Chief Master Dave Weatherly, World Martial Arts Academy, Fenton, MI: 5th & 8th Dans?

**Bustardo** · Posted On: 11/03/2007 9:38am

Well at the end of their class we witnessed some very Aikido-like throws and kind of looked at each other like "wtf?!". However I don't know if 1) the aikido-like compliant drills are the norm and 2) if Henry was running that paticular class and 3) if no rondori is the norm.

One student said to another one , "I'm gonna spar with you Tuesday so you better be ready!" to another one. Which kind of made me feel that sparring isn't normal. It looked like the Dave Almquist (2nd dan) was running the class.

Anyway as a side note I found a judo place a mile away from my house, ran by a shodan who's only charge is the USJA membership. They do technique heavy 1 day and rondori heavy 1 day. I'm going to go watch their class later today.

**andrewa** · Posted On: 11/03/2007 11:40am

Hmm....look at this link: http://www.co.genesee.mi.us/district...ecordschk.htm#

Mr. Weatherly has been sued a number of times and has one misdemenor conviction. There's also reference to a "Black Belt Security". Does he run a security service??

**kiaiki** · Posted On: 11/03/2007 12:31pm

Yawn yawn.

First of all this seems like complete crap to me.

Secondly, WHY when the guy does compliant drills, do you leap to call it AIKIDO?

That's OK for YMAS but explain yourselves here.

Firstly, Tomiki/Shodokan schools of Aikido do Randori (Yes it's not ROndori) and are very similar in approach to Judo.

Yoshinkan Aikido don't do complaint twirly stuff either - it's atemi and overwhelm, linear not circular. Their freestyle is way better than Judo randori IMHO in that you receive many repeated attacks and have to vary your defence. Judo randori produces very few techniques in a short space of time. Weapons are also involved in Aikido freestyle.

No, I'm not an Aikido nutrider, you just seem to need some imagination in describing the crap you saw, rather than opting for the tired old 'it's like Aikido' bollocks. If the guy is crap at Judo, call him on it. Ask him to demonstrate how to perform randori on your brown belt brother. Don't describe crap Judo as like Aikido - crap is crap, end of.

**Bustardo** · Posted On: 11/03/2007 12:34pm

Nice find. I'm searching and I can't find anything about Black Belt Security being a company in Michigan, but admittedly my google-fu is a bit weak.

**Bukow** · Posted On: 11/03/2007 4:40pm

Good find. I also checked the Circuit Court records, and found that he has been sued for as much as $17k by another local karate instructor. Wonder what that's about.

**D Dempsey** · Posted On: 11/03/2007 5:05pm

Bustardo,
You should check to see if there is any connection between the united states Yudo association (USYA) and the Korean Judo Association (KJA), which is the governing body for Judo / Yudo in korea. After looking over their stuff I'm doubting it. The info and history they give of Judo/Yudo is very different then what the KJA states and stands for. In addition I never paid anything for my membership in the KJA so they look kind of suspicious.

**andrewa** · Posted On: 11/03/2007 10:30pm

Originally Posted by Bukow

Good find. I also checked the Circuit Court records, and found that he has been sued for as much as $17k by another local karate instructor. Wonder what that's about.

Good find too. He was also sued in 2001 by AMERITECH PUBLISHING INC,, VS D 001 WEATHERLY,DAVID,JOHN, DBA-KOREAN HAPKIDO ACADEMY. Seems he owned them approx $31,000. His conviction was for Failure to Pay Child Support (about $50,000 in arrears).

The link is here: http://www.co.genesee.mi.us/circuitcourt/index.htm#
On the left side click on the link that says 'Circuit Court Records'.

Let me stress that sometimes ending up in court is the price of doing business but when I see a business owner that has history of being sued it leaves a lot of concerns.

**kickinmomma** · Posted On: 3/13/2008 10:21pm

I know Master Dave Weatherly and I had no idea about his background. It makes me wonder if the training that I receive is even legitamate. He preaches about being honest and doing the 'right' thing all the time and he has a court record longer than my arm.

**Bustardo** · Posted On: 3/14/2008 7:39am

Originally Posted by kiaiki

Yawn yawn.

First of all this seems like complete crap to me.

Secondly, WHY when the guy does compliant drills, do you leap to call it AIKIDO?

That's OK for YMAS but explain yourselves here.

Firstly, Tomiki/Shodokan schools of Aikido do Randori (Yes it's not ROndori) and are very similar in approach to Judo.

Yoshinkan Aikido don't do complaint twirly stuff either - it's atemi and overwhelm, linear not circular. Their freestyle is way better than Judo randori IMHO in that you receive many repeated attacks and have to vary your defence. Judo randori produces very few techniques in a short space of time. Weapons are also involved in Aikido freestyle.

No, I'm not an Aikido nutrider, you just seem to need some imagination in describing the crap you saw, rather than opting for the tired old 'it's like Aikido' bollocks. If the guy is crap at Judo, call him on it. Ask him to demonstrate how to perform randori on your brown belt brother. Don't describe crap Judo as like Aikido - crap is crap, end of.

I somehow missed this when it was originally posted. I called it "Like Aikido" because I took aikido for a couple months and it was exactly like the **** I was shown. The "attacker" would throw a wild punch, the defender would intercept the punch by grabbing the attackers wrist, circle around to the attackers side and "force" him to the ground. It was like all the other bullshit I saw when I did aikido, hence I call it "Aikido-like".

**Bustardo** · Posted On: 3/14/2008 7:40am

Originally Posted by kickinmomma

I know Master Dave Weatherly and I had no idea about his background. It makes me wonder if the training that I receive is even legitamate. He preaches about being honest and doing the 'right' thing all the time and he has a court record longer than my arm.

Who knows. The US Yudo org still has never replied to me. The Hapkido 8th Dan also seems suspect to me based on information from the original post.