Ocoee, Florida / Richard Hackworth / American Dragon Martial Arts Academies

**TheSlade** · Posted On: 1/28/2008 3:14pm

nice I'll use the same heel hook you used on me. Ok I know the guy and the Y cause thats one of the gyms I used to lift at. He has given me the join up speech but it's not a style I am intrested in. I'll take your advice and just use questions and talk with him. Who knows if this goes well maybe he was mislead by this Hackworth guy also and he will then join us for a disscussion here.

**TheSlade** · Posted On: 1/28/2008 3:29pm

Well wish me luck. I am off and I'll update any information tomorrow.

**TheSlade** · Posted On: 1/29/2008 6:57am

Ok, update. They were not teaching tae kwon do last night at the Y. But they are teaching it on tuesday, thursday, and friday. So I will be going there on Thursday to speak with the instructer. I also verifed the teacher and it's the guy that works under Hackworth.

**TheSlade** · Posted On: 2/01/2008 6:52am

Ok update comeing after 1030am est. on my break at work. It's nothing ground breaking but it was a classic case of actions speak louder then words. Some answers were so obviously Oh sh*t answer that I had to write down his reactions to them and what he said.

**TheSlade** · Posted On: 2/01/2008 10:40am

Here is what happened. Well I went to the Y at 650pm because the class was starting at 715pm and I wanted to watch it before I questioned the instructor. I was prepared with a list of questions I would ask and a pen to copy his responses. Well this is where it took a turn for the worse. I walked into the Y and spoke with the desk manager about the TKD class and it turns out the instructor was right there and I didn’t even notice. So of course he is like lets talk now. So I say awesome nothing like jumping right into it. I introduce myself as a member of bullshido and I want to speak with him about his TKD. So he said cool ask away.

(now for this his reactions spoke a lot louder then his words and I did write down how he reacted mostly cause some questions caused such a long pause to think of something to say I had all the time in the world to put stuff down on paper.)

Me: What style of TKD do you teach and who are you associated with?
Him: I do moo du kwan and we are under the KTA or Koran tae kwon do association

Me: how long have you been training and in what style and with who?
Him: well I have been in TMA for 32 years and I have a 5th dan in TKD from the KTA and a 1st dan in hapkido from the KTA and a 2nd dan in Tang su do.

Me: how long have you been teaching martial arts and when did you get your 5th dan [my goal here is to get him to open up by bragging]
Him: I used to have a full time school for TKD for 9 years but I didn’t like the business side of it. I tested and got my 5th Dan in 1999.

Me: and that 5th dan was from KTA
Him: yes I was tested by master O [not joking he said master o so I assumed its an Asian name]

Me: do you have any students in any major tournaments or anything?
Him: No if I was teaching full time I would but teaching a few days a week wont allow me to get a student up to that caliber

[ok he is talking a lot and pretty open now and just speaking claim and free. He even demonstrated a kick for me. So I decide its time to begin]

Me: who is your contact with the KTA? Do you know any of the officers or high ranking officials?
Him: No I have never met them I only go through my local connections?

Me: who provides your black belt certificates?
Him: [really long pause he froze up and wouldn’t look me in the eyes] ……I get them locally sometimes from other masters and sometimes I go through my old master up in Detroit.

Me: do you know a guy named Richard Hackworth?
Him:[takes a step back from me and crosses his arms another long pause]……yeah I know him but I don’t like him

Me: did you know about his fake black belt certificates he is selling?
Him: [long pause and wont make eye contact] no but that would explain why he went from 2nd dan to 7th dan so fast.

Me: what do you think about the KTA not issuing any certification for black belts since the 1980’s?
Him: [really long pause and now parents are gathering around us to listen in] ……. Yeah that’s why I am now independent.

Me: but aren’t you with the KTA?
Him: I was but I have been independent for a while and I have had offers to join other organizations like ATA and WTF but they want lots of money to transfer my Dan ranking over to theirs. And I am already a 5th dan why should I pay to keep my rank in someone else style.

[at this time the crowd was large and he was turtleing on me and wouldn’t give me a straight answer to anything. I did ask if he teaches any grappling or anything else but he was just avoiding question after question even to the point of make small talk with parents just so he could ignore me]

So I said well ill post this will bullshido have a good class
He leaned in close to me and said I’ll be seeing you around. So I looked at him and said you can bet on it.

**GoldenJonas** · Posted On: 2/01/2008 2:10pm

Awesome job Slade.

He said he was awarded a 5th Dan from the KTA in 1999, but the KTA has not issued any Black Belt Certs since the 1980's?

Where did you get that info regarding the KTA cert.'s? If true you caught him in a bold faced lie....yikes.

**TheSlade** · Posted On: 2/01/2008 2:26pm

Originally Posted by Bigzilla

I remember in the late 1990's, Taekwondo Master's Al Cole and Glenn Uesugi uncovered a huge scam by Richard Hackworth. It involved Hackworth selling fake Korea Taekwondo Association Black Belt Certificates. Master Cole e-mailed out a letter from the KTA saying they had not issued Dan certificates since April of 1980, yet there were hundereds of people who came forward with KTA certifcates from Hackworth dated in the 1990's
All these certificates, along with other fakes, like Chung Do Kwan, Hapkido, etc, were scanned and e-mailed or posted on some websites.

One such website is still up to warn people about Richard Hackworth. It has copies of his fakes. Check it out!

http://jlimnet.ntitemp.com/Gallery/FakeCertificate.htm

Bigzilla

This is where I got the KTA info from. Right here in bullshido. I knew it was, so far, only something i heard on the internet but i threw it out there as bait to see if he would back track and he did. He went from being 100% KTA to oh i am indepenant.

**GoldenJonas** · Posted On: 2/01/2008 2:28pm

hmmmm....again, good job.

**TheSlade** · Posted On: 2/01/2008 2:29pm

Thanks :)

**Bigzilla** · Posted On: 2/03/2008 4:41am

Originally Posted by TheSlade

This is where I got the KTA info from. Right here in bullshido. I knew it was, so far, only something i heard on the internet but i threw it out there as bait to see if he would back track and he did. He went from being 100% KTA to oh i am indepenant.

I just asked my instructor about KTA Dan certificates. He said the same thing, that KTA had not issued Dan certificates since April of 1980. Since that time all Dan certificates come from Kukkiwon. My instructor called Kukkiwon about Richard Hackworth and was told that he was a bad guy doing bad things and was never a Black Belt in Taekwondo. They know about his selling fake KTA Dan certificates and ask that anyone who has a KTA certificate from Richard Hackworth to please write the Korea Taekwondo Association directly at:

Korea Taekwondo Association
OLYMPIC PARK
88-2, ORYUN-DONG, SONGPA-GU
SEOUL, KOREA
Tel:011-822-420-4271 ∼3
Fax: 011-822-420-4274
Web: http://www.koreataekwondo.org/englis...ta/kta_03.html

I guess since the KTA is a member of the WTF, the WTF is investigating Richard Hackworth, as the KTA has had people check and find out their certificates were fakes!

PS. It event says on the KTA site that all issues involving Dan certificates be addressed to Kukkiwon! WOW!

Good luck!

Bigzilla