A Legacy of Ill-Standing (Part One): The Remarkable Story of Jack "Papa-san" Stern
Since its inception in 1882 by Jigoro Kano Judo has been a mainstay in the Japanese education system and the country's culture as a whole. Being one of the handful of arts to truly embrace it's sport culture of randori, tournaments and pressure-tested fighting skills, Judo sought to bring the art of traditional Japanese jujutsu to the next century after the modernization of Japan. It is taught in the school system of Japan, is considered a national sport and past-time akin to how baseball and football is to the United States, and is a great system either on it's own or blends with other systems in a complementary manner. It is the parent art of Gracie/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, being as the notable Judoka Mitsuyo Maeda took the art to Brazil in the early 20th century and taught the now-famous Gracie family who in the 1990's took their training to the UFC giving birth to what is today modern MMA.
Judo is unique in that it is an art much like Kyokushin Karate, BJJ/GJJ, and the Filipino Martial Art Balintawak that is very, very hard to fake your way through. The mats do not lie for you. If you don't have the skill set to prove yourself and hold your own you will be outed and quickly at that. I'm not saying you have to win every single match you engage in with others but you do need to be competent enough to go out, try, and survive the match.
But that doesn't mean that there haven't been those who have desperately tried to maintain some lineage to the world-known Kodokan of Japan and through the years fake a black belt ranking to give themselves a standing of some importance. My, some of the cons around Judo alone have been legendary and while I would absolutely love to get into each of them right this second I really feel the need to talk about one in particular.
The person I am speaking of allegedly had a storied career spanning decades across the martial arts world. From training at the Kodokan under the (extremely famous) "Judo god" himself Kyuzo Mifune, to training in both Korea and Japan, founding his own organization in America, hung out with the veritable "who's who" of martial arts of the day, being a POW, winning a medal of honor and leaving a legacy of immense legend that few men would dare attempt to tread....
No, dear readers. I am talking about a man who by the end of his life was living under the reputation of stolen valor, debunked claims and a lineage so vague one could almost see through it. My predecessor began work on this project before his death in 2020. And now I am going to present the culmination of at least part of it. Honestly? It leaves as many questions as it can answer. Let's peel back that veil and look at the varied puzzle pieces and see if they connect the way they should. Let's talk about....
A Legacy of Ill-Standing (Part One):
The Remarkable Story of
JACK "PAPA-SAN" STERN
by Gerald Greysmith
Lordus Sapiens' Article on the Subject for Reference
The Living Legend Summarized
Sources say it was 1947 when Jack Stern, then in the US Army, walked into a dojang in Korea and began his training in Yudo. It would be after many moves the man would allegedly become versed in Karate, Filipino Martial Arts, and eventually even train at the Kodokan under Kyuzo Mifune. Mifune, a direct student of Kano, would write the wonderful book "The Canon of Judo," a staple in most Judoka's book collections. Stern was a man of the world and would train diligently in Japan for quite a while. These same sources indicate he received his black belt in Japan under Mifune himself at the Kodokan.
According to those same sources Stern would eventually return to the United States and found his own organization, the Korean Yudo Association in the 1960's. That decade saw him very busy as he rubbed elbows with people like Kyokushin Karate founder Mas Oyama and eventually due to his involvement with the Hapkido world he expanded his fledgling organization into the Korean Yudo and Hapkido Association. A website for it stands to this day. Stern would eventually pass away and his legacy lives on in the hands of his trusted students.
And therein is where many of the problems begin. Stern? He wasn't exactly the man he was championed to be, nor was many of his own claims able to stand the weight of scrutiny.
Cracks In The Concrete
“I remember Jackie Stern,” the lady on the other end of the phone told me. “He was arrested here years and years ago for flashing that medal of his around. He kept claiming he was awarded it by the military for his valor and bravery.” The person in question worked for law enforcement for a number of years in the area around where Jackie “Papasan” Stern lived in Florida.
“I remember some of the other officers were involved in the martial arts, former military, you know the kind,” she said. “They finally wanted to know if any truth was behind what he was saying for years and years. Funny enough when questioned? He folded like a lawn chair. The fact was he never earned that medal and according to his own statement he never even left the country to train as he had so often claimed. His lies about pretty well everything just shattered. I think a lot of folks knew he was fibbing especially saying his son was a Judo Olympian and gold medalist. However most people considered it just funny what he was saying until it wasn't funny anymore.”
I asked if she could confirm having seen or heard of him ever training in the martial arts in front of others to her recollection. She replied, “The other officers here often said he would show up to events or schools wearing a uniform and belt but no one ever saw him demonstrate a technique. I guess that’s a moot point considering he even admitted to the public finally that he was lying about a lot of his life and training. The court case showed that, and a lot of folks here wanted him to be punished way more than he was.”
“So he never trained? You can confirm the medal wasn't real?” I asked. “Not in any story I heard,” she replied. “The whole thing was a big scandal.”
……………….
What a scandal it was. Stern remains a controversial figure and this cannot be disputed. His "contributions" in the martial arts are spoken of across a few places. He is heralded as a champion of the martial arts, even a pioneer. Some well-known, um, masters are known to comment on his background from time to time.
One of the biggest flaws to Stern's past is his well-known habit of embellishing his achievements. For example Judoka local to him in Florida recall him bragging that his son competed in the 1987 Olympics and bringing home the gold. And if you think about it this would totally make sense....nowhere...the Olympics are held on even years every four years. The closest date to any Olympic games at that time was the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. But that never deterred Stern. Following leads left by my former mentor I spoke to no less than three different Judoka in the area of Lauderdale and Dade Counties who informed me that Stern was well-known to make that ridiculous claim regularly at tournaments he attended. When asked if they ever saw him demonstrate techniques or do randori they replied with "are you kidding?" and immediately laughed. They all seemed to view him with humor and never took him or his claims seriously.
Stern would embellish his storied career to the point of no-return and in 1996 it would finally catch up to him in the worst possible way. You see Stern had begun telling people over the years he was a POW and saved his entire unit from certain death. His claim was that this act would net him a Medal of Honor with which he then would use to obtain benefits from the VA, march in parades and he would inspect JROTC students in the local school district and at colleges. Did I mention he also claimed to be a Captain, an O-3 to be exact?
The issue is Stern never received any such decoration, he was never a POW, and he never was a Captain. He was actually a Private First Class.
From the article:
"Jackie Stern, an Army veteran from the Korean War, was known for his Medal of Honor. A resident of Florida’s Broward County, Stern’s neighbors and surrounding community knew him as their local hero. He often marched in patriotic parades, shared stories with local veterans’ organizations and schools, and spoke about his heroic, medal-worthy military history before large groups at police stations, wearing his medal at each and every event. In fact, Stern wore his Medal of Honor every time he walked out of his home. He was synonymous with his story and his medal, becoming a local public figure."
Stern had begun to base his entire identity, his legacy even, on this little medal he never earned but had purchased. He was using it to gain notoriety and with it further embellish his martial arts career to levels unheard of. According to local police he had become "brazen," so much so that he eventually caught their attention. Law enforcement decided to see if there was any merit to Stern's claims of this medal and, lo and behold, there was not. His entire story crumbled to dust and with it years of benefits, privileges, and also his reputation. Stern was outed and shown to be a fraud in the military world and an angry community was demanding he receive a harsh punishment.
Read the following excerpt:
"When the Broward County Sheriff’s Department began questioning Stern about his military career and his path to the Medal of Honor, Stern fessed up, and his entire story fell apart. Not only did Stern not earn an official medal and its recognition, but the former soldier admitted that he’d never even left the U.S. during a conflict. He was a military man stationed at home as a bread truck driver and polygraph operator, safe from danger."
What was that? "...the former soldier admitted that he'd never even left the US during a conflict."
That's strange. It seems the stories about him made public say otherwise.
Another article further confirms the first, and it isn't any better. Though no longer active the article exists in the Internet Wayback Machine as you can see from the link.
There is no data to substantiate Mr. Stern's 50 years in Judo. However, someone that had the certificate in Japanese translated, (which Mr. Stern claims names him as inheritor of a Jiu Jitsu system) states that all the certificate says is that Stern is authorized to teach that system in South Florida.
So Stern never trained overseas? He never trained with Mifune or even in Korea? And does this mean his entire organization was based on a sham?
What Mr. Stern had hanging on the wall in early 1996 pertaining to his rank were two certificates. One for 6th Dan issued by the nonexistent Korean Yudo Association, signed by himself, dated 1995. The other one supposedly came from Korea in the same year for 7th Dan. Basically Mr. Stern's claim to rank based on those two certificates is worthless."
The main sources who today make their connection to "Papasan" are Bret Gordon, Steven Hatfield and their associate Dell Sharpe. Sharpe wrote a touching eulogy which I screen capped above, however upon scrutiny none of the achievements Stern claimed hold water even in that piece. Their entire connection to Stern that they have stated publicly is very loose, much like it was with the way they used William Sirbaugh for American Jidokwan through Ohio. Recently their one connection to Sirbaugh being in Korea was found to reside almost totally in a picture which has turned out to be someone else completely. So there begins the intense look at the pictures claimed to be Stern beginning with one in particular.
This picture was presented on August 6th, 2020 on the USAMA blog belonging to Bret Gordon as one of his additional edits. The article in this case was written by a Mr. Dell Sharpe, a friend of his who it is said inherited the martial arts lineage of Stern known as Kojido-Jutsu and has asserted many times over the years to have been a direct student of Stern himself. In this particular case Gordon added this photo with an email attachment and a statement.
That statement? It comes from the Kodokan. It states the following, "Sorry for this very late reply. Though we looked for the record of Mr. Jack Stern in our database, we could not find it." This is a very big part of the puzzle to this mess. You see throughout all the information on Stern that is public not one time do you see he himself claiming to train at the Kodokan in his own website's history. The email directly states there is no record of Stern at all in their records, either.
At this point we turn to the men making the alleged connection to Stern. Bret Gordon has stated proudly over the years he and his students trace their lineage of Judo through Stern. He has defended Stern to my predecessor in email, also. It is reported that his own teacher Steven Hatfield was a student of Stern as early as 2002. A look back at a thread from 2012 and we see, however, no mention of Judo at all even under Jack Stern.
And Dell Sharpe, where does he figure into this? Well for that information I will simply reiterate what Lordus Sapiens has written on the matter. Essentially Hatfield was like many others seeming to hang around Stern around the last years of his life. Ingratiating himself both he and Sharpe would enter Stern's WOMA organization and through it use a shaky link to the man to be considered legitimate in the Judo world. Together along with Gordon they have built up Stern as a "pioneer" in the martial arts world of Judo/Yudo and a Judoka among Judokas.
I have a small problem here, however. If these people, specifically Hatfield and Sharpe to be exact, had such a lengthy and collected history with Stern, were in essence personal friends and students....
...why then are they nowhere to be found on Stern's own website? Not a mention of either man was found. Additionally the only pictures publicly available of them with Stern originate with them as does the majority of their claims.
As Lordus stated in his article Sharpe was presented sometime after Stern's death with a certificate from Hatfield who it is claimed was tasked to give it to him when the time was right.
What is confirmed to have happened since is that WOMA is now headed by Sharpe and both Hatfield and Gordon serve as board members on the organization with him. Through them certifications and other significant things take place it appears. If nothing else it garners membership fees, I'm sure.
The problems with Stern as a point of reference to begin one's historical lineage is perilous enough without all the other issues. Once you realize he was banned from all three major national governing bodies you can see why having any kind of definitive link to him would be at best problematic.
The Horrible Truth of the Matter
As it turns out Jack Stern has apparently been proven over and over again throughout the years to be nothing more than a fraud. From his claims of receiving a Medal of Honor, to his alleged Judo black belt from the Kodokan which, due to his own supporters' words and publicly made evidence as shown above states it does not exist. The largest claim to Stern being in Judo is the "Kodokan Picture" which only originates through Gordon or his teacher, Hatfield.
With regards to that picture in the Kodokan when compared with later pictures of Stern from the 1960's they don't at all appear to be the same man at all. Weighing against any claim of this man in the Kodokan is the fact Stern himself admitted in court he never left the States and his many martial arts claims were destroyed in the case against him a full two decades before this was presented by his supporters as proof of any heritage to training with regards to Stern.
Being banned from the national governing bodies did him no favors, either. His ranks weren't even listed in Japan, but Korea. So how did he get this black belt in Japan if no record, per the presented email, exists of him? I'm sure you could argue Stern's records were lost with time but...well, this is the Kodokan we're talking about here. They're as meticulous with their records as they are with their standards for ranking. This evidence was also presented during a time when many of his supporters were under vast scrutiny from the larger martial arts community for various claims he had made and failed to prove on other occasions.
The one thing about this photo however that sticks out to me is that while it doesn't resemble the later pictures of Stern where he was older it is more that they actually do not resemble him at all. So I started looking and I found something very interesting.
It's possible, though not verified, that particular photo wasn't of Stern at all. It may have been of someone else entirely.
So far sources I've contacted are saying the original picture is NOT Jack "Papasan" Stern. In fact I have it on good authority from those sources that it appears to be Judoka Hal Sharp. Sharp DID train with Mifune-shihan in Japan along with many other Japanese masters of the art. Add to this Sharp is not banned from the NGB's. Sharp was in good standing but sadly has passed away in recent years.
(I am awaiting confirmation from the NGB's at the time of this writing. Could this mystery man be Stern? Or is he someone else? I'm simply asking a question in this article.)
When you think about it what good is any lineage or history you present if at every turn it gets questioned? And should the time comes it is questioned, it falls apart? Worse still, if you have to change it drastically almost every single time and refer to a disclaimer what really do you have at that point? Sirbaugh's alleged picture in Korea didn't hold water. Can Stern's? The Kodokan picture wasn't the only one I've been inquiring about, you know?
And with that, I guess time will tell if we can actually put Stern where he claimed to be at any given time. His own past has betrayed him before...will it do so again? So far it seems it has. The major question here for me and the purpose for this article is simply to figure out if Stern was in that picture, and why would anyone want to tie themselves to him?
What I can say for sure is that this is only the beginning of a lineage that isn’t adding up, and Stern wasn’t the only one with a janky claim of a link to the Kodokan in Japan....now was he?
Whew... Have you read what happened with the FRANK REPORT about your GODFATHER of Martial arts ? Alan Goldberg got flamed by a real investigative reporter. NOT A PHONY LIKE YOU.
ReplyDeleteHere is a more current investigative story about you and yours. Especially with Lordus Sapiens...
TITLE: Martial Arts Halls of Fame Cheap Plentiful and Bogus
Author Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist.
His work has been cited in hundreds of news outlets, like The New York Times, The Daily Mail, VICE News, CBS News, Fox News, New York Post, New York Daily News, Oxygen, Rolling Stone, People Magazine, The Sun, The Times of London, CBS Inside Edition, among many others in all five continents.
His work to expose and take down NXIVM is featured in books like “Captive” by Catherine Oxenberg, “Scarred” by Sarah Edmonson, “The Program” by Toni Natalie, and “NXIVM. La Secta Que Sedujo al Poder en México” by Juan Alberto Vasquez.
Parlato has been prominently featured on HBO’s docuseries “The Vow” and was the lead investigator and coordinating producer for Investigation Discovery’s “The Lost Women of NXIVM.” In addition, he was credited in the Starz docuseries 'Seduced' for saving 'slave' women from being branded and escaping the sex-slave cult known as DOS.
Parlato appeared on the Nancy Grace Show, Beyond the Headlines with Gretchen Carlson, Dr. Oz, American Greed, Dateline NBC, and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, where Parlato conducted the first-ever interview with Keith Raniere after his arrest. This was ironic, as many credit Parlato as one of the primary architects of his arrest and the cratering of the cult he founded.
https://frankreport.com/2023/02/17/martial-arts-halls-of-fame-cheap-plentiful-and-bogus/
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ReplyDeleteSorry. I forgot you were even a thing. My apologies. You were saying something?