http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=89316
Introduction:
Luis F. Alba is a Martial Arts instructor operating out of Orlando Florida. Mr. Alba came to the attention of Bullshido originally in 2009 where his martial arts claims and grades were first discussed [link] Luis F. Alba, Hanshi? - No BS MMA and Martial Arts
Mr. Alba refers to himself as “Sekai Sokeshi, Hanshi” a title which is quite remarkable because at the time of writing, Mr. Alba is just 30 years of age.
Grandiose Claims:
Mr. Alba operates a website http://aiki-budo.webs.com/ where his martial arts biography can be found, its content can only be described as an ambiguous account of his martial arts life which begins with him allegedly being awarded a shodan in aikido at the age of nine.
In summery, here’s a list of what Mr. Alba claims:
Sekai Soke-Shi, (Great Grandmaster).
Luis Francisco Alba, Hanshi (Teacher of Teachers).
Bujutsu, Nana (7th.) Dan.
AikiBujutsu AikiBudo, Nana (7th.) Dan.
Tae Kwon Do, Yuk (7th.) Dan Grandmaster.
Yoshinkan AikiBudo, Go (5th.) Dan.
Daito Ryu AikiJujutsu, Go (5th.) Dan.
Wu Dang, Jinlong Jin (Golden Dragon) Duan.
Aikido International Matial Arts Federation (IMAF.), Ni (2nd.) Dan.
In addition to the above. Mr. Alba also claims to have lived in Japan and fluent in Japanese, a language he referred too as “nipponese” Mr. Alba was questioned with regards to his abilities to read and write Nihongo and, despite being afforded that opportunity in both English and Japanese [insert link] to confirm this, he chose not too. We do not believe Mr. Alba speaks or writes Nihongo.
When originally questioned on his claims presented in the public domain, Mr. Alba provided this as his retort [link] No BS MMA and Martial Arts - View Single Post - Luis F.Alba, Hanshi?
Whilst Alba’s retort is plentiful, it is equally worthless in terms of validating his specific claims. Mr. Alba readily dropped the names of high ranking Japanese instructors and in doing so strongly intimated instructor/student relationship with said teachers but, never actually states if he was a student; equally, Alba mentions several prominent Japanese martial arts organisations however, as with the aforementioned instructors, Alba is vague and ambiguous when questioned directly on the actual nature of his supposed relationships and connections. Indeed, the only relationship and certificate of grade Mr. Alba has presented of any worth is that of his nidan for aikido awarded to him in 2005 from the IMAF via [insert name and link]. This somewhat begs the question where is his shodan ?
According to Alba, this was awarded to him at the age of just nine. Not content with grandiose claims for himself, Alba additionally claims both his Grandfather and Father were taught by the founder of Aikido Ueshiba Morihei [image link]
When analysing the information Alba presents you quickly discover inaccuracies with both his accounts of events and timelines. For example; Alba claims to have been awarded his shodan at the age of just nine years old yet, Alba also presents a photograph of himself [link] as an adult studying aikido wearing a white belt. This suggests a contradiction against the image he attempts to present of himself of a child of nine being awarded a shodan in the same art.
Here [insert link] Alba continues to assert that he was given permission to wear hakama by Yamada Yoshimitsu Sensei of the New York Aikikai – but, this again contradicts his earlier claim of already being the holder of a shodan - if alba was a genuine yudansha, he’d aleady be entitled to wear hakama therefore so why does he claim Yamada Sensei granted him permission some years later ?
With reference to Hakama.
When Aikido was being developed by Ueshiba Morihei, it was common practice for anyone to wear hakama for the study of budo, indeed Ueshiba required it of his students.
Following the onset and aftermath of WWII Japan was a country of limited resources, the Aikikai based out of Tokyo apparently made a ruling that only dan ranked aikidoka were required to wear hakama, this was essentially due to the shortage of appropriate cloth and the prohibitive costs at the time for either purchase or manufacture. The original concept of this idea wasn’t about status but more of elevating the burden on new students to own/wear hakama.
Today the Aikikai stipulate (for it’s own members) the wearing of hakama is generally permitted from shodan unless specific authority has been given beforehand, however, if you visit the Aikikai in Tokyo as a guest, and ask to wear hakama you will be allowed to do so.
