How Frank Dux Inserted Himself into Martial Arts History (part 2)

While it is becoming increasingly obvious that Frank Dux has been embellishing (to put it nicely) his own martial arts background and history the reader must know he had to have some help. Obviously in regards to the theft of Sam Lonewolf's system for example Gary Lee was not acting alone. It was shown very clearly that Lee was enabled to do what he did with the help of Reverend Don Miskel. From there you can see clearly how far up the chain of the Black Dragon Retirement Society this actually goes.

Frank Dux (above) as he prepares to yell at the Subway cashier for not putting

extra pickles on his sub. This was a dark day in the history of the franchise.

It is absolutely no secret now that Frank Dux has attempted on two ends of history to attach himself to the legacies of other martial artists and organizations. One was in 1969 claiming to be the winner in a match with Victor Moore, thereby being inducted into the BDFS as the youngest member at the time. The second attempt finds that Dux wasn't actually a member of the BDFS prior to 2008, this according to an email from Stoffel Van Vuuren to Ashida Kim and others in the organization that same year.

He and his cohorts have even shown absolutely no regard in taking advantage of deceased, elderly or otherwise infirm people who they target. Just take a look at Lawrence Day. While yes Day had his own issues with the truth when it came down to his involvement with Count Dante over the years there does exist video of him stating he was rarely in the dojo. By his own words he was partying, drinking and having a good time. 

But that never stopped Dux from using him. 

And as one of Day's previous associates explained to me in my last article Dux and his student Sky Benson took Day aside from everyone else in order to have a private conversation that they recorded. The essence of that conversation is unknown to me at this time. However with his pattern of going ahead and inserting himself willy-nilly all over the place I'd assume Dux wanted to have some statement from Day that corroborated his already growing claims to have trained with Keehan back in the day. Adding the fact Day was stricken at this time with health issues makes it very sickening and despicable.

During the course of the last many months it has become quite evident that Dux's friends have all stepped in at some point or another to assist him in these lies and as I said earlier one of the most major ones to come up was the alleged connection to Samuel Lonewolf. I have covered this story in great detail, no doubt. But thanks to recent developments that story continues to rise back to haunt the men who tried to steal that slice of martial arts history.

Let's take a look at how Frank Dux had help in trying to make himself part of the larger history of the martial arts world and who helped him along the way. I mean with friends like these how could he hope to go wrong? Not only did folks help him but his actions have inspired others to do the same as well. 

Let's continue with....

How Frank Dux Inserted Himself 

into Martial Arts History

Part Two 

"How One Lie Feeds Another"

by Gerald Greysmith

Miskel and a History of Ranks

It seems that the same names in these stories keep popping up. I swear we just discussed Miskel not long ago. His connection to Frank is well known and without doubt. 

But Miskel himself has recently re-opened the can of worms that was his claims to friendship with Sam Lonewolf when he was asked to cease and desist his claims of association to the man by his daughter Samantha. She has been very adamant he remove his stories online about her dad because as she stated...there was never a connection.

This isn't thr first time I've found issues with Miskel and his claims, either. During the course of this story it was found he countersigned many Kosho Ryu Kenpo certificates with Lonewolf's name on them. 

Aside from being friends with Dux, Kim, Lee and a host of other BDFS members I'd say it's a fair bet he's signed off on a few of their's as well. But one stood out to me.

That person he signed off on rank for was none other than the one and only Thomas "The Machine" Daw. 

One need only glance at this specimen to see the raw power which brought him to the attention of Donald Miskel and the Black Dragon Fighting Society. As the last man on Earth he bravely takes the title of Slayer of BOB from Adam McKinley.

I bring this up because in actuality as long as the check clears with them most members of the BDFS seem glad to exchange a rank or three with someone. And Daw? He was no exception. While Daw himself is really as dangerous as a bipolar cockroach it  goes to show the lack of vetting on behalf of these people they rank. Daw's only real claim to fame was pissing off many people with threats on YouTube, to which he then moved to Vimeo, and then from there he has seemingly faded into obscurity. Legends say he awaits in his mother's basement to this day emerging only when the moon is full and he runs out of candy.

A veritable plethora of signatures here to include Dux, Miskel, Kim, Lawrence Day, and even Count Dante. I guess it goes without saying though these people have often used the names of the dead to verify rank certificates in the past. Why would they stop now?

