My cyber identity > yours.
Yep, keep up.
Full-time Capoeira instructor and studio owner from 2000 to 2011. Retired from Capoeira
Post one video.
Ah. It’s a good thing I think it’s irrelevant. And would be totally irrelevant to anyone visiting the site for the first time. An argument stands on it’s own weight, and so should evidence.
Post a Capoeira video of yourself , clown.
This is a fun little video I made a long, long time ago after opening our first independent location in Landmark Mall, Alexandria, VA in 2007. I’m the guy with the red hair. I started by teaching the Capoeira program at United Karate Institute of Self-Defense from 2000 to 2004, then moved to Gold’s Gym, Alexandria from 2004 to 2007. Then here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ptaaTQRrJc
This is a video of some more of my students at the same location.
This is a video of a student of mine achieving the equivalent of a black belt in our system.
This is a video of that same student at another groups Batizado.
This is me and another local instructor playing Capoeira Angola
This was a Batizado for our group back in 2007. A ton of my students are here and you can see me wearing a red shirt, signifying that I’m an instructor of high rank with the rest of the Mestres, Contramestres, and Professores.
This is a video of my students still training and playing in Alexadria, Virginia after I left the group.
I handed the studio down to my students in 2010 and kept teaching for awhile in New Mexico and Los Angeles during my transition. I stopped playing Capoeira entirely in 2011 due to health issues, financial issues, and certain shifting priorities. The question is, why is any of this relevant? Other than attempting to doxx me somehow. I posted all of my shit back in 2004 when I first joined this site as well. Anyone can find out who I am, and I certainly wouldn’t do any investigating using my real information.
Oh forgot. Here’s one of my favorites, playing at my studio with my highest level student that I handed my studio down to:
Oh shit! And this one from 2005. I’m the blindingly white guy at about 2:55 in. I forgot about this one. Turns out there’s even more video of me from that time. Trip down memory lane that.
Damn. And I’m in this one a lot too. I’m playing with Mestre Chuvisco here mostly. And playing some pandeiro. Notice that real dark corda around my waist. 2009 during our group Batizado.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBO_2N0d388
Lol. Here’s a stupid little skit a student of mine made that I just found and a little compilation he made of a random day at the studio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYNo-PQGnxg
Thanks for being an asshat bro, I mean it. I don’t think I would have taken such a deep YouTube dive if it weren’t for you! I found a bunch of old shit that takes me way back.
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These videos are awesome, whether or not they are doninha.
Hi doninha:
Hey, did you have a different user name a decade ago? I’d like to know it, because I’m curious about the investigation you worked.
I’m going to give the index card version of what happened.
Investigations were costly and at least for myself time prohibitive. I know some people were a lot faster at writing up reports then me, and some people never managed to write a report dumping their research on a few people who would actually vet the raw research and turn it into a written narrative.
After I left staff in September, 2013 (after being here for 9 years) no one actively took over generating new investigation reports. The last one was probably the Shaolin Do report.
There is a difference from an investigation thread which has various people adding information, and efforts to create a report by confirming information, resolving inconsistancies, writing text, and conducting a legal review on the text since it was going out as an official Bullshido publication, when the site would be legally responsible for its content.
At one point I asked Phrost for an investigations budget, and he said, in sum and substance, “great, you have my permission to raise money.” But by that point I was pretty much supervising most of the investigations and doing most of Bullshido’s legal work, and I simply didn’t have to time to take on another unpaid responsibility.
I would also say that in 2006 and 2007 at the height of Bullshido’s traffic Phrost made an error by omission, which to be fair to him, none of us picked up on., or suggested that he do To get to the next level we needed a paid part timer doing short write ups, and putting up fresh content on the main page every day. This might have in turn, allowed Bullshido to further grow and could have brought in more resources that could have been used to support investigations.
Investigations would have always have been a minority of “official” Bullshido content but it was something that set us apart from other sites. Without any sort of financial support funding investigations out of one’s pocket got old fast. The average Bullshido investigator did not generate more the one or two reports during their time here.
Now the market has changed, people are addicted to the twitter hot take, which promotes snark but not in-depth coverage.
We did not raise the resources to sustain investigative activities. For example buying court transcripts or having a travel budget or paying people for content even if it was pennies on the dollar.
As far as martial arts mis-behavior, its still out there, though its become a little less obvious. You have bad behavior by instructors, (think sexual harassment),. deceptive business practices, and of course instructors lying about their background. Some of the no-touch knockout crap is a lot less viable to sell to newbies. We can’t claim exclusive credit for that but Bullshido did promote an attitude of skepticism, which migrated to other forums and individuals.
Right now, in my opinion the best martial arts fraud investigator out there is a person using the psuedonym Lordus Sapians and you can read his work online.
For proof that this was a structural problem, just look at how Bullshido could not keep together an investigative crew after I left. They are simply hard to maintain for free. Frauds have a financial incentive to do what they do, fraud busting, at least on Bullshido did not.
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Is old boy breakdancing? I could click on it and find out but I’m kind of afraid of the truth now. Jack Nicholson was right.
