Dangerous Martial Arts Frauds

More than just martial arts shenanigans

Fraud - Image from Flickr.com

A recent blog post from my good colleague, "The Stick Chick" Jackie Bradbury got me thinking.

The post in question is a cross post from another great blog (you should read both blogs of course), Colorado Springs Ninjutsu and it's about the apparent dangers of martial arts frauds.

As you are probably well aware of by now, I tend to write quite a lot about all the shenanigans and outright craziness within the martial arts community - this whole blog here is dedicated to the grand scheme of martial arts antics.

And boy is there ever an abundance of "juicy" material and apparent wrongdoers to choose from!

Still, in spite of my knowledge about the arts and the subject at hand, I guess I wasn't fully aware of just how dangerous these martial arts fraudsters can be.

The true dangers of fraud in the martial arts

The fact of the matter is that you should head on over to either of the aforementioned blogs and read the article in full - it really is that important to understand the full scope of what these martial arts charlatans are capable of doing.

The truth is that frauds are really, really dangerous people, capable of doing serious damage to everyone around them - family, relatives, friends, associates, colleagues, business partners ... and of course heir students.

Here's an excerpt from the original article:

Many people think that frauds are harmless, but I can't begin to count all the cases of someone who lies about being a martial arts master who also have criminal records. It is actually easier to list the frauds without criminal records than list all the guys who have spent time behind bars.

There are guys like James Hydrick, who tried to pass himself off as a kung fu master with psychic powers who is now in a mental hospital after molesting 6 boys whom he lured in using martial arts tricks. He also has convictions for kidnapping, torture and a few other things.

There is Ron Collins, whom I have detailed a bit in my blogs as he faced the legal system. He is in a mental institution as well as I write this, and if he gets out he still has to go to court for making terroristic threats. Not to mention his prior convictions involving a 13 year old girl.

There is Troy Zink, with convictions for rape and weapons charges who is suspected in the disappearance of Tera Lynn Smith over a decade ago.

Nimr Hassan, who claims to have been made the head of the Koga ryu by James Mitose and who murdered an elderly man.

And these are just the start. I can't even hope to list all the martial arts instructors that have convictions for rape and sleeping with their under-age students.

James Hydrick in action