, though that claim has been completely debunked. Keeping to his claim, Dux makes the claim that he got the honor of 56 consecutive knock outs in one tournament.
Simple math shows just how big a lie that is. Anyone that watched Bloodsport knows that it was an elimination match set up. You fought and if you won you went to the next level and (according to Dux himself) anyone that lost went home one way or another. So if there is one match, there has to be two people with one winner. For two matches there has to be four people in the first match and two in the second. So each person Dux faced represented another match, 56 matches with each match doubling the number of people taking part.
Take a calculator and start with 1 and multiply it by two, then repeat 50 times. Few calculators will be able to handle all the zeros needed to get even half way.
Dux has tried to explain this away, usually just by saying his critics don’t understand math without explanation. But he still tries to claim it with bluster to cover over his lack of proof and logic.
Frauds need attention. That is why they lie in the first place. The more subtle stuff Lordus warns against might be used by someone trying to build a new life with a new name, trying to explain how he got skilled without giving his old name. But the type of fraud he warns about needs to make huge claims. They are of a type of person that can’t admit they are wrong and lack the inner strength to get good at martial arts based on their own effort.
As an example of how frauds can’t help themselves, doubling down rather than admit they are less than perfect, Sanders this week once again tried to say that Lordus is Buresse. When I pointed out that the book I got sent to me from Lordus had a post mark from several states away from where Buresse lives, he responded, “Roley, according to the NSA, Lordus Sapiens is Alain Burrese. If you disagree with this, take it up with them.”
Think about that for a second. Of course Sanders then refused to provide proof. But he expects people to believe that the NSA got involved in the matter over who a person that pokes holes in stories of frauds is. They have a charter that prevents them from doing anything domestic, and there was a huge scandal years ago when it was revealed that they pushed things a bit close to the edge on that matter. And yet, Sanders wants us to believe that someone at the agency, in an official capacity or on their own, broke the law and risked decades in prison just to help Sanders know who Lordus really is. And despite the idea that this person put their neck out, risking jail time, Sanders can talk about it in the open without fear of someone calling the FBI and him having a couple of agents show up at his house.
Obviously, Sanders just can’t help himself. He can’t admit that he is wrong at anything. This is the curse of frauds. They can’t learn from their mistakes because their egos won’t let them admit they make mistakes. While everyone else picks themselves up after a failure, takes note of what they did wrong and then moves on, they loudly announce that they meant to do that. This is why Frank Dux still moves like an amateur with less than a year of training. He probably has much less than a year of training under a real teacher and is scared to show his abilities where they can be judged. He, like all frauds, are stuck where they are and can never reach the highest levels of martial arts.
So I don’t think the more effective ways of telling if someone is a fraud is needed for most. While the book is a great way to tell if someone is a fraud, a lot less diligence and a lot more of the humor in it as he mocks frauds might have been better.
Still, you can give this book to people looking to start martial arts. As I said, it only takes a short while to read and once done, your friend will have a more skeptical view of claims to the school they are thinking of starting up in. You can purchase the book through Amazon, following this link,
https://www.amazon.com/dp/198496643X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_vm8MBbWZCTAMC