Ray Ellingsen “The Bounty Hunter”

[WorldWarCheese]

No real way he could have. This is nailed down solid.

Yeah, sorry. For some reason I just always expect them to come out and say "Oops! You got us!" Damn my naivite....

-Currently studies Judo under a former coach of the USA Olympic Judo Team.

o.O What's his name and how many have their been? I know Pedro Sr claims that as a title, but I'm curious as to how many there are. (And who's the current one)

he writes on the chock board!

What uncivilized boonies do you live in? Chalk board... hah. Back here where we require more than loincloths and stone spears we've now moved on to white boards.

In addition, he is a moderator on Bullshido.net the only site on the internet where members met up in underground death matches!

I killed three men last year at one of those. Luckily they brought their "Reborn the Monster" Yu-gi-oh cards so they didn't die permanently.

That actually looks more than half decent. If I were you I'd make a DVD.

[Olorin]

What uncivilized boonies do you live in? Chalk board... hah. Back here where we require more than loincloths and stone spears we've now moved on to white boards.

Ya it is a white board, but I always just say chalk board.

That actually looks more than half decent. If I were you I'd make a DVD.

We should make one and try to sell it...

o.O What's his name and how many have their been? I know Pedro Sr claims that as a title, but I'm curious as to how many there are. (And who's the current one)

I don't really want to post his name. I do not think he was THE coach but he has worked with the team and continues to do so. He keeps trying to take me to Colorado Springs to get my ass kicked. If I ever go I will videotape it...
.

[rw4th]

So what would it take for someone to go undercover and expose TRS Direct's business practices?

A person could send them a letter with a fake name and a fake bio, enquiring about how to go about making and selling an instructional video with them. Just needs to be someone who looks the part.

[Olorin]

That would be quite the coup...

[daGorilla]

Olorin can tell you a lot about the past, the American Revolution, the Civil War, etc, but when it comes to his own past, the students know little about man in the front of the classroom. He can snap their necks as easily as he writes on the chock board! That’s right! This pasty faced academic is a stone cold cage fighter!

For the last ten years, Olorin has been honing his skills against some of the toughest competition on the planet! He has worked with world class fighters, trained police officers and prison guards, and even been invited to come to Colorado Springs to work with the United States Judo Team! Not content to sit on the sidelines and coach, Olorin is a state wide Judo champion!

He has also studied Karate, many forms of Kung Fu, Ji Jitsu, BJJ, and Kickboxing. In addition, he is a moderator on Bullshido.net the only site on the internet where members met up in underground death matches!

Brilliantly done. If you aren't already working in marketing, you probably should be... :)

[TheMarquis]

IT figures, I did start a thread about what's trustworthy in RBSD - seems I got an answer.
It really grinds my gears that people carry on exploiting 'teH fe4r' to allow them to sell product that is at best not as effective as it need to be or at worst - the misleading and incorrect details could end up someone getting killed.

I also find it strange there's no legslation that prevents these piss-poor teachings have the kind of effects as mentioned above.

[outpost]

My name is Ray Ellingsen,

As per Olorin's request, I am responding to the allegations against me for a video series I was involved with through TRS (a video distribution company) over a decade ago. I was just informed yesterday that there was quite a stir regarding these videos. Obviously I was a little dismayed at being attacked without being questioned directly first, but after surfing this site I was fairly impressed at the intent of these forums, and while it is not pleasant being a sacrifical target, this is a site that is long overdue.

First off, I'm sure that anyone who has done a video for TRS will agree that TRS's advertizing style is "overly sensationalistic". I know, this is a gross understatement.

At the time the videos were done I was not terribly pleased with their ad style. I signed a waiver that assured me that " while the advertizing may seem senstionalistic, it does not outright lie". In retrospect, I suppose that it might be technically true, but it does stretch the truth beyond credibility. In the beginning I protested TRS's ads repeatedly, but after speaking with numerous other guys who experienced the same thing with their videos at TRS, I shrugged my shoulders and forgot about it.

