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Too cool for others to criticize!

Flashy BS in the martial arts is nothing new, check out this Elvis Presley clip

Martial art "masters" are not the only ones who try to fool the public with fake credentials

While you are driving on the streets of your city, look carefully at the luxury cars you see. Some are fakes. Using eBay and other online sites, it is possible to buy any type of car emblem you want, and then, after using a hair dryer and dental floss to remove the old emblem, you can attach the fake one can be attached with some tape, and presto, you have a luxury car. Mercedes 8-cylinder coupes can be rebadged as the more expensive 12-cylinder version, or a sedan may be rebadged as coupe or, for for just $60 you could have a high-performance AMG or Brabus model. Fords are rebadged as Acura and, for $12, a Chrysler 300 may be rebadged as a Hemi-powered 300C. But as with other types of fakes, if you look carefully at the outside or look at the inside, you will be able to identify the fakes.

Some names for pseudo-masters

Bruce Lie

Sokemon

Jackie Sham

Scamuari

Ju-joka

SPAM (Someone Posing as A Master)

O-Senseless

Charla-dan

Some names for pseudo-martial arts

Take-your-dough

Faux-ryu

Partial arts

In the words of the great German playwright Goethe "I wish that the stage was as high and narrow as a tightrope, that way no incompetent would dare step upon it." Unfortunately it is not, and neither are the martial arts. View the claims and credentials of martial art "masters" as you should view Hollywood documentaries, résumés, or biographies. They are all, at the best, loosely based on the truth, and, at the worst, total fabrications and lies.

The word "pseudo" means fake. There are many pseudo-masters in the martial arts world and many back up their claims using bogus science. Learn to detect illegitimate organizations and pseudo-masters and their false claims so you do not fall prey to them.

Some say that each martial art is just a different way of achieving the same purpose, that no one martial art is inherently bad, and that each martial art should be respected. This “politically correct” statement supposedly tells us to respect all martial arts. Actually, this statement is a way for fraudulent martial artists to justify their existence. In effect, they are saying, “Since I respect your art, you should respect my art, and, if you do not, then you are wrong.” This makes them sound noble and makes you seem inconsiderate for not respecting their arts. Their reasoning is, since I do not criticize your (legitimate) art, you are wrong in criticizing my (illegitimate) art.

Frauds use this type of false logic all the time. Instead of providing evidence of how they are right, they criticize anyone who provides evidence of how they are wrong. Just because a person is a fervent believer in astrology, a certified expert in astrology, a teacher and writer of astrology, and an expert in performing astrology does not mean that astrology is legitimate and has any basis in fact. When examined using objective, verifiable, scientific methods, astrology has been proved to be a hoax. Nevertheless, there are those who think I am closed-minded for not believing their astrology BS might possibly be true. Likewise, there are those who think I am close-minded for not accepting the BS put out by many so-called “masters” of the martial arts.

One problem with fraud is that some of the victims are not victims at all; they know going in that the "master," the rank, or the martial art is a fraud—they just do not care. Just as people knowingly buy phony, rip-off versions of expensive products so they may appear rich even though they do not have the intelligence or abilities required to become rich, there are people who will knowing align themselves with rip-off martial arts because they are unwilling or unable to do what is required to each rank in the legitimate martial arts. Some people are fooled by illegitimate martial arts; some people are just fools.

Every student supports his or her master and most believe everything the master tells them about his or her martial art and the martial arts in general. Most students do not question the credentials of the master. If you know that your master's doctorate degree or professor and soke status were self ordained or obtained from some bogus organizations and you are pleased with the master and the instruction you are receiving and do not care about the master's credential, then that is fine. That is your choice. You have all the facts and you made your decision based upon them. However, if you are unaware of the bogus credentials or that the master is teaching you using unsubstantiated techniques and unproven theories, then you are being ripped off.

The Japanese term "Soke" correctly refers to a person who has inherited, and is often named by their predecessor, as the successor of a specific style of martial arts. However, the founders of many martial arts styles also call themselves soke. To see how many martial arts students have "founded" their own style of martial arts and make themselves the grandmaster of the art, use your browser to do a Internet search using the words "karate soke" or "Taekwondo soke". Becoming a soke is as simple as calling yourself one or you may send a membership fee to one of the many illegitimate organizations.

Illegitimate martial art organizations are almost as plentiful as pseudo-masters. Many of the illegitimate organizations have been started by pseudo-masters but some have been stated by legitimate masters who are trying to take money from the gullible public.

Fraud is "the promotion, for profit, of something known to be false or unproven." Not all illegitimate organizations and pseudo-masters are committing fraud since fraud requires a deliberate deception and many of these people sincerely believe in what they are doing. However, just because one sincerely believes in what is being he or she is saying or doing, that does not mean that what is being said or done is correct, scientific, proper, or legal. The main motivation of many illegitimate organizations and pseudo-masters is promotion of themselves rather than fraud, greed, or misinformation.

"Quackery" derives from the word quacksalver (someone who boasts about his salves). Dictionaries define quack as "a charlatan" and "one who talks pretentiously without sound knowledge of the subject discussed." There are illegitimate organizations and pseudo-masters, and a few legitimate organizations and masters, around that fall under the definition of quack.

Pseudo-masters are not always totally wrong in their beliefs. A pseudo-master's style may be scientific in many respects and only minimally involved in unscientific practices. A pseudo-master's techniques may be useful for some purposes but worthless for others.

Here is a sample of one kung-fu master' claims. He claims that as a master of his martial art, you will be able to:

• Restrict or inhibit an opponent’s actions by sending a "flash" of projected energy into his or her mind to let him or her "know" that the proposed attack cannot work, causing them to become submissive and want to get away.

• Knock out the opponent's mind by use of a flash of mind energy, a Mind Stop, to totally paralyze him or her from moving, such a being unable to pull the trigger of a pistol.

Many pseudo-masters are charlatans who deliberately exploit their students. The students then become unwitting victims who share their misinformation and personal experiences with others. New students of martial arts styles are usually referred by friends, relatives, and neighbors who are already students.

The problem of illegitimate organizations and pseudo-masters may be broadly defined as "martial artists involved in over-promotion." This definition would include questionable ideas as well as questionable products and services, regardless of the sincerity of their promoters. In line with this definition, the word "fraud" would be reserved only for situations in which deliberate deception is involved.

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