I’m just giving you a little rib action there, Tex. Since our resident poisonous Doctor of Statistics hasn’t been around much I decided I’d step up and contribute to the rogue’s gallery.
Also, never take Rabbit seriously. I’m honestly not sure he’s even allowed outside without a fully trained case worker.
Well that about sums it up. I’ve noticed WAY less traffic here than it used to be. Makes me a little sad.
I only did one semi-official investigation, but it wasn’t even really worth a write-up at the end. This is the thread: American Institute Of Korean Martial Arts, Master Samuel Robertson - Bullshido - The Art of Fighting BS. I basically brought this guy up to the forum and had them look at his material online, then somehow it took on a life of it’s own. By the time I was able to check back in the guy in question and his students had already descended on the forum and it turned into a shitshow. I messaged him afterwards and he pretended to have a staff and things went about how you’d expect. Here’s the subsequent email exchange we had:
- Me
Hello Master Samuel,
I received your PM on bullshido, where I post under the name doninha. I’m the one that started the thread questioning your credentials. I’m not sure what direction the conversations took after my initial posts, considering that you deleted the majority of your posts, but things seem to have gotten off track pretty badly. This was never my intent.
Keep in mind, I bear you no ill will and mean no disrespect in starting this investigation into your credentials. However, I am committed to Bullshido’s goals of honesty in the martial arts and holding instructors accountable for their claims.
I would love to get your side of the story before starting an official investigation into your credentials (please note that this is NOT an official investigation yet. Just an inquiry into some questionable claims). Here is the information that I’m interested in:
First, what was the ruleset you were using during the fight that you have put up here?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuezzIYBZf8
It was noted that there were very few attacks to the head and very few takedowns. Was this because of the rules that were in place before the sparring match started?
I would like to confirm your Kukkiwon certification, but I can’t without your full name and date of birth. If you would provide that for me I can do the research myself.
Shaolin Kung Fu (tiger) black sash under Sefu Wu Qua Kung and Master Tam Tham Pham 2007
Akido 1st Dan under Master Tam Tham Pham 3rd dan and Grand master Phu Van Quang 8th Dan Akido
Tang Soo Do 4th Dan recognized under World Asian martial arts School.
Hapkido 2nd Dan under Grandmaster Quang Kung Chn 7th Dan Hapkido
Tai Chi Black sash
Muay Thai 12 k.
These are the credentials you’ve claimed, yet I have been unable to find any mention of any of the instructors you’ve listed above except on your own pages. Is there any way to contact these instructors so that I might speak to them personally? I have many means of translating for them if they don’t speak English.
I would also like some more information about the following organizations and how you became certified in them:
World Black Belt Bureau
World Asian Martial Arts School
Who were your instructors in these organizations? What are the names of other instructors certified through these organizations?
I would like to take this in a positive direction and not have to take any further investigative action that may hurt your business further. It isn’t my intent to create headaches for those that don’t deserve them.
I hope you understand.
Respectfully, (my name)
- “Master” Samuel
(my name)
First and foremost I appreciate you query in to Masters Robertson martial arts study. We highly respect you in the quest to authenticate His martial training. However, You’ve caused great heart ache and turmoil. We do not I owe you or any organization any explanation. We would like to know why you have such an interest in his studies? Who are you? who do you represent? What will you do with the information we provide you? We ask if possible to close the thread about us. We only supply information at this point to potential customers. Our grandmasters has ordered us to ignore you and all other incoming request. we are under the influence that any information given will be used in a negative way to portray our organizations. we don’t frown on you for your query, but where you posted it is your great fall in our eye.
Master Robertson did provided a You tube clip showing his certifications. answered all questions to be meet only with ridicule and embarrassment with hrasment . your welcome to ask the people who witness the posting of his Kukkiwon number, video, and explanations.
it is better to call us at 817-784-Kick, to establish our re pore.
Thank you,
AIOKMA Staff
- Me
It’s up to you whether or not you’d like to provide the information I’ve requested. If you want the post to come out in a positive fashion, you can provide verification of your ranks and this whole thing will die down. Moreover, you will have an independent third party verification of your ranks for potential students that do research on you before taking your class. That will be a very good thing, seeing as how Bullshido tends to pop up first in most search engines.
If it turns out that there is no way to verify the other ranks that your claim, or if they turn out to be untrue, a valid explanation will go a long way further than just ignoring the request. There are many cases of this on Bullshido. By the way, I have no control over the post on Bullshido; only a moderator can delete it (which I am not), and right now there is no reason to.
There is no oversight in the martial arts community in the United States. Any instructor anywhere can claim anything that they want. Bullshido is one of the only places that attempts to verify claims made by martial arts instructors. Think of it as a student advocacy group for people that are looking for potential instructors.
Legitimate instructors have no need to hide their credentials. It’s the ones that inflate their credentials that give all of us a bad name and drag down the integrity of the martial arts community. This is why I support Bullshido.
Again, I have no reason to disbelieve your claims. I am simply asking what any potential student would ask: proof of your claimed ranks. I hope that you can provide that. I can assure you that any proof shown to me will only be used to clear your name and will not be used to ridicule or harass you.
By the way, here are my credentials:
(my name)
Capoeira Instructor (11 years experience)
3ro Monitor, Grupo Ondas/Mandingueiros dos Palmares
under Contramestre Silas Pinto (Tigri) and Mestre Chuvisco
BJJ White Belt (<1 year)
One Spirit Martial Arts under Pedro Sauer
Former Personal Trainer (AFAA)
Former Pilates Instructor (Powerhouse Pilates)
- “Master” Samuel
call me (his number- which he never answered)
- “Master” Samuel
you can pay me 300 dolors ill be more than happy to spend time education you about my self. (sic)
- Me
I take it you aren’t taking this seriously. That’s your choice. If at any time you’d like your side to be heard, feel free to email me with the information I’ve requested.
It’s all breakdancing bro. That’s what makes it so deadly and so, so fly.
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His YouTube pages are still up, but it doesn’t seem like he teaches anymore. I like to think it has something to do with his name popping up on Bullshido and the pseudo-investigation when anyone looks for his school or him on Google.
On another note…I’m still very much invested in calling out bullshit like this in the martial arts. Do things have to be so official to make a difference? Why did Bullshido just become a general skeptic forum (along with a remarkable amount of conspiracy nonsense somehow) when the “official” investigations fell apart? Why wouldn’t simple anonymous credential follow ups like this one be a valid exercise still?
I understand people don’t have the time (I’ll be starting medical school myself in the next year or so), but how much time is actually necessary for a simple investigation? During the short time I was on these forums I really appreciated that there were people out there that were as sick of martial arts con-artists as much as I was. Just makes me sad to see Bullshido a shell of its former self, in a sense. Just my perspective.
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Define simple investigation as verses complex investigation. I just want to see your definition rather then assuming it.
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I always used my own real name because I got better responses. However other people used aliases. If you were doing multiple investigations it became harder for one’s real name not to come out.
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The reason to formalize content or to write up investigations was driven by our long threads. The average reader didn’t want to review say 2,500 posts to find the most relevant ones. To this day there are a number of investigative threads where some really good material got buried under a lot of sub par posting.
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The general skeptic direction was determined by Phrost, best to ask him.
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I am most interested in testing claims made about ranks/experiences that bullshido masters have a tendency to embellish or outright lie about. I would merely put myself in the shoes of a prospective student and want to follow up with orgs or instructors, not unlike a hiring manager checking references. For most of the bullshido instructors I’ve encountered, this would be sufficient to at least cast a pall on their business when people Google it. As for more legally actionable claims like abuse or stealing money or cult-like practices, I would not be comfortable doing an independent investigation without the proper authorities. I’m not trying to be a PI or journalist.
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Given people’s apprehension about safety, I would think anonymous investigations would hold just as much water if the evidence is sound.
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I hadn’t considered this point. Forums seem like a bit of a dumpster fire to get succinct information from. Write ups make sense.
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I’m sure he’ll come across this thread again eventually.
The problem with anonymous investigators was the reader could not come to any conclusions about the investigator’s reliability based on their reputation. Instead the investigator needed to “produce receipts” step by step to show their results. Of course, then they would often miss a step forcing a re-do. “You didn’t get an email from John confirming that Bob hadn’t been his student, you did it over the phone, go get an email!” This took time.
The problem about checking references in the martial arts is that with a couple exceptions. (Judo) there are rarely central organizations that lend themselves to credential checks. When there was a military claim we had to submit a FOIA request which took a couple months. Often the subject would claim that his previous master was “dead”. Which took more time and effort.
For the criminal stuff, we would typically discover it post conviction, or at the time an arrest was made.
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I think there should definitely be a “best practices” standardization of an investigation, and perhaps the reputation of the site itself could hold some credence instead of relying on real names. Forum tags or some other third-party verification vouching for the investigator so the reader knows he doesn’t just have an axe to grind against a business partner or something.
As for checking ranks, all of the instructors myself or any of my peers that I’ve trained with are pretty easily reachable by phone or email. I don’t know that it has to be an org per se, but not being able to find that an instructor exists (like Mr. Robertson here just pulling names out of thin air) is still valuable information. It doesn’t disprove the claim, but it leaves an indelible mark that gives weight to other evidence (like videos of sub-master level sparring, for instance). Unverifiable information can be informative, especially in the internet age (long dead masters notwithstanding).
Then again, maybe things really have died down in the bullshido world. I haven’t been looking for anything in years, but maybe things have improved enough that people are more wary about making unsubstantiated claims. My cynical side doesn’t believe this to be the case though.
If you search the site, there is a guide to doing Bullshido investigations. I used to know exactly where it was before Phrost’s upgrade. It was roughly speaking, a best practices guide.
Your instructor tree was apparently easier to confirm then many I’ve seen. The harder to confirm, the more complex the investigation.
If Bullshido staff didn’t know who a particular “investigator” was it was sometimes difficult to confirm their reliability.
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I see. I guess it’s a bit of a moot point anyhow. Maybe there will be a resurgence someday.