Have you ever seen these guys? They are on YouTube. They are the guys that can create “energy shields”. These energy shields can be like force fields which block strikes or projectiles. They can also be used offensively to do damage to an opponent. There are two that are pretty famous above the rest. The first is of an energy shield master kneeling in front of Alexandr Litvinenko who is a real life martial artist in the traditional sense. He used kicks and punches, not energy to do damage. So the energy shield master challenges Alexandr Litvinenko to simulate a punch to the face in order to show him that the punch will not reach its target. The energy shield master sees the punch coming and reacts by slapping Alexandr Litvinenko in the face in a defensive way. That was all Alexandr needed. The next punch was not simulated, he took off on mister energy with a real punch. What do you think happened? Well, as you may have guessed, the video ends with the shield master laying face down after his shield failed to deflect any punches at all.
Here’s the link if you want to see the video
The second famous video is quite the contrary, it is of the famous (con artist) sensei who is knocked out by what appears to be one of his potential black belts. The sensei is out of shape and the whole thing looks really bad. The acting alone is cause for concern. The girl summons energy and throws a ball of energy similar to Ryu in Street Fighter. Of course the energy is invisible but the sensei takes the blow and falls back in devastation. He is acting like he is out of it and that he was just hit with a wrecking ball. It is pretty funny to watch. I can no longer see the video link anywhere but I will attempt to find it before I print this blog. The whole thing is pretty comical. I found it, this guy is famous in the martial arts community for being a fake. His name is Grandmaster Tom Cameron. Google him for a good laugh.
The link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1CL8KrWZ-g
Now I know that these videos sound funny, and if you take them at face value they really are. There is a huge problem here though. The problem is that these phonies have actual students that believe in them. I’m not sure how or why people begin to buy into this, but they do. How can you honestly believe that a person can create a field of energy so strong around themselves that a punch won’t be able to penetrate it? How can you believe that a person will be able to summon a ball of energy from within themselves that will knock an opponent out? It isn’t possible and as reasonable human beings, we know this. But when someone straps on a black belt and calls them self a teacher, people believe in the legitimacy of it all and follow with blind faith. This creates not just a single person with delusion, but several. If we then have several people that believe it, then they pass it along to several more people, it can be a real problem. That is how cults start. I’m not going to go as far as to classify them as a dangerous cult, but this could easily turn into a problem.
The videos I prefer are the videos where a real and well-known black belt (I have only seen the videos for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu so far) goes to a school where someone who is NOT a black belt is pretending to be and expose them. Ruben Alvarez is a legitimate black belt who has made a few videos like this. I’ll post a link to one after this paragraph. There are a couple videos like this. These fake black belts are dumb enough to post their fake credentials online, maybe not knowing that lineage in Jiu-Jitsu is very easy to trace. The community is small and the number of those able to hand down black belts are a select group. Ruben, for obvious reasons, is not fearful of telling these fake black belts exactly how fake they are and also telling them that they need to remove that black belt immediately and let them know to never present themselves as a black belt again. In my opinion, it is very important that guys like these are exposed. I have met some black belts in certain arts that probably can’t fight as well as some would believe, but even these guys have put the time and discipline into receiving the belt. It is the ultimate slap in the face to present yourself as the pinnacle of your art without actually earning it.
Here is that link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-MHpIqr06E