The wearing of hakama has nothing to do with mastery of tradition (as Alba asserts) or any other such nonsense, in other arts such as Kendo or Iaido, hakama is worn from day one and has absolutely no other relevance or significance to the art other than it was (is) a traditional garment of clothing worn by those engaged in budo/bujutsu.
Unfortunately Mr. Alba appears to have created a rather unfavourable impression of himself to anyone with a modicum of knowledge in how martial art ranks a titles work, more importantly, how long it generally takes to gain such high grades. If you take a close look at what’s claimed you’ll see clear anomalies and a number of red flags.
“Bujutsu” of which Alba at the age of just 29, claims a 7th dan;
Bujutsu is a generic Japanese term which encompasses groups of martial systems or traditions, it is therefore physically impossible to gain a dan grade in a “generic term”. It is useful to note that Bujutsu (rather than Budo) refers to martial systems created before the Meiji Restoration of 1867 - those arts otherwise catagorised as “Koryu” The claim of 7th dan is ludicrous because Alba is essentially saying he has a 7th dan in “Koryu”. Given that the dan-i (kyu/dan grading system) was conceived and developed by Kano Jigaro Sensei for Judo, a ranking system created after 1867, one must conclude what Mr. Alba claims is untruthful or at best entirely misgiven.
“Aikibudo” or “Aikibujutsu” which Alba claims another impressive 7th dan
Again this is worthless because it’s another play against a generic term to encompass (this time) a specific principle or concept behind the practice of a martial system. Ai & Ki are concepts which exist in a particular art. Aikido being the most commonly referred to system however, Mr. Alba doesn’t appear to be content with his 7th dan in a principle of doing something, because he continues to claim further senior dan grades in other Aiki based systems such as Yoshinkan aikido and Daito Ryu.
The contradictory accounts to hand regarding Alba’s involvement in Japanese martial arts doesn’t create a trustworthy image of a supposed MA teacher and one who has appointed himself the titles of “Soke” and “Hanshi” and, describing himself as a “Teacher of Teachers”
It is interesting to note that Bullshido isn’t the first martial arts website to actively question the legitimacy of Luis Alba and his claims. In 2009 [link]
http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showpost.php?p=239386&postcount=1
Alba was discussed on Aikiweb, the discussion there did not leave a favourable impression of Alba’s credibility.
http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showpost.php?p=239504&postcount=7
http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showpost.php?p=239522&postcount=13
In September 2010 Luis Alba was invited to Bullshido in an attempt to open a dialogue with him to discuss the claims he’s been presenting in the public domain. Website contributor Codos de Piedra [link] presented a number of questions for Alba to address [post link]
On the 13th September Alba, registered on the forum as “Sokeshi” and responded to the invitation with this, his first post [link] Within Alba’s post he attempts to reinforce his connection with a Mr. Andrade an Aikido instructor apparently responsible for Alba’s 2nd degree black belt certification, Alba continued to assert the relevance of his titles of Soke and Hanshi, whilst entirely missing the point of their worthlessness as being self-awarded.
Originally Posted by Sokeshi
I am not the Soke of the Art itself, no that title would belong to O’Sensei himself, but I am the Soke of my School.
Alba was asked to read this article [link] on the use of the term Soke and in particular this paragraph.
…//… it is difficult to condone the use of obscure Japanese terminology to describe American social practices for which perfectly acceptable English words already exist. One must struggle to imagine how any non-Japanese could call himself a “soke” in English except as a joke. At the same time it is also difficult to regard this term with any special reverence or to become overly troubled by its misuse among self-proclaimed “grandmasters” and “founders.”
It is also interesting to note that Alba claimed all aikido techniques come from the Japanese sword; [link] this is entirely inaccurate. Whilst aikido is heavily influenced by classical weaponry of Japan it is neither a weapon art nor are all of its techniques born from sword use. Anyone stating this as an authoritative fact is lacking in the basic knowledge of the development of the system.
Our experience with Alba was clear, we could not get a straight answer from him. We would not recommend him as a credible teacher of Japanese Martial arts.