A Legacy of Ill-Standing (Part Two) - "The Path You Started Us On"
What a year this has been, hasn’t it? 2022 is almost over and with it comes the close of my yearly work which consists of either trolling folks like Dallas Wittgenfeld or exposing the lies of such people as Gary “I inherited nothing” Lee. The roller coaster this year has been was very fun and full of surprises especially when Adam McKinley and Jon Duvall decided to go on a live podcast and scream to all that could hear it that my mentor’s friend Cayce Lancaster was an evil sexual deviant….and within twenty-four hours that whole thing fell apart.
This was due in part to the fact that I had a background provided to me within hours by Cayce Lancaster verifying he was not what they claimed and ultimately because Lordus Sapiens also took to his own blog to dispel the rumors. I have to admit though I rather enjoyed sharing that masterpiece of journalism to the entire world wherever I could. It seems legal proceedings are on the horizon for them now and for months both have been extremely quiet except for the occasional wheezing noise I attribute to Duvall and his weeping and gnashing of teeth. He was always the weaker of the two and folded like cheap shirt in a suitcase at the first sign of any trouble. By the way if you ever read this I have to say I’m betting you wished you had listened to me now, huh? Oh well…it was such a shitty trap that only a moron would fall into it. And look! We got two!
I digress, though. I look back now and ask myself where did all of what was uncovered this year really begin? What caused it to be such a cluster-fudge that frauds from all over ran from the very mention of things like “Hawaii Kosho Ryu Kempo,” or “Sam Lonewolf?” Where did the stories we experienced together begin at and where in that timeline did they become ingrained in the legacies of those who lied about their heritage to them, only to have them scramble into the darkness once it was becoming very obvious they had lied?
Well let’s see who all was involved in this nonsensical story of inheritorship, shall we? From Gary Lee we can trace the lie up through many members of the Black Dragon Fighting Society to include “Reverend” Donald Miskel and Frank Dux. Why we even saw the cracks in the very foundation of the story of Dux and his alleged connection to Count Dante, aka John “The Devil’s Hair Stylist” Keehan. Dux has stolen so many stories to create a bigger fantasy of his own version of events of his life that solidly he really doesn’t even know the length and number of lies he has told over the years and that was his own undoing.
But we have to step back a bit further from there though because the entire story didn’t begin with the Black Dragon Talking Society. No, dear readers, not at all. You see it begins in 2020 with my mentor and Cayce when they found an article (that hilariously has gone missing with other assorted works of pure fantasy) written by none other than “Kaiso/Soke/Okee-Dokee” himself….
…Bret Gordon.
I have stated many times that the article he wrote in May of 2020 regarding one Barron Shepherd is really where the problems for him and his claims began. And I think it’s high time we revisited those days when the previous forerunners of Greysmith Investigations actually spoke to him by phone, informed him he was full of it, and he refused to take down his work of journalistic -cough- integrity. Debunked many times since then by my predecessor, and then by me too this was the very beginning of a road he would walk leading his business partner, lawyer and guy-who-totally-got-a-rank-from-him-and-his-sensei Martin Pedata to file a frivolous and often mocked lawsuit against Dale Dugas claiming erroneously he was me, Lordus Sapiens, someone named GG and twelve John Does.
The problems have been there all along for the young up-and-coming master in wanting, and I think it’s high time we walk the same road and see where his lies actually helped shed a little light on things that were almost going to be left unsaid. I think it’s time to continue to tell the tale of the claims of one man and how thanks to those very statements he himself can shoulder the responsibility of helping expose the likes of Lee, Dux and Miskel with their claims of friendship, training and inheriting through Samuel Lonewolf. That’s right boys, you need look no further to blame anyone for your lies being exposed publicly than Bret Gordon....he truly can't keep his big mouth shut. And the best part of it all? He comes with a disclaimer!
A Legacy of Ill-Standing (Part Two):
“The Path You Started Us On…”
By Gerald Greysmith
Those First Steps
It was June of 2020 when Greg and Cayce found an interesting article about Judoka Barron Shepherd written by Bret Gordon of Florida in May of that year. Gordon was genuinely butt-hurt that Shepherd, a seasoned and experienced Judoka had dared to state that Kodokan membership cards were not proof of rank or legitimacy. Why? Well for a time Gordon was parading his teacher’s souvenir Kodokan card about as proof that Hatfield was a high-ranking black belt of much better and bigger skill than any ordinary mortal judoka.
And Gordon? Well he’s always been the shill for his teacher and so he inserted himself into any argument anytime someone dared ever question Steven and his beyond-human capabilities in the martial arts. It is interesting to note Gordon moves gracefully across the thin ice that is the many changed histories of his teacher over the years as well. Like, I don’t know, his teacher cross-ranking Frank Dux in his own homebrew Karate system? While he concedes Steven had a relationship with him and it is now severed he remains quite brief on the topic. I want to remind everyone though that he has never mentioned how they used to be quite ready to like, comment upon and be tagged in many of Dux’s social media posts.
But it was around that time when Greg saw this nonsense Bret wrote that he remembered a recent video the young lad had put out decrying his detractors and smugly insulting anyone and everyone who stated the infamous Hasaka Yutashi wasn’t real. Oh, all one had to do was simply visit the dojo Gordon has in Florida and all your answers would be made plain and clear as day. This was quickly squashed at one point though when Don Roley of the Bujinkan took Bret on this offer during an exchange on Lordus' blog only to have the Bret find an excuse to back out of it at the last minute. It was here that Greg and Cayce, knowing full well the article he wrote on Barron was full of the proverbial manure mind you, decided to reach out to Shepherd and ask if he was aware of it.
As it turns out he was and wasn’t too happy that someone like Gordon who only two years prior had invited Shepherd to write for his blog would write such poorly investigated material without ever even speaking to him. Add to it as Shepherd pointed out Gordon had focused the majority of his claims on Gary Lee being the alleged inheritor of his teacher, Sam Lonewolf and finally drawing attention to an expired membership in an NGB that Shepherd had no desire to be a part of any longer.
Well the rest of the story is pretty public from there and we have time to retread it as we go along, but suffice to say after being thoroughly discredited of course Gordon had to have that last word and it began to spiral out of his control and believe me….he did himself no favors being his own PR Agent/worst enemy.
It is from that one article a lot of things have taken place which are traced to him and his antics. It was from there we see the story of Sam Lonewolf taken out, twisted, changed and mutilated in several directions. The thing is though I had something they didn’t have and that was a direct line to the daughter of the man himself and his family: Samantha Lonewolf. And boy, did she have a lot to say on the matter.
January 2022 – Sam Lonewolf’s Legacy
It was the beginning of the year and I was back to action after taking almost all of 2021 off to let myself learn my way in this role better and to allow certain (ahem) people lock themselves into stories about their lineages that they couldn’t back out of. Again, we will get to that.
But it was a gloomy day that winter when I opened my email to my first letters from Samantha. She had found the article in question and through it tracked to my blog and the article the previous Gerald Greysmith wrote debunking it. After a few back and forth messages explaining who he was, who I was, and what my goals were she opened up to me. She informed me from there that she was most unhappy with Gary Lee and his claims of inheriting her father’s system and very upset at Bret Gordon for even mentioning him. One of his biggest lies? His claim that her father had “multiple tenth dans.”
To put it to rest Sam Lonewolf only had an 8th Degree Black Belt and though he was entitled to wear a red belt he was always seen in the same tattered black belt he had earned years earlier.
Samantha Lonewolf's blog on the matter.
It didn’t take long for Samantha to realize she was dealing with a man much like those her father had turned his back on years before in the BDFS. She wanted her dad’s story told correctly and to use my platform to help her set everything right. We agreed I would investigate and verify her father’s background for her, restore it to the proper place in history and in doing so show the conniving and scheming of Lee, Miskel and others who now claimed high ranking black belts under Sam Lonewolf.
For starters I tracked down Gary Lee and his (now shown to not be legitimate) Sports Karate Museum. As I had said many times in those articles a museum usually doesn’t constitute a large mancave in someone’s home full of stuff from the BDFS and things taken from families of the deceased. Finding Lee I discovered he had quite a collection of memorabilia from across the martial arts community from various people. And with regards to Lonewolf he claimed to have his red belt, gi top and chops for signing diplomas with. Samantha set out to contact him and confront him on the matter asking how he obtained these items and it was discovered like a vulture Lee had visited Sam’s widow within days of his funeral and pushed for her to give him those items. The family confirmed this to me and it was apparent he never intended to use those items for display purposes. No, he was making certificates….lots of them, too.
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It was during this exchange that Lee brought in Don Miskel to help him stave off Samantha who, tired of their nonsense and lies decided to confront both of them on the lack of attendance not only at Sam’s funeral but in his life in general. This conversation ended with Miskel finally admitting he never met her dad, trained with him, or in any way met the man…it was all just correspondence. Nevermind an email exists to show just how much Lonewolf despised the BDFS for the way in which they lied about and treated his friends. I think at this point it’s safe to say that anything these men claimed to have in the way of being attached to the legacy of Sam Lonewolf can be tossed out. When pressed by Samantha to return her dad’s items to the family Lee stated first that they were in a green suitcase in his garage before finally saying he was so tired of the situation he burned them.
What a way to remember someone you claimed as a dear friend. You take their items and by your own admission burned them to spite his family who wanted them back. Way to go Gary.
This all finally came to a disastrous close for Lee when even Bret Gordon himself admonished him for his lies. Nevermind Gordon had added his own spin to many of the things told to him by Lee, but it was hilarious that just for a moment you could see one fraudoka being verbally demoralized by another. It was even better that despite “the lawsuit that was underway” Gordon was nice enough to email me. Of course he pointed out there is no “open line of communication” between us but it never stopped him from following me around on social media and watching what I was up to.
And what began as a major attack on the claims of several known frauds in the martial arts from there ballooned into something bigger and larger that just took on a life of its own.
If The Blame Fits
To be fair if not for the bungling of Bret Gordon the story of Sam Lonewolf would never have become a matter of proven record. So despite his feeble and funny attempts to slander and defame Barron he did in the end do some good. I would argue again that should anyone in the BDFS want to be mad this all was found out they need just ring up Gordon and discuss it with him. He’s all about the street, you know…so he would have no problem answering any questions from the lesser grandmasters out there. Besides they’re not his friends! He said so.
But then there lies the issue of how Gordon’s article all that time ago brought so much attention on him. It means much more in the larger scheme of things than most realize. You see he has mentioned many times his disdain for anything legitimate such as Judo NGB’s and makes statements towards others who dare question him as though they were coated in liquid leprosy. As a matter of fact our dear lad loves going to visit schools with people who he has issues with. I mean if he is going to write character assassinations of people he has issues with why hasn't he visited the BJJ school Barron teaches Judo at? Gordon is now both a black belt in Judo AND Gracie Jiu Jitsu. Seeing as he has never apologized for that little mishap of journalistic insanity maybe he could, I don't know, do some randori? I know he usually does it blindfolded but hey it shouldn't be an issue.
And what about his claims of being all about the street, being as complete as he can be? What about the number of times that due to his own stupidity in making wrongful claims against other more proficient martial artists has it instead blown up all over him, leaving him being the one under a microscope?
Yes it is true that his missives about Barron Shepherd and Sam Lonewolf opened this door. The only problem was it was the wider martial arts community who discovered all was not right or legitimate about Gordon and many of his associates. And yes I think that since enough time has passed we should revisit those many discrepancies of one Bret Gordon and his claim to martial arts super powered stardom. After all he does have those…um….secret scrolls and pictures of Hasaka Yutashi, right?
Well then….here we go.
(To Be Continued.)
Ha, ha, ha, ha ! Where are your concerned citizens' comments hereon. NONE.. There is your sign. BUT hey... that One Eyed Jack out in Hollywood you know.. "Bloodsport" he has a whole lot to say about you and yours... but you never blog about it... LIKE it is invisible and couldn't comment..
ReplyDeleteFRANK DUX QUOTE: Why do I want little to nothing to do with the American martial arts industry? The answer is an observable uncomfortable truth. I am the target of defamation, a conspiracy composed of a conversion of self interest where the conspirators don’t have to ever meet.
The martial arts industry in America is a crab cage composed of a bunch of vigilantes and gossip mongers - led by organized criminals and their associates. One calling himself the Godfather in the Mafia sense of the word. Where people pander to and swear to his lies and turn a blind eye to the exploitation of the industry.
Free to do so with it being unregulated.
Otherwise, it would not be possible to have large events where criminals launder money while at same time profit from feeding insatiable egos. The selling of undeserved honors, titles, awards and colored belts.
That is when their gang is not click baiting and profiting at the expense of others hard earned reputation. Tearing down the real leaders or anyone who threatens their power and false narrative.
They exploit the fact the defamation of another being prosecutable is a total sham! It’s absolutely lawlessness!
The internet laws have made it near impossible. Out of reach for people who cannot afford the high cost of protracted litigation or find a judge willing to deal with it. Why it is you can’t find attorneys in some states even willing to entertain taking on a lawsuit of defamation.
Most judges want nothing to do with these cases because Facebook and other platforms own all the content that is put up on their pages. That technicality insulates the offenders from prosecution and content providers are exempt from prosecution under the law.
It’s a catch 22! The public is kept in ignorance about.
Apparently, the next evolution when lawlessness exists is violence.
We already are seeing it in form of cyber bully suicides, depression and manifesting in victims as substance addiction.
It’s only a matter of time before a gang of vigilantes start killing the accused-or did it happen already? With cyber deaths allegedly staged to look like suicides? Boasted about in chat room forums.
We already see livelihoods destroyed by people snatching up website domain names of their competitors by forming bogus LLCs in name of the sites or arts and then getting host companies to take their competitors websites down.
This used to be a community professing and standing for earning and honoring rank by the practice of humility and respect for others and self.
It is anything but that now thanks to the rabid commercialism of martial arts. And vigilante groups in control of the narrative. Especially, on open source websites like Wikipedia. UNQUOTE.
Like the article said:
ReplyDelete"Chirp...chirp...."
You're as relevant as spoiled milk. And probably smell about the same. 😚
I'm waiting for more about your puppet master, Dallas. What words of wisdom and slander can you produce today? I meant what I said, sir. Keep it coming 😁
ReplyDelete#rangerwithouthonor