Donald Moore -- Anyone Know About This Guy?

[MTTKDGUY]

This is awesome...this guy is being awarded with a fucking STACK of 9th and 10th dan certificates:

https://www.facebook.com/ktear.agama...6249991901689/

[BackFistMonkey]

Holy Shit! 9th Dan in "Martial Art Hapkido" and 10th Dan TKD! Did I hear that?

[W. Rabbit]

Holy Shit! 9th Dan in "Martial Art Hapkido" and 10th Dan TKD! Did I hear that?

This is the same guy, right? https://www.yelp.com/biz/america-ins...ial-arts-elgin

This info is probably a little older than what's in the FB video, but...yeah founder and grandmaster..check...combat hapkido...check...chronic HoFer...check...7th Degree Black Sash in Muay Thai Kickboxing...WTF...9th Duan Black Sash Synergy Tai Chi Qigong...WTF again.

Grandmaster Donald Moore has had nearly 40 years of Martial Arts experience. He is the founder and grandmaster of Synergy Tae Kwon Do, Yeon Oh Kwan, and Synergy Tai Chi Qigong. He has had extensive achievements in the industry and very passionate about his business. He believes in providing students with the proper knowledge to protect themselves with self-defense techniques.

In 1995 he was inducted into the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame for Instructor of the Year. In 1996 he was Inducted into the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame for Master of the Year.

Vice President of the "International Combat Hapkido Federation" (ICHF)
9th Duan Black Sash Synergy Tai Chi Qigong (WMAA)
8th Degree Black Belt - Tae Kwon Do (ITA)
7th Degree Black Sash in Muay Thai Kickboxing
7th Degree Black Belt Tornado Kenpo Karate (TKKA)
7th Degree Black Belt - Combat Hapkido (ICHF)
5th Degree Black Belt-World Ki-Do Federation/Korea Ki-Do Association

I'm no choke defense expert, being merely trained in some Judo, BJJ, and a few kung fu methods, but this 3-part video series on defending against a choke contain very little practical application.

The wall says they train Hapkido, TKD, and Jiujitsu...be interesting to find out exactly what kind of Jiujitsu...

[W. Rabbit]

Seriously WTF is he teaching here...because I don't see any JJ/BJJ belts in his lists (I did find in an offline, archived page that he has a belts in ninjutsu though, which did not surprise me). http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...trip=1&vwsrc=0

He sure seems to be teaching something he might not have credentials for...but you tell me. Is this an example of "I've got so many dan, I can teach anything I want!"?

[MTTKDGUY]

I just couldn't believe that someone would, with a straight face, stand there in his karate pajamas and accept an actual stack (there's like almost 10 of them, I think) of 9th and 10th dan certificates, one after another and in such a multitude of martial arts, like that.

He might as well be saying "Fuck you, it's my party and I'll 10th dan if I want to..."

And then, halfway through, the presenter seems to have a brief flash of sanity when he seems to realize what total and obvious (independent balh, blah, blah) bullshit it is...

And THEN he tries to justify it by saying that the promotions aren't really for the benefit of the instructor, but are actually for the benefit of the students...

And then Grand Poo Bah of the Flying Water Bullshitters goes into his tear-choked little speach evoking all the instructors in the pictures in the back of his school...

Ugh. Wish I could get the damned video to imbed properly...

I guess I'd just never seen it done quite that way before.

[dhkim030203]

When 10th dan of TKD is like an award given to those who did a lot in the development and spread of TKD...
And martial art hapkido... so there's a hapkido thats not a martial art. LoL.

[Myn]

Combat Hapkido approaches ground fighting with the mentality of GET OFF THE GROUND ASAP. Not trying to play lock up, or choke out, on the ground while onlookers kick your teeth in. BJJ has its place, but its not meant for every situation. Knowing GM Donald Moore, I can vouch that he has earned every certificate he has received over the years. I've seen that video of the guy awarding multi high Dan blackbelts all at once, and at first glance an outsider would probably take offense or not truly understand. Most black Belts after 5th Dan are Honorary in nature for years of learning and devotion to the martial arts. BJJ I know for a fact that they hold back rank unless you are Brazilian. The Korean do the same thing. as do the Japanese etc. A thing that most BJJ practitioners do not even know is there are hundreds of JuJitsu, Jiujitsu styles that came from Japan alone. And there are more "American Styles" of Jiujitsu. Not all jiujitsu is BJJ the same as not all BJJ is Gracie family Jiujitsu. At my school in Chicago we practiced Street JuJitsu, long before BJJ was ever even known or heard of. Some of the basics were the same, but many were not. Many BJJ techniques for tournaments, will get you killed on the streets. Ive been to BJJ schools where the focus is solely tournament training, and others that focus on self defense.

You just wrote up a whole load of bullshit. I train BJJ. I also train Muay Thai. I have trained BJJ IN JAPAN as well as in Brazil. This dude has never done BJJ in his life. Also, so far as American BJJ practitioners having belts held back? How about

1. Keenan Cornelius
2. Garry Tonon
3. Gordon Ryan
4. Nicky Ryan
5. John Danaher
6. Josh Hinger

Just to name a few notable BJJ blackbelts that are all American. Also, the spelling of Jiu-Jitsu that he has on the wall is used uniquely by Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Also, Muay Thai doesn't have degrees or ranks, so he's full of bullshit there too. Also, BJJ does have a place. It's called "on the ground" or "getting the fight too the ground" or even "getting up from the ground". Nothing he did there even slightly resