Busted Martial Artists [Archive] - Kung Fu Magazine Forums

GeneChing

11-13-2007, 11:12 AM

It seems like I'm getting more and more of these sorts of news stories, sad to say. I can't tell if I'm just hyper-sensitive or it's a growing phenomena. So I'm going to start compiling them here, just to see where it goes. I know there's some archived threads too, which could be linked in to this one. :(

Karate Instructor Accused Of Molesting Student (http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2007/11/11/karate_instructor_accused_of_molesting_student.htm l)
Monday, November 12, 2007 12:27:42 AM

A karate instructor remains locked up on charges he molested at least one of his young students.

Stephen Gressett, 20, is accused of molesting a girl under 12 years old during a class at United Tiger Martial Arts on Conroy Windermere Road.

The girl said the incident happened more than a year ago. She told police there were no adults around at the time.

Gressett denies the allegation. He's charged with lewd or lascivious molestation.

Investigators are now interviewing other students in class.

Marital Arts Instructor Accused Of Touching Female Student (http://www.wftv.com/news/14576531/detail.html)
POSTED: 5:44 pm EST November 12, 2007

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Some parents are standing by their children's martial arts instructor who was arrested over the weekend. Stephen Gressett, 20, is accused of touching one of his female students inappropriately at the United Tiger Martial Arts on Conroy Road.

The alleged incident happened at the center more than a year ago. The girl reported it to police last week. Gressett has been teaching at the center for four years. Other parents told Eyewitness News he is innocent.

"I've known Stephen. I've watched him grow as an adult and he's just become more professional," said parent Deanna Batt.

Eyewitness News tried to interview Gressett from jail, but he declined. He also refused to take a polygraph test.

Police said they are now looking into the case further to see if there are any more potential victims.

cjurakpt

11-13-2007, 11:16 AM

this story was featured locally in NY about a month ago...

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=5725423

Karate instructor accused of sexual abuse may be facing more charges
Also accused of secretly videotaping his students
Eyewitness News
(Long Island-WABC, Oct. 25, 2007) - A Karate instructor on Long Island charged with sexual abuse is now being investigated for even more disturbing incidents.
Suffolk County police say James Bonfiglio, the owner of Excel Karate Academy in Ronkonkoma, may have secretly videotaped his students and had questionable relationships with as many as 10 boys.
Bonfiglio, 37 was arrested Oct. 11 after a 13-year-old male student told authorities that Bonfiglio took him to his Ronkonkoma apartment and abused him in July. He pleaded not guilty to committing a sexual act, a felony and misdemeanor sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, and was released on $60,000 bond.
The additional charges against the instructor were uncovered through the first investigation and are expected to be presented to a grand jury. Authorities say the found hidden cameras that were discovered at Bonfiglio's apartment and in the karate school's bathroom.
Also, Suffolk County police say a computer seized during the search of Bonfiglio's apartment had videos of naked boys, that may have been shot with the secret cameras.
Bonfiglio's attorney, Jerry Garguilo, said he was not aware of additional charges and had not spoken with the district attorney's office. "I cannot speak intelligently on that at this point," he said.

sanjuro_ronin

11-13-2007, 11:23 AM

Ewww....:(

lkfmdc

11-13-2007, 11:31 AM

I'm thinking of a word....

ah, yes

CAS TRA TION

sanjuro_ronin

11-13-2007, 11:32 AM

here, here !!

cjurakpt

11-13-2007, 11:46 AM

and it's right in my neighborhood as well - ick...

yutyeesam

11-13-2007, 12:00 PM

Sad? Yes. Surprising? Not really. People just released from prison can open up a MA school without any real accountability. So one would expect that there are all sorts of deviants and misfits operating schools.

Shaolinlueb

11-13-2007, 12:38 PM

I'm thinking of a word....

ah, yes

CAS TRA TION

you mean 3 words?
castration is 1 word.

cjurakpt

11-13-2007, 12:42 PM

So one would expect that there are all sorts of deviants and misfits operating schools.
and then there are the ones who also molest their students...;):p

MightyB

11-13-2007, 02:49 PM

Judo's at the forefront again. 1st they introduced the belt ranking system & a couple of years ago: http://www.usjf.com/public/background.pdf

That's just to get a Shodan. All MA instructors should have to do something similar to this regardless of style.

The B

SPJ

11-13-2007, 03:08 PM

I think there is a program that the parents may just check on the list of child molesters or sex offenders near by including the MA teachers of course.

sort of a neighbor watch!.

:eek:

GeneChing

11-13-2007, 04:20 PM

I got this one a few days ago.

11/9/2007 10:54:00 AM
Martial arts instructor to plead on federal sex charges (http://xeniagazette.1upmonitor.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=157215&TM=61083.6)
AARON KEITH HARRIS
Staff Writer

XENIA – A Miami Valley martial arts instructor is expected to plead guilty in federal court Friday morning to having a sexual relationship with an underage female student, court officials said.

Daniel P. Doyle, 31, of Spring Valley, was scheduled to plead guilty Friday afternoon to a single count of engaging in an illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place, but the hearing in United States District Court was pushed back to 9 a.m. Monday, officials said.

The plea agreement with prosecutors should mean Doyle spends between 100 and 120 months in prison, officials said.

Doyle was originally charged in Greene County Common Pleas Court after being arrested in May on suspicion that he had sex with a martial arts student while on trips to competitions in several different states and foreign counties, according to court documents.

David Jamieson

11-13-2007, 04:25 PM

makes ya wonder doesn't it?

if this is only the face of it, then I don't want to know the body or root of it.

be upright, it's what you can do about it.

GeneChing

11-13-2007, 04:32 PM

...but it's not sexual, thankfully. It's just odd. You need to go to the site and see the pic to really judge.

Outrage as martial arts-obsessed teacher poses with guns in chilling internet photo (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=491250&in_page_id=1770)
Last updated at 09:37am on 2nd November 2007

Comments Comments (7)
A teacher has sparked fury among parents after a chilling picture showing him holding a pair of fake handguns appeared on a popular social networking website.

English and media studies master William Cambata, 29, set up a personal page on hit website Bebo - which shows him adopting a sinister pose dressed in black, with arms crossed, each hand grasping a handgun.

As well as the disturbing picture depicting him glaring menacingly into the camera, Cambata went on to list his interests on the page, which included horror movies, martial arts and role playing games. Using strong language, he also spoke of how he made classroom bullies feel "insignificant".

The site was spotted by parents of pupils who had visited the page - and after one concerned parent wrote to the school complaining Cambata's site "glamorised violence" the shamed teacher was forced to apologise and remove his profile, although he has not been suspended.

A mother of one of Cambata's pupils, who did not want to be named, said: "My son enjoys the lessons he has with Mr Cambata but after looking at the website I was concerned. I was shocked to see him posing with guns.

"The interests he seemed to have were unusual to say the least and I think as a teacher he should be keeping his private life private. Students had been contacting him praising him for the work he has done to combat bullying, but I don't think it was appropriate to do this on a personal website."

Another furious parent wrote to the school fearing the website "glamorised violence" and could encourage pupils to take part in "mind-disturbing interests" - and added that it could encourage a school shooting such as the Columbine massacre in 1999.

Rob Williams, headteacher at Malton School, North Yorks., - where Cambata remains employed - said an internal investigation by the school, following county council disciplinary procedures, have already started, adding that the teacher had been advised not to speak about the case.

He said: "I have spoken with Mr Cambata about the matter and he has deleted his personal space on the website Bebo.

"He explained to me that the website relates to an external interest in role playing games and the picture is related to this. As a teacher posing with toy guns this illustrated poor judgement and he has apologised.

"I can categorically state that this is not another 'Columbine in the making' and if I thought for a minute that a member of staff had posed with real guns I would have called the police.

There will be an investigation into the matter following North Yorkshire County Council disciplinary procedures.

"Mr Cambata is a good teacher who encourages creativity among his students."

Twelve students and a teacher were killed at Columbine High School in America when two students went on a shooting rampage.

rogue

11-13-2007, 05:35 PM

Just another geek playing with toy weapons. The guy probably isn't much different than any other MA geek playing with Chinese or Japanese weapons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkLYYaTWoRc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6dUCOS1bM0

One of my friends with a school used to let parents drop their kids off at his dojo while they ran errands. He finally wised up and now makes sure a parent is on premises with their kid.

Hau Tien

11-13-2007, 05:50 PM

The guy who ran the Karate school I attended as a child was busted for molesting a couple of his female students. Went to jail, got out, moved a province over, and opened up another school where he's been since. Craziness.

1bad65

11-13-2007, 06:20 PM

One of the three local men arrested in the Flagler Beach sex sting filmed by “Dateline NBC” teaches children tae kwon do at a South Daytona martial arts school, police said.

That man, William Roach, 31, believed his female decoy “Amber” was only 13 years old, investigators said.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/special/predator/121906.htm

1bad65

11-13-2007, 06:28 PM

SanHeChuan

11-14-2007, 01:12 AM

Only five years probation, sounds well worth it to me.

The Willow Sword

11-14-2007, 07:07 AM

January 26, 2005
KVUE News

An arrest warrant has been issued for an Austin martial arts instructor accused of sexually assaulting one of his students.

Lorens San pedro, 28, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child -- a first degree felony. San pedro is accused of engaging in sexual acts with a 15-year-old girl for more than a year. Police say San pedro knew the victim since the girl was 8-years-old.""

I wonder what ever happened in this case? I knew lorenz personally, was very suprised when i discovered this.

Peace,TWS

sha0lin1

11-14-2007, 07:35 AM

I wonder what ever happened in this case? I knew lorenz personally, was very suprised when i discovered this.

Peace,TWS

I knew Lorenz too, he was a very good Martial Artist. I was very surprised as well since I had seen him with some very hot of age women. Doubly surprised to see that such a promising martial artist would throw his career away. I understand he did some time, not sure how much, but I understand that he is out now.

sanjuro_ronin

11-14-2007, 08:02 AM

Next weeks episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit will be about an abusive MMA I think, for what I saw in the preview.

SIFU RON

11-14-2007, 10:54 PM

Mook Jong

11-14-2007, 11:09 PM

...but it's not sexual, thankfully. It's just odd. You need to go to the site and see the pic to really judge.

I could see where parents would be concerned about the pic but since when are horror movies, MA and RPGs "mind disturbing interests"? This reminds me of a discussion i think mr. punch brought up a while ago about violent video games.

Chosen-frozen

11-15-2007, 12:50 AM

It is one of the saddest issues going on in the world today

I teach child saftey , if what I do saves one child from being molested
( let alone killed) I will die a happy man.

I started it a few years back through an after school recreation program
for elementary kids....I now have it going through the city in their youth program...
I'll help any one , any age, anytime,

Do you know about Jesseca's Law ?

To think a M/A teacher would do this ? Who did they learn M/A from ?

This brings up another issue that has always that has always bothered me.

Standization of all M/A.

A goverment or state program to regulate , certify, and control it.

Best to U

God save the children !
I`m not sure about now, but when the Brits still controlled Hong Kong you supposedly had to be a member of your style`s "Athletic Association", which was registered with the Govt. in order to operate a martial arts school as a business.
This let your style decide who was fit to teach, but still gave some record keeping ability ty the Govt.

As bad as MA pollitics are now, imagine how much worse it would be with a government body deciding whether or not you were qualified to teach. Or regulating what you could teach. Who would decide? A beureucrat? Some MA from a different style who was appointed by the state? We have enough arguments now about who is qualified for what. As tempting as it is, Govt. involvment of any kind sounds like a bad idea to me.

But maybe crimminal background checks for senior staff wouldn`t be a bad idea to get a business liscence.

cjurakpt

11-15-2007, 04:05 AM

This brings up another issue that has always that has always bothered me. Standization of all M/A. A goverment or state program to regulate , certify, and control it. Best to U God save the children !

it's not about standardization of MA, it's about screening of individuals who are in contact with children in any sort of capacity where their parents are absent - for example, I work in schools as a PT, and aside from my own license, registration and malpractice, I need to have state clearance including fingerprinting, background check, clearance from Dept of Health, clearance from each individual district, a mandated child abuse training class, ID in the buildings, and even still I will almost never treat in a room alone with a child, and certainly never with a door closed if I am; my point is that, it seems almost ridiculous that I have to go through all this, and then parents can just drop off their kid somewhere with someone who has no background check and no real training about how to even spot abuse if they see it (let alone cause it); so again, I agree with your sentiment, I think it just needs to apply across the board to anyone who is dealing with kids (dance, gymnastics, whatever, doesn't matter, they should all be held to some sort of clearance standard)

Black Jack II

11-15-2007, 07:40 AM

it's not about standardization of MA, it's about screening of individuals who are in contact with children in any sort of capacity where their parents are absent - for example,

Bingo.

What this comes down to is PERSONAL responsibility, not any governing body.

Parents need to get off their fat, retarded assess and put in the work to help prevent this sort of occurance. Take any number of these cases and if you track its breakdown you can often see a lack of commonsense or outright dumbf@ckness coming from the kids own family.

It costs you NOTHING to run a quick pedo search on people, do it on your kids school teacher, do it on your kids karate teacher, their dance coach, your neighbors, your sister in laws new boyfriend.

It's worth the few minutes.

eomonroe00

11-15-2007, 08:18 AM

this **** is sick, as a community we should smack the **** out of these people if we ever run into them, they give us all a bad name, just like hollywood is known for liberals who wont keep their mouth shut on politics and underage kids getting trashed and crashing their cars- if this **** continues the martial arts world will be known for being kiddie rapists

BruceSteveRoy

11-15-2007, 08:50 AM

Jody Plauche' made national headlines in March
1984 when he was abducted by his karate teacher
and taken to Los Angeles, Ca. FBI officials
rescued Jody and his abductor was arrested. Upon
his karate teacher’s return to Baton Rouge, La.,
Jody’s father, Gary Plauche’, in front of a local
television camera, shot and killed the man who
kidnapped and sexually molested his son. The
sexual abuse had occurred for a period of more
than one year.

http://www.jodyplauche.com/

Clip of a CouryTV show on the case. WARNING: Site includes video of the shooting and NSFW ads.
http://www.sikvid.com/vids/2479.html

a few things i wanted to asay about this. i am not for vigilantism but in this father's position i probably would have done the same or simialr thing. the only difference is i would have shot below the waste to avoid murder/attempted murder charge. and if my aim is decent enough that shot could prevent him from abusing more kids and i would serve an agravated assault with deadly wepaon charge for that. but i am curious what sort of punishment the father got for this.

The Willow Sword

11-15-2007, 12:45 PM

a few things i wanted to asay about this. i am not for vigilantism but in this father's position i probably would have done the same or simialr thing. the only difference is i would have shot below the waste to avoid murder/attempted murder charge. and if my aim is decent enough that shot could prevent him from abusing more kids and i would serve an agravated assault with deadly wepaon charge for that. but i am curious what sort of punishment the father got for this.

Well i would have gone for the head. Its what should be done to EVERY child molester out there and every pederast who chooses to abuse an innocent child.
Its the one thing that hard liner neo cons and i can agree on.

TWS

1bad65

11-15-2007, 12:56 PM

a few things i wanted to asay about this. i am not for vigilantism but in this father's position i probably would have done the same or simialr thing. the only difference is i would have shot below the waste to avoid murder/attempted murder charge. and if my aim is decent enough that shot could prevent him from abusing more kids and i would serve an agravated assault with deadly wepaon charge for that. but i am curious what sort of punishment the father got for this.

If you shoot someone, you will be charged with attempted murder. Even if you don't aim for the head or heart, the victim could well bleed to death.

The father got probation. 5 years I believe, it was not long. It was a plea bargain. The molester's family was upset, but the prosecutor said if it had went to trial he doubted he could find a jury that would convict the father. So he offered a pretty light deal and it was accepted.

SanHeChuan

11-15-2007, 02:12 PM

BruceSteveRoy

11-15-2007, 02:18 PM

that is true but missing man parts significantly decreases sexual drive.

Lucas

11-15-2007, 02:47 PM

Dead men have neither.

Oso

11-15-2007, 02:51 PM

I just found out from my friend/mentor that there have been 5 or 6 teachers in the WNC mountains over the last 2 decades that have been caught at this. One of them, right here in town, has been caught twice in the last 5 years. We were discussing the state of martial arts in the region and he was stipulating that this is a factor in why few schools do well here.

SIFU RON

11-16-2007, 12:34 AM

Shaolin Wookie

11-17-2007, 07:06 AM

Shaolin Wookie

11-17-2007, 07:13 AM

Psych. evals should be standard for all teachers of minors. Seriously, look at what goes on in the school system. These female harpies that prey on the sexuality of pubescent boys (just as damaging as male-female); the pederasts that prey on young girls and boys. The priests that take advantage of the trust the children give them.

Why haven't we instituted mandatory psychological evaluations for all teachers entering into this line of work, dealing with children? Yes, the priests, too.

Actually, I'm editing this post: if you required psych. evals, there'd probably be no teachers to begin with (especially in Tae Kwan Do)....LOL......

GeneChing

11-27-2007, 10:29 AM

When I started this thread, I knew I'd be ttt-ing it regularly.

Martial arts teacher arrested for kicking student 200 times (http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-va--kickingarrest1126nov26,0,1593850.story)
By the Associated Press
November 26, 2007

SUFFOLK, Va. - A martial arts instructor has been arrested for kicking an 11-year-old student more than 200 times, causing internal injuries and possibly breaking a rib.

Police say 47-year-old Susan Bateman of Hampton was arrested November 20th and charged with one felony count of child endangerment.

Police Lieutenant D.J. George says Bateman issued a challenge November 7th during class at a Suffolk dojo to see how many kicks to the abdomen students could take. Students got into a push-up position while Bateman kicked, stopping when the student either said to or went to his or her knees.

George says the 11-year-old boy and another student took more than 200 kicks as the class counted.

The student didn't tell his parents until he needed medical attention

PeaceonEarth

11-27-2007, 11:03 PM

]He is innocent of the false allegations![/B]

jdhowland

11-28-2007, 12:49 PM

When I started this thread, I knew I'd be ttt-ing it regularly.

Good point, Gene.

Minors are vulnerable to abuse from either sex and it is not always sexually motivated. You have to watch the control freaks, as well. Even those (especially those) of us who wear badges. This reminds me of a woman corrections officer I once worked with who exulted in her ability to make life harder for tough male convicts with impunity.

As a C.O., one of the more discouraging factoids I deal with is that sexual predators who abuse children by preference are never rehabilitated. It appears to be a "hard-wired" sexual preference and is not curable.

This is an important thread for teachers. All the public exposure does make "martial arts schools" seem scary. But, as many here have pointed out, any situation in which a child has limited adult supervision is scary.

tattooedmonk

11-28-2007, 04:11 PM

Martial arts teacher arrested for kicking student 200 times
By the Associated Press
November 26, 2007

SUFFOLK, Va. - A martial arts instructor has been arrested for kicking an 11-year-old student more than 200 times, causing internal injuries and possibly breaking a rib.

Police say 47-year-old Susan Bateman of Hampton was arrested November 20th and charged with one felony count of child endangerment.

Police Lieutenant D.J. George says Bateman issued a challenge November 7th during class at a Suffolk dojo to see how many kicks to the abdomen students could take. Students got into a push-up position while Bateman kicked, stopping when the student either said to or went to his or her knees.

George says the 11-year-old boy and another student took more than 200 kicks as the class counted.

The student didn't tell his parents until he needed medical attention I just got done reading this one. Just sick

Black Jack II

11-30-2007, 08:37 AM

Check this out. Dumb****ery at its strip mall finest.

http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=7411739

doug maverick

11-30-2007, 09:29 AM

BruceSteveRoy

11-30-2007, 09:49 AM

seriously. wtf? 11 years old!!:eek: i think they should institute an eye for an eye policy on this woman and have a person kick her in the abdomen 200+ times. but it would have to be comparable to a full grown adult kicking a child. i suggest getting a professional soccer player or NFL kicker to do it.

1bad65

11-30-2007, 10:31 AM

what kind of **** is that. she deserves to go to jail. i remember when you couldn;t arrest a martial arts instructor for things like that. actually i remember this one case of a guy killing his student by kicking him in the chest. this wasn;t that long ago like 1999-2000 maybe even 2001. and he got off scott free, parents couldn;t even sue him cause they signed a waiver

I wonder if it was just a freak accident. Like just one kick during sparring or something.

A waiver is not blanket protection. The instructors still have to take reasonable steps and use their experience and common sense to keep the students from being injured or they can be held liable.

GeneChing

11-30-2007, 11:35 AM

Go to the website, there's a nice video article.

Karate teacher erred, others say (http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-news_karate_1129nov29,0,5701763.story)
A Suffolk instructor has been charged with felony child endangerment for allegedly kicking a student 200 times.
By ALICIA P.Q. WITTMEYER | 247-4535
November 29, 2007

When Scott Hayes first started training in karate in 1982, it wasn't unusual for his instructors to strike or land blows on their students.

"Things were a lot more rough back then," said Hayes, who now runs Scott Hayes Karate in Newport News. "If you were looking at the clock, instead of paying attention to your teacher, you would have been taken down."

But karate training has changed a lot since those days, Hayes said.

And what police say a Suffolk instructor did to one of her students — kicking him more than 200 times, causing him to need medical treatment — is not an accepted teaching technique, he and other local karate instructors say.

"It's not going to toughen them up, it's not going to improve their physical fitness," Hayes said. "Overall, I think it was bad judgment."

Susan Bateman, 47, turned herself in to Suffolk police last week after the parents of one of her students filed a complaint. She's been charged with felony child endangerment.

Police say Bateman challenged her students to see how many kicks in the rib and abdomen area they could receive before stopping. Two took over 200 kicks, and one of them, an 11-year-old boy, told his parents a week after the incident had taken place because he needed medical attention and likely has a broken rib, police said.

Bateman is an instructor at husband Jeff Bateman's School of Karate, which has studios in Hampton and Suffolk.

Several local instructors knew Jeff Bateman professionally, and said they were surprised and shocked when they heard the police account of what happened. Susan Bateman is listed in the World Karate Union Hall of Fame as 2001 Associate Instructor of the year.

The Batemans could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

People training in karate do learn sometimes how to take a blow, said Steve Pohle, who owns Shotokan Karate in Newport News. But, he said, it's a technique taught to people much older than 11.

"They don't have the muscle mass or the bone density to handle high impacts," Pohle said. "In my system, we definitely do not have contact with kids like that."

Since news of Bateman's arrest came out, some instructors say they've had to deal with nervous parents who aren't sure what they're getting their kids into by enrolling them in martial arts classes.

Clint Green, who runs Green's Martial Arts Center in Hampton, said he had one parent who had read about the case online, and wasn't sure about bringing her son back in.

"We had to tell her, no, no, no, we do not do things that way," Green said. "It'll probably be something that'll come up a few times in the near future."

Parents interested in enrolling their children in martial arts classes should be sure to watch a few classes, and talk to other parents who have children enrolled in the schools, to make sure they're being taught by reputable teachers, instructors say. And if parents aren't allowed to watch, that's a bad sign.

Police say they don't know whether parents were watching on the day the kicks occurred at Bateman's studio.

"If the instructor says they can't see, run," Pohle said. "Run, don't walk."

bodhitree

11-30-2007, 12:00 PM

opps, i thought it said 'busty teachers', wrong thread

diego

11-30-2007, 01:58 PM

"Since news of Bateman's arrest came out, some instructors say they've had to deal with nervous parents who aren't sure what they're getting their kids into by enrolling them in martial arts classes.

Clint Green, who runs Green's Martial Arts Center in Hampton, said he had one parent who had read about the case online, and wasn't sure about bringing her son back in."

that's interesting issue...it's not like back in the day where kids fought toe to toe in the 50's and you had to take up boxing...columbine shootings etc, why would a parent enroll a child in martial arts when you can just bring them to the firing range and enroll them in meditation and compassion classes so they don't abuse their weaponry...

it's like i been thinking, is there a proper way to condition your knuckles...i mean banging your knuckles on a hard surface is not normal behaviour according to any species, yet we still do it when god gave us guns so we don't have to...

Mas Judt

11-30-2007, 02:42 PM

Karate should be outlawed.

There I said it.

It just looks funny. And they get all those people to run around in Japanese underwear rubbing up against one another.

It is just wrong, I tell you. Wrong.

SIFU RON

11-30-2007, 07:50 PM

It is not in M/A alone, it's everywhere. Think this is bad, how about the teachers in regular schools ? Goona quit sending the kids to school ? Nope.

Got to deal with it, educate the children from an early age. hey parents wake up !

It is embarrashing to me , as a Sifu, to see this happen among any of us. Still don't give in, help more. Be American and get mad . The biggest problem I have seen with M/A is , it is not regulated by anyone one. How about doing a background check when someone opens a school or applys for a liscense.

Yeah ! I know, but, we have back yard mechanics right.

Sound on,

Sifu Ron

Mook Jong

11-30-2007, 08:57 PM

GeneChing

12-03-2007, 11:19 AM

What a tragedy.

Motive Sought in Stabbing At Martial Arts Academy
Police Say Man Used a Sword to Kill His Wife (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/02/AR2007120202075.html)
By Katherine Shaver and Yolanda Woodlee
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, December 3, 2007; Page B04

Prince George's County police yesterday investigated what led a Temple Hills man to allegedly kill his wife with a sword Saturday before attempting suicide in their martial arts studio in Clinton.

The couple, identified by family and friends as Chris and Eva Smith, operated C&E Martial Arts Academy in the 7400 block of Old Alexandria Ferry Road. Eva Smith, 34, was stabbed at the academy about 2:30 p.m., police and friends said. The couple's 18-month-old daughter was there but was not injured, police said. No customers were there at the time.

Chris Smith, 40, was in critical condition yesterday at Southern Maryland Hospital Center, Smith's mother, Essie Stone, said. She said she had been told only that he remained unconscious. Police would not say how he attempted suicide.

Cpl. Arvel Lewis said police were not releasing the couple's names because the husband had not been charged. Lewis said the husband was the only suspect in the woman's death but could not be legally be arrested while he was unconscious.

Stone said her son and Eva had been married about two years and lived with their child and Eva's 12-year-old son from a previous marriage. Chris Smith also has four teenage children from a previous marriage, Stone said.

Jacques Chevalier II of Hyattsville said Smith had operated a martial arts academy in Landover and worked at another in Greenbelt. As a multi-level black belt, he was well known in local martial arts circles as "Master Chris," said Chevalier, who said he and his son took lessons from Smith from 1996 to 2003.

Chevalier said he had not been to C&E academy but that martial arts students often used blunt swords in class. Academies keep sharper swords as decoration, he added.

"I know he loved his children and his families, and he's trained so many people over the years," Chevalier said of Smith. "It seems way, way out of character for him."

Stone said she can't believe her son would have stabbed his wife intentionally.

"He told me he had found the woman of his life, his love," Stone said. "I thought they had a perfect marriage, but you never know with any couple."

Eva Smith's parents declined an interview.

The academy was closed yesterday. Someone had left fading pink roses on a white Toyota Forerunner parked out front, and wildflowers had been placed at the front door.

No one answered at the couple's small brick ranch house in the 2500 block of Easton Street in the Hillcrest Heights neighborhood.

Two people who worked with Smith at Life Stride Inc., a District company that provides services for the disabled, said they were surprised to hear of the incident.

Shirley Johnson said she remembered him as jovial and hard-working when they worked together from 1999 until 2003.

"He didn't strike me to be that type of person," Johnson said. "He joked with everybody. He got along with everyone."

GeneChing

12-04-2007, 11:24 AM

I confess. I'm really getting into this thread. I get all these newsfeeds and they make an interesting barometer when complied in one place over time. I'm also linking one that I gave its own thread today here for archival purposes since it's quite relevant. Counte Dante (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=823521)

A Bouncer Tells Jurors Assassins Framed Him (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/nyregion/04bouncer.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin)
By MICHAEL BRICK
Published: December 4, 2007

On trial for three killings connected to a strip parlor in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, a bouncer told jurors yesterday that he was being framed by a squad of police assassins acting on orders from a corrupt detective who was out to shake down the bouncer’s private security business while his martial arts students conducted countersurveillance black ops against the Police Department.

Stephen Sakai, on trial for three murders in Brooklyn.

He vowed to prove this just as soon as his mother arrived at the courthouse with a secret notebook of evidence.

Then it turned out his mother was already sitting in the courtroom. She was wearing a floppy brown hat. She did not seem to have a notebook, secret or otherwise.

“He didn’t recognize the hat,” called out the bouncer’s mother, Carmen Troutman, explaining her son’s oversight and not much else.

The bouncer, Stephen Sakai, 32, fixed his gaze on the middle distance. If vexed by this turn, he was undeterred.

The trial will not be Mr. Sakai’s last. He was arrested last year on charges of firing into a crowd of Chelsea nightclub patrons, killing one and injuring three. That case awaits trial.

In Brooklyn, prosecutors have charged Mr. Sakai with murdering three men associated with the Sweet Cherry, a nightclub where he worked. The victims were a disc jockey, a sometime patron and a security coordinator.

On the strength of forensic evidence, signed confessions and documents taken from Mr. Sakai’s apartment, prosecutors rested their case yesterday. A defense lawyer, Kleon C. Andreadis, stood and told the judge he had told Mr. Sakai the consequences of opening himself to cross-examination.

Dressed in a dark suit, his head shaved bald, Mr. Sakai was led to the witness stand.

In his opening statement last month, Mr. Andreadis admonished the jurors to keep their minds open.

Mr. Sakai, who was born and raised in Queens as Stephen Sanders before legally changing his name in 1998, spoke in an accent that recalled Mr. Sulu of “Star Trek” and that seemed to come and go as his pace accelerated. He told of studying martial arts overseas and of training one of the victims, Wayne Tyson, 56.

At Mr. Tyson’s apartment in Brooklyn, he said, they had taken turns pounding buckets of gravel for hours on end to develop calloused knuckles. Those sessions, he said, explained why his blood was later found in the apartment.

Then his lawyer asked about signed confessions. Mr. Sakai said the detectives had taken his glasses, had obscured the text of the written statements and had threatened his family.

One of the detectives, Mr. Sakai said, had been following him for weeks before his arrest, seeking work in his private security practice.

In response to the harassment, Mr. Sakai said, he had sent another victim in the case, Irving Matos, 42, to spy on the police. A third victim, Edwin Mojica, 41, had been a target of extortion by the same officers, Mr. Sakai claimed.

Anything to add? Mr. Andreadis asked him.

“These two people died because they supported me in collecting evidence against a dirty cop,” Mr. Sakai said. He told the jury he had taken notes of his meetings with the police, leaving a copy in the open for investigators to find and hiding a second.

“When they think they have everything,” Mr. Sakai said, “they get ****y.”

A prosecutor, Timothy G. Gough, regarded Mr. Sakai quizzically. By way of opening, he asked a few questions “just so that we’re all reasonably on the same page here.”

Asked about his adopted name, Mr. Sakai said he had taken it “as an honor toward my family members.”

Moving right along, Mr. Gough asked: “You don’t have a passport. How did you go overseas?”

By private jet, Mr. Sakai said, courtesy of a businessman who trains young fighters. He told of competing in Cambodia and Vietnam, most recently in the five months before his arrest.

Then Mr. Gough asked about the secret journal.

“The journal that I have was given to a friend,” Mr. Sakai said, “and it’s on its way here.”

“Really?” Mr. Gough asked.

Actually, Mr. Sakai said, his mother was bringing the journal to court.

“Isn’t she in the courtroom?” Mr. Gough asked.

Mr. Sakai said she was not. Mr. Gough pointed out Ms. Troutman in the gallery.

From her position by the center aisle, Ms. Troutman spoke up in a clear, unaccented voice.

“It’s a new hat,” she said.

From the witness stand, Mr. Sakai accused his lawyer of taking part in a conspiracy against him. Justice John P. Walsh, who is presiding over the trial in State Supreme Court, called the lawyers out for a private conference. Mr. Sakai gazed off. The jurors stared down at their feet. Several minutes passed.

Later, Mr. Sakai was asked to explain the martial arts skills listed on his résumé, including ninjitsu.

Mr. Gough asked whether he meant ninjitsu as in ninja training to become an assassin.

“Yes and no,” Mr. Sakai said. “Upon the training of the ninja, you have to be more, how can I say, more in tune with yourself. More in tune with yourself.”

Three Harmonies

12-04-2007, 02:13 PM

This is a problem worldwide that has no easy fix. We can screen all we want, but first time offenders will slip by, so thats not a solution. I agree education and awareness are key attributes all people need, let alone children.
As for killing/castration etc. Tough call. The overwhelming majority of sex offenders had it done to them as children. Technially it is an illness then. Do we want to start killing people with mental issues? Probably not. But this BS of slapping them on the wrist with 3-5 years is insane when we have people doing 20-life for a bag of pot!
Our priorities in this country are very mixed when it comes to the judicial system. It does seem to be happening more regularily, but it has always happened (let us CMA-ists not forget the Bracy issue's back in the day!). I think there is more media attention, plus we are seeing a surge of "false" claims by girls/parents wanting revenge on certain individuals! Read something the other week that said something like 80% of the reported rape's are bogus! Now I understand that is not just children, but there have been lots of cases similar to this as well.
So what is the solution? I think we really need to look at the problem, and what I am about to write has not been brought up......

We are overpopulated on earth. Period. Too many people. Not enough space/resources. This causes angst, mental hysteria, breakdown of society and it's morals! Same thing happens in the animal kingdom, hence why the checks and balances are crucial.
I used to work for one of the worlds premier Herpetologists, and he told me of a story back in the 50's where at the Philidelphia Zoo they did an experiment where they put 2 mice in a cube (I want to say it was 9 ft cubed but don't hold me to it), and just let them be. Of course they bred like it was going out of style (thats what mice do) and within no time they had a butt load of mice in the cube. For a period they all got along fine. But once the population reached a certain density the scientists observed that the mice started to actually just kill other mice because of the competition for food, sex, etc. How is this different than earth?
It is time as "superior beings" that humans take a long, cold, hard look at the realities of the situation. We cannot continue to breed like nobody's business! It is crazy up here in Seattle where there is lots of money, women have 3-4 children running all over the place. People are not disciplining there kids. They are not raising them properly, and we are progressivley becoming a more selfish, arrogant society that has no checks on procreation.
I may be over simplifying things, but I stand firm in my opinion that we need to start checking ourselves when it comes to population. Not only because of the sex offender issues, but alos think of water, food, and health care!

My 2 cents,
Jake :cool:

Dale Dugas

12-04-2007, 02:19 PM

ban guns and bring back the kwan daos...

Then we could seperate the wheat from the chafe

Mas Judt

12-04-2007, 03:46 PM

Your a Nazi Charlie Brown, er Jake.

The families around me have several kids each, are devoted to raising good kids and the kids are great little people. Maybe you just live around sh!tty people.

Lucas

12-04-2007, 04:39 PM

Be American and get mad.

Thats so quote worthy

Three Harmonies

12-04-2007, 05:03 PM

Mas
Easy with the nazi talk brother;)! Perhaps (don't get me started on the Seattlites ;)). I make a general statement, but I will be honest....people are not raising their kids like 15-20 years ago when I was a wee one! That is fact. I truly believe that the midwest people are MUCH more laid back and wholesome than other places. People certainly do a better job in the midwest IMO.
Jake

Black Jack II

12-04-2007, 05:19 PM

We are overpopulated on earth. Period.

Wrong. Just because you say it with the word period in the sentance does not make it ring true.

Claiming that the world is dangerously overpopulated was false when it was first postulated back in the 19th century and it is still remains a false theory now, despite the fad behind it, a fad btw driven into the mainstream by the Population Bomb, which was published in the 60's and the United Nations Population Fund.

Too many people. Not enough space/resources. This causes angst, mental hysteria, breakdown of society and it's morals! Same thing happens in the animal kingdom, hence why the checks and balances are crucial.

By checks and balances most people who bring this up either mean eugenics or what is now staged as reproductive rights. Call it what you will but thinking that having too many people in the world is the inevitable cause of our maladies, some of them being starvation and war is just crappy wrapped up Malthusianism, who never understood modern farming methods.

It is time as "superior beings" that humans take a long, cold, hard look at the realities of the situation. We cannot continue to breed like nobody's business!

We are superior beings, we need to f@ck our heads off, make more superior beings, and populate the entire unknown universe.

I may be over simplifying things, but I stand firm in my opinion that we need to start checking ourselves when it comes to population.

Lets read between the lines, your talking about government coercion, eugenics, forced sterlization, population control, UNFPA Chinese government forced abortion garbage.

All utter garbage.

Black Jack II

12-04-2007, 05:20 PM

Though, as a side note, I do agree, a lot of parents now need to get their act together for the most part.

But there are still a TON of amazing parents out in the world, way more than bad though.

Lucas

12-04-2007, 05:28 PM

Though, as a side note, I do agree, a lot of parents now need to get their act together for the most part.

But there are still a TON of amazing parents out in the world, way more than bad though.

I'll agree with that. On a day to day basis, I see many more good parental interaction than bad. Maybe its my town, but I think its just the simple fact we have way more people, so there is more dirt visible than there may have been in the past.

Mas Judt

12-04-2007, 05:32 PM

oh there are plenty of idiots here too...

GeneChing

12-11-2007, 12:11 PM

I wonder at the details of the circumstances here...

Campbell River man hurt sparring with martial arts teacher wins damages
(http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hWqoBBeJ8MEkD1N1H-1ecawv3W5A)
VANCOUVER - A man who sued his martial arts teacher after his knee was injured while the teacher was demonstrating a move has been awarded damages of more than $155,000 in B.C. Supreme Court.

Court was told that Robert Parker of Campbell River suffered a ligament tear and damage to the cartilage of his right knee as a result of pressure applied by Jodey Ingalls on Jan. 23, 2003.

Parker said he heard his knee pop, rip and tear, suffered excruciating pain and blacked out for 20 to 30 seconds.

Parker eventually had surgery on the knee, in May 2004, but his knee is still stiff in the morning and he limps for the first couple of steps he take.

Court was told he can't ski or do martial arts, play baseball or ride his bike off-road, has gained 30 pounds since the injury and continues to take pain and anti-inflammatory medication.

He's also unable to work on his house or trade work with his friends and his ability to help with chores around the house is reduced.

GeneChing

12-13-2007, 10:56 AM

It might not be a 'teacher' either, but since they did investigate some teachers, I thought this would sit better on this thread than say, a ninja thread (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35945).

Ninja Hunt (http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2007/12/10/071210ta_talk_mcgrath)
by Ben McGrath December 10, 2007

In retrospect, it figures that a serial “ninja burglar” would turn up on Staten Island, a borough whose biggest cultural export, the Wu-Tang Clan, long ago nicknamed the place Shaolin, in honor of kung-fu movies. This particular bandit, who is now thought to have robbed eighteen homes on the island in the past seven months, acquired his honorific in September, when he encountered a Dongan Hills resident named Phil Chiolo while raiding Chiolo’s home. He was dressed all in black, with a black face mask, Chiolo said, and he carried nun-chucks, which he used to club Chiolo in the chest, head, and shins before Chiolo was able to retaliate by stabbing at him with a steak knife.

Chiolo, who suffered a welt near his collarbone, said the other day that he is fine, but Staten Island has since gone ninja mad, with the burglar enjoying a kind of romantic outlaw notoriety. Other victims have likened him to a gazelle or a cat (“very athletic, very quiet, and very fast”), capable of scaling walls and leaping noiselessly out windows. (No one has heard him speak.) The “word on the street,” according to a Staten Island Advance editorial, was that ninja costumes were going to be an especially popular Halloween choice around the borough this year, and several weeks ago a local home-security company incorporated an image of a rappelling ninja in its print ads. The Post’s police blotter, last month, included a small item about a man who, after allegedly attempting to flood his landlord’s apartment, exclaimed to the cops, “I know who the ninja is.” If he knew, apparently he didn’t tell, because recently the ninja burglar struck again—twice in one night, escaping with a hundred and thirty thousand dollars’ worth of loot. “Now he’s the famous ninja who’s disturbing our peace,” Dr. Mohammad Khalid, a dentist from Pakistan who lives in Todt Hill, said last week, while standing under some trees near the scene of the latest break-ins. “He looks like a really professional robber that does not leave any marks or anything.”

The N.Y.P.D. has assigned a task force to the ninja caper, and its officers, according to the Advance, have resorted to asking strangers point blank, “Are you the ninja burglar?” Dr. Khalid, who serves as the president of the Iron Hills Civic Association, could be called the primary civilian combatant. For the past two months, he has employed a supplementary private security detail for the organization’s membership, which includes six hundred homes, and it seemed no accident, he thought, that this latest spree occurred just a block outside the prescribed range of his surveillance crew.

It was Wednesday, which, as some amateur profilers have noted, is the ninja burglar’s favorite night, but no one would have mistaken Khalid for a ninja as he stood gazing at neighboring windows in the dark. Khalid is rotund and deliberate. He wore a suit and tie, and was on his way to meet with another civic association to discuss expanding the surveillance range. “Yesterday at my own home, which is about half a mile from here, my garage was open, because somebody came to fix my computer printer,” he said. “He opened the garage and went down to the basement to get some cables. Five police guys came in and they grabbed him: ‘What are you doing here?’ He said, ‘I’m fixing the doctor’s computer.’ ” Khalid smiled. He believes the ninja’s days are numbered.

On Thursday, as Police Commissioner Ray Kelly prepared to address a gathering of concerned Staten Islanders on the East Shore, a group of ninjas in training at the Island Martial Arts Academy demonstrated considerably greater courtesy than their renegade cousin. Instead of breaking and entering, they bowed before a doorway and spoke Korean salutations. None of them appeared to have stab wounds, although many were quite proficient with nun-chucks, given their age (five to nine, which distinguishes them from the academy’s peewee ninjas, who are three to five). Some held pieces of plywood with their names written on them. It was board-breaking week.

The academy’s master, Pete Paramithis, was careful to point out that all his nun-chucks are made of foam, and he expressed concern that the ninja burglar was giving karate a bad name. Representatives of the N.Y.P.D. had already dropped by, looking for leads. Paramithis had a theory that the burglar, if he had any training at all, might be the product of an older, more punitive approach to martial-arts instruction, involving pushups, as opposed to the positive reinforcement that he favors. “Negative training creates little monsters,” Paramithis said. “It’s just like ‘The Karate Kid.’ You’ve got the good guy, and the guy who’s, like, ‘Kill, kill!’ ” Paramithis teaches concepts like “bully awareness” and “stranger danger.” He picked up a pen and wrote “Codes of Ninja” on a sheet of paper, above the words “concentration,” “courage,” “confidence,” “perseverance,” and “discipline.”

Meanwhile, at the Shaolin Kung Fu Temple, near the North Shore, Sifu Paula Wong, an instructor, seemed unaware of the burglar and his legend. “We’re not familiar with the ninja, since a ninja is an assassin,” she said. “Our training is more philosophy, with Buddhism and philosophies like Bruce Lee.”

Lucas

12-13-2007, 11:10 AM

It was bound to happen.

I'm just glad someone else got to it before I was forced to bring the Ninja back in style!

BM2

12-14-2007, 10:14 AM

If you shoot someone, you will be charged with attempted murder. Even if you don't aim for the head or heart, the victim could well bleed to death.

The father got probation. 5 years I believe, it was not long. It was a plea bargain. The molester's family was upset, but the prosecutor said if it had went to trial he doubted he could find a jury that would convict the father. So he offered a pretty light deal and it was accepted.

Man, I couldn't believe it when they showed it on the TV. Someone killing someone.
He did have a good plan. He acted as if he was talking on a pay phone at the airport when the cops were escorting the soon to be dead molestor past him. The father turns as if to look what was going on with all the TV cameras etc. and turns back away then times it as the soon to be dead molestor walks by and he puts a gun point blank to his head and drops him.
It should be pointed out that the repeat child molestor also had a smirk on his face with all the attention he was getting. He never even saw it coming from what I can recall.
Just as what was quoted, the prosecutor doubted anyone would convict him and offered , maybe 5 years?, probation to the father.
Oh, I don't think the molester was a repeat offender after that.:D

GeneChing

12-14-2007, 01:05 PM

Given Dillon's take on what happened, this one sounds trumped up to me. If I was approached by a prostitute, I might come back with a similar smartalecky remark. Of course, there's no way to know what really happened, but a snappy comeback is not grounds for being busted like this in my mind.

Friday December 14, 2007
Man keeps teaching kids karate, despite prostitution sting (http://www.dailymail.com/News/200712140435)
Karate teacher caught in prostitution sting apologizes to parents
by Jacob Messer
The Coal Valley News

MADISON - Three months have passed since Greg Dillon made the dumbest decision of his life.

It was Sept. 26, the night Dillon, 45, of Cross Lanes, was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of solicitation, according to Kanawha County Magistrate Court documents.

Kanawha County Sheriff's Department employees were conducting a prostitution investigation in Jefferson and the neighboring communities, an area that is known as "The Badlands" because it is home to a slew of strip clubs and adult establishments.

Deputy S.D. Ferrell came in contact with Dillon during the investigation, according to an incident report filed by Detective R.A. Lane.

While speaking with the female deputy, Dillon offered Ferrell $30 to $40 for sex, according to the report. Once the offer for the sexual act was made, other department members arrested him.

"I'm guilty of what happened," Dillon told the Coal Valley News. "You make stupid mistakes and you pay for it."

Dillon thought his controversial arrest would destroy his pet project, a twice-a-week karate class called Danville Defensive Arts.

Although it cost him between 10 and 15 students, whose parents removed them from his class, Dillon still has about 35 students.

"Most of them decided to stay," said Dillon, a divorced father of two.

"There are a lot of good people in Madison and Boone County. They have been very forgiving and very loyal.

"From the beginning, it was very humiliating and I was very remorseful. I weathered the storm. It made me a better person."

Dillon, a Scott High School graduate who originally is from Hewett, said the incident was a misunderstanding.

"I didn't have my pants around my ankles," said Dillon, who claims his judgment was impaired because he drank a margarita at The Tomahawk's Smokehouse and Saloon that night.

"I just said and did something very stupid."

Dillon defended himself in a letter he distributed to his students' parents on Oct. 11.

"It is true," he wrote.

"I was arrested for this. I was coming out of a restaurant/bar when a woman flagged me down. I asked if she was broken down. She said she was stranded from South Carolina.

"I asked if she needed help and, in response, she said she would give me oral sex for $30. I then smartallecky asked her what she would do for $40. I thought it was funny.

"She walked away. I thought nothing of it and pulled out into traffic to go home. Three Kanawha County Sheriff's (Department) deputy cars pulled me over and arrested me. I spent the night in jail, not getting out until 8:30 a.m. the next day.

"That is pretty much all there was to it. It was a lapse in judgment to say those things to the police woman. But I do not consort with hookers/prostitutes, and I am not some pimp or peddler of flesh, nor am I a sex offender or anything that implies."

A group of parents confronted Dillon in the wake of his arrest. He answered their questions and addressed their concerns.

That wasn't good enough for some, who promptly removed their children from his class. Others, however, were satisfied.

Take Rhea Maynard, for example. She decided not to remove her granddaughter, Scott High School sop****re Breianna Maynard.

"People's private lives are their private lives," Rhea Maynard said.

"He has never done anything with any of the kids. The parents sit right there. They know nothing wrong is happening.

"Maybe he tried to pick up the woman like they said or maybe he had a drink and had a smart aleck comeback for her like he said," she added.

"I don't know, and I don't care. That's his private life. I hold nothing against him and I trust him with my granddaughter."

Breianna Maynard said she enjoys the class so much she gave up cheerleading to concentrate on karate.

"I had been cheering since I was 3 years old," she said. "I gave it up after 12 years because I fell in love with this. It is so much fun. He teaches you so much.

"It builds your confidence and self esteem. There isn't a man in the house since my grandfather died, but I'm not afraid anymore. I feel safe and secure because I know I can defend myself."

Some of the parents who removed their children from his class questioned Dillon's credibility.

Those parents declined on-the-record interview requests, however.

"I'm not the greatest martial artist, but I can teach it," said Dillon, who claims he has participated in karate since 1984.

"I'm not going to make any of my students a superman. I'm going to make them a better man. I'm not just teaching martial arts; I'm also teaching personal development."

According to certificates that are displayed inside the building that houses his class, Dillon received his first black belt in 1995, through Sei-Bu-Kan, and his second black belt in 1997, through Zentokukai.

"This is my second stint as a teacher," said Dillon, who opened Danville Defensive Arts in February.

"The first time, I taught about a dozen students out of my house. That went on for a few years."

Dillon received his Karate-Do Zentokukai Dojo Charter in 2000, through the Okinawa Shorinji-Ryu.

Dillon has the support of Kippy Robinson, who has two grandchildren enrolled at Danville Defensive Arts.

"This is a good thing for these kids," Robinson said.

Jennie Thompson agreed.

"He is a good guy," said Thompson, who takes the class along with her son. "He is great with the kids."

Dillon said he offers his classes on Monday evenings (5:30 to 6 for ages 5 to 7; 6:15 to 7 for ages 8 to 12 and 7 to 8:30 for ages 13 and older) and Saturday mornings (10 to 10:30 for ages 5 to 7; 10:45 to 11:30 for ages 8 to 12 and 11:30 to 12:30 for ages 13 and older).

Classes are located at 271 Main Street, which formerly was home to Mac's Kawasaki Cycle and Supply. Dillon said he moved the classes from the Danville Community Center in June to have more space.

Cost is $65 for all disciplines or $40 for karate only, he said.

"We can work out something moneywise," said Dillon, who thanked Bill Cook and Lauren McNeely for their support before, during and after his arrest.

"It is great to get paid for this service, but I'm not in it to get rich.

"It's more important that these people train. For some of my students, this is the only physical activity they get."

lkfmdc

12-14-2007, 01:10 PM

If that is how it went down, wouldn't it be entrapment?

sanjuro_ronin

12-14-2007, 01:14 PM

If that is how it went down, wouldn't it be entrapment?

Well, you can't be arrest for solicitation of the "hooker" in question is the one doing the offering.

hskwarrior

12-14-2007, 01:24 PM

thats what i thought. if she offered first to give HIM oral sex for 30 bucks, sheet, i'dda took it too!!!! nah not really.

but i might have had the same type of come back as he had.

i'd support him after that too.

GeneChing

12-17-2007, 11:26 AM

A 76-year-old man?

Gracie family fighter arrested for mugging (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/15/content_7253445.htm)
www.chinaview.cn 2007-12-15 09:29:59

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Mixed martial arts fighter Ryan Gracie was arrested on Friday for mugging and hitting a 76-year-old man in the city of Sao Paulo, according to the local press.

The athlete is a member of the Gracie family, which got internationally famous for developing the so-called Brazilian jiu jitsu.

The 33 year-old fighter allegedly attacked the retired man, who lived in a building next to his own, in the Itaim Bibi district, Sao Paulo's south zone. After injuring the victim's left hand with a kitchen knife, Gracie stole his car, informed the police.

While driving, he crashed into a phone booth and ended up hitting the vehicle against a road rail. Gracie left the car behind and tried to steal a van, but the driver managed to get rid of him.

After that, stated the police, he used the knife to try to steal a motorcycle from a courier, who hit his helmet on the fighter's head, while other bikers came to offer help. They held him and called the police.

The chief of the precinct where Gracie was taken stated that he will undergo tests to identify the presence of any drug in his organism. In 2000, he was arrested for stabbing a person in a fight in a nightclub in Rio de Janeiro.

The Gracies are also the founders of mixed martial arts tournaments, which started when the family's fighters defied fighters of other martial arts to prove the efficiency of their jiu jitsu, adapted from the original Japanese jiu jitsu. In order to include all the different styles, the challenges had no rules.

GeneChing

12-17-2007, 01:42 PM

I didn't quite get the whole story above - see RIP Ryan Gracie (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=827770)

GeneChing

12-21-2007, 10:28 AM

This thread never drops off the main forum for long, does it?

Karate coach jailed for voyeurism (http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2007/12/21/karate-coach-jailed-for-voyeurism-84229-20276822/)
Dec 21 2007 by Andy Passant, Evening Gazette

A KARATE instructor who breached his position of trust by spying on a naked schoolgirl pupil is behind bars this Christmas.

Martial arts teacher Andrew Finn, 52, watched as the youngster stripped and washed herself, a court heard.

The girl, who was aged under 13, was a pupil at a Teesside karate club run by Finn.

Yesterday Finn was jailed for six months at Teesside Crown Court.

Finn, of Tebay Close, Ormesby, had previously admitted charges of voyeurism and common assault.

Judge Peter Armstrong told Finn he gave him “substantial credit” for his guilty pleas.

But the judge added: “That seems to me to be the only mitigation in this case.”

He said Finn had been in a position of trust. “You breached that trust. That is in my view an aggravating feature.”

Finn was made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for five years. Under the terms of the order he is banned from having any unsupervised contact with children under 18.

Finn was placed on the sex offenders’ register for seven years.

Sarah Mallett, prosecuting, said the complainant had been one of Finn’s pupils at a karate club he ran on Teesside.

The voyeurism charge related to an incident at the club after a training session. Miss Mallett said Finn had stood and watched the girl while she stripped and washed herself down.

The girl later mentioned the incident to her mum, who was shocked and called the police.

The common assault related to a separate incident involving the same girl.

On that occasion she had got undressed and was washing herself.

Finn applied some body lotion, touching her while she was still naked, said Miss Mallett.

Robin Denny, mitigating, said his main mitigation was his guilty pleas.

This had spared the complainant the ordeal of having to give evidence in court, said Mr Denny.

Today the girl’s parents said they were glad Finn had been jailed.

Her dad told the Gazette: “I am pleased he got sent down. We did know it wasn’t going to be a high sentence.

“He could have got 15 years, that still wouldn’t have been long enough.

“We can move on with our lives now.”

The dad, who attended his father’s funeral on the same day as the previous court hearing, said they had “been through hell”.

The girl’s mum said: “She is still having nightmares. She thinks he is going to come and get her. She checks the doors every night.”

She said they were shocked when their daughter told them what had happened. “You put your trust in somebody who you think is okay to work with children.”

Their daughter is still doing karate but is now at a different club.

Detective Inspector Jason ****son said: “I am just pleased that it is over for the family.

“Because of his obstruction this whole process has been drawn out.”

DC Angela Turnbull added: “It will open people’s eyes to the sort of person he is and protect other children in the future.”

Seppukku

12-22-2007, 07:12 AM

A 76-year-old man?

It's not surprising. Brazilian JiuJitsu is the end result of an acid trip that a teenager had in Rio de Janiero in 1962. Yeah, they say they learned it from a ninja from Japan a really long time ago, but really, are you going to trust some acid-tripping nuthuggers talking about ninjas? Really, this just demonstrates the lack of moral standards inherent in the study of BJJ and MMA at large. The Gracies are really some degenerate guys. Take this story I'm quoting from Ken Shamrock's critical essay on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, "The Sermon on 'The Mount'" written in 1998:

So I was talking with Royce Gracie about the fact that it takes a lot of cahones to step into the ring "toe-to-toe", knock someone down and go "cahone-to-cahone", and then try your best to mount him and beat him to a bloody pulp. And Royce, typical of his irreverent nature, said: "There but for the Gracie of God go I." This threw me off. I wanted to punch his sister in her eye for that. REally? I mean, come on hombre. He was saying that Gracie's were in communion with God, like they were his saving grace, and not Jesus like our pastors tell us every Sunday when we go to Sunday school. (Or Mohammed, because there are a lot of Mussalmen out there and I don't want to Elian-nate my audience, or at least my editor says so).

So then Royce shrugs it off and does another hit of acid off of his brother's bicep. He looks at me and says: "Ken, shklajkalksjddrk. You look like you just......pink pandas are delicious....dklsjakssldjfddrk." By then I knew he was done. I left him in the hallway doing acid off of the toilet seat, because the Gracies actually crap in the hallways. Little known fact.

There was this one time after his fight with a Taekwondo guy that Gracie took his crap (in the hallway of course), and then looked at the Taekwondo guy and said: "You are like my poop. Stinky." He then dropped some acid and added: "And delicious."

I never really understood what he meant, because it was pretty odd. Why would he be eating fecal matter? Or Taekwondo. There was this one time I accidentally walked into his locker room and saw him in front of a computer screen watching a porno movie. He was doing this weird thing with his hand, and I think he was rubbing acid on his dong. He kept chanting: "It's the technique. It's the technique. It's the technique" But, then, he was doing a lot of acid back then, and even Ozzy Ozbourne said some weird stuff now and then, and he'd taken a lot of acid back then, too.

That reminds me of the time I took Royce to an Ozzy Ozbourne "Black Sabbath Reunion" concert, but that's another story, and it wound up with Royce onstage doing acid off of of Dio's guitar pick and mounting a headless bat. It was really weird, but then, most acid trippers are kind of weird.

It's a really good read. I recommend it. This isn't the best passage, and Ken's really an excellent writer, with shades of Henry James, but this passage does show how the Gracies are pretty shady people, and think they're gods in gis.

RickMatz

12-29-2007, 09:22 AM

After having a teen ages student sign an "oath of obidieance" he rapes her. "It's part of the test."

http://www.wnbc.com/news/14937603/detail.html?dl=headlineclick

Three Harmonies

12-29-2007, 09:41 AM

And many of you out there tell your kids they can trust cops:eek::(
Sad.

Flying-Monkey

01-01-2008, 09:44 AM

And many of you out there tell your kids they can trust cops:eek::(
Sad.

which TSPK guy did you cross hands ?

hskwarrior

01-01-2008, 10:08 AM

http://irontiger-martialarts.com/

GeneChing

01-03-2008, 12:22 PM

The comments following the online article are of interest...

NYPD officer's rape case to head to grand jury (http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080103/NEWS/801030312/-1/NEWS)
By Heather Yakin
Times Herald-Record
January 03, 2008

MIDDLETOWN — Prosecutors say they'll take the rape case against a New York City police officer to a grand jury.

Trent Young, 39, of Middletown, a nine-year veteran of the New York Police Department, was arrested last week on felony rape charges based on complaints made by two teenage girls who took martial arts classes through Young's Iron Tiger Martial Arts school.

Young was in Middletown City Court yesterday morning for a follow-up appearance in the case. The assistant district attorney said prosecutors will take the case to grand jury within the next month.

One girl told police Young ordered her to strip after she earned her green belt and had signed an oath of loyalty and obedience to him and the school, and that he later pushed her into a sexual relationship. Police say sexual encounters happened at Iron Tiger's West Milford, N.J., school and at the basement dojo in Young's Middletown home. The other girl said she refused Young's order for her to strip after she earned her green belt, police say.

Young is free on $25,000 bail. Middletown police say he also might face New Jersey charges.

His lawyer, Gary Greenwald, says if New Jersey lodges a warrant, Young will turn himself in to West Milford police. Greenwald noted a crowd of a dozen or so that came to court with Young, including some martial arts students.

"He will be actively contesting these charges," Greenwald says. "Essentially, it will be her word against his. When he has his day in court, I think the view of him will be substantially different."

GeneChing

01-03-2008, 12:26 PM

One of the intrinsic problems with martial arts teachers is that there is no certification standards. With certification standards, one would think an ethics course would be a minimal requirement. However our economy isn't strong enough yet to establish any sort of nationally governing body for instructors.

Martial Arts Instructor Charged With Statutory Rape (http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2245893/)
Joseph Gailes
Posted: Today at 12:11 a.m.
Updated: Today at 7:23 a.m.

Fuquay-Varina — A fired martial arts instructor in Wake County faces charges that he had an inappropriate relationship with a student.

Investigators said tae-kwon-do teacher Joseph Gailes is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

A search warrant detailed an alleged relationship between the 31-year-old instructor and a student, including a sexual encounter in a hotel room during a Durham martial arts tournament in September of last year.

"It's like finding out there's a potential predator in your family. I've known him for almost 10 years,” said Michael Wegmann, master instructor at Vision Martial Arts.

According to the search warrant, the girl said Gailes bought her gifts throughout their relationship that included underwear from Victoria's Secret. The warrant also stated that Gailes bought underwear for another juvenile student.

“It's kind of like being a school teacher, occasionally you will find a bad one out of a thousand,” Wegmann said.

Gailes had been an instructor at Vision Martial Arts in Fuquay Varina for seven years. The popular instructor was suspended after allegations surfaced that he was having an inappropriate relationship with a student.

Parents received a letter about Gailes termination after an investigation was launched last February. He has since been charged with three counts of statutory rape.

Parents at Vision Martial Arts declined to comment Wednesday night.

“Some at first did not believe the allegations. Some are taking it far more seriously these days, since he's been arrested,” Wegmann said.

Gailes was being held in the Wake County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

Dale Dugas

01-03-2008, 12:30 PM

Having a national board would be great, but then we would not have all these fakes, frauds and phonies with all their bs fu and crap-a- te to laugh at and show the world.

I agree on the ethics, both business and personal should be taught.

xcakid

01-03-2008, 01:43 PM

That's funny. Not the same one, since I'm in TX. However, there's a Vision Martial Arts about 3miles from my house. I wonder if they are affiliated.

GeneChing

01-04-2008, 10:37 AM

Speaking of ethics....

Brooklyn Bouncer Gets 50 Years to Life for 2 Murders (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/nyregion/04bouncer.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin)
By ANDY NEWMAN
Published: January 4, 2008

A Brooklyn strip club bouncer and martial arts enthusiast who had said he was framed by police assassins was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison on Thursday for the murders of two men in 2005.

Zoraida Cook after giving a victim’s impact statement on Thursday in court in Brooklyn for the sentencing of Stephen Sakai.

Mr. Sakai killed Edwin Mojica and Wayne Tyson in 2005.

The bouncer, Stephen Sakai, 32, was dealt the maximum sentence by Justice John P. Walsh of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, but not before introducing yet another wrinkle into a case that has had more than its share.

Mr. Sakai retained a new lawyer for the sentencing, who moved to overturn the conviction on the ground that Mr. Sakai’s previous lawyer had failed to introduce a journal of Mr. Sakai’s that would prove he had been elsewhere at the time of the crimes.

“His attorney worked against him,” said the new lawyer, Tamara M. Harris.

During the trial, Mr. Sakai testified to the journal’s existence but failed to produce it. His former lawyer, Kleon C. Andreadis, said by phone on Thursday that he had asked Mr. Sakai for the journal repeatedly.

“At no time was it offered to me despite my insistence that I see it before he take the stand,” Mr. Andreadis said, adding that the journal would have had little evidentiary value anyway.

Ms. Harris also told the judge that Mr. Andreadis had refused to call Mr. Sakai’s mother as a witness despite assurances that he would. Mr. Sakai’s mother, Ms. Harris said, was prepared to corroborate Mr. Sakai’s contention that he was repeatedly drugged by detectives during his interrogation.

“Her son didn’t even resemble himself” when the police got through with him, Ms. Harris said.

Mr. Andreadis said that he had seen no reason to call Mr. Sakai’s mother, because she had not witnessed the effects of mistreatment claimed by Mr. Sakai. Justice Walsh seemed little moved by Ms. Harris’s arguments.

“I don’t see anything on the record that as a matter of law would reverse his conviction,” he said before passing sentence.

Mr. Sakai is also charged with fatally shooting a patron of a Manhattan club, Opus 22, in 2006. Jury selection is set to begin in that trial on Jan. 28.

Mr. Sakai, dressed in a black coat, gray shirt and slacks, and in handcuffs, declined to speak in his own behalf Thursday and stood expressionless as Justice Walsh pronounced sentence.

He had been more forthcoming during the trial, when he told jurors that he and the two murdered men were victims of a corrupt detective who was trying to horn in on Mr. Sakai’s security consulting business.

Police assassins, Mr. Sakai said, killed the two men after Mr. Sakai began using his martial arts students to spy on the police.

On the stand, he promised that his mother would soon arrive with a journal providing his alibi. She was already in the courtroom and did not offer a journal.

Mr. Sakai, a bouncer at the Wild Cherry club in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, was convicted last month of the second-degree murder of Wayne Tyson, 56, an occasional patron of the club and a martial arts student, and Edwin Mojica, 41, a security coordinator there.

Mr. Tyson was found stabbed to death in his apartment in Crown Heights, and Mr. Mojica was found shot in the back of the head on his stoop in Williamsburg.

Before the sentencing, Mr. Mojica’s older sister, Zoraida Cook, gave a victim impact statement. She made a point of refusing to use the defendant’s last name, which he adopted in 1998 after years of martial arts study, and addressing him by his birth name, Stephen Sanders.

“Martial arts is a system of ethics,” involving humility, respect and loyalty and honor, Ms. Cook said. “You’re not a man of honor. You’re nothing but a coward, Stephen Sanders.”

I'm not sure NGB certification would do that much to combat perceived frauds. That has always been with us and always will, and truth be told, it's only bothersome if you let it be bothersome. Martial arts people will always posture. That's just our nature. The problem with establishing an NGB is really economical. It would have to come from the private sector initially, and I just can't see anyone ready to invest in that yet.

GeneChing

01-08-2008, 12:23 PM

Karate rape - a new term for KFM. Let's all work to eliminate Karate rape.

Feds: NYPD Cop Transported Minors For Sex (http://www.northcountrygazette.org/news/2008/01/07/transported_minors/)
Posted on Monday, 7 of January , 2008 at 6:20 pm

NEW YORK—Trent Young, a New York City police officer, charged last week with the alleged rape of two students of his martial arts school, is now also facing federal charges, arrested Monday in connection with his transportation of two minors from New York to New Jersey for purposes of illegal sexual activity. According to a complaint filed Monday in White Plains federal court, Young, 39, transported two minors on separate occasions from Middletown, NY, to his martial arts studio in West Milford, NJ, and engaged in sexual intercourse with the minors there.

Prosecutors say that these victims, who are now 15 years old and 17 years old respectively and were 14 and 15 respectively when the abuse began, were both martial arts students of Young’s. According to the complaint, in 2005 when Victim 1 received a “green belt,” Young required her to sign a document stating that she would be obedient. That day, young allegedly stated that he was going to test Victim 1’s obedience and told her to take off her clothes. While undressed, Young allegedly touched her breasts.

From in or about August 2006 through in or about October 2007, as set forth in the complaint, Young allegedly engaged in other sexual activities with Victim 1, including sexual intercourse. The sexual intercourse allegedly occurred in Middletown and in West Milford at Young’s martial arts studio called “Iron Tiger.”In the Spring of 2007, Young allegedly requested that another martial arts student (“Victim 2″) remove her clothes. Victim 2 refused. As reflected in the complaint, after Young’s arrest on Dec. 27, by the Middletown Police Department, a third victim (“Victim 3″) reported alleged sexual abuse by Young in 2005 and 2006.

Victim 3 began taking martial arts lessons from Young in Middletown in or about March 2005. Several months later, Young allegedly began to engage in sexual activities with Victim 3, including sexual intercourse. As set forth in the complaint, on an occasion in the Summer of 2006, Young drove Victim 3 from Middletown to his martial arts studio in New Jersey and engaged in sexual intercourse with Victim 3. Young was presented in White Plains federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge George A. Yanthis Monday afternoon. He was detained without bail.

Michael Garcia, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said that the investigation is ongoing. He requested that any individuals with relevant information contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Goshen, New York at (845) 615-1700. The federal charges each carry a mandatory minimum sentence, upon conviction, of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

GeneChing

01-09-2008, 05:39 PM

...but it's very tragic and it's a martial arts related crime.

Martial arts fan killed brother with Samurai sword, court told (http://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/Martial-arts-fan-killed-brother.3657113.jp)

Wednesday, 5pm - A martial arts fan stabbed his own brother to death with a samurai sword as their mother tried to keep them apart, a court was told today.
Julian Mayfield-Sparks plunged the blade into his brother Corin's chest after a trivial row over noise spiralled into terrifying violence, a jury heard.

Their mother Deanna stood helplessly between the pair as 18-year-old Corin suffered the fatal blow on the landing of the family's Grantham home.

She was left crying hysterically as the teenager slumped to the floor and bled to death as she looked on helplessly, Lincoln Crown Court was told.

Julian - whose favourite film was Quentin Tarantino's violent samurai-influenced revenge thriller Kill Bill - later told police: "I've stabbed my brother."

John Pini QC, prosecuting, told the jury: "All cases of murder are tragedies, but there are two features that make this tragedy particularly distressing.

"The first is that this is the case of a brother killing his brother. The second is that standing between the two of them was their mother Deanna.

"She is going to have to face the almost unimaginable ordeal of having to give evidence as to how one of her sons died at the hands of the other."

He said Mrs Mayfield-Spark's plight was "extremely distressing", adding: "The powers of the English language can hardly do justice to such a dilemma."

The court heard Julian, 20 at the time of the killing, had "a love-hate relationship" with Corin that involved massive fall-outs followed by making up.

Mr Pini said: "Sometimes those flare-ups resulted in violence, and sometimes weapons were used. But often they would just wind each other up.

"The impression one gets is that both boys had their good points and their faults. Both could be loving, but both could use force on the other."

Mr Pini said Julian had recently returned home after six years living with his girlfriend's family - leading to "immediate tension" between the brothers.

They shared a bedroom at first, but eventually their mother allowed Julian to sleep in her room while she slept downstairs in the living-room.

On the night of the stabbing Julian was watching a film on his laptop with friends while Corin was in his attic bedroom with friends of his own.

During the evening the teenager complained a number of times about the noise from Julian's room - and at one point struck him with a rounders bat.

Mr Pini said: "Julian then went down to the ground floor to tell his mother that Corin had hit him. His mother put her clothes on and went upstairs.

"What happened next was seen by a number of witnesses. Deanna went upstairs and was standing between her sons at the crucial moment.

"She says Julian was angry. She said to Corin: 'What the hell do you think you're doing?' She thinks Julian said to Corin: 'Come on, get down here.'

"Corin waited for a short while before he came down. She can't say whether he had anything in his hand when he came down that ladder.

"She says she went towards Corin. She was 18 inches away and facing him. What she was trying to do was to talk to Corin to defuse this situation.

"At that point she saw a black sword come down her right-hand side. She saw it go into Corin. Corin stood there and said: 'Julian, you've stabbed me.'

"Deanna said: 'But there's no blood.' Corin said: 'But I've been stabbed, mum.' He stood for no more than a couple of seconds and collapsed.

"He was slumped against the door. Julian made no attempt to help. One of their friends tried to stem the blood, and the emergency services were called.

"Resuscitation was attempted, but it was futile. Mrs Mayfield-Sparks was crying hysterically. The scene in the house can only be imagined."

The court heard the blow from the 2ft-bladed samurai word cut eight inches into Corin's aorta, leaving him to bleed to death in a matter of minutes.

His brother later told police he was simply holding the sword in his hand when the teenager came towards him and accidentally impaled himself.

But Mr Pini said: "He wanted to teach his brother a lesson. He deliberately stabbed his brother in a way that death or really serious harm was inevitable.

"In that split second of rage this defendant intended to take revenge on his brother for what he perceived as unfair treatment at his hands."

He added: "He had a particular fascination with martial arts swords. When he moved back in he brought with him his collection of samurai swords.

"These included the weapon used to kill Corin. One of his favourite films was Kill Bill, which features these sorts of swords quite prominently."

Julian, now 21, of Bridge End Road, Grantham, denies murdering his brother on June 1 last year, claiming he raised the sword only in self-defence.

The trial continues.

Lucas

01-09-2008, 05:47 PM

BS

he stabbed his brother.

you cant not see a f@cking katana being wielded at you....

Mas Judt

01-09-2008, 08:05 PM

Ed Parker tried to get certification laws passed. Actually, any group large enough and willing to make the effort can push to get laws passed on the state level. The problem with martial arts is: Whose standards/gradings/qualifications are used and how are they used to judge others?

It gets really tough - and would not eliminate most problems - just add additional expense & hassle. Government oversight of 'professional' fields is often more harmful than beneficial to consumers. They are used mostly to limit competition.

Lucas

01-11-2008, 12:25 AM

How many certified elementary school teachers do we see busted every year? I'm not even sure if any sort of stae/nateion wide certification would solve many problems as far as child abuse goes.

GeneChing

01-11-2008, 10:14 AM

Stop Karate Rape.

Feds add charges against karate instructor (http://www.strausnews.com/articles/2008/01/11/west_milford_messenger/news/3.txt)

GOSHEN, NY — The New York City policeman already charged with raping a then-14-year-old student at his martial arts school has now been accused by federal prosecutors of crossing state lines for sex with that girl and another.

Trent Young, who ran the Iron Tiger Martial Arts School in Bald Eagle Commons, had been free on bail on the original Orange County rape charge brought against him last week.

He was re-arrested by federal prosecutors and ordered held by federal Magistrate Judge George Yanthis at federal court in White Plains.

U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said Young, of Middletown, had transported the two minors from his home to his school in West Milford, N.J., and had sex with them there. The federal charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, he said.

Young’s attorney, Gary Greenwald said his client’s defense is that ``it never happened.’’

Young, 39, was arrested in Middletown last month for raping the teen by telling her sex was part of the martial arts program, police said. He tried to get a second 15-year-old out of her clothes, but she refused, they said.

A third teenager, now 17, came forward after the arrest and said she, too, had engaged in sex with Young while a student at his school in 2005 and 2006.

Orange County District Attorney Frank Phillips has been quoted as saying the Middletown charges will most likely be dropped to avoid double jeopardy with the federal case and because the federal penalties are more severe.

Young has been with the New York Police Department for nine years and worked in the 26th Precinct in upper Manhattan. He has been suspended.

Anyone with information should contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Goshen, New York at 845-615-1700.

GeneChing

01-11-2008, 10:21 AM

Still think this is BS Lucas?

Samurai lad ‘killed bruv’ (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article670772.ece)
Published: 10 Jan 2008

A MARTIAL arts fan killed his brother with a 2ft samurai sword “in a row over nothing”, a court heard yesterday.

Julian Mayfield-Sparks, 21, stabbed brother Corin, 18, as mum Deanna tried to keep them apart, Lincoln Crown Court was told.

The sword cut eight inches into Corin’s heart and he bled to death as his mother wept hysterically. The fight grew from a trivial argument over noise from Julian’s room at their home in Grantham, Lincs.

John Pini QC, prosecuting, told the jury: “Julian deliberately stabbed his brother in a way that death or really serious harm was inevitable.”

Julian denies murder. The case continues.

GeneChing

01-11-2008, 11:47 AM

There's a lot of places I could go with this, but out of respect for the victim, I'll restrain myself.

Martial arts expert charged with fork stabbing (http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080111/NEWS/80111019)
By Elizabeth Dinan
edinan@seacoastonline.com
January 11, 2008 12:03 PM

PORTSMOUTH — A local martial arts expert stabbed a woman who was trying to break up with him with a fork, knocked a cell phone out of her hand as she tried to call for help and forced her to the ground, say police.

Based on those allegations, police arrested Alain Brown, 45, of 1338 Woodbury Ave., on a felony count of simple assault and misdemeanor charges of simple assault and obstructing the report of a crime.

The felony complaint alleges Brown stabbed the victim in the shoulder with the intent to cause her bodily harm. The obstructing the report of a crime charge alleges he knocked a cell phone out of the woman’s hand when she began calling police, then smashed it. The misdemeanor assault charge alleges he pushed the woman in the chest, knocking her to the ground.

According to an affidavit filed with the district court by Officer David Keaveny, when he responded to Brown’s residence Thursday night, he found the victim “crying and visibly upset,” with a bloodied hole in her shirt and her skin punctured from a fork wound.

Keaveny’s statement includes the victim’s assertion that the alleged crimes were committed after she went to Brown’s residence to end a relationship with him, that he stabbed her with the fork multiple times, had struck her in the past and she was “scared of him.”

During a Friday arraignment, prosecutor Corey MacDonald said Brown was a martial arts expert with a criminal history including drug possession with intent to distribute, several simple assault convictions, criminal trespassing, receiving stolen property and reckless conduct.

“He chased her down and stabbed her with a fork on more than one occasion,” said MacDonald, while petitioning the court for high bail.

Brown told the judge he is a self-employed contractor and acknowledged his martial arts expertise.

“All those criminal things (MacDonald) said are in my past,” Brown told Judge Sawako Gardner. “I’ve been out of trouble for a long time.”

After reviewing his criminal history, the judge reminded Brown of a 2005 conviction for trespassing, a 1998 simple assault conviction and a 1994 guilty finding for reckless conduct.

Brown told the court he could not post cash bail but owns his home, before the judge set bail at $10,000 cash or surety and $10,000 personal recognizance.

He was ordered to have no contact with the victim and a witness, not to possess any firearms, dangerous weapons or ammunition and return to the court for a Jan. 27 probable cause hearing.

lkfmdc

01-11-2008, 11:56 AM

"screw you and your canoes!"

(anyone know that joke?)

Lucas

01-11-2008, 12:27 PM

"screw you and your canoes!"

(anyone know that joke?)

thats an awsome joke!

lol, **** cannibals

Lucas

01-11-2008, 12:29 PM

Still think this is BS Lucas?

Ya, I mean, how can he deny it.....

1. he is arguing with his bro.

2. he gets a katana.

3. he points it at his brothers chest and impales his heart.

murder IMO

its a really sad case

:(

GeneChing

01-21-2008, 01:13 PM

Usually ttt's to the top before it drops off the front page - a sorry barometer of this sort of news...

Martial arts teacher arrested for sexual assault against kids (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2008/01/17/qc-martialpedophile0117.html)
Convicted pedophile ran Chinese-boxing school in Eastern Townships
Last Updated: Thursday, January 17, 2008 | 7:10 PM ET

A convicted Quebec pedophile who ran a Chinese-boxing school in the Eastern Townships has been arrested and could face new charges of sexual assault against children, police said.

Provincial police arrested the man on Thursday morning after looking for him for a week following a complaint from the father of one of his boxing students.

He will likely face several sexual assault charges in connection to incidents involving 10-year-old children that police allege have taken place over the last six months, provincial police spokesman Ronald McInnis said.

Until a few weeks ago, the man was running a Chinese-boxing school near Saint-Hyacinthe, southeast of Montreal. The father of one of the students at that school became suspicious and contacted police, explained provincial police spokesman Ronald McInnis.

"He [did some] investigation, and when he saw this guy had done this kind of thing, he called [police]," McInnis told CBC News.

Police wouldn't confirm whether the children he is suspected of assaulting were students at the Saint-Hyacinthe boxing school.
Continue Article

The man was previously convicted on sexual assault charges against children he taught in the late 1990s. He served a four-year sentence for his crimes.

His release conditions included an order that he stay away from minors under 14.

All of the man's recent martial arts students are under 14, police said.

Police said they found the man Thursday morning at a Sherbrooke-area hospital, where he was being treated for a minor medical problem.

He's under round-the-clock police surveillance until his arraignment, which should take place in the next few days, McInnis said.

GeneChing

01-25-2008, 10:38 AM

...five tasings and "he didn't take a bad beating"

Martial arts fighter slowly improving (http://www.orovillemr.com/news/ci_8071482)
By GREG WELTER /MediaNews Group
Article Launched: 01/24/2008 10:03:41 PM PST

A 22-year-old martial arts fighter remains in critical condition at Oroville Hospital due to kidney failure, but appears to be recovering from other injuries he allegedly sustained in a recent struggle with Oroville police.

Chris Bias said family members were ecstatic Thursday that her son, Shawn Bias, was able to eat some pudding at the hospital, and lie on his side.

Bias allegedly ran from officers outside the Oroville apartment of a friend about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. They were there to question him about a reported disturbance.

Officers chased him into a city park and fired two Taser stun gun rounds at him when he refused to stop.

Oroville Police Chief Kirk Trostle said his officers tased Bias a total of five times before they were able to subdue him and place him in handcuffs. Some of the tasings, he said, were "drive stuns" which involves the stun gun making direct contact with the victim, rather than a fired projectile.

Police later had to place an additional restraint device on him when he attempted to kick out windows in a patrol car.

Chris Bias said her son admitted to being under the influence of oxycontin and cocaine when contacted by police.

Officers arrested him on suspicion of resisting arrest and took him to the hospital, where family members said he suffered a heart attack, and went into kidney failure. He lapsed into a coma Sunday, then emerged from it Tuesday and slowly began to talk.

Chris Bias said her son has been talking about the incident Sunday, but family members won't discuss possible allegations against police until he is out of danger. "We're still very worried about his kidneys," she said.

A friend said Bias vividly recalls the incident.

Bias, who weighs 145 pounds, held the featherweight title for mixed martial arts fighting until last Thursday, when he lost it during a Palace Fighting Championship bout in the Central Valley town of Lemoore.

Family members and writers for Sherdog — a Web site which follows the mixed martial arts and cage fighting industry — said he didn't take a bad beating.

Bias was a star wrestler at Oroville High School, from which he graduated in 2004.

xcakid

01-25-2008, 11:18 AM

Well first thing he did wrong is he ran from the cops. Those fat a$$e$ don't like to do anything physical. :p That just ****es them off to no end.

Second thing he did wrong was being all coked up.

GeneChing

02-06-2008, 10:30 AM

See posts 42 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showpost.php?p=821784&postcount=42) & 47. (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showpost.php?p=822436&postcount=47)

Karate Teacher Charged After Kicking Student More Than 200 Times (http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5693157&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1)
Last Edited: Wednesday, 06 Feb 2008, 6:39 AM EST
Created: Wednesday, 06 Feb 2008, 6:39 AM EST

SUFFOLK, Va. (AP) -- A Suffolk grand jury is set to consider the case of a martial arts instructor charged with kicking an 11-year-old student more than 200 times, causing internal injuries and possibly breaking a rib.

A Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court judge on Tuesday certified the charges against 47-year-old Susan Bateman of Hampton to Circuit Court. Bateman was arrested in November and charged with one felony count of child endangerment.

A grand jury will consider the case when it meets later this month.

Police say Bateman issued a challenge during class at a Suffolk dojo to see how many kicks to the abdomen students could take. Students got into a push-up position while Bateman kicked, stopping when the student either said to or went to his or her knees.

GeneChing

02-06-2008, 10:34 AM

...on of our forum members here. Anyone care to 'fess up?

There is a pic on the first article but it's not him. It's the "Naked Stock Photography Guy".

Nude martial arts guy takes on cops (http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=93906&in_page_id=2)
Tuesday, February 5, 2008

An angry naked martial arts expert took on four policemen in a street fight, wresting one of their batons away and withstanding two Taserings before being finally subdued, in New York state on Sunday.

'It was sort of a police officer's worst nightmare,' commented local Police Chief Louis Alagno

The naked incident started on Sunday evening, when a naked man, later identified as 28-year-old Peter Lu, started banging on a woman's door in Chappaqua, New York for no apparent reason.

The woman called police – but when Officer Frank Cavallaro arrived at the aptly named Hardscrabble Road, Lu charged at him, nakedly. Cavallaro responded by Tasering him.

By this point, Lu was on the ground, still naked. Cavallaro ordered him to put his hands behind his back, so he could be handcuffed, but Lu refused. More Tasering ensued – but rather than subduing Lu, this seemed only to enrage him.

He fought back at Cavallaro, disabling the Taser by knocking the cartridge out of his hand, and then disarming the officer of his baton when he tried to swing that.

'It's apparent he had martial arts training based on the moves he was using,' said Chief Alagno.

Faced with a naked, baton-wielding martial arts expert heading his way, Carvallo drew his gun – but fortunately for all concerned, three other cops showed up at that point, and they were eventually able to wrestle him to the ground and cuff him. Thus, the Battle of Peter Lu was brought to an end without anybody getting shot.

Lu was taken to a hospital where he was examined in a psychiatric unit. Police found Lu's clothes and car at a construction site a half-mile away, according to local paper The Journal News.

'I would describe his behavior as bizarre,' Alagno commented. 'Was it drugs? Was it mental illness? I don't know.'

Martial Arts Expert Charges at Officers Naked (http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=68251)

New York: Peekskill resident Peter Lu, 28, was arrested Sunday afternoon after a Chappaqua woman called police saying he was banging on the front door completely naked. When an officer showed up, Lu charged at him, but was taken down with a Taser.

When he wouldn't put his hands behind him, he got another Tasering. He began complying but resumed fighting just as he was to be cuffed, knocking the officer's Taser from his hand. When the officer swung his baton at Lu, he knocked it away as well.

Lu then charged the officer with the baton. Soon after, three more units arrived and subdued him. "It's apparent he had martial arts training based on the moves he was using," said police. The rambling, incoherent man is now in a psychiatric unit.

THRUSTER

02-06-2008, 10:15 PM

Here is a heavy one for you. The Teacher never got charged but they also never found her or a body.

http://web.redding.com/specials/Smith/stories/19981001.shtml

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/smith_tera.html

http://www.bullshido.net/forums/sitemap/index.php/t-2813.html

Who do you think did it?

lkfmdc

02-06-2008, 10:21 PM

...one of our forum members here. Anyone care to 'fess up?

A naked guy named "Peter"? :p

No, not me, when I get into naked combat with the police I always use my porn name "**** Long" ;)

Mr Punch

02-06-2008, 10:23 PM

Wednesday, 5pm - A martial arts fan stabbed his own brother to death with a samurai sword as their mother tried to keep them apart, a court was told today.
Julian Mayfield-Sparks plunged the blade into his brother Corin's chest after a trivial row over noise spiralled into terrifying violence, a jury heard.

Their mother Deanna stood helplessly between the pair as 18-year-old Corin suffered the fatal blow on the landing of the family's Grantham home.That's the problem right there. Anyone living in that ****hole should move or just turn themselves in to the police right now. Minority Report was based on Grantham... there's something in the water there.

SifuAbel

02-07-2008, 01:43 AM

Gee Gene, remember Neal Cameron? :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

STUDD WILSON

02-07-2008, 07:49 PM

AJM

02-08-2008, 09:28 AM

"screw you and your canoes!"

(anyone know that joke?)
A WW11 Newfy joke. Well done .

SifuAbel

02-08-2008, 02:11 PM

Sifu Abel...I remember Neal back in the day. Say wasn't he the wanna be BJ/CMA?? guy that was a pedo and got busted? How any years has that been anyway? I don't think he was a legitimate instructor or anything, but with the exception of yourself and a few others how many on this board really are?

He molested that girl IN an MA school. But that will happen anywhere you have a congregation of unsupervised children. Predators know where to hunt.

How many clergymen does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Ask the alter boy.

GeneChing

02-15-2008, 10:35 AM

It was a slow week...:(

Bend martial arts teacher faces rape, abuse charges (http://www.ktvz.com/Global/story.asp?S=7875503)
Posted: Feb 14, 2008 05:00 PM
By Barney Lerten, KTVZ.COM

A 32-year-old Bend martial arts instructor faces rape, sex abuse and other charges involving a 15-year-old female student at his now-closed facility, police said Thursday.

Sgt. Paul Kansky confirmed after NewsChannel 21 received an anonymous tip that Mark William Froelich was arrested last Friday afternoon at the police headquarters on three counts of third-degree rape, two counts of third-degree sodomy and four counts of third-degree sex abuse.

Froelich was booked into the Deschutes County jail but released on his own recognizance that same day because he met the criteria for release, a jail officer said.

The charges are "Class C felonies because they don't involve force," Kansky said.

"We received anonymous information that this relationship (with the student) was sexual in nature," Kansky told NewsChannel 21. "We contacted the victim and suspect and conducted interviews," leading to the arrest.

A closed sign was posted Thursday on the door of Froelich's Bend Karate for Kids, at 162 NW Greenwood Ave., where he also ran Froelich's ATA Black Belt Academy, according to a Website. "Thank you for your patience," the sign said.

Kansky said the alleged crimes were "fairly recent in nature" and that police moved their investigation along quickly, in a matter of days.

The ATA Black Belt Academy Website describes Froelich as a second-degree black belt and says the academy has been offering tae kwon do instruction and training since 2004.

GeneChing

02-25-2008, 03:46 PM

...more of a legal quagmire that some sort of horrid crime like most of the previous posts. It sets an interesting precedent for how the martial arts businesses are defined by the law.

Martial arts studio kicked out for good (http://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/show_story.php?id=525)
In its denial, Planning Commission says owner needs child care license for its program
by Janet Pelletier
Pleasanton Weekly Staff

A martial arts studio on Quarry Lane has been shut down indefinitely after the Planning Commission ruled 5-0 its owner would need to get a child care license before it would consider it.

The Tri-Valley Martial Arts Academy shuttered last month after the city determined that the scope of operations at the studio were different than what owner John Pfund described to them initially.

The business, located at 1262-A Quarry Lane, opened last July after it obtained what the city termed an "over the counter" zoning certificate. But the city soon realized that a new law that went into effect the same month meant the studio needed a conditional use permit, and they contacted the studio to correct the mistake. After a back-and-forth battle, city staff recommended that the commission deny the permit because the martial arts activities resembled more of a day care than and after school program.

The decision was crushing to Pfund, who said his passion for life comes from teaching youths the principles of martial arts.

"I've wanted to do this since I was 10 years old," he said.

"I've never told anyone it's a day care," Pfund said. "I don't provide supervision or care."

Pfund said his studio is no different than after school gymnastics, dance and swim programs and should be considered by the same rules.

Parents of children who went to the martial arts school agreed with Pfund, reiterating that he never told them it was a day care and that they never considered it one. The Tri-Valley Martial Arts Academy has left an indelible mark in their children's lives, they said.

"My 5-year-old daughter has really come out of her shell," said parent Amy Fluker.

Another mother said she was amazed at what her son learned about respect in such a small amount of time.

At the Wednesday meeting, commissioners said while they have no hesitations that Pfund is a great leader and role model to the children he teaches and that the martial arts program was exceptional, it didn't erase the fact that the longer hours of operation and regimented daily schedule falls into a day care category, which requires a state child care license.

"I have no doubt that John's a good teacher," Commissioner Jennifer Pearce said. "I'd like to see this succeed, but the way it's currently structured, I can't support it."

Commissioner Arne Olson added that the studio's practice of picking children up from school gives more of an element of care.

"The way to solve this would be to get a license," he said.

Pfund had been operating Tri-Valley Martial Arts under a 'free to come and go' policy--meaning students weren't required to be signed in and out by their parents which is how a day care would operate. But the city has a policy of requiring facilities to sign children in and out, according to city principal planner Donna Decker.

Under Pfund's policy, "children at any age would be free to come and go," Decker said. "Parents would sign a waiver, but the child would not be required to be signed out by an adult."

There were some inconsistencies with how the state viewed the situation. Initially, the State Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division told the city that Pfund would be required to get a child care license because children would be at the facility for more than an hour and a half and attending more than 16 hours per week. Other activities such as supervised homework also factored into the decision. However, the state revised that ruling following additional information it received from Pfund about the center's activities and determined a license wasn't necessary under an exemption that Pfund has parents sign a waiver stating the academy isn't a day care. The city said it disagrees with that decision because the exemption applies only to older children. The studio would be teaching children as young as 5 years old.

The vote commissioners made was a "denial without prejudice," which means that Pfund would be able to come back to the commission with a revised business proposal that includes a child care license. If the commission had denied the permit outright, Pfund would have to wait one year before bringing his proposal back. He has another option as well. He can appeal the Planning Commission's decision to the City Council.

Oso

02-25-2008, 04:24 PM

I've been saying this for a while now...many of the afterschool programs are defacto day cares but w/o the certification and oversight that a day care must have to operate safely...and that's why there are so many of these busted teachers. I think we'll see more and more of this sort of action by city and state govornment and it will probably take a serious toll on the 'industry' :rolleyes:

GeneChing

02-26-2008, 01:06 PM

cjurakpt posted this (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showpost.php?p=816635&postcount=2) on post 2 of this thread. I only remembered because Excel...

Karate instructor arraigned on child-sex charges (http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-likara265592006feb26,0,6685896.story)
BY ANDREW STRICKLER | andrew.strickler@newsday.com
February 26, 2008

A karate instructor who was once "revered" in the Long Island martial arts community stood quietly yesterday as prosecutors detailed a 43-count indictment charging him with sex crimes against his young students.

"This is an individual who is a danger to any child he comes in contact with," Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Andrea Groeger said of James Bonfiglio, 37.

He held his mother's hand and pressed his fingers to his lips as he waited for his arraignment in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead.

Through his attorney, Bonfiglio pleaded not guilty before Judge Barbara Kahn.

The indictment for felonies, including making child pornography and unlawful surveillance, stems from relationships that Groeger said Bonfiglio had with 10 boys between 2002 and his arrest in October.

Evidence includes hours of video found on his computer, much of it apparently captured by hidden cameras prosecutors say were found in the bathrooms at his Ronkonkoma apartment and Excel Karate Academy.

Two of those clips show Bonfiglio masturbating with three boys, ages 9 and 14 or 15, in a bedroom in his family's home in Ronkonkoma, Groeger said.

Bonfiglio's computer also yielded a lengthy instant message exchange in which the karate instructor wrote about masturbation with a 13-year-old student and asked the boy to have sex with him, Groeger said.

The arraignment was a step forward after a difficult effort to identify and locate dozens of children who appeared in the videos, prosecutor Keri Herzog said.

Parents confronted with evidence of the crimes were "beyond horrified," she said.

"This was a guy who was revered by kids and their parents," she said. "When they used the term 'sensei,' it wasn't a term they used lightly. It was a term of great respect."

Kahn issued orders of protection for all the boys involved and said she would order Bonfiglio held on $1 million bail. But minutes later, she reversed herself and set bail at $250,000 cash or $500,000 bond.

The Bonfiglio family had prearranged a bond of up to $500,000, said Bonfiglio's attorney, Anthony La Pinta of Hauppauge. It was posted before Bonfiglio left the courtroom.

Several women who identified themselves as mothers of some of the young victims appeared shocked at the sudden change. They declined to comment. La Pinta called the bail change "a misunderstanding."

Kahn "wanted to set the bail to the highest level possible they could post," he said.

As part of his supervised release, the judge ordered Bonfiglio to wear a GPS ankle bracelet and to stay away from minors.

Mook Jong

02-26-2008, 01:30 PM

noticed something while reading that, Bonfiglio would translate from italian as 'good son'.

ngokfei

02-26-2008, 01:55 PM

About time they started shutting down those schools.

The more time a child is at a studio the more it becomes a Day Care/Afterschool and should require a separate license.

Hell I think it should be just a matter of practice for all Martial Arts Schools to be licensed.

Different License Classifications would limit the owner on what they could teach or do in the establishment.

If just one child is protected is enough for me to pass it through as a law.

Mook Jong

02-26-2008, 02:02 PM

How so? Would one license let you teach children under, say, 13 while another lets you do full contact sparring? I feel like this is one of those things that is good on paper, but if it got passed and enforced, someone would make it very complicated for no real reason. just my 2 cents

ngokfei

02-26-2008, 02:08 PM

Just like you need different license grades for the type of vehicle you drive
standard, motorcycle, limosine (sp), Truck, etc.

Also no different then Personal Trainers, Professional Health Care Providers.

to the situation of Children I'd reference Child Care and Teacher's Licenses.

How Old is the child? toddlers, Pre-school, elementary, etc.

Martial Artists as seen or hope to be recognized as Professionals in their field, so there shouldn't be a problem in following guidleines/requirements.

You mention Full Contact, so wouldn't you want your boxing/wrestling coach to have a teaching license?

Mook Jong

02-26-2008, 03:01 PM

Not to sound like a jacka$$ but i would rather my boxing coach have boxing experience than a teaching license. I can see what you mean though, but like i said, i feel like some politician would throw his weight behind it and make it some lengthy process that would force many teachers out of business or to practice illegally without a license.

ngokfei

02-26-2008, 05:43 PM

Well its not that far fetched and idea. Its coming sooner than most people think.

Alot of my teachers were not professional teachers at all.

But there has to be some sort of control.

No matter what experience a person has treating the sick I don't we would go to one who didn't have a license.

Also a license means Insurance. Sure that boxing coach could be the best but whats to stop them from giving you some broken ribs just to make you learn the lesson of covering up. Not for everyone.

1bad65

02-26-2008, 05:53 PM

I've been saying this for a while now...many of the afterschool programs are defacto day cares but w/o the certification and oversight that a day care must have to operate safely...

This is exactly right. The 2 main parts they skip are the background checks on the owner and staff and also the number of kids allowed. At a day care center there are rules as to the max number of kids per certified adult, while there are no rules as to the ratio of kids to instructors in MA.

Mas Judt

02-26-2008, 05:54 PM

Holy cr@p - there should at least be background checks...

I really think child abusers should be arrested exclusively by PRC cops. They can bill the family for the bullet...

Oso

02-26-2008, 06:08 PM

at this point in time I don't think there are many restrictions on opening and running a martial arts school anywhere in the US. Some places may require you to get a 'health club' license which may cost more than a generic business license. New Jersey might be the only state with a 'board'. NC has had a bill going around for a while but it keeps dying in committee.

The insurance companies may wade in after a while though a criminal suit for molestation is probably not covered by liability insurance.

on the other side of the coin, there are certainly many out there who are victimizing their students but I wonder how many false accusations get thrown around. Accusation of that sort of thing is often as bad for the person as actually having committed the crime.

GeneChing

02-28-2008, 01:22 PM

See post #12 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showpost.php?p=816798&postcount=12)

Prison Time in Martial Arts Sex Case (http://1290whio.com/includes/news/indepth/5279860_Prison_Time_in_Martial_Arts_Sex_Case_13285 9.html)
RACHEL 02/28/2008 13:28:59

DAYTON, Ohio -- A former Greene County Judo instructor will go to prison for having sex with one of his young students.

33-year-old Dan Doyle was sentenced to 10 years behind bars in Federal Court today.

He was convicted of having sex with a 14-year old girl. The crimes occurred at Judo competitions overseas in 2005 and 2006.

The victim's mother says the family will never get over the betrayal.

1bad65

02-28-2008, 01:34 PM

Bullshido busted one recently.

It started because a guy was going by the name 'Layn Von Erich' and claiming MMA experience. And yes, he was claiming to be part of the famous pro-wrestling family. The guy was teaching MMA at a TKD school. It turned out that his real name was Ralph Calvillo. Aside from not being part of the Von Erich family, he was a convicted, registered sex offender. His criminal record and picture were on the Texas Dept of Corrections website.

GeneChing

03-20-2008, 09:31 AM

...unless the lion was a law officer. It's more a case of idiocy.

Martial arts teacher knocked down by lion during a photo shoot (http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200803200921.htm)

Toronto (PTI): An Indo-Canadian martial arts teacher was knocked over by a lion during a photo shoot at Bowmanville Zoo last month and suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Gitanjali Kolanad, who was hit during the photo session organized by the Toronto Star-owned magazine 'Desi Life' which produced a successful cover photo for the March-April issue, said: she was happy to have come away with four broken ribs and a bloodied lung.

"To be honest, the sensation I have is a great deal of gratitude to be alive," Kolanad said on Wednesday.

Kolanad, 54, practises the ancient Indian martial art of Kalaripayat, fashioned after the movements of animals such as lion, elephant, wild boar and pea****.

The magazine suggested her to pose with a lion.

"I thought, 'Sure Photoshop'," Kolanad recalled. When she understood better, she said, she was excited and an appointment was made with "Leo" for February 20, the Toronto Star reported yesterday.

A video of the session shows the beast first knocking over editor Sonia Verma. She picks herself up and smiles. It next paws the legs of photographer Richard Lautens. Off-camera it also took a swipe at the legs of art director Spencer Wynn.

The three-year-old lion was lying nearby when Kolanad began her movements. Apparently wanting to frolic, the animal jumped up and fell on her, bruising her left lung and breaking four left ribs.

It was not an attack, the witnesses said, as lion's mouth was not open and Kolanad was not scratched. The Bowmanville Zoo, Canada's oldest zoo, had no comment on the incident.

In the video, one minder kicks lion in the neck while the other pulls on a leash. The beast takes a second, unsuccessful lunge at Kolanad, before it is escorted out the door.

Although unable to work for the past month and still in pain, Kolanad said she feels on the mend.

BoulderDawg

03-20-2008, 10:22 AM

My......This subject has attracted a lot of attention.

I personally don't think the MA world is any more effected than any other sports where you have guys working with young girls. I once had a chance to coach a girls basketball team (11 to 14 years old) and I turned it down. The truth is to do your job as a coach you are going to have to have contract with the players and on occasion your hands may end up in some places that might be considered off limits in other situations. However that's just the nature of coaching.

In something like BJJ or Judo this would be multiplied and parents of these girls should realize this. Now of course same sex instructors would probably be the best solution but this is not always possible.

All that said this is no different from anything else. On occasion you are going to have problems. Let's face it they are many, many men out there who will take advantage of a situation....as a school owner all you can do is pay attention to what is happening in your school.

MartialDev

03-21-2008, 01:13 AM

During this photoshoot, Kalarippayattu artist Gita demonstrates her Lion style for the camera. A real lion sitting nearby gets upset, and pounces on her!

http://www.martialdevelopment.com/blog/never-turn-your-back-on-predator/

Egg fu young

03-21-2008, 03:40 AM

I've heard of this happening before for some reason they attack if the woman is menstruating. Anyhow still must be scary.:eek:

GeneChing

03-21-2008, 09:21 AM

Am I straying to OT here now?

Kung fu actor fined in Hong Kong for punching ambulanceman (http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/193828,kung-fu-actor-fined-in-hong-kong-for-punching-ambulanceman.html)
Posted : Fri, 21 Mar 2008 04:18:04 GMT

Hong Kong - An actor in martial arts movies was fined 2,000 Hong Kong dollars (250 US dollars) over a brawl in which he punched an ambulance driver, a newspaper reported Friday. Law Kwan-lam, 54, received the sentence Thursday after pleading guilty to a charge of common assault that occurred January 28 near his home in the Kowloon area of Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post said.

Earlier reports said Law, also known as Law Mong and a popular actor since 1976, was arrested after he reportedly kissed two men and then punched the driver before being overpowered by a paramedic.

A charge of drunk and disorderly conduct was withdrawn against Law, who appeared in movies that included Shaolin Temple, Chinatown Kid and The ******* Swordsman.

Pork Chop

03-21-2008, 10:28 AM

Gene:
Law Mong = Lo Meng = Five Venom Toad?
If so, that's real sad to hear....

Lucas

03-21-2008, 10:34 AM

I've heard of this happening before for some reason they attack if the woman is menstruating. Anyhow still must be scary.:eek:

Ive heard of that happening too. Something about predatory animals and the thing that bleeds for 7 days and does not die.

They can scent the un natural ones.

GeneChing

03-24-2008, 11:47 AM

Canadians. Don't you know that beer and sharps don't mix, eh? :rolleyes:

:p

Man stabbed in chest during drunken martial arts sparring (http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2008/03/23/man-stabbed-in-chest-during-drunken-martial-arts-sparring.aspx)
Posted: March 23, 2008, 11:30 AM by Shane Dingman
Crime

A Toronto man has been charged with obstructing police after apparently stabbing a friend during a drunken sparring match at a martial arts studio early Sunday morning.

Toronto police received a 911 call just before 2 a.m. Sunday to a studio on Queen Street East. When they arrived, a man was suffering from a collapsed lung and a 43-year old male was uncooperative with police, according to Staff Sgt. David Lowe.

“The two were sparring back and forth and one was accidentally stabbed in the chest,” said Sgt. Lowe. “Alcohol was involved.”

The two men, who are members of the club, were using martial arts edged weapons, according to Sgt. Lowe.

Investigators said it appears as though the men didn’t realize how serious the injuries were until paramedics arrived. “It wasn’t until we got the one party to the hospital that they realized how serious... he could have died.”

According to Sgt. Lowe, the 43-year old man charged with obstructing police, was interfering with the investigation. “The obstruct police charge was laid because of the uncooperativeness when we initially responded to the call. One party that had accidentally stabbed the other party was trying to hide the fact of what had happened.”

Police said the two men are members of the martial arts club and appeared to be at the studio lawfully.

David Jamieson

03-24-2008, 11:56 AM

Canadians. Don't you know that beer and sharps don't mix, eh? :rolleyes:

:p

I don't understand how live weapon sparring makes these people bad. :rolleyes:

only Darwin's laws should apply in that particular instance. :p

anyway, aren't you american? the land of 'accidental' shootings. lol

p.s there's no such thing as an accident, clearly someone wasn't thinking or was acting in ignorance.

sanjuro_ronin

03-24-2008, 12:01 PM

Canadians. Don't you know that beer and sharps don't mix, eh? :rolleyes:

:p

So much for Iron vest training.

David Jamieson

03-24-2008, 12:18 PM

So much for Iron vest training.

no, it actually is a vest made of Iron that you should wear while doing this stuff. some people call it maille :p.

bodhitree

03-24-2008, 12:20 PM

Anyone want to buy a busted teachers poster! (http://www.martialartsmart.net)

GeneChing

03-26-2008, 09:00 AM

Nice to know you can major in martial arts at Korean Universities...

Four students arrested in fatal hazing incident (http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2887907)
March 27, 2008
Police arrested four college students from Yong In University in Gyeonggi yesterday on suspicion that a hazing beating resulted in a fellow student¡¯s death.
The arrests came 22 days after a Yong In freshman, Kang Jang-ho, died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Investigators indicted the four without physical detention after concluding that they were responsible for Kang¡¯s death, police said.
In the middle of a Valentine¡¯s Day judo training session for newcomers in the school gymnasium, Kang, a martial arts major, suddenly fell into a coma, school authorities announced. Kang died March 4. He was 19.
In the statement the university released following Kang¡¯s death, school authorities said only that the student suddenly felt dizzy after finishing a backward rolling break-fall move in the training session, then collapsed on the mat.
As questions arose over the circumstances of Kang¡¯s death, the Yongin Police Precinct, disregarding the college¡¯s statement, began to investigate the incident.
According to Kang¡¯s classmates, soft mats covered the gymnasium¡¯s floor to prevent injury. Police also added that as a black belt, Kang had been familiar with break-falls.
In their investigation, police said they found that four of Kang¡¯s older classmates beat him more than 20 times with an aluminum sword before the training session. Despite the serious bruises and scratches on his hips and thighs, Kang was forced to participate in the judo match.
¡°Classmates compelled the already injured freshman to participate in the training program,¡± said an officer on the case who declined to be named. ¡°He was not in able condition to practice judo.¡±
Upon receiving reports that other freshmen received routine beatings, the police planned to expand their investigation.

By Chung Young-jin JoongAng Ilbo/ Park Sang-woo Contributing Writer

xcakid

03-26-2008, 01:44 PM

Nice to know you can major in martial arts at Korean Universities...

Well if you can major in Sexual Studies and Theories @ UCLA. Why the hell not. Seriously

The Willow Sword

03-27-2008, 05:53 AM

That was pretty fukin funny watchin that woman get pounced on by the lion. Uhh Note to self "DONT DO PHOTOSHOOTS WITH WILD ANIMALS,especially LIONS"

I mean if your energy is up and you are moving around like a goof and there just happens to be a lion there next to you, gee i wonder what the probability is that you are going to get played to death?
People are Stupid, TWS

GeneChing

03-28-2008, 10:02 AM

No names, no pics, just Limassol. Another horrid story.

Martial arts instructor accused of sexual abusing children (http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=38353&cat_id=1)
By Anna Hassapi

A 30-year old taekwondo instructor from Limassol has been remanded in custody for the second time in the past month, following charges brought against him of sexually abusing children in his class.

Three of his former students, including two nine-year-old girls, have come forward claiming that the man has sexually abused them.

The first charge against the instructor was made months ago, but did not lead to an investigation as the 30-year-old was merely called in by police and was given a verbal warning.

The two cases involving the two nine-year-olds came to light afterwards.

The first charge was made last month, after one of the girls told her parents that the instructor was touching her inappropriately during class.

The parents made a complaint to the police, with the Limassol District Court ordering a six-day remand, while police continued to investigate.

Then, just before the expiration of the six-day remand period, the parents of a second nine-year-old girl claimed the instructor had sexually abused their daughter.

The Court duly ordered a further six-day remand.

In her statement to police, the second girl said that the man had forced her to have anal sex with him.

She will be examined by a doctor.

Both girls claim that the abuse took place at the suspect’s martial arts academy in Limassol.

The instructor categorically denies the charges.

Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008

GeneChing

03-31-2008, 10:58 AM

Not a teacher, a fighter - but a noteworthy bust.

Russian Martial Arts Chief Indicted (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/03/117_21676.html)
Fedor Emelianenko
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

Prosecutors indicted the chief of a Russian martial arts agency Monday for allegedly abusing the publicity rights of world-class martial arts fighter Fedor Emelianenko.

The former martial arts champion sued the Korean Sambo Federation chief and the Korean Apiculture Association for airing a commercial through cable television networks, advertising a brand of the association's honey using his image, which he and his agent did not approve.

Emelianeko sought 1.55 billion won in compensation.

According to the prosecutors, the Sambo chief, whom the investigative body declined to identify, received 22 million won from advertisers in return for giving out the exclusive right to use the world heavyweight champion's identity for commercial use.

It was later revealed that the man had a mere one-year-negotiation right with the Russian fighter and hadn't even signed a real contract for publicity.

In the complaint, Emelianenko's attorney said the champion's image was tarnished by shoddy video images that do not portray him as a `` powerful fighter.'' The complainant also requested the defendants print public apologies through nationwide papers.

In the 19-second commercial, Emelianenko appears as a champion in the ring, and drinks a bottle of honey shouting ``Seonyu Honey is good''.

1bad65

04-22-2008, 06:27 AM

KISSIMMEE - A karate instructor recently convicted of having sex with one of his young students pleaded no contest to similar charges Monday in cases involving four other victims, the State Attorney's Office said.

Bradley Knight, 38, was arrested in 2006 after the parents of a teen girl told investigators the instructor had sex with their daughter. As Osceola County detectives investigated Knight, who owned and operated Tiger's Den Karate-Do Academy on East Carroll Street, more victims came forward. Detectives also accused Knight of possessing child pornography.

Rest of the story at:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-karate-teacher-sex-042108,0,507229.story

BoulderDawg

04-22-2008, 10:57 AM

>>>>>>A 30-year old taekwondo instructor from Limassol has been remanded in custody for the second time in the past month, following charges brought against him of sexually abusing children in his class.

Three of his former students, including two nine-year-old girls, have come forward claiming that the man has sexually abused them.

The first charge against the instructor was made months ago, but did not lead to an investigation as the 30-year-old was merely called in by police and was given a verbal warning.

The two cases involving the two nine-year-olds came to light afterwards.

The first charge was made last month, after one of the girls told her parents that the instructor was touching her inappropriately during class.<<<<<<

************

I don't know. Touching during class? When I read this to me I started thinking about McMartin Preschool.

Of course an instructor is going to have to touch students during class and on occasion hands may inavertly touch some sensitive areas.

In my former school they didn't have any kind of kids program. The few kids under 18 that we had were in the adult classes. Maybe the owners felt the liability was just too great...or maybe they didn't like kids...I don't know.

Anyway in that school the problem seemed to be relationship problems among adult students and instructiors. It's a little hard to be impartial when your sleeping with several students.:p

GeneChing

04-29-2008, 09:42 AM

Busted for a sai (http://www.martialartsmart.net/Tonfas.html). Now that's a bummer. If your going to get busted for weapon possession, it should be one of these (http://www.martialartsmart.net/4543.html). ;)

Waterville man arrested with martial arts weapon (http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/026234.html)
By Morning Sentinel Staff Report April 29, 2008 11:20 AM

WATERVILLE — Police arrested a Waterville man Monday night on a charge of violating the conditions of his release by being in possession of a Sai, a sword-type tool and weapon used in martial arts training.

Jason H. Hight, 22, first was interviewed at about 10:30 p.m. by police during a routine pedestrian check on the Ticonic Bridge connecting Waterville and Winslow, Sgt. Michael Benecke said.

Hight was arrested on Silver Street on charges of carrying a concealed weapon and with violating the conditions of release by also being in the company of a person with whom he was not allowed contact.

The martial arts weapon was found during a police search of Hight.

He was taken to the county jail in Augusta and his bail was revoked, Benecke said.

sanjuro_ronin

04-29-2008, 09:46 AM

xcakid

04-29-2008, 10:35 AM

I wonder if anyone bothered to mention that a sai is a CLUBBING instrument, not a "sword-like" one.

The media never knows proper descriptions for weapons. To them any semi auto rifle is an "assualt rifle" Any rifle found in a shooting is a "high powered sniper rifle" or an "AK47" apparently those are the only 2 types weapons that exist in this world.

So it would not suprise me to see them sensationalize this typical farming tool.

BoulderDawg

04-29-2008, 11:11 AM

I think the reason he was arrested for the sai was not so much what kind of weapon it was but the fact that it was a weapon at all. It's my understanding that if you are on parole you have certain restrictions placed on you. Really a sai would be no different than a long iron bar. Both can be used as formitable weapon.

By the way I sincerely doubt he was doing any planting with it.

BoulderDawg

04-30-2008, 11:06 AM

I thought this might be a good place for a Miley Cyrus comment. :D

I'm thinking what's the big deal. They are treating her as if she is 8-9 years old instead of 15. If anything I'm thinking she's a fairly average looking girl for that age.....anyway I though it was funny the way Disney just went apesh-t and made her apologize. If anyone thinks that picture was shocking just go out to your local mall and check out what 12-16 year old girls are wearing.

The only thing I though was strange was the picture with her with her father. When I first saw this pictures I didn't really know who these people were and I though that was a picture of her and her boyfriend. I could not imagine posing with my daughter like that.

Another case: The other day I was flipping channels and I came across something called "Bindi the Jungle girl". This turned out to be Steve Irvin's daughter. What's even worse is that Steve appears on the show.....that was a little weird in my opinion.:D Also I don't really feel it was a good thing for her to do this show so soon after her father's death.

GeneChing

04-30-2008, 05:56 PM

...an MMA star.

Mixed martial arts star arrested for failure to register as sex offender (http://www.durantdemocrat.com/articles/2008/04/30/news/doc48174537cc092161610138.txt)
By MATT SWEARENGIN
Published:Tuesday, April 29, 2008 12:42 PM CDT

A mixed martial arts star wanted in Bryan County for failing to register as a sex offender was arrested Monday in Denison, Texas, by Bryan County Sheriff’s deputies and U.S. Marshals.

Patrick Bouvier Smith, 44, Durant, was charged earlier this month with failing to register as a sex offender when he moved to a residence east of Durant, according to court papers.

The charge was the result of an investigation by Bryan County Sheriff’s Investigator Victor Porter, who began investigating Smith in March, following Smith’s arrest for attempting to elude police and speeding.

Smith, according to court documents, was convicted in 1999 in Adams County, Colo., for sexual assault on a child. According to Porter, Smith was convicted of fondling a 14-year-old girl.

He was arrested in Denison without incident, according to Bryan County Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Pelto. He was brought to Bryan County early Monday evening and booked into jail.

Smith is a mixed martial artist who has fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He recently fought in New Jersey, according to Porter, who said Smith came to Bryan County after meeting a local gym owner at a fight in Tulsa. Smith had previously been instructing martial arts in Durant, according to Porter.

Smith is expected to have his initial court appearance on the charge today. Federal charges against him are a possibility, according to the sheriff’s office.

In another, unrelated court case, a jury acquitted a man of kidnapping during a trial held Monday. Jurors deliberated for two hours and 11 minutes before finding Nehemiah Martin Hellems, 25, not guilty of a charge of helping kidnap a woman in August and holding her at a Durant motel room.

A court affidavit states that the woman told authorities Jimmie Ray Rodgers, 26, brandished a firearm and made her get in his vehicle. She said that she was taken to a motel room that was occupied by other individuals.

She fled after a methamphetamine lab caught fire, according to authorities. Rodgers was upset with the woman for “snitching” on his father regarding drug crimes, a drug agent said during the investigation. Hellems was identified as being one of the men in the motel room when the alleged victim viewed a photo lineup. Rodgers pleaded guilty earlier this year to methamphetamine manufacture and kidnapping. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

According to the sheriff’s office, Hellems is still wanted in Fannin County, Texas, for a charge there.

Thanks for the Miley Cyrus comment, BD. I'm still trying to figure what that has to do with this thead, but hey, it's an online forum.:rolleyes:

Mook Jong

04-30-2008, 06:46 PM

I feel like a while back there was some fairly well known kung fu or karate school that got busted as being a front for a prostitution ring on Long Island somewhere. Can't help but feel like i saw it on the forum at some point. Could someone point me in the direction of that story?

Pork Chop

04-30-2008, 09:22 PM

MJ
it was the dude from crouching tiger hidden dragon
he had a cover story on kfm

Mook Jong

04-30-2008, 09:27 PM

ahh ok, thanks. Reading over the stories Gene has been posting jogged my memory a bit and i for the life of me couldn't remember anything about it.

BoulderDawg

04-30-2008, 10:18 PM

Thanks for the Miley Cyrus comment, BD. I'm still trying to figure what that has to do with this thead, but hey, it's an online forum.:rolleyes:

Explotation of kids can come in any form and for any reason. For personal pleasure or, in Vanity Fair's case, for money.

GeneChing

05-02-2008, 09:37 AM

Former MMA fighter arrested again in Denison (http://www.kxii.com/news/headlines/18454739.html)
Posted: 1:34 PM May 1, 2008
Last Updated: 2:40 PM May 1, 2008
Reporter: KXII-TV Staff

DENISON, Tex. -- A mixed martial arts enthusiast wanted out of Bryan County for failing to register as a sex offender was arrested Monday in Denison, Texas, by the Bryan County Sheriff’s Department and U.S. Marshals.

Patrick Smith, 44, of Durant was charged earlier this month for failing to register as a sex offender, but this charge goes back to March when Smith attempted to elude police for speeding.

It turns out Smith was convicted in 1999 in Colorado for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old.

Bryan County Sheriff Bill Sturch says Smith is currently being held at the Bryan County Jail. The case could soon be turned over to federal authorities.

The Gao Xian scandal (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38397)preceded this thread. Same goes for the Brian Grey scandal (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47465). There's probably a few other scandals that I can't remember now, but I've posted these links so they are search-able within this thread.

shadowlin

05-02-2008, 11:03 PM

I don't see anything wrong with a teacher expressing himself, except that he's clearly a wannabe posing with fake guns, and at any rate, it's no crime to express oneself, even if it makes you look like a d0rk (why is that censored??) or poorly minded martial artist.

Also, what you should remember as you read the AP is until these people are convicted beyond reasonable doubt, you have no right to condemn them. I'm glad we don't castrate people because there have been many, many cases where men were falsely accused by "victims" in an attempt to punish them.

It's not as likely, unfortunately as the reality of molestation cases, but if hey aren't guilty, it's not right to pander these AP stories about.

I'm impressed that at least the first post contributed two different articles that gave different points of view.

Something to think about when you are a teacher: never leave yourself alone in a room with anyone under the age or of the opposite sex who you don't know very well or don't trust completely. These days just the charge of sexual predation can ruin your life completely. The lawyer fees alone will surely bankrupt you, you'll lose your students and your school, etc...

My heart goes out to any victims of molestation, I know of one case far too close to home, it took us all by surprise. Thankfully the man is in jail for a while longer. Although, I don't believe it was a case of forced underage rape, but just too young and clearly illegal.

Shaolin Wookie

05-03-2008, 06:29 AM

No names, no pics, just Limassol. Another horrid story.

Gene: you've convinced me that Taekwondo is just a front for the Catholic priesthood. Are you happy now?

Shaolin Wookie

05-03-2008, 06:36 AM

The media never knows proper descriptions for weapons. To them any semi auto rifle is an "assualt rifle" Any rifle found in a shooting is a "high powered sniper rifle" or an "AK47" apparently those are the only 2 types weapons that exist in this world.

So it would not suprise me to see them sensationalize this typical farming tool.

I wonder if you were carrying around a rake, or maybe a hoe, if you'd get picked up by the beat. I wonder...

Shaolin Wookie

05-03-2008, 06:41 AM

Also I don't really feel it was a good thing for her to do this show so soon after her father's death.

Come on....her father did a lot for wildlife conservation, has set up numerous organizations, and was about the best Australian Jiu-jitsu practitioner on the face of the friggin earth. I can't imagine anyone else that would roll with a croc.

So Bindi loves her dad and wants to carry on his mission and help the foundations he set up. Conservation efforts don't pay for themselves. I think she's admirable for footing the bill. That's sweet, not weird.

As for little miss hussy, Millie Cyrus....LOL....jk...if your fan base is the conservative right and country folk, you're gonna get lambasted if you show a little ankle.

GeneChing

05-30-2008, 05:20 PM

Breaking up domestic disputes is one of the most dangerous.

Life for martial arts murder man (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/shropshire/7427774.stm)

A martial arts student has been jailed for life for beating a man to death after he tried to stop an argument between him and his girlfriend.

Daniel Micklethwaite, 28, of Old Whittington Road, Gobowen, Shropshire, admitted murdering Joseph Hayward on 22 December in Coney Green, Oswestry.

Stafford Crown Court heard how the 50-year-old grandfather of four was hit 44 times.

Micklethwaite said he had struggled to live with the guilt since the attack.

Attack recorded

He added that he had never meant to kill Mr Hayward.

The court heard how Micklethwaite ambushed Mr Hayward, from Oswestry, as he walked home alone after drinking with a friend.

Earlier, Mr Hayward had intervened in an argument between Micklethwaite and his girlfriend in the town's Fitz Bar.

Micklethwaite pounced on his victim while Mr Hayward was talking on his mobile phone and the attack was recorded on it, the court heard.

Mr Hayward died of head injuries.

Micklethwaite was told he would have to serve at least 11 years and eight months in jail.

Shaolin Wookie

06-01-2008, 11:48 AM

Breaking up domestic disputes is one of the most dangerous.

Wait....you mean they can trace cell phone calls and recall them by recording?

That, more than anything, is the shocking and appalling part of the tale.

GeneChing

06-17-2008, 09:05 AM

..."Mr Philcox, originally from the Speke area of Liverpool, had been practising karate for more than 30 years, reaching sixth dan black belt and winning many competitions.

He also held various senior positions within martial arts organisations in the UK."

What a tragedy.

Father's bomb hoax at family home (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7458697.stm)

A man who gassed himself and his two children planted a hoax bomb at the family home and reportedly told his wife: "I've left you a present."

Brian Philcox, 52, was going through a break-up with his wife when he drove to the Conwy valley to kill himself, seven-year-old Amy and Owen, three.

After picking up the children, there were reports that he told his wife: "I'll make the papers, just you watch."

A hoax bomb was later found at the family home in Runcorn, Cheshire.

Residents were evacuated on Saturday night and an army bomb squad called in.

Supt Jed Manley, of Cheshire Police, said: "It [the hoax bomb] was made to give the appearance of being an explosive device. It has wires. It had other issues that the officer believed, quite rightly, that caution was needed and it looked like an improvised explosive device."

A second suspect package was sent to a "family member" police said, and this too was removed by explosives experts.

It also emerged that karate expert Mr Philcox had been in contact with Fathers 4 Justice and may have tried calling them in the days running up to the tragedy.

Mr Philcox and his children were found in his Land Rover Freelander near Llanrwst on Sunday - Father's Day.

They died from carbon monoxide poisoning through inhaling exhaust fumes.

Det Ch Insp Wayne Jones from North Wales Police said there were no other injuries on the children.

Police described the children's mother Evelyn - known locally as Lyn - as "devastated". She was being comforted by family and friends.

Outside the family home, a single-storey, bungalow-type terrace on the Windmill Hill estate, teddy bears and flowers were tied to railings.

Shocked locals hugged each other as they talked on doorsteps, watching as police forensics teams wearing blue gloves came in and out of the house.

One card tied to the railings had a child's drawing, of Lyn, Amy and Owen.

Tied to flowers, one card said: "Good night little angels."

The bodies of Brian Philcox and his children Amy and Owen were found in a Land Rover

Another card read: "No words can express the sympathy or the pain of loss of your little angels.

"Their little smiles will shine forever."

A friend of Mr Philcox, Paul Clifton, said he had been very upset by the turmoil of divorce.

"He was very, very upset by the situation to do with the courts and the access to the children, because he's going through a lot of turmoil with the divorce," he said.

"But he loved his children. It's very hard to believe he's done this."

One of Mr Philcox's neighbours said he had threatened violence.

He loved his children... it's very hard to believe he's done this
Paul Clifton, friend

"Last week he was actually bragging, when I walked past, he was actually saying, 'I'll burn the house before I give it... up or the kids to her'," the neighbour said.

Mr Philcox, originally from the Speke area of Liverpool, had been practising karate for more than 30 years, reaching sixth dan black belt and winning many competitions.

He also held various senior positions within martial arts organisations in the UK.

He was named Man of the Year in 2005 in awards for local citizens in Runcorn in recognition for his charity work following the death of his first wife Jan.

Mr Philcox also had other children with other partners.

Fathers 4 Justice said Mr Philcox had called them on several occasions and had been advised to join the group via their internet site to get help, support and advice, but that he had not done this.

A spokesman said it was also possible that he may have tried calling in the run-up to Father's Day but that the group's office had been swamped with over 1,000 enquiries in the last week alone.

Det Chief Insp Jones said officers were still trying to discover his last movements with his children.

He said Mr Philcox had picked up Amy and Owen from an arranged access visit on Friday, and there was a sighting of the three at Llangollen on Saturday.

Mr Philcox had told friends he planned the visit because the children were interested in trains.

Officers were alerted at about 1500 BST on Sunday by a passer-by, who found the car off a hillside road near Llanrwst, parked on a road leading from the A470 between Tal-y-cafn and Maenan.

sanjuro_ronin

06-17-2008, 09:52 AM

What would drive someone like that
He was named Man of the Year in 2005 in awards for local citizens in Runcorn in recognition for his charity work following the death of his first wife Jan. to do somethign like this ?

Horrible.

GeneChing

07-07-2008, 10:52 AM

That's rather obvious, eh?

CS Karate Instructor Found Guilty of Sex With Minor (http://www.kbtx.com/local/headlines/22957034.html)
Posted: 11:07 PM Jul 3, 2008
Last Updated: 8:01 AM Jul 4, 2008
Reporter: Joe Brown

He was supposed to be a role model kids could trust. Now he's been convicted for violating that trust.

College Station resident Jerry Nucker, 34, was the owner of the Academy of Martial Arts where he taught karate. But three years ago, his relationship with a 16-year old student crossed the line.

Nucker has been convicted of two counts of sexual assault of a child. But the jury that found him guilty Wednesday, couldn't agree on his punishment Thursday.

A mistrial was declared for the punishment phase only. Another jury will be seated to decide Nucker's sentence.

According to the probable cause statement, the girl had been a student of Nucker's for two years. She told investigators their first sexual contact came in November, 2005 at the karate studio.

She said over the next few months, the two had sex at the studio, Nucker's home and his vehicle. She also told authorities, the sex was consensual. However, under Texas law, minors cannot give consent.

SimonM

07-07-2008, 11:05 AM

Being unable to give informed consent is essentially the definition of what a minor is.

I just fail to comprehend what is going through the head of a grown man to have sex with a child, no matter how emphatic her consent may appear to be.

xcakid

07-10-2008, 02:25 PM

Had he waited another year he would've been in the clear. Age of consent in TX is 17 if its consentual.

LSWCTN1

07-10-2008, 03:03 PM

cant forget Ruen (or is it Rien) Bul of Holland, 'grandmaster' of WuDang Weng Chun, who is serving life for raping a student

the dirty scum should be castrated, and forced to watch as swine devour the removed articles. or better yet, be forced to watch as swine castrate him

sadly, im sure that there will be many, many more.

also the martial arts experts who made the worlds biggest ever cash robbery. ($112,000,000) one of them once knocked out Tito Ortiz in a street fight, and also fought Anderson 'Spider' Silva in the cage. lost a decision as he was totaly outclassed by the end, but towards the start Silva was constantly backing away from the power in Lee Murrays hands

GeneChing

07-15-2008, 10:39 AM

These kinds of articles always bum me out. It's just some yahoo with nunchucks (http://www.martialartsmart.net/Nunchakus.html), giving the weapon a bad name and spoiling it for the rest of us.

Man caught with martial arts weapons (http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburgh/Man-caught-with-martial-arts.4288235.jp)

A MAN has been jailed after being caught with a knife and a set of martial arts weapons, known as nunchucks, when he was thrown out of a pub in the Capital.
John Longstaff, of Mayfield Road, Edinburgh, was jailed for nine months at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday.

The 39-year-old pleaded guilty previously to committing a breach of the peace in Swany's Bar in Ratcliffe Terrace on February 9 this year; possessing the knife and nunchucks, and also to resisting arrest and struggling violently with two police officers.

Sentence had been deferred for background reports.

The court was told that the assistant manager of the bar, Susan Power, had asked Longstaff to leave because of his "riotous and quarrelsome behaviour".

He refused and, as the police were escorting him out of the premises, they saw the knife.

Defence agent, Diane Moore, said that Longstaff had been making efforts to improve his behaviour and tackle his drug problems.

TenTigers

07-15-2008, 02:01 PM

I hate it when newspapers, as well as police use the term,"Nunchcks, and numchucks,." Do a little research. Open a freakin book, fer Chrissakes.

It's
Chukka Sticks!

Lucas

07-15-2008, 02:08 PM

Or we can use the word, Nunchaku.....

TenTigers

07-15-2008, 02:10 PM

Or we can use the word, Nunchaku.....

what's that?

Lucas

07-15-2008, 02:10 PM

we should just change the name officially to :

NUMBchucks.

banditshaw

07-15-2008, 02:36 PM

I agree. Numbchucks it is!

Chosen-frozen

07-16-2008, 09:11 PM

As for little miss hussy, Millie Cyrus....LOL....jk...if your fan base is the conservative right and country folk, you're gonna get lambasted if you show a little ankle.

Uhm, no. If you`re trying to make money by taking semi-nude photos of a barely 15 yr old kid....that`s when you`re gonna get lambasted. Country music is full of **** atractive women showing alot more than ankle, and recent studies show that conservatives enjoy sex much more than liberals. Maybe that`s why we don`t feel the need to include a box full of gerbils.:p

GeneChing

07-17-2008, 09:39 AM

I couldn't resist - here's Ung's site. (http://hollandkarate.com/)

Martial arts instructor charged with solicitation of murder (http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/07/martial_arts_instructor_charge.html)
Posted by The Grand Rapids Press July 17, 2008 11:43AM

HOLLAND -- A 42-year-old martial arts instructor is being charged with solicitation of murder, Holland police said today.

Police have sought a warrant against Eang Ung, although details of the incident have not been released. State Police records confirm the warrant.

"He solicited someone to basically murder someone else," Holland police Capt. Rick Walters said. "Obviously, he was not successful."

Eang Ung, a master instructor, was profiled by The Press earlier this month for his work teaching children with autism, ADHD and other challenges, including abuse. His business is on North River Avenue.

Ung, born in Cambodia, operates Ung's Martial Arts in on River Avenue in Holland Township.

On his Web site, Ung described himself as "owner of one of the most successful martial arts schools in the West Michigan area."

sanjuro_ronin

07-17-2008, 09:41 AM

I couldn't resist - here's Ung's site. (http://hollandkarate.com/)

Doesn't inspire much confidence in regards to his MA !

TaichiMantis

07-17-2008, 09:58 AM

I couldn't resist - here's Ung's site. (http://hollandkarate.com/)

Crap, saw the first article in the paper about helping the ADD kids....Holland is in my backyard. I've been doing open tournaments in Holland and Grand Rapids for a few years...don't remember seeing any of their students. Hmmmm....had to dig just to find out he has 5th degree (1st Dan) in hapkido. Doesn't say anywhere on his site what style he teaches...

What idiots decided it was in the public's best interest to arrest him at his school in front of all the kids? this sucks!

HOLLAND, Mich. (WOOD ) -- The founder of a well-known martial arts school in Holland is in jail charged with trying to get his ex-girlfriend killed.

Eang Ung, 42, was arrested at his studio on North River Avenue Wednesday night in Holland Township. There were clients and students at the facility at the time, including Kevin Kroel.

"All of a sudden, three or four WEMET people came in, a couple more brown shirts again, and all of a sudden they just put the handcuffs on Mr. Ung," he said. "The kids were just petrified. My little 3-year-old grandson was to the point where he was climbing all over his mother. He was scared."

GeneChing

07-18-2008, 10:42 AM

Anything more in your local press, TaichiMantis?

Martial arts master accused of seeking a hit man (http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-42/1216386936178500.xml&coll=6)
Friday, July 18, 2008
By John Tunison
The Grand Rapids Press

HOLLAND -- To 11-year-old Nathanial Waters, martial arts master Eang Hang Ung was someone to respect and admire.

After studying at the popular Ung's Martial Arts school on North River Avenue for two years, the boy was looking forward to advancing beyond his red belt.

Now, with police arresting Ung for allegedly trying to hire someone to kill the mother of his 5-year-old child, Nathanial's mother is not sure what to do.

"I'm shocked, and I'm sure this is going to be shocking to all his students. They respect him very much," Denise Waters said.

Police arrested Ung, 42, of Holland, at his school Wednesday night, apparently while students were in the building. Court documents show he is accused of trying to hire a man to kill Linda Siripanya, a woman with whom he has battled in court since 2003 over custody of their daughter.

Ung was arraigned Thursday in Holland District Court on a charge of solicitation of murder. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

Ottawa County Circuit Court documents reveal a contentious court struggle between Ung and his former girlfriend, with each making accusations against the other. Each tried more than once to get judges to issue personal protection orders against the other, and both claimed threats by the other.

In March 2004, Siripanya described in a court petition how Ung allegedly became angry during one discussion with her.

"He got upset, saying he will make sure that my life will be hell. He also tell me that, 'I will kill you and your boyfriend.' Somebody's going to get hurt, not by him, but someone will take us out," she wrote.

A message left at Siripanya's home was not returned, and Ung did not return a call left at his home. He posted a $100,000 bond after his arraignment, police said.

The court battle began after Siripanya in 2003 filed a petition to determine paternity and sought child support from Ung, who acknowledged being the girl's father. The case contains a long list of filings since then for changes in support and parenting time, with the most recent just a few weeks ago.

Ung still had custody, but court records show Siripanya sought additional parenting time earlier this year and a referee agreed. Ung for years was concerned about his daughter having any contact with Siripanya's boyfriend, who has a conviction of domestic violence against Siripanya, records show.

In an affidavit for an arrest warrant, Holland Police Capt. Matt Messer said an informant came to them July 7, telling them Ung was trying to find someone to kill his ex-girlfriend.

The informant, armed with a concealed audio recorder and working with police, captured three conversations in which Ung talked about getting rid of Siripanya.

An undercover officer met with Ung on Tuesday. Ung gave the fake hit man a photo of Siripanya, information about her, his business card and cash as "partial payment for the murder," according to the affidavit.

Wednesday, the undercover officer again met with Ung, who told the officer where Siripanya lived and described her vehicle.

"There was also discussion that Ung would pay additional money to have the dead body of his girlfriend, Linda, hidden so that it would never be discovered," Messer said in the affidavit.

The Cambodia-born Ung, a master instructor, was profiled by The Press earlier this month for his work teaching children with autism, ADHD and other challenges, including abuse. Nathaniel Waters is one of his students with ADHD.

On his Web site, Ung described himself as "owner of one of the most successful martial arts schools in the West Michigan area." The school opened in 1991 in Zeeland and has grown in size, eventually moving to its current Holland Township building.

Ung boasts being active in community fundraisers, such as the United Way, and events, such as Tulip Time. He teaches a student creed that includes "developing myself in a positive manner" and has a business mission of "inspiring self-esteem in every child."

A sign on the business door Thursday said classes were canceled for that day. It was not clear whether the school would reopen.

TenTigers

07-18-2008, 10:58 AM

sanjuro_ronin

07-18-2008, 11:03 AM

this guy teaches kids with ADHD, autism, etc but has to hire a hitman for his ex? How bad could she have possibly been?

(then again, My ex has weekly lessons with Satan.
I don't know how much she charges him...)

I know a few ex's that warrant a hired kill, certainly I wouldn't soil my hands with them.
Man's gotta have some pride in his arts tools.

TaichiMantis

07-18-2008, 11:31 AM

You have the latest from the GR Press. I found this from our local NBC affiliate:

Ung argued Thik shouldn't be around his daughter because of three domestic violence convictions, one coming just months before against Siripanya.

Hmmm...she beat his a$$?:rolleyes:

GeneChing

07-28-2008, 09:55 AM

Good thing they got him before the Olympics (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39275).

Judo official resigns amid abuse allegations (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/07/27/sports/s092444D64.DTL&hw=judo&sn=001&sc=1000)
By P. SOLOMON BANDA, Associated Press Writer
Sunday, July 27, 2008
(07-27) 14:17 PDT DENVER, (AP) --

A high-ranking U.S. judo official resigned amid accusations that nearly 30 years ago he molested teenage competitors he coached.

Fletcher Thornton's resignation from USA Judo's board of directors took effect Friday, a day before The New York Times published a story about the allegations.

The governing organization for the sport announced the resignation on its Web site Saturday. A spokeswoman said Thornton was a referee at a tournament in Orlando, Fla., on Friday, but he did not participate Saturday and had left by Sunday.

A telephone number listed for Thornton in Middletown, Calif., where he lives, was disconnected.

Jose H. Rodriguez, the chief executive of USA Judo, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Sunday that Thornton was not asked to resign, but that the move puts the spotlight back on the athletes less than two weeks from the start of the Beijing Games.

The Times' story said several young athletes in affidavits from 1981 accused Thornton of drugging and sexually molesting teenage competitors he coached in the late 1970s. A new accuser also surfaced in 2005, according to the report.

Thornton denied the allegations to the newspaper. In June, American judo medal hopeful Ronda Rousey drew attention to the issue by posting a blog about it.

The U.S. Olympic Committee has said it opened an inquiry into the allegations.

Rodriguez said a committee investigated the allegations in 1982 and 1983 and found that nobody filed a formal complaint, leaving the allegations unsubstantiated.

"You can't just keep bringing back the same affidavits year after year," he said. "USA Judo in 1982 and 1983 did do their due diligence and they gave everybody the opportunity to stand up. There is an appeals process."

"There should have been an appeal filed if somebody was not happy with the hearing," he later added.

AnnMarie De Mars, Rousey's mother and a judo competitor when the allegations surfaced, said she roomed with one of the alleged victims mentioned in an affidavit during the 1982 U.S. Open in Colorado Springs, Colo. She said nobody from USA Judo tried to question her roommate.

"Nobody told us there were hearings," De Mars said, adding that she later learned from another alleged victim about the hearings. "Their investigation was, basically, they told the girls (who filed the affidavits and who lived out of state) if they wanted to fly to Colorado Springs and testify in person they could."

De Mars said that Thornton tried to grope her at the tournament but she was reluctant to file a complaint.

"I was a kid, what am I going to do, go and ask the people who are doing this to handle your complaint?" she said. "Nobody cared then. There were a lot of people thinking women shouldn't even be doing sports, let alone judo, and if you couldn't handle it, then you should stay home."

kfman5F

08-05-2008, 02:32 PM

It was in the news today in Los Angeles. I saw it on tv this morning. A karate teacher in Westminster, Orange County was arrested for molesting 6, possible more young male students and had threatened to smash their heads in if they told anyone. It was reported he could get life in prison. That's it in a nutshell.

xcakid

08-06-2008, 07:24 AM

GeneChing

08-18-2008, 10:49 AM

rice flails. :rolleyes: get your rice flails here. (http://www.martialartsmart.net/Nunchakus.html)

Man, 25, found with martial arts weapon (http://www.blackpoolcitizen.co.uk/news/3601977.Man__25__found_with_martial_arts_weapon/)
9:48am Monday 18th August 2008

A man arrested for a breach of the peace was found to have martial arts rice-flails down his trousers.

Blackburn magistrates heard that Mark Gregson, 25, had gone to a Blackburn bakery where his girlfriend’s mother works and there had been a confrontation.

Gregson, 25, of Horsebridge Road, Blackpool, pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon.

He was bailed for preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Sarah Johnston, prosecuting, said police were called to Park Lee Bakery where they were met by the defendant who was in an agitated state.

He was involved in a dispute with someone inside the bakery and was arrested to prevent a breach of the peace.

He confessed to having the rice-flails and told police he had bought them in a shop in Blackburn that day.

Roger Pickles, defending, said Gregson wrongly assumed that because the martial arts weapon was legally on sale it would be legal to possess it.

“Had he taken it straight home that would have been the case,” said Mr Pickles.

“He received a text from his girlfriend to go to the bakery where her mother works.

"She began tearing up letters he had written to his girlfriend and there was a scene.

“He did not brandish the rice flails.”

GeneChing

08-18-2008, 10:52 AM

knowing she was under 16

Martial arts instructor admits sex charges with 14-year-old girl (http://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/bed-news/Martial-arts-instructor-admits-sex.4396926.jp)

A 43-year-old martial arts instructor pleaded guilty on Monday to sex charges relating to a 14-year-old girl.

Derek James was due to stand trial at Luton Crown Court but instead entered guilty pleas to two charges, thus avoiding the need for the victim to give evidence to the jury.

James, of Rowallan Drive, Bedford, admitted two charges of sexual activity with a child. The allegation is that between December 2007 and April this year he twice had sexual intercourse with the girl knowing she was under 16.

James was remanded in custody and will be sentenced in October at Harrow Crown Court.

The National Association of Karate and Martial Art Schools (NAKMAS) admitted its "robust" child safety procedures had been tested by the case.

James was a senior instructor at the Freestyle Shotokan Karate Association in Bedford.

NAKMAS said it quickly revoked his licence in April, when the charges were brought against him, and assisted the police investigation.

Joe Ellis, chairman of NAKMAS, said: "We were shocked when Mr James' charges came to light and we acted immediately. We regret that the danger he posed could not be identified sooner.

"The vetting procedures and processes we have in place are the most robust in the country. The interests and the safety of the children are our top priority.

"Not only is NAKMAS the only martial arts body to have been awarded national and international British Standard Institute awards for the quality of its management, but its comprehensive child protection policy was drawn up with and has been recognised by the NSPCC."

NAKMAS conducts mandatory Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks on all coaches prior to their taking up positions within member clubs. No previous criminal record emerged in relation to James.

Mr Ellis added: "The CRB checks are the most rigorous and regulated instructors go through. Even with this procedure, there was no indication of previous criminal activity.

"The CRB checks will not be 100 per cent effective. For example, they will not reveal the risk someone poses if they have never committed an offence but who goes on to do so. Nevertheless, we will continue to maintain our own child safety standards with regular reviews to keep child protection at the top of the agenda for NAKMAS member clubs."

The Willow Sword

08-18-2008, 10:57 AM

Bu t isnt that what nunchakus really are? Rice flails?:Dtws

GeneChing

08-22-2008, 10:30 AM

I was tempted to put this one on the Bollywood kung fu thread (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48576), but why sully that one?

Martial arts centres under scanner (http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEO20080822095653&Page=O&Title=Thiruvananthapuram&Topic=0)
Friday August 22 2008 09:57 IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In view of the reports that the state is becoming a training hub of extremist organisations, the martial arts training institutes in the state are under police scanner. DGP Raman Srivastava has directed all district police chiefs to take stern action against the centres that are imparting martial arts training illegally. Stern action would be initiated against the centres that carry out such activities by invoking various provisions on the Kerala Police Act and the Kerala Police Regulation of (Physical Training) Rules, according to a statement issued by the DGP here on Thursday.

Sub-Inspectors and other police officers above the rank of SIs can carry out raids at such centres. Cases would be initiated against those who offer training to persons involved in criminal activities and those indulge in anti-national activities, the DGP warned.

SimonM

08-22-2008, 10:32 AM

Whee for indian ninja terrorists! :D

GeneChing

08-22-2008, 10:35 AM

GeneChing

08-22-2008, 10:36 AM

See 7-17 & 7-18 posts

Martial arts master Ung facing charges for arranging hit on wife (http://blog.mlive.com/minorityreport/2008/08/martial_arts_master_ung_facing.html)
Posted by Scott Thorn | MLive.com August 21, 2008 12:07PM

August 20, 2008: Grand Rapids Press: Testimony from the undercover officer and Christopher Sanchez, an instructor at Ung's Martial Arts school, was enough to convince Holland District Judge Brad Knoll to order Ung, 42, to stand trial for solicitation of murder.

He remains free on a $100,000 bond.

Eang Ung appeared in Holland District Court for his preliminary hearing Wednesday. He is accused of trying to hire a hitman to kill his ex-girlfriend, who is also the mother of his child. Ung talked to Sanchez, 37, numerous times since last summer about his custody problems with Siripanya over their 5-year-old daughter, how he wanted her gone and how Sanchez could do him a favor by killing her, Sanchez testified.

Ung promised him a promotion to black belt if he took care of Siripanya, Sanchez said.

Which really makes good sense. Black belt promotions at commercial schools become more about internal politics and favors that the student performs for his/her sensei. Plus, at the higher ranks, the black belts testing and passing can reach into the thousands of dollars. In this economy, if you want to be promoted, makes very good sense.

Sanchez testified he only began to take Ung seriously in the last three months, when Ung brought up ways to possibly dispose of her body, including using acid to dissolve her flesh and dumping her at a pig farm.

