BJJ Black Belt - Erick Bonifacio Confirmed

[brody00]

Has anyone heard of Erick Bonifacio ("Eric Bonifacio" on FB)? He's the owner of Livermore Got Kicks and his BB is VERY questionable.

erickbonifacio.com

I bring this up because only about 3 years ago he was seen taking a private lesson as a white belt w Joao Perini. Then less than a year later was training as a blue belt. My friend trained w him and said he was low white belt level at best (my friend was a solid blue then).

That same year he offered to buy a purple belt from a very legit BB, who turned him down and kicked him out of his school for this reason.

The next year he's a BB teaching BJJ at Livermore Got Kicks (livermoregotkicks.com/) and somehow convinced, of all people, Joe Moreira, into listing him as one of his own Black Belts. He's listed as a 1st degree BB, which is impossible since he was a white belt only a few years ago (joemoreirabjj.com/brazilianjiujitsublackbelts.html).

If you check livermoregotkicks.com, you'll see it mentions his name (Erick Bonifacio), but never states WHERE or WHEN he got his BB, or any of his BJJ history. It only says he's affiliated w Joe Moreira. I've also heard he never rolls w ANY of his students. Before on his website, he was careful not to show ANY pics of him wearing a BB. Now all the pics are gone.

However, I've managed to download pics of him wearing a BB w 1 stripe, but they're all pics of him posing w groups of very legit BBs. However, he doesn't roll, ever.

If you look at his website, you'll notice it's geared towards TMA/self defense/kids programs, not serious BJJ, so it's unlikely people there will know he's a complete fake.

I find what he's doing terribly insulting to the BJJ community, but this situation is difficult since he's managed to be listed under Joe Moreira (for clarity, I'm not questioning Joe Moreira or his other BBs at all; this is only directed towards Erick Bonifacio). If you call Joe, he'll confirm he did NOT promote Erick Bonifacio to BB himself, however. He even has the nerve to have his picture taken with Francisco Mansour, while wearing his fake BB!

I'm not sure what can be done as he's obviously carefully planned to build credibility by associating himself through affiliations and pictures of seriously legit BBs (Joe Moreira, Francisco Mansour, and many others), but wanted to post this to bring awareness to this fake. To make things worse, he's a law enforcement officer.

Pics below here

imgur.com/a/i0cEb

[It is Fake]

You just called someone a fake with no proof. Provide some proof other than you heard, he says, or it was witnessed.
Thanks.

[brody00]

Other than verbal testimony from teammates, dates when he was seen w white/blue belts, my BB instructor (who kicked him out after receiving a cash offer for the purple belt), the phone call to Joe Moreira, not sure what other forms of proof are obtainable...

[Prone]

Excuse me, but that stripe even means that he is higher than a fresh BB. There has to be a place to read WHO promoted him?

[TexJohn]

My friend trained w him and said he was low white belt level at best (my friend was a solid blue then).

That same year he offered to buy a purple belt from a very legit BB, who turned him down and kicked him out of his school for this reason.

I've also heard he never rolls w ANY of his students. Before on his website, he was careful not to show ANY pics of him wearing a BB. Now all the pics are gone.

These things that I have quoted from your statement are called hearsay. Hearsay is you saying what someone else said with no verifiable evidence to support it. Hearsay is about as good as fucking a crazy chick. It's fun, it makes you feel better, but in the long run it's ain't worth ****.

[Cake of Doom]

OP:-

Do you have any solid confirmation of the timeline you listed from Erick being a white belt to the time he is listed as black? From your "3 years then the next year then the next year" bit i put his black belt year as 2011 but this

“I was one of Erick’s first students when he began teaching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in 1999. I still use the skills i learned in potentially violent situations. I have used these skills on the job and i have been able to control and subdue suspects quickly and without injury to myself or the other involved party. I highly recommend Erick as an instructor because of his teaching ability. The training he has given me has been proven on the street in real life situations.”

from his testimonials page (www.livermoregotkicks.com) has him teaching BJJ in 1999.

I'm aware that the above quote may or may not be true but if you could put together a more coherent picture of the dates involved it would make this a little bit easier.

There is also a Sherdog thread in a similar vein here

[Auszi]

He is using Dave Kovar package marketing but that's still just terrible McDojoism not bullshido.

http://www.selectmartialarts.com/Liv...x?VideoId=3631

http://www.selectmartialarts.com/alpha/selectmovie.aspx

http://www.bullshido.net/forums/show...=106906&page=1

[It is Fake]

Other than verbal testimony from teammates, dates when he was seen w white/blue belts, my BB instructor (who kicked him out after receiving a cash offer for the purple belt), the phone call to Joe Moreira, not sure what other forms of proof are obtainable...

Is your instructor willing to swear out an affidavit?
See there is this thing called business competition. Unfortunately, it makes your coach an unreliable source without actual testimony. Was the phone call recorded?

We have had people show up with vendetta posts so, we treat EVERYONE the same. If you make a claim, you back it up with hard verifiable proof. If a Pat Miletich can provide evidence, to refute erroneous claims, anyone else will be held to that standard.

You called him a fake in your post and title which can get you in legal trouble. Make sure you understand you own your words and just put your instructor in the mix.

[brody00]

Unfortunately the call was not recorded and there are no pictures of him w timestamps (to prove what my teammates have told me), so unfortunately all I have is hearsay. As for timeline, I could get accurate dates (month/year), but it's relatively in the same timeframe I mentioned. Also, I cannot verify those dates w hard facts, just hearsay again.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[Cake of Doom]

Have you tried contacting him and politely asking for his lineage? This is not something a legitimate practitioner would refuse to divulge.