I should however, at least set the record straight here. The TRS ad states that I am (was) a "respected bounty hunter". The only people I know of that call themselves bounty hunters are "Dog" and "Boba Fett". In 1990- 91 I directed a documentary on Bail Enforcement and in the course of that process I interviewed Ray Hawkins and Gary Stafford (fugitive recovery agents) and worked cases with them. Over the course of this we made several arrests and endured way too many dry runs. I have made arrests with them and retained the arrest records and dockets for my research. How I became a "respected bounty hunter" only TRS knows.

As for the U.S. Marshalls, while I know several individuals who work for various federal agencies (they are both students and friends), for the record, I have never personally claimed to be, nor have I ever been employed by a federal agency or been employed as a sworn peace officer. I have read several interviews that I supposedly conducted (that I did not) that have quoted me as "working with law enforcement". They were forced to print a retraction which I noticed did not get mentioned in this thread.

I have guest instructed numerous seminars and instructed 2 law enforcement departments in arrest and control tactics. If the owners of this site would like verification from the departments themselves please contact me and I will forward that information, but would ask that you be discreet and only post their names if they approve it.

There are numerous other allegations that have been posted here and I am not sure exactly what I am being accused of, but I have not attempted to misrepresent myself in any way. I cannot speak for TRS. I know Bob Pierce (TRS's owner) personally and actually like him. I know he does not hesitate to sensationalize any of his materials. He is in the business of sales and makes no appologies for that.

I do appreciate this site and hope that both the moderators and members will actually look for the truth and not abuse our freedom of speech. I have not taken offense to this as I am a martial artist who has worked very hard to learn the skills I have. I also get a little bent by posers who boast and try to elevate their reputation beyond their actual skills.

In closing, I am not responsible for the sales pitch that distributors put on the box. I sent TRS my bio (which is essentially what is written in this thread) and expected them to adhere to the facts to some extent. I have noticed that nobody has commented on the contents of the videos themselves. I expect some criticism there, after all its easy to criticize other peoples work. I'm pretty used to that. The content and techniques inside are mine.

I have done several videos over the years and the content gets a little better as time goes on. Don't we all get better if we stick with it? The last video I did (about 2 years ago) showed me two things: 1) I have gotten more proficient and 2) I should have gone on a diet before I taped it. It was originally entitled "Biomechanics", but TRS slaughtered the title (and editing) and it now bears the silly name "13 crowbars". I have no idea what that means...but rest assured the description of it on the box will be dynamic and sensational.

I look forward to Olorin's response and, while I do not keep up on these threads, I will make myself available by email.

Ray Ellingsen

[Sam Browning]

Hi Ray,

I have e-mailed Olorin advising him that you have posted here. We would of course like to confirm that you have instructed law enforcement agencies, but can't promise to keep the names of these agencies confidential. Please have them be willing to specify the dates of the training, the number of hours involved, and whether such training was a paid gig, or a volunteer effort.

In answer to what looks like a question about what the claims of the article were, in summary they were the following.

TRS: Ray “is one of the most respected ‘bounty hunters’ in the business.” He spends his days “hunting down the nastiest criminals who skip bail in Los Angeles, the most dangerous ‘market’ in the U.S.’”

Investigation: You do not have the licensing or insurance yourself to do bail work or fugitive recovery in California, and the California Bail Agents Association has never heard of you.

The TRS website states that “When Ray gets a call from the U.S. Marshals office to bring in a "skip" he is almost guaranteed an adventure that would scare the piss out of you or me.”

Investigation: The U.S. Marshals office in California has never employed you, and does not subcontract out its recovery efforts.

Then there was this detail:

"In 2004, Ray Ellingsen and Billy Burk gave a martial arts seminar entitled “Street Smarts to The Adventurers' Club. (a private men's club located at 2433 N. Broadway, Los Angeles)

Ray’s listed credentials include…

“Tactical training instructor for Los Angeles County Sheriff and U.S. Marshals. Bail enforcement officer for 1 1/2 years with the Marshals office during which he made 72 arrests of which 39 were with violent resistance. He has been in 3 knife fights and was stabbed twice in the line of duty. He is a certified knife and cane fighting instructor and only the 16th foreigner awarded 4th degree black belt by the Kyoto Academy.”(9)"

Once again we see the U.S. Marshall's office come up. It appears that you are offering to confirm a training relationship with the Los Angeles Sherriffs Department which we would be happy to look into.