"He said taking the body to a pig farm, that (they) would eat her body," Sanchez testified, also saying Ung "just wanted to be done with her. He pretty much hated her."

Sanchez began recording these conversations before ultimately notifying authories, talking on several occasions with police Capt. Matt Messer. A meeting was eventually set up between Ung and a hit man "Alberto" (undercover Muskegon City Police Sgt. Ray Barthelemy).

At the first meeting, Ung gave Barthelemy a picture of Siripanya, $300 of the $500 agreed upon as payment, and directions to Siripanya's home and workplace. Police said the two even haggled over cost, with Ung saying he could not afford the $1,000 price or an $800 compromise.

Barthelemy testified Ung said he wanted Siripanya gone because "she had gone through all his money, made him bankrupt and she was also corrupting his little girl." He Ung portrayed her as a problem gambler and drug user.

If the deed was done, Barthelemy was to call Ung and give the code phrase, "I hit a home run," then hang up.

This should be enough to convict Ung, but defense attorneys for Ung claim Sanchez did this in order to cut a deal on a sexual assault charge he was facing in July. Police acknowledged that there was talk of reducing Sanchez's sentence for cooperating on this attempted murder case.

Sanchez, who describes himself as a freelance reporter with a local Hispanic newspaper, admits a criminal record that includes sexual assault in 1991, drunken driving and other crimes.

Regardless of Sanchez's reason's for contacting the police, Ung's intent appears to be clear. He had other options, like reporting his wife to social services or the police while she was using drugs and in charge of the care of their daughter. Or dim mak, if he were indeed a true martial arts master. Regardless, it appears that Ung may be getting a chance to test out his skills in prison.

Suspect in hit-man plot ordered to trial (http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-43/121932454715770.xml&coll=6)
Thursday, August 21, 2008
By John Tunison
The Grand Rapids Press

HOLLAND -- Martial arts instructor Eang Ung talked about kidnapping and beating his ex-girlfriend, framing her for a drug crime and ultimately having her killed -- anything to stop her child custody battle with him, a fellow instructor said Wednesday.

Ung eventually paid an undercover officer pretending to be a hit man $300 in cash, with another $200 promised, to get rid of Linda Siripanya, testimony at a probable cause hearing showed.

Testimony from the undercover officer and Christopher Sanchez, an instructor at Ung's Martial Arts school, was enough to convince Holland District Judge Brad Knoll to order Ung, 42, to stand trial for solicitation of murder.

He remains free on a $100,000 bond.

Ung talked to Sanchez, 37, numerous times since last summer about his custody problems with Siripanya over their 5-year-old daughter, how he wanted Siripanya gone and how Sanchez could do him a favor by killing her, Sanchez testified.

Ung promised him a promotion to black belt if he took care of Siripanya, Sanchez said.

Sanchez testified he only began to take Ung seriously in the past three months, when Ung brought up ways to dispose of her body, including using acid to dissolve her flesh and dumping her at a pig farm.

"He said taking the body to a pig farm, that (they) would eat her body," Sanchez testified, also saying Ung "just wanted to be done with her. He pretty much hated her."

Sanchez used a small digital recorder to tape a conversation with Ung on July 2 to get evidence before notifying police, then again July 7 and July 9 after talking with police Capt. Matt Messer.

Defense attorneys Chip Chamberlain and Larry Willey suggested Sanchez's reasons for contacting police were only to try to cut a deal on a February sexual assault charge. Sanchez, charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, was in jail from Feb. 26 to April 21 before posting bond.

His trial, earlier set for July 22, has been postponed. Police acknowledge Sanchez wants a reduced charge in his case for helping police.

Sanchez, who describes himself as a freelance reporter with a local Hispanic newspaper, admits a criminal record that includes sexual assault in 1991, drunken driving and other crimes.

Working with police, Sanchez told Ung he found a hit man. Ung was hesitant to talk with anyone else, but eventually talked with undercover Muskegon City Police Sgt. Ray Barthelemy, a fake hit man called "Alberto," at Ung's Knollcrest Drive home on Holland's south side.

Police tried to record the conversation as Barthelemy wore a wire, but the attempt failed because of a problem with the device's transmitter. They devised a ruse to meet with Ung again the next day to get the recording, telling Ung he gave incorrect directions to Siripanya's house.

At the first meeting, Ung gave Barthelemy a picture of Siripanya, $300 of the $500 agreed upon as payment.

GeneChing

08-22-2008, 10:38 AM

three posts today. :(

Former martial arts instructor charged with assaulting boy (http://www.gmtoday.com/news/local_stories/2008/Aug_08/08212008_12.asp)
Alleged victim’s mother found messages left on computer
By BRIAN HUBER - GM Today Staff
August 21, 2008

WAUKESHA - A former martial arts instructor was ordered held on a $100,000 cash bond Tuesday after he was charged with molesting one of his former students over a six-week period earlier this year.

Arleigh Smith, 23, of Milwaukee, was charged with five counts of sexually assaulting a child under 16, causing a child to view sexual activity, child enticement and use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime. He faces up to 271 years in prison if convicted of all the charges.

Smith was ordered to have no unsupervised contact with any minor and to have no access to the Internet or a computer while his case is pending.

Former Martial Arts Teacher Charged with Sexual Assault (http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/27218844.html)
By Erik Bilstad and Jay Sorgi
Story Created: Aug 21, 2008

He was supposed to be teaching self-defense, but police in Brookfield say a martial arts instructor was sexually assaulting a victim.

Arleigh Smith faces five counts of sexual assault of a child for allegedly having repeated sexual contact with a 13-year-old.

He had already been fired by the Brookfield martial arts studio when allegations came to light.

"I absolutely feel betrayed, hurt," said Chan Lee, who owns the studio.

"My father came to this country in '75 and he opened this school to help people be their best through the martial arts. To have, you know, one person ruin all of that is very difficult."

Smith turned himself in.

The possible assaults were revealed when the victim's mother read a sexually explicit instant message on her son's computer.

GeneChing

08-22-2008, 10:42 AM

make that four. it's a bad day for martial arts busts

Child sex shame of martial arts man (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/08/21/child-sex-shame-of-martial-arts-man-100252-21578576/)
Aug 21 2008

A BRITISH martial arts champion was today beginning a four-year jail sentence for having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student.

Liverpool crown court was told Tae Kwon Do instructor David Thompson, 39, molested the teenager in her bedroom after giving her a lift home from a coaching session.

Months later the pair were alone together at the gym when they performed a sex act together.

The father-of-four from Kensington admitted sexual activity with the girl he had been training for about two years.

But the court heard that his victim admitted she had consented, saying: “It was exciting. I wanted it to happen.”

Jailing him, the judge told Thompson that the victim’s parents had entrusted their daughter’s care and safety with him.

doug maverick

08-23-2008, 12:39 AM

gross man, if people want to be child molesters they need to join the priesthood with the rest of the pedophiles.

GeneChing

08-26-2008, 10:15 AM

...so grows the tree

Sex offender's former partner had her life torn apart (http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2008/08/26/sex-offender-s-former-partner-had-her-life-torn-apart-84229-21604383/)
Aug 26 2008 by Sam Beattie, Evening Gazette

THE former partner of a child sex offender told today how her world was torn apart when she discovered that the man she loved harboured a vile secret.

Sasha Pearce said she wishes Andrew Finn had been jailed after he was caught downloading sickening images of child abuse on their family computer.

Twenty-five-year-old Finn only came under investigation after his father, also called Andrew Finn, was charged with assaulting and spying on a young girl.

Sasha, who had been in a relationship with former soldier Finn for two-and-a-half years and has a young son with him, felt sick with shock when he was arrested last November.

“I had two police officers come knocking on my door. One of them said, ‘I’m arresting you, Andrew Finn, on suspicion of possessing child pornography’,” said the 20-year-old who lives in Billingham.

“I looked at Andrew and tears came streaming down my face. I looked at him and said, ‘tell me you haven’t’.

“My first question to the police was, ‘is there anything to do with my daughter on there’. I can’t describe how relieved I was when they said ‘no’. The whole day I was just numb. I felt sick, I wanted to cry and curl up. I didn’t know what to think.

“I spoke to my mum afterwards and I just cried to her. My head was in pieces.”
Sasha Pearce with Andrew Finn

Sasha, a world champion in martial arts who taught the sport with Finn Jnr and his dad, said when the former army chef was caught, he span a web of lies and deceit in an attempt to dodge justice.

Now the spark between them when they first met through martial arts feels like a distant memory, she said.

“I was 16 when I met him. I’d just turned 17 when we started a relationship. I looked at him and thought ‘wow’. I was smitten. He had an extremely bubbly personality but he could also be very domineering.”

Not only has the ordeal spelled the end of her relationship, it also threatened to shatter her relationship with her children, aged under six.

“Because of where I live I feel so uncomfortable changing or bathing my children because I feel like people will be accusing me. My mum had to come and bath my children for a few weeks. I still feel uncomfortable doing things with my children.

“My eldest won’t cuddle me at all. She’s got so much anger.

“I keep blaming myself because I feel like I should have known there was something going on. But I trusted him. It’s just absolutely disgusting. It’s vile. There aren’t words to explain it.”
Sasha Pearce with mum Shirley Simons

Sasha’s mother, Shirley Simons watched as Finn Jnr was given a six-month suspended sentence at Teesside Crown Court.

The 42-year-old said she was glad to see Finn get his comeuppance - but she feels his sentence for possessing 44 indecent images and videos of child abuse isn’t severe enough.

“What these poor kids have had to go through for his pleasure is unimaginable,” said the mum-of-three. “It turns your stomach. I feel so angry at him. He totally destroyed our family. Yes, he’s got to sign the Sex Offenders Register but in between that it doesn’t stop him travelling wherever he wants and doing whatever he wants.”

Shirley, who runs a window cleaning company with her husband, added: “How did they get away with the police checks for the karate? I’ve got a ten-year-old who wants to do martial arts but now I’m frightened.”

Sasha, a black belt in karate, taekwondo and free style, added: “When you put your kids into any of these clubs, you trust the people who are teaching them and you trust the system.”

Sex offender's former partner had her life torn apart (http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2008/08/26/sex-offender-s-former-partner-had-her-life-torn-apart-84229-21604383/2/)
Aug 26 2008 by Sam Beattie, Evening Gazette

IT SEEMED the perfect alibi when Andrew William Finn was caught downloading horrendous images of child abuse - pin the blame on his disgraced dad.

Just months before police had charged Finn Junior’s father, martial arts teacher Andrew Bryson Finn, with assaulting one of his young karate pupils as she undressed in the club’s changing rooms.

Finn Senior was also convicted of spying on the girl, aged under 13, as she stripped and washed.

His young victim was so traumatised, she was plagued by nightmares and didn’t feel safe in her own home, her parents told the Gazette at the time.

But when the 52-year-old Finn Snr told police that downloading child porn “wasn’t in his nature”, suspicion switched to his son.

Finn Jnr, 25, then of Somerset Road, Norton, was arrested for possessing 32 clips of children being sexually abused and 12 sickening images.

Almost half were the second most serious category in law.
Andrew Finn Snr was sent to prison for six months

After trying unsuccessfully to blame his dad, who he claimed had given him the computer, he said he had done it to check his young kids wouldn’t be able to access child pornography on the web.

Then, changing his story again, he insisted he wanted to understand his dad’s sinister obsession with children.

A judge at Teesside Crown Court spared Finn Jnr the same fate as his father, who was jailed for six months in December.

But he did receive a suspended six-month prison sentence and 200 hours of unpaid work.

He was also banned from working with children, associating with under 18s and accessing the internet, except in certain circumstances.

And Finn Jnr, who now lives in Scotland, joined his dad on the Sex Offenders’ Register, which both were ordered to sign for seven years.

Dale Dugas

08-26-2008, 12:47 PM

These people need to be covered in honey and then left next to a fireant nest.....

enough said....

JGTevo

08-27-2008, 04:46 AM

The abuse of power is ridiculous. It's not just minors either, it's full-scale manipulation. I can't tell you how many 40+ yr old instructors I've seen hitting on female students half their age.(not that dating someone half your age is an issue, it's not).It's that their position of authority gives them the ability to manipulate their students who place much faith in them. Legal or not, it is a gross abuse of their position and power and is completely dishonorable, IMHO.

An instructor must respect his position as a teacher and understand the influence they wield, and as such, set good examples and do what is in their students best interests. With great power comes great responsibility.

Mas Judt

08-27-2008, 07:18 AM

Anybody who engages in this kind of child abuse should be rendered for their source chemicals.

GeneChing

09-09-2008, 09:28 AM

...which means there's a lot of backlog for this thread. :(

Martial arts instructor jailed for sex with girl (http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=346167)
A martial arts teacher who had sex with a 14-year-old pupil has been jailed.

Neil Levesley was asked to take the girl for private Tae Kwon Do lessons and the pair had sex twice at his home after they became close, Cambridge Crown Court heard.

The 32-year-old bank worker, who was aware of the youngster's age and had confided in one of her friends the relationship could "ruin his career", admitted two charges of unlawful sexual activity.

He was sentenced to 21 months.

The two stopped seeing one another at the end of last year because of the age issue, but got back together, Sara Walker, for the prosecution, told the court.

The girl's mother became suspicious about the nature of the friendship and confronted them, but both denied they were in a relationship.

When police were informed of the suspicions they seized the pair's phones and found texts from Levesley to the girl about how much he loved being with her.

Levesley, arrrested in March at his home, Croft Park Road, Ely, confessed to what had happened between them. The friendship had developed into an emotional relationship when Levesley was at a "low ebb", following the sudden break-up with his long-term partner, Mark Shelley told the court in mitigation.

"He had had a large setback in his life and formed the friendship with the girl which then developed," he said.

"This was not a grooming type of operation. This was not a predatory case where a man identified someone he could prey on.

"This developed was an emotional relationship which was very much consensual."

Rejecting an appeal for a suspended sentence to enable Levesley's participation on a sex offender programme, Judge Anthony Batewho told him that as a mature adult, he should have resisted temptation.

"You were the girl's trusted teacher. Adults who cross the line have to be punished and I regard an immediate term of imprisonment as the only sentence appropriate," he said.

He also banned Levesley from working with children under the age of 16 in future and ordered him to sign on the Sex Offender register when he is freed.

Martial Arts Instructor Arrested for Attempted Sex Assault (http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=8956541&nav=menu102_2)
Updated: Sep 4, 2008 09:48 PM

The owner of a local Tae Kwon Do school is under arrest and charged with attempted sexual assault of a child under the age of 14. Police fear there may be more victims.

41-year-old Luis Castro was arrested in connection with the alleged incident in the summer of 2007.

Castro's school is located in the northeast part of the valley. He is also involved in other youth organizations.

Metro is asking others who can help the investigation to call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.

Warrant: Martial arts instructor was sharing bedroom with teen (http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/3509537/)
Joseph Gailes
Posted: Today at 1:20 a.m.
Updated: 41 minutes ago

Fuquay-Varina, N.C. — A search warrant released this week indicates a former martial arts instructor accused of having sex with a teenage student, was sharing a bedroom with another 15-year-old when he was arrested last November.

According to a search warrant affidavit for cell phone records of Joseph Matthew Gailes, 31, of 3674 River Road, Fuquay-Varina, and the second girl, the girl's father told police that Gailes and his daughter but did not sleep together.

He said the two took turns sleeping on the couch in the living room and did not sleep in the same bedroom.

The father also told police the two would send text messages "a lot" to one another and that Gailes had provided her with the cell phone they used to message one another.

According to the warrant affidavit, the girl told police that she and Gailes "were very open with the text messages" and admitted they "could be seen as different" but said their relationship was "just friendship."

Gailes, who taught tae-kwon-do at Vision Martial Arts in Fuquay-Varina, already faces three counts of statutory rape involving an alleged relationship with another 15-year-old girl, including a sexual encounter in a hotel room during a Durham martial arts tournament last September.

iron_leg_dave

09-09-2008, 05:25 PM

...which means there's a lot of backlog for this thread. :(

When I was 18, I was the only mentor kids had where I was living. I remember, two kids of mixes Japanese Hawaiin and Irish descent who I still keep in contact with I did judo with every day. They were little, like 9 and 11 years old.

they atarted going to this BS martial arts school, and when things started to smell wierd, I started to tell them to tell their instructor about me and that I said that his system was fake and that I was going to come to class.

I had fully intended on it.

He left town, and didn't take his sh** with him.

Sadly, think this kind of stuff is way more common than gets reported.

Ironically, my best shaolin mentor sold drugs. And slept with women half his age. Who were 18-20.

GeneChing

09-10-2008, 10:00 AM

...as long as your 36 or older. ;)

Here's a to-be-busted article.

SIMI's karate teachers have Gujarat cops worried (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/SIMIs_karate_teachers_have_Gujarat_cops_worried_/articleshow/3465043.cms)
10 Sep 2008, 0503 hrs IST, Paul John,TNN

AHMEDABAD/SURAT: A nondescript organisation called Darsgah-Jihad-o-Shahadath (DJS) has been vexing Gujarat police for the past few months. Its association with the new radical wing of SIMI cadres is being looked into by several agencies.

DJS, as it is called, offers training in self-defense to its cadres and operates from Hyderabad and Secunderabad region, with Shaikh Mehboob Ali heading the front. In their confession statements to MP police, two SIMI leaders Ameel Pervez Farooqi and Safdar Nagori had mentioned their close association with DJS. The SIMI-DJS association dates back to 2002.

"The organisation trains youngsters in martial arts especially karate and 'lathi' and various other fitness regimes. The training manual happens to be on the lines of the RSS. The organisation maintains a website that consists of photographs of its training activities," says a senior police official.

DJS was upfront in lodging protests against Gujarat ATS team led by DySP NK Amin during the arrests of Maulana Naseeruddin in 2005 from Hyderabad, in connection with the Maulana's association with the Lashkar-e-Toiba . Amin had shot at a crowd protesting against the arrests that claimed the life of Mujahid Salim Islahi. DJS had taken to the streets and demanded Amin's arrest. It has openly declared on its website that both Amin and Chief Minister Narendra Modi are its biggest enemies.

Investigators believe that DJS members may have been helping SIMI organise training camps for its cadres. Besides being more than 25 years old, DJS is suspected to be in close contact with other radical groups operating from Andhra Pradesh. AP police has been providing necessary inputs on the organisation and its existing operations around the country, both to Mumbai and Gujarat police.

Towards the end of November last year, a training camp for SIMI cadres was organised in Kerala that included SIMI leader PA Shibly, where some youths from Gujarat, including Zahid from Ahmedabad was trained. According to clues provided by MP police, many in this camp had assumed pseudo names - and each identity was kept secret. The training camp was organised for the purpose of segregating the 'cream' to be later sent for arms and explosives training outside the country while another cadre would be involved in 'mass murder' operations.

JGTevo

09-10-2008, 02:08 PM

I agree that it's not a crime, but it's an abuse of power when one uses their extreme influence as a teacher, for things like that... Psychologically when someone looks up to a person and follows them, you can get them to do almost anything, hence the reason why such extreme brutality was possible from Germany during WW2, and how such extreme brutality is possible in the middle east right now. I mean, it's something completely different to have a relationship with a student, and train a suicide bomber... but the reason I bring that up is to illustrate how easily people are influenced by someone who they consider a "Teacher" or "Leader".

chaiwai

09-14-2008, 12:39 PM

Martial arts instructors are not angels. Why do people expect only the best from them?

iron_leg_dave

09-14-2008, 01:33 PM

Martial arts instructors are not angels. Why do people expect only the best from them?

I remember, when I first met that longfist/hsing yi instructor, he said he never dated his students. I trained with him for years, and he never did date a student. Even with his breaking lots of laws, getting in fist fights, selling pot and dating women (of legal age) half his age, his gong fu was good, he was healthy, and he had an earily righteous feel to everyone that met him. Maybe some hannibal lector psychology sh**...

GeneChing

09-15-2008, 09:37 AM

5 or 6 years old. abominable.

Bond set for martial arts studio co-owner (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080912-1803-bn12hazlitt.html)
UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM
6:03 p.m. September 12, 2008

SAN DIEGO – Bond was set at $150,000 Friday in federal court for the co-owner of a Ramona martial arts studio who is charged with possession of child pornography.

William Joseph Hazlitt, 27, was arrested in Ramona Wednesday by FBI agents and San Diego County sheriff's deputies. According to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday, Hazlitt possessed a computer containing images of child pornography.

During the execution of a search warrant, Hazlitt told FBI agents and other law-enforcement authorities that he “was stimulated by the images of kids as young as 5 or 6 years old,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alessandra P. Serano, who is prosecuting the case, said following the Friday court hearing.

Hazlitt is scheduled to appear Sept. 25 for a preliminary hearing, but Serano said there may be a request for a continuance.

Serano said Hazlitt has “denied any inappropriate touching” of children he worked with, and authorities “don't have any evidence” of such.

“But in these types of cases, if we have a person who is regularly around children, they will follow up and do an investigation just to be sure,” she said.

GeneChing

09-22-2008, 09:44 AM

contracts.... :rolleyes:

Call 4 Action: Karate scam? (http://www.kgbt4.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=195055)

MISSION -- A Mission family issued a Call 4 Action after getting out of karate classes contract cost them $600.

Iliana Lerma told Action 4 News that she feels like she’s playing a tug of war game after trying to cancel a contract with Texas Martial Arts.

“They were very nice at first, willing to help, saying if we wanted to cancel, they’d help us out," Lerma explained.

Both she and her husband considered enrolling their son in classes for the unforgettable experience they advertise.

She said her husband took a tour and brought home a contract.

After they discussed it they realized it was more than they could afford in their budget and sent a letter to cancel the contract.

"When we actually tried to cancel and my husband went back to get the contract papers, that's when the man said, 'No, you already signed the contract that money is ours'," Lerma recalled.

The contract states cancellations must be sent by certified mail within three days or you will be billed monthly.

But the Lerma family mailed in their letter on May 16, four days after touring the facility.

Texas Martial Arts owner Jason Solis said the rules are spelled out in black and white in the contract he showed us.

“Martial Arts is a commitment that we expect people to take seriously," he said. "We love training with them and in order to make sure they are measurable results, we do like to see people finish their entire term of agreement."

Lerma said the program is good and appreciates what they do for children.

“But when it comes to families realizing they can’t pay those fees, he should be understanding about it," Lerma said.

She said she understands a cancellation fee, but $600 dollars is steep.

Meanwhile, every month the bill isn’t paid she is charged a $10 dollar late fee.

Solis told Action 4 News that there are already about ten students enrolled in his class and paying the monthly fee but do not attend.

“We're more than willing to charge a small cancellation fee, for the time and paperwork to process," Solis said. "We'd be more than glad to do that. Even better, we'd be more than glad to have Issac come in and experience the benefit of training with us still."

GeneChing

09-22-2008, 09:46 AM

not really a bust at all. quite the opposite. but i love the closure line - "toddle off to the public toilets in the middle of the night"

Matviyenko's Son Threatens Suit (http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/1010/42/371093.htm)
22 September 2008By Anna Malpas / Staff WriterThe son of St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko is threatening to sue a British newspaper that wrote he insisted on staying at Nottingham Castle -- of Robin Hood fame -- in lieu of a hotel in the city.

The story, which appeared Tuesday in the Nottingham Evening Post, said banker Sergei Matviyenko was planning to attend a martial arts competition and had rejected a four-star hotel in favor of staying at the castle.

The report, which claimed that he would be arriving with a 40-person entourage, quoted Matviyenko as saying: "I was looking forward to learning more about Robin Hood while staying at this historic place."

The story was picked up by British tabloid The Sun and given the headline: "Russian Can't Rent Robin's 'Hood.'"

But a spokesman for VTB-Development, where Matviyenko is general director, said Friday that Matviyenko was not planning to attend the martial arts competition and had not asked to book the castle.

"Sergei is planning to sue the Nottingham Evening Post for slander and undermining his business reputation," spokesman Ivan Balyuk said in an e-mail.

A Nottingham Evening Post employee said the newspaper was unaware of any planned lawsuits and said there would be no official comment. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Martial arts promoter Tony McDonagh said he had been asked to book rooms for Matviyenko and had called the castle, among other venues. "I contacted a number of places on his behalf," he said. "The castle was one place. It was basically my idea."

Matviyenko did not have a 40-person entourage, McDonagh said. The Sept. 27 competition involves some 40 Russians, including athletes, but Matviyenko's request was for "up to eight more people," he said.

