Rigan Machado knowingly promotes convicted rapist to BJJ black belt

[Michael Tzadok]

Am I correct in thinking that I just read a signed statement from Rigan Machado on Georgette's blog site affirming that Rigan did not promote Saucido to black belt?
If so, case closed, unless further evidence presents,
And the resolution is that Saucido, like so many others before him, have falsely claimed they were promoted to the rank of black belt in BJJ.

You mean the signed statement where he says he has had no contact with him in the last 4 years. Since half of the statement is an obvious and proven lie how can you be so certain the second half is true?

[Devil]

You mean the signed statement where he says he has had no contact with him in the last 4 years. Since half of the statement is an obvious and proven lie how can you be so certain the second half is true?

Stop, dude. If Rigan says it's true, it's true. 'Cause jiu jitsu.

[Michael Tzadok]

Stop, dude. If Rigan says it's true, it's true. 'Cause jiu jitsu.

Sorry I belong to a religion that doesn't believe in infallible saints.

[Devil]

Murphy, here's what I don't understand. I can understand you not wanting to put your name out there slinging mud at Rigan. I get that. I could understand silence. But I don't understand why you're going out of your way to try to defend him (yes, you're defending him despite saying he doesn't need you to do so) when any reasonable person can see he's looking pretty shady.

[BKR]

Am I correct in thinking that I just read a signed statement from Rigan Machado on Georgette's blog site affirming that Rigan did not promote Saucido to black belt?
If so, case closed, unless further evidence presents,
And the resolution is that Saucido, like so many others before him, have falsely claimed they were promoted to the rank of black belt in BJJ.

I'm looking at it right now and I don't see it

[Michael Tzadok]

I'm looking at it right now and I don't see it

She placed it in the middle of the post.

[Raycetpfl]

Sorry I belong to a religion that doesn't believe in infallible saints.

Fine..... but now I am not sending you a Christmas card.

[BKR]

She placed it in the middle of the post.

Ok got it. Strange placement...

[Dr. Gonzo]

Murphy, here's what I don't understand. I can understand you not wanting to put your name out there slinging mud at Rigan. I get that. I could understand silence. But I don't understand why you're going out of your way to try to defend him (yes, you're defending him despite saying he doesn't need you to do so) when any reasonable person can see he's looking pretty shady.

Because my whole life I have had to keep explaining to fighters, and would be fighters, that the company you keep will not only affect your reputation, but can also get you in trouble, and worst of all may actually rub off on you.
Fighters, being stubborn, often will stubbornly insist on doing things, if they think from their point of view they are doing something with good intentions.
It's frustrating, but I am very used to it.
Sadly, I am also used to seeing fighters deal with their own legal issues, their own drug use problems, financial problems, and health problems later in life.
I don't give Saucido any pass regarding his rape behavior.
But, I can see the possibility for him to drag down other people because some people actually believe that Jiu-Jitsu will help things that I would not prescribe Jiu-Jitsu practice as a cure for or as an appropriate service to offer those people.
I personally agree with Georgette that those who commit domestic abuse or sexual assault should not be trained, and I would add those that are known violent criminals should not be trained.
Some people assert that Jiu-Jitsu (or other combat sports) can heal all kinds of serious mental illness and violent disposition, but I am much more conservative in my views on who we should train, or how, etc.

[Raycetpfl]

. Lying about it though that is a problem, attacking Georgette based on the substance of that lie is some seriously shady stuff.

Agreed
You can tell a lot about people by who they choose to associate with.

[Raycetpfl]

I'll bet you a bowl of Ramen Noodles from the good ramen restaurant that Carlos Machado clarifies that he is not affiliated with Saucido in any way,

but that Carlos Machado does not disown his brother, even if at worst he says that Rigan is his own person, and that they have their own networks (which they have had for a long time).

The Boss has spoken.

[Dr. Gonzo]

The Boss has spoken.

If you feel that qualifies for noodles, I'll gladly pay up.

The note did stress they were separate, so I will yield the point.