What is the Kyoto Academy?

Did you actually help carry out 72 arrests, and were you stabbed twice?

It appears that you were not the person with legal status to make the arrest and instead Ray Hawkins and/or Gary Stafford made the arrests under their licenses. Is this accurate?

Since you quoted from a TRS release regarding control of publicity, we would appreciate seeing your copy scanned onto this thread. That would at least resolve the issue over who legally controlled the content of the publicity that was released by TRS.

I will also enter a pro-forma plea of not guilty to the charge of "abuse of freedom of speech".

[Sam Browning]

My name is Ray Ellingsen,

As per Olorin's request, I am responding to the allegations against me for a video series I was involved with through TRS (a video distribution company) over a decade ago. I was just informed yesterday that there was quite a stir regarding these videos. Obviously I was a little dismayed at being attacked without being questioned directly first, but after surfing this site I was fairly impressed at the intent of these forums, and while it is not pleasant being a sacrifical target, this is a site that is long overdue.

First off, I'm sure that anyone who has done a video for TRS will agree that TRS's advertizing style is "overly sensationalistic". I know, this is a gross understatement.

At the time the videos were done I was not terribly pleased with their ad style. I signed a waiver that assured me that " while the advertizing may seem senstionalistic, it does not outright lie". In retrospect, I suppose that it might be technically true, but it does stretch the truth beyond credibility. In the beginning I protested TRS's ads repeatedly, but after speaking with numerous other guys who experienced the same thing with their videos at TRS, I shrugged my shoulders and forgot about it.

I should however, at least set the record straight here. The TRS ad states that I am (was) a "respected bounty hunter". The only people I know of that call themselves bounty hunters are "Dog" and "Boba Fett". In 1990- 91 I directed a documentary on Bail Enforcement and in the course of that process I interviewed Ray Hawkins and Gary Stafford (fugitive recovery agents) and worked cases with them. Over the course of this we made several arrests and endured way too many dry runs. I have made arrests with them and retained the arrest records and dockets for my research. How I became a "respected bounty hunter" only TRS knows.

As for the U.S. Marshalls, while I know several individuals who work for various federal agencies (they are both students and friends), for the record, I have never personally claimed to be, nor have I ever been employed by a federal agency or been employed as a sworn peace officer. I have read several interviews that I supposedly conducted (that I did not) that have quoted me as "working with law enforcement". They were forced to print a retraction which I noticed did not get mentioned in this thread.

I have guest instructed numerous seminars and instructed 2 law enforcement departments in arrest and control tactics. If the owners of this site would like verification from the departments themselves please contact me and I will forward that information, but would ask that you be discreet and only post their names if they approve it.

There are numerous other allegations that have been posted here and I am not sure exactly what I am being accused of, but I have not attempted to misrepresent myself in any way. I cannot speak for TRS. I know Bob Pierce (TRS's owner) personally and actually like him. I know he does not hesitate to sensationalize any of his materials. He is in the business of sales and makes no appologies for that.

I do appreciate this site and hope that both the moderators and members will actually look for the truth and not abuse our freedom of speech. I have not taken offense to this as I am a martial artist who has worked very hard to learn the skills I have. I also get a little bent by posers who boast and try to elevate their reputation beyond their actual skills.

In closing, I am not responsible for the sales pitch that distributors put on the box. I sent TRS my bio (which is essentially what is written in this thread) and expected them to adhere to the facts to some extent. I have noticed that nobody has commented on the contents of the videos themselves. I expect some criticism there, after all its easy to criticize other peoples work. I'm pretty used to that. The content and techniques inside are mine.

I have done several videos over the years and the content gets a little better as time goes on. Don't we all get better if we stick with it? The last video I did (about 2 years ago) showed me two things: 1) I have gotten more proficient and 2) I should have gone on a diet before I taped it. It was originally entitled "Biomechanics", but TRS slaughtered the title (and editing) and it now bears the silly name "13 crowbars". I have no idea what that means...but rest assured the description of it on the box will be dynamic and sensational.

I look forward to Olorin's response and, while I do not keep up on these threads, I will make myself available by email.

Ray Ellingsen

Saved for future reference.

[Vorpal]

Marshal is always with just one "L" Outpost. Good work Olorin.