McDonagh said he had been asked to book the rooms by M1 Global, a martial arts events promoter. Matviyenko is vice president of the martial arts league Mix Fight M1.

Vadim Finkelshtein, the president of the Mix Fight M1 league, derided the hubbub as "completely stupid." "We didn't ask for anything, no palace. They have made Sergei into a monster," he said, adding that he would attend the competition and stay in a three-star hotel. He said Matviyenko would not go and had never planned to go.

Nottingham Castle supervisor Ynys Crowston-Boaler said the castle, which is now a museum, was not fit for Matviyenko or any other overnight guests because it has "no ensuites or plumbing."

"He wouldn't want to toddle off to the public toilets in the middle of the night," Crowston-Boaler said.

ngokfei

09-22-2008, 10:12 AM

Hey Gene

I don't think the posting
Typical .....Karate Scam.

has any place on this Busted thread.

I believe the main purpose of this thread was to identify child predators.

Something that is a business dispute IMO doesn't belong here.

Contracts?
As far as I know your new sifu Tony Chen makes use of contracts in his gyms, or am I wrong?

And probably 90% of the businesses that purchase Wholesale from your employer use contracts as well.
Best not to dump where you eat.

GeneChing

09-22-2008, 11:03 AM

If the main purpose of this thread was to identify child predators, I'd have called it the "child predators thread". I'm on a lot of web newsfeeds. Whenever martial arts have a brush with the law, I post it here. Most of them are child predators, but if you scroll back, you'll find other legal issues.

As for contracts, yes, most schools use them. That's why I posted the :rolleyes:. Obviously if the law goes after contracts, that's opening Pandora's box, not just with martial arts schools, but fitness clubs, music schools, dance academies, gymnastic schools and all sorts of contract-based private schools.

You project a lot, ngokfei. It's your tragic flaw... :rolleyes:

ngokfei

09-22-2008, 12:56 PM

Well if that is the case then the Thread Title should be changed to something else.

The term busted suggests an actual Arrest, or even found guilty of a crime.

For the most part this thread has been aimed at child Predators.

I don't recall any other additions being directed at a Civil Case such as the one you referrenced.

Yes I believe I do project myself well. Only a flaw to those on the receiving end. I have a hard time talking out both sides of my mouth:cool:

California is one of the only states that labels MA Schools as nothing more than Health clubs (not schools in the educational sense) and are required to follow their regulations. Alot of the Contractual program selling and upgrading are being scruitinized with a few lawsuits being made against major organizations for prescidence as we speak. That may be a informative article to have covered for the mag.

GeneChing

09-29-2008, 09:20 AM

By definition, 'busted' is slang for an arrest. Then again, busted is slang. All the news items I link to in this thread involve martial arts who have run afoul enough with the law to get covered by the press. That's another form of being busted in my mind. Nowadays, it's seems even more devastating.

Martial art man's 'benefit fraud' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_west/7642165.stm)
Adrian Blayney

A man running twice-weekly martial arts courses was overpaid £11,100 disability living allowance, a court has heard.

A fraud investigator watched Adrian Blayney, 49, teaching choi kwang do at Aberdare, Neath magistrates were told.

But Mr Blayney, of Cimla, Neath, told the court his role in the classes at Aberdare was mostly supervisory.

He denies failing to notify the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) of changing circumstances, and the trial continues.

Prosecutor Claire Templeton told the court Mr Blayney had been claiming the allowance at the highest rate.

This was for people either unable to walk or able to walk only in severe pain.

He was also in receipt of care allowance at the lowest rate for help in preparing his main meal of the day.

There's not a day I can honestly say I'm without pain
Adrian Blayney

DWP fraud investigator David Williams told the court in October 2006 they received a tip-off Mr Blayney was teaching martial arts in Neath and Aberdare.

On two occasions, he travelled to a leisure centre in Aberdare where he observed Mr Blayney taking classes.

"He seemed to be demonstrating certain movements - lifting his arm and turning his body," said Mr Williams.

He said Mr Blayney, who was dressed in a black uniform with gold lettering, was walking around the hall and interacting with the students.

Mr Blayney was interviewed under caution in January 2007 and his entitlement to the benefits has since been withdrawn.

'Rest'

Giving evidence, Mr Blayney said while working for Ethnic Cuisine in Swansea in 2001 he slipped in a chiller, badly injuring his back.

The following year, he suffered a heart attack, which he said made the condition worse.

The court heard he was on daily medication for pain relief.

"There's not a day I can honestly say I'm without pain," he said.

"I can walk a bit but I walk with severe discomfort."

He told the court that his role running the courses was largely supervisory, with other instructors involved in the more physical aspects.

"I walk around and rest, walk around and rest," he added.

He said he was involved in teaching close range moves such as hand-grabs and pressure points, which did not involve "large or sudden movements".

The court heard that he was overpaid between April 2003 and December 2006

GeneChing

09-30-2008, 04:58 PM

Looks like it got picked up by the U.K. tabloids....

Benefits cheat is martial arts tutor (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/justice/article1749825.ece)
Published: 30 Sep 2008

AN ex-factory worker was yesterday ordered to repay £11,000 he fiddled by claiming he could barely walk – while he taught martial arts.

Adrian Blayney, 49, got disability living pay after hurting his back in a fall at work in 2001.

He claimed he also had a heart attack in 2002. But the court heard he ran two martial arts classes at a sports centre.

A Department of Work and Pensions official saw Blayney show fighting moves in Aberdare, South Wales, after a tip-off.

Neath JPs heard Blayney received the top rate of allowance for those “only able to walk in severe pain”, saying he was “virtually unable” to cover 50 metres.

He told them: “I show hand movements. I can’t demonstrate techniques using my lower body.” Blayney, of Neath, got 15 months’ community work.

Karate ace's £11K fraud (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/09/30/karate-ace-s-11k-fraud-115875-20761161/)
30/09/2008

A karate instructor who fiddled more than £11,000 disability allowance while running a martial arts class was convicted yesterday.

Dad Adrian Blayney, 49, was given 15 months' community service and told to repay the £11,000 by magistrates.

He claimed he could barely walk because of a bad back.

But he was caught after a tipoff to benefits fraud office.

Investigator David Williams said he saw him "always on his feet" during classes at a centre in Aberdare, South Wales.

Blayney, of Cimla, Neath, must also pay £250 costs.

Crushing Step

09-30-2008, 05:03 PM

GeneChing

10-24-2008, 09:44 AM

...almost. That's pretty long between ttt-ing news on this here thread.

Martial arts teacher sentenced for sex assault (http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081023/NEWS01/81023019)
October 23, 2008

HELENA (AP) — A martial arts teacher was sentenced Thursday to five years under state supervision for inappropriately touching a 13-year-old student at the Aikido studio he owned here.

District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock sentenced Clinten George to 20 years with 15 years suspended for felony sexual assault. George was originally arrested in the case on March 8 and posted $50,000 bail two days later. He was arrested again in July when an anonymous caller told police that George was with the girl.

The girl told police that she had contact with George on four separate occasions since he posted bail. George was 49 at the time.

Robert Page, a psychologist who examined George, said there is no available evidence that the relationship went beyond “petting” and inappropriate touching through clothing.

George’s first arrest in the case came after a member of his martial arts school confronted him about getting “too close” with the girl, according to documents filed in Justice Court at the time. George denied any wrongdoing, and the girl’s mother contacted police.

A search of George’s Helena home turned up 85 e-mails between George and the girl, some of which were inappropriate, according to court documents. He told police that he and the girl had inappropriately touched each other through their clothes, the documents state.

George will be sent prerelease center out of town to begin sex offender treatment.

Former Aikido business owner sentenced for sexual assault (http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/10/23/top/52lo_081023_aikido.txt)
By RICHARD MYERS Independent Record
A Helena man was given a 20-year sentence, with 15 of those years suspended, on charges of felony sexual assault for inappropriately touching a 13-year former student at the Aikido studio he owned in Helena.

Clinten Jay George, who was 49 at the time of the incident was designated a "tier one" sex offender, meaning that he is considered unlikely to reoffend.

George will be sent to a pre-release center out of town, at which time he will begin sex-ual-offender treatment. He will not be required to complete the treatment before he can be considered for release from the center.Helena District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock also ordered George to have no contact with the victim.

Sherlock also ordered that George will not be allowed to return to Helena after he leaves the pre-release center without the permission of his probation officer.

George was originally arrested in the case on March 8 and posted a $50,000 two days later. Then in July he was arrested again when an anonymous caller reported to police that George was with the girl at Reeder's Alley. The girl told police at the time that she had contact with George on four separate occa-sions from the time he posted bond and when he was arrested the second time.

No one from the victim's family spoke during the sentencing. George declined to speak, as well.

GeneChing

10-27-2008, 02:40 PM

More on contracts (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=883570&highlight=contracts#post883570). I'm not sure how much the student's father thought she could learn after two weeks, but the bump up to the master program and the relentless charges seem pretty lame.

Offer chops martial-arts bill in half (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/consumer/orl-ymdawson2608oct26,0,5789339.column)
Greg Dawson | The Last Resort
October 26, 2008

Dear Greg: I took our 5-year-old daughter to Orlando Martial Arts to learn self-defense because she had been victimized by an older person and we were worried about her safety. The owner, Gary Richards, was very enthusiastic, acting like he was the answer to our anxiety. But two weeks later, I could see she was not learning self-defense, so Mr. Richards moved her from a basic $125-a-month program to a master program for $225 a month. Still my child could not defend herself, and the program was hurting her. The exercises Mr. Richards gave her, including push-ups, jumping jacks, and running, triggered her asthma and meant more medication, trips to the pediatrician and anxious nights to make sure she was breathing. She had to stop going to the class, but Mr. Richards kept sending threatening letters demanding payment. When I signed the contract, he put his finger on the monthly payment and never mentioned I am under a three-year contract. The letters from his attorney are demanding full payment of $8,967 (including lawyer fees). I feel trapped and stuck.

BADIA SAJID

ORLANDO
Dear Sajid: If P.T. Barnum were alive today he would be selling three-year contracts for cell-phone service and gyms. Somewhere, Barnum must be smiling. My conversation with Gary Richards was, like the life of insects, brutish and short. He rejected your plea for a refund, claiming that signing a contract for martial-arts lessons is like buying a car, and he's not taking it back. I had better luck with his attorney, Roger Kelly, who listened patiently and asked to see your daughter's medical records. "My client still has doubts that this is her real reason for wanting out of the contract, but he has told me to relay an offer that he will reduce the balance by 50 percent," Kelley said. Well, it's better than nothing -- and should wipe the smile off Barnum's face.

SimonM

10-27-2008, 02:44 PM

Although I empathize with people socked with rediculous bills like that and feel that to be a reprehensible billing practice I do have one comment to make:

put his finger over part of the contract?!?! Did the customer not thoroughly READ the contract BEFORE signing?

I NEVER sign a contract I haven't read. NEVER, NEVER NEVER do this.

TenTigers

10-27-2008, 02:56 PM

"Oh nevermind the small print, it's just a formality.
just sign right there.
Oh, and there, there, there, and there."
Cha-Ching!

BoulderDawg

10-27-2008, 03:01 PM

Hmmm.....I was ready to call BS on this one...The story just seems too outragious to be be true. Then I went to school website and started reading between the lines.....

It's geared solely towards kids and no where, at least where I could find, did the site mention cost of the program. I did see that ridiculous stuff about a "Master's program". I tend to believe this story now.....although the father had the brain of a turnip this is one school to stay away from.

SimonM

10-27-2008, 03:03 PM

Everybody reading this heed my words:

There is no such thing as small print that is "just a formality"! NEVER sign a contract unless you have read the whole thing and understand PRECISELY what it says. If you sign a contract and you don't understand your obligations or your entitlements you may find yourself later in for a REAL shock.

TenTigers

10-27-2008, 03:35 PM

will you keep yer voice down? I got students in the next room meditatin' tryin to reach enlightenment, and you're gonna freak'em out.
-probably end up possessed, or sumpin'.
sheesh!

TenTigers

10-27-2008, 03:44 PM

not gonna quote you, but you get the idea.
The trouble with contracts is that there is so much legalese, you need a lawyer to wade through them.
"If it weren't for lawyers, we wouldn't need lawyers!"

of course, that being said,
I do use contracts, because I use a billing service-but I am very up front about it and let them know from the start that they are BUYING a year MEMBERSHIP to the school. It is not tuition, it is monthly installments on the year membership.

I have cancelled contracts, of course. I don't need some disgruntled student, who dropped out,or parent talking smack about me.
It is a fact of business, that people don't go around telling folks about how good an experience they had, but if they have a gripe, you can be sure they will tell EVERYONE. Even the person in line at the supermarket.

"When we do good, no one remembers.
When we do bad, no one forgets"

BrokenTitanium

10-30-2008, 01:05 AM

i dont like contracts, i feel that someone who really wants to teach others what art they have mastered should not need to have a contract to do it. as we all know there are months that we have a few extra dollars at the end of the month and there are months there are no extra dollars. in a sense these contracts is not allowing some to make their dreams become a reality. just my 2cents

SimonM

10-30-2008, 08:20 AM

I'm not opposed to contracts.

I am opposed to contracts that are not negotiated in good faith.

I am alos opposed to signing any document I don't fully understand.

BoulderDawg

10-30-2008, 08:26 AM

My personal belief is that you don't need contracts for a MA school.

Charge a monthly fee (Let's say $100). That is if you want to go from month to month. However you can pay 500 for six months or $900 for a year. You get the idea.

No need to tie people in for 3 years to something they have never done.

lkfmdc

10-30-2008, 08:39 AM

Contracts are necessary to keep a business running. I have gladly cancelled ones for people who had legit reasons. But I've also had guys who simply did pay for a few months, never even tried to cancel and then whinned like little girls that they had to pay

As an adult, it is your responsibility to (1) READ A CONTRACT before you sign it and (2) if you want out of a membership to contact the facility. And if you never bothered to tell me you didn't want to come anymore, and yet didn't pay, I believe you owe me for that period of time. At least pay what you owe me, then I'll cancel you

SimonM

10-30-2008, 09:32 AM

See where I have a problem is when deliberate attempts are made to misrepresent a contract or to obfuscate clauses. Although I accept that the principle of caviat emptor applies to contract negotiation I find people who attempt to subvert a good-faith negotiation to be nothing more than slimy con-men.

xcakid

10-30-2008, 09:41 AM

My view is: Just say no to contracts.

Having been an instructor I understand its usefullness. But I personally do not like the feeling of being stuck. Yeah, I know, COMMITMENT, yada yada.

If I like it I commit to it. I don't need a financial agreement to hold me to it.

Just like marriage. Why the hell do you need a wedding and a piece of paper?

If you sign it, you abide by it. If you don't like it, walk away. There are plenty of schools that do not do contracts.

BrokenTitanium

10-30-2008, 10:40 PM

i wonder what the Masters from when the various arts were started would charge a student to learn the arts? hope this made sense!

GreenCloudCLF

10-31-2008, 04:45 AM

:D
Although I empathize with people socked with rediculous bills like that and feel that to be a reprehensible billing practice I do have one comment to make:

put his finger over part of the contract?!?! Did the customer not thoroughly READ the contract BEFORE signing?

I NEVER sign a contract I haven't read. NEVER, NEVER NEVER do this.

When I was still doing enrollments I would write the number in in front of the student/parent so they could see what I was doing. 50% of the time (no exaggeration) the student/parent would try to take the contract, before I had written in numbers, and sign it:rolleyes:. It always made me smile.:D

GreenCloudCLF

10-31-2008, 04:46 AM

GreenCloudCLF

10-31-2008, 04:48 AM

i wonder what the Masters from when the various arts were started would charge a student to learn the arts? hope this made sense!

Nothing, because my teacher would have to live in my house and eat my food. They didn't need money because I was providing everything they needed.

GeneChing

10-31-2008, 10:03 AM

At least he wasn't doing his students or making them do porn.

Martial arts studio owner pleads guilty to child porn (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20081030-1813-bn30porn.html)
UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM
6:13 p.m. October 30, 2008

SAN DIEGO – The co-owner of a Ramona martial arts studio pleaded guilty Thursday in in federal court to possession of child pornography, one of two guilty pleas in separate child porn cases, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

William Joseph Hazlitt entered the guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge William McCurine Jr. Hazlitt, a 27-year-old karate instructor, was arrested in September by FBI agents and sheriff's deputies.

In an unrelated case, Keith E. Moore, a 20-year-old heavy equipment operator from San Diego, pleaded guilty Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo to possessing child porn.

In each case, the defendant admitted having a computer containing more than 600 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit acts.

Hazlitt's case was investigated by the FBI, while Moore's was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Each could face a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing hearings for both men are scheduled for Jan. 20, 2009.

Shaolin

10-31-2008, 02:05 PM

At least he wasn't doing his students or making them do porn.

That we know of. Someone might step forward after the story gets around. Hopefully you are right.

BrokenTitanium

11-02-2008, 01:26 AM

And if everyone has no extra dollars the same month, the school goes bye-bye. Then what?

then we would have to practice in an empty parking lot, a park, a back yard, in the woods and so on. i totally understand the need to have people pay in order to maintain a school, but even with a contract if there is no money in the bank to do the automatic withdrawl then would not be the same as someone not paying for the month? dont get me wrong i am all for a people to have success with their businesses.

GreenCloudCLF

11-02-2008, 03:10 AM

then we would have to practice in an empty parking lot, a park, a back yard, in the woods and so on. i totally understand the need to have people pay in order to maintain a school, but even with a contract if there is no money in the bank to do the automatic withdrawl then would not be the same as someone not paying for the month? dont get me wrong i am all for a people to have success with their businesses.

Yeah I know a lot of parents that would sign their kids up to train with "that guy who teaches in an empty parking lot.":rolleyes:

BoulderDawg

11-02-2008, 08:18 AM

Yeah I know a lot of parents that would sign their kids up to train with "that guy who teaches in an empty parking lot.":rolleyes:

I would have no problem with that as long as knew the quality of instruction is sound.

Just because you own a school that has country club like surroundings does it mean that it's any good.

GreenCloudCLF

11-02-2008, 08:23 AM

I would have no problem with that as long as knew the quality of instruction is sound.

Just because you own a school that has country club like surroundings does it mean that it's any good.

You're right about the surroundings. But, look at it from a realistic standpoint. 99% of parents (with the 1% being the people who know what a good instructor is) would not let their kids train in an empty parking lot. I was pointing out how rediculous that comment is. If <Insert famous martial artist, living or dead, of your choice> were to being teaching MA in our neighborhood park, I could spend large amounts of time persuading my wife why are kids should train there, and it still wouldn't happen. This is why schools need contracts (BTW, I do not work at an MA school and still support contracts).

TenTigers

11-02-2008, 11:39 AM

i totally understand the need to have people pay in order to maintain a school, but even with a contract if there is no money in the bank to do the automatic withdrawl then would not be the same as someone not paying for the month? .
Then wtf is he doing signing up in the first place? A person walks into a school, sits down with the instructor, is explained the process, and if he knows that he can't afford it, signs up anyway? That's like ordering food at a restaurant and skipping out on the check.

Not that this doesn't happen. I had two guys walk in, ask about the school, schedule, pricing, etc., arrange for a free intro class, and then (stupid me) I ask what he does for a living.
"Oh, well I'm not presently working at the moment, but..." same with his friend.
I guess that's why SMART MA instructors qualify a potential student first. doh!

lkfmdc

11-02-2008, 12:23 PM

uki

11-02-2008, 12:28 PM

In the many years I've had a school, TWICE I've had guys call me up and ask teh prices, telling me, I SWEAR, that they are on welfare and want to see if they can budget it in.... forgive me, but DUDE, if you are on welfare, be more concerned about getting a job and getting back in life than about martial arts classes.why not? martial arts classes and discipline might be what an individual needs to achieve a harmonious lifestyle... you seem to imply that the martial arts are only for the priviledged elite.

Of course, I can't count the number that simply don't have a job and want to train for free.and of course you are too cheap and stingy in your knowledge to allow another to learn it for free... harmony must be bought and paid for according to you, then again you are too ignorant to be able to read this post since i am most likely on ignore...

TenTigers

11-02-2008, 03:45 PM

why not? martial arts classes and discipline might be what an individual needs to achieve a harmonious lifestyle... you seem to imply that the martial arts are only for the priviledged elite.
and of course you are too cheap and stingy in your knowledge to allow another to learn it for free... harmony must be bought and paid for according to you, then again you are too ignorant to be able to read this post since i am most likely on ignore...

Many of us run scholarship programs for at risk teens who cannot afford Martial Arts training and also have allowed those who are sincere, but have fallen on hard times to train, usually in exchange for helping out at the school. (I used to train at one school in exchange for cleaning) One more body on the floor does not make a difference financially.

BrokenTitanium

11-02-2008, 07:40 PM

You're right about the surroundings. But, look at it from a realistic standpoint. 99% of parents (with the 1% being the people who know what a good instructor is) would not let their kids train in an empty parking lot. I was pointing out how rediculous that comment is. If <Insert famous martial artist, living or dead, of your choice> were to being teaching MA in our neighborhood park, I could spend large amounts of time persuading my wife why are kids should train there, and it still wouldn't happen. This is why schools need contracts (BTW, I do not work at an MA school and still support contracts).
so sad that you think i make rediculous comments, group hug, hahaha

BrokenTitanium

11-02-2008, 07:44 PM

sorry for jacking the thread and going off topic, my bad

BrokenTitanium

11-02-2008, 08:00 PM

Yeah I know a lot of parents that would sign their kids up to train with "that guy who teaches in an empty parking lot.":rolleyes:

funny you say this, my close friend just got back from China after living there for sometime and i asked him about training over there and he said that the majority of the training was done at parks.

GreenCloudCLF

11-03-2008, 05:15 AM

funny you say this, my close friend just got back from China after living there for sometime and i asked him about training over there and he said that the majority of the training was done at parks.

Different strokes for different folks. Different styles for different cultures. Go tell 99% of North American mom's that the Shaolin Monk XXX is teaching in a parking lot and only charging $15 a month. All you will get are cheap people (the ones on welfare trying to sign up with Coach Ross).

BrokenTitanium

11-03-2008, 05:47 AM

Different strokes for different folks. Different styles for different cultures. Go tell 99% of North American mom's that the Shaolin Monk XXX is teaching in a parking lot and only charging $15 a month. All you will get are cheap people (the ones on welfare trying to sign up with Coach Ross).

this is amazing, that you would consider a person or persons as being cheap because they are on welfare. again Gene sorry for going off topic.

GreenCloudCLF

11-03-2008, 06:10 AM

GeneChing

11-14-2008, 10:47 AM

That must have been pungent.

Martial arts teacher charged in drug case (http://www.newsok.com/martial-arts-teacher-charged-in-drug-case/article/feed/8560)
Comments Comment on this article0
Published: November 14, 2008
MCT REGIONAL NEWS
By Adriana M. Chavez
El Paso Times, Texas

Nov. 14--EL PASO -- An East Side martial arts instructor, who received media attention seven years ago for winning a world title, was arrested Tuesday on drug-possession charges after allegedly assaulting an El Paso County sheriff's deputy.

Darrell Lewis, 25, of the 7900 block of La Jolla, was stopped by the deputy about 8:30 a.m. on Interstate 10 East near mile marker 33. Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jesse Tovar said the deputy "noticed the driver was acting extremely nervous and suspicious."

The deputy told Lewis to get out of his vehicle for further questioning, but Lewis allegedly began assaulting the deputy and then ran off. The deputy chased Lewis and, after a brief struggle, took him into custody.

Tovar said deputies who searched Lewis' vehicle found 58 pounds of marijuana hidden in duffel bags on the back seat.

Lewis was charged with possession of marijuana more than 50 pounds and less than 2,000 pounds and with assault on a public servant. He was booked into the El Paso County jail and released Tuesday night on $35,000 bond.

Lewis has been arrested multiple times in the past for alleged marijuana possession, Tovar said.

According to El Paso Times archives, Lewis participated in the National Blackbelt League Super Grands in 2001, a world championship competition, and won titles in open weapons, musical weapons and musical forms.

Lewis told deputies he was an instructor at a martial arts academy in East El Paso. Owners of the academy declined to comment on the arrest, but said Lewis worked there only during the summer and was no longer an employee.

Adriana M. Chavez may be reached at achavez@elpasotimes.com;546-6117.