[jitschix]

I want to share a few thoughts.. Thanks up front for the kind words y'all, and you're right. I never post here (not because I'm well-adjusted, but because I have so much other shit going on and I can't manage my time well enough to spend time here as I would like.) (which makes me laugh when people say I'm just stirring up shit for clicks... you might notice I haven't blogged in forever and idgaf about clicks.)

Anyway--

1. Why the delay in posting their statements? I could post screenshots of Lindsay telling me if you don't believe it, but apparently Rigan is dyslexic and had to get someone else to take dictation, type it out, and get him to sign it. Plus, it was sent to me yesterday, but I was busy, and only posted them this morning. Carlos's statement is dated 3/20. I don't blame them for the delay, it's my fault.

2. How did I find out about this? Students from the Rigan mothership in LA called me after Thanksgiving 2014 complaining that Paul Saucido was teaching class for Rigan in his absence, wearing a new black belt, proclaiming that he was promoted by Rigan. I started following up on this story then (which is why I have some very old screen grabs which I have sat on all this time.) None of them were willing to go on record even as an anonymous source. I never burn a source or betray a confidence. I tried everything I could think of to get evidence. It is EXTREMELY hinky that there are no photos of the promotion and belt tying. I went to every Machado affiliate website I could find and looked with a magnifying glass at every promotion picture from that timeframe onwards and I could never find Paul. People who are not in the jiu jitsu community went to Paul's academy and chatted him up and he dodged every question about where the black belt came from or how long he had it. Eventually I gave up-- and credit is due to Paul's rape survivor who alerted me to the fact that his website, in December 2016, was proclaiming he was a Rigan purple/brown/black belt. (I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and had surgeries in September November and December, so this kind of slipped by the wayside until now when I finally got off my ass and posted the results.) Of course I asked Rigan and Carlos and Paul for comment when I posted the story. I didn't ask in advance because I did not want the evidence to disappear (yes, I had screen grabs of Paul's site but I wanted others to go see it live for themselves.)

3. IMHO we as a community should NOT allow convicted sex offenders or domestic abusers to TRAIN AT ALL because it brings them in contact with other possible victims and survivors and because, maybe more importantly, even if we limit them to training with adults of their own gender, it HELPS THEM GET BETTER AT PHYSICALLY CONTROLLING OTHERS.

4. I cannot believe how pathetically derailed this fucking thread got for a while there with all the blather about hard and soft arts, systema, and whether Rigan is any good at jiu jitsu. FOCUS, PEOPLE.

thanks for listening. As you know, I will probably not be back any time soon, feel free to email me comments if you want to discuss-- georgettejitsu at gmail dot com.

[jitschix]

One other thought-- I do have a bunch of screen grabs of other Rigan bbs teaching at Paul's place-- Arevalo, Scott Tannenbaum, Cindy Omatsu-- post the disavowal in 2013. Guess I'll add them to the blog post maybe tonight.

[Raycetpfl]

Because my whole life I have had to keep explaining to fighters, and would be fighters, that the company you keep will not only affect your reputation, but can also get you in trouble, and worst of all may actually rub off on you.
Fighters, being stubborn, often will stubbornly insist on doing things, if they think from their point of view they are doing something with good intentions.
It's frustrating, but I am very used to it.
Sadly, I am also used to seeing fighters deal with their own legal issues, their own drug use problems, financial problems, and health problems later in life.
I don't give Saucido any pass regarding his rape behavior.
But, I can see the possibility for him to drag down other people because some people actually believe that Jiu-Jitsu will help things that I would not prescribe Jiu-Jitsu practice as a cure for or as an appropriate service to offer those people.
I personally agree with Georgette that those who commit domestic abuse or sexual assault should not be trained, and I would add those that are known violent criminals should not be trained.
Some people assert that Jiu-Jitsu (or other combat sports) can heal all kinds of serious mental illness and violent disposition, but I am much more conservative in my views on who we should train, or how, etc.

Theres an old saying,"Birds of a feather flock together."

I am going to use myself as an example here. It quickly becomes apparent to people that I would be a dangerous person for a molester or rapist to be around. I am batting a 1000 on that going back to high school era.I don't put up with creepy bullshit. If they have known me for any length of time I would bet not too many known rapist would willingly get into my car.
He seemed to be quite happy to be in Rigan's car didn't he ?