Take notice that Miskel himself has signed the above rank certificate for Daw. Mind you Daw is a FRAUD. Not legit. Not. One. Bit. And the good reverend still ranked him as a 10th Dan which Daw took to waving about with abandon at events he attended over the years. And it empowered Daw to go on a rampage after anyone he felt slighted him. When asked by people to have Miskel stop Daw he simply responded with "we do not censor members of the BDFS." 

Yes. He said that. 

If he ranked such a man, who else did they conveniently-accidentally-forget to vet the backgrounds on? And how many of them paid for those ranks with no real training involved? 

Recent Developments

That moment when Miskel literally claimed to have studied under Sam Lonewolf and earned a high rank. But he really didn't. 

Never been to Sam's dojo? How did you train in his system then? And sign for ranks? And give ranks? And have a rank?

In an article I did a few months ago I discussed the claims of friendship that Miskel claimed with Samuel Lonewolf and how they actually never had one. The only reason he even jumped into the fray with Gary Lee and Samantha Lonewolf was to try and smooth over/talk Samantha. 

But in reality the emails paint a pretty ugly picture of two men who thought they could talk down to a woman instead.

Miskel didn't want to have this conversation with Samantha, however. He provided her with a certificate that so far as photo forensics show was created digitally. Nevermind that her dad kept a strict record of his black belts and to no one's surprise he isn't on there.

And he never has provided anything beyond that one certificate to show he was "ranked."

To be honest a smart and honest man at this point would have tossed in the towel and never had another cross word with the family of Lonewolf. But no my friends the people we discuss in my line of work aren't exactly known for their good ideas. And Miskel didn't do himself any favors recently.

In an email dated September 13th, 2022 a cease and desist to making claims related to any link to Lonewolf was issued by Samantha.

And his response?

"Knock yourself out. I don't know what your problem is but feel free to do whatever

makes you feel you need to do to make yourself feel good."

Wow, reverend. 

Let's see....Miskel has claimed friendship, association, and rank from Sam Lonewolf. He has written an obituary and eulogy which is chock full of lies regarding his time with him, and has even continued to claim despite the evidence (and his own admission) that he never did....and his response is THAT?

Ah, but it gets better. In a further email exchange Samantha pressed again.

And then Miskel dropped this gem into her lap. 

I want to point out here Miskel did indeed lie about his friendship with Sam Lonewolf. He admitted it in a previous email I've already posted. I'm not going to retread this but I am going to say his articles he wrote about his claims to links with the Lonewolf family are completely made up along with Gary Lee and yes, Frank Dux as well. 

I'm sure you do, Frank. I bet you got a good deal on it at the flea market. Hey, why don't you post it online and then send it to the Lonewolf family for verification? Seems they have no idea what you're talking about.

The more disturbing fact is that each of these people have attempted to link to Lonewolf in some capacity to built their reputations on top of a lineage they never were involved with in the first place. Miskel's eulogy is filled to the brim with embellishments and outright lies. And now that he's been called on it he wants to scream litigation.

Where have I heard that before? Oh...yes. 

Well, well...aren't you a daisy?

It seems we have come full circle now, haven't we? It seems Samantha also sent another cease and desist out. She actually asked me to forward it to the person in question. Yes ladies and gentlemen it seems the lies put forth by Lee and Miskel directly inspired the one and only Kaiso Bret Gordon to write a (repeatedly) debunked article way back in May 2020. 

My how the memories abound. A more arrogant face can't be found anywhere.

You see a couple of years ago Gordon there wrote that piece and it caught the eye of my predecessor Greg. And despite the evidence showing otherwise he has maintained to the end that it was truthful and "correct when he wrote it." This, despite it being overwhelmingly shown to be a complete fabrication. And why? Because he and Hatfield used a Kodokan membership card as evidence of their rank in Judo. When called on it, and also called fat, Gordon got angry and wrote the hit piece in the link above to retaliate against his detractor Barron Shepherd.

You see Bret asserted some of his own embellishments in the piece. And by his own admission in an email I made public some weeks ago as well as in his own "journalistic work" he stated that his teacher Steven Hatfield contacted Gary Lee. It also appears Bret even went and used Miskel's own eulogy and statements to concoct an abomination of history that he presented as his own work. 

And the previous Gerald? He debunked that blog post line by line.

Samantha herself has made her statement pretty clear to Gordon. And I was nice enough to send it to him. I even cc'd Samantha for good measure because, well, I like to be accountable. 

Samantha had this to say directly to Gordon.

Lastly, I want to point out that after Mr. Gordon writes two paragraphs repeating inaccuracies and lies about my father he ends these two paragraphs with saying;

"I have no interest in trampling on a man's grave, and my issue is with Barron.”

My father had been dead for over seven years by the time Mr. Gordon took whatever “issue” he had with Mr. Shepherd and “wrote” his article in 2020.  Instead of handing it personally with Mr. Shepherd Mr. Gordon proceeded to write about and attack my father based on lies and claims written by both Mr. Miskel and Mr. Lee. Truthfully, Mr. Gordon should address whatever issue he has with Mr. Shepherd in person, face to face. Mr. Gordon felt compelled to attack my father instead.

My father was long gone and had no way to defend himself from Mr. Gordon's obvious attack. He had no reason whatsoever to insert my father into his article or into his beef with someone else. Mr Gordon has since proven he isn't interested in the truth. What he did in his article was indeed an attack on my father and not anyone else, and Mr. Gordon disparaged my father so he could trample on his memory. 

Mr. Gordon, my father absolutely and in no way did anything to you. He wasn't even alive. I have addressed every false claim regarding my father that YOU made in YOUR 2020 article. You are immediately requested to cease and desist any attempts to attack and besmirch my father. I ask that you comply with my request. Please know that if you do not remove any and all statements you will leave me no alternative but to pursue any and all available legal and equitable remedies to protect my father's character and or reputation. 

Samantha Lonewolf

And in true form Gordon has yet to respond to this matter at all. According to Samantha he has not stated anything whatsoever nor has he responded in email...well except for an edit he did in August. Even after all this time and despite numerous issues with its content he simply refuses to just admit he made it all up. But then again why tell the truth when you can just invent it along the way?

What Friends are For

As it turns out Miskel himself isn't that great of a person it seems. If he will follow the MO of his buddy Dux it appears he, Dux and Lee conspired to attach themselves and probably others to the legacy of a dead man. This is old hat for Frank though. He's tried it with numerous people throughout the years. I am almost certain he probably has a certificate somewhere with Lonewolf's signature on it. And it was probably countersigned by Miskel and/or Lee. 

I would move to demand that Miskel speak to his attorney on this matter if he is so inclined. I'm sure the lawyer would love to see how proof presented so far shows he has had no definable link to Lonewolf and if he did he has yet to offer any evidence of substance to the fact. What he has done is change his story and talk down to the daughter of the man he claimed a dear friendship with. 

The personification of "take my word for it."

As for Gordon I would suspect his defamation of other martial artists wouldn't go very well in regards to this "lawsuit that is underway." I laugh thinking about that. He only filed it to silence his detractors. Nevermind that his own teacher Hatfield was friends with Dux at one point. They cross-ranked one another long ago. 

Hatfield at one time featured an alliance and cross-ranking to Frank Dux himself.

While he may no longer be, according to Gordon, affiliated with Dux  it seems Hatfield and Gordon have used the same model made famous by Dux and his friends to attach themselves to EA Fuzy, then to Curtis Herrington, and now have even changed it to Robert Moore, all three of the Ohio Jidokwan. Ah, but that link to Korea carries so much weight...does it not? I guess the fact that none of the seniors from the various eras of those men ever heard of William "Wild Bill" Sirbaugh nor have any such name in the record books.

I have copies, ya know.

Finally we have the path leading back to Dux again. His friends and allies all seem to be running around and getting ranks in the systems of the elderly or deceased. And when anyone speaks up about it suddenly there appears on the horizon one of his many minions such as Dallas "Thunder Chicken" Wittgenfeld to harass or cyberstalk the person into a hellish existence. This is usually followed with calls from him as he guzzles one Natty Light after another.

And if you're really lucky Dallas will hurl random racist 

insults your way which Dux in turn defends.

It comes to bear that Dux has quite the gallery of assorted folks who attached themselves to him, his stories, and enabled him to attempt to link to the BDFS legacy and that of Keehan. And with that those same people have been absconding with ranks from arts and teachers they personally had nothing to do with. The sheer number of certificates popping up with names on them such as Miskel are proof something bigger is out there with all of this. Maybe the BDFS certificates aren't selling anymore and they decided to try and get a hold of real ones they could alter and sell? Its a theory.

But hey, he still has that BDFS Patriarch knife....so Dux has to be telling the truth. Probably the same as Miskel and Lee have done since January when this story began to unfold. Or even Gordon as far back as May 2020. And we all know that he is the epitome of honesty, right? 

I guess we shall see. But with friends like these who knows what the next day holds? Where can they possibly go from here?Has anyone honestly ever looked into the ranks of some of these people and verified them? Maybe it's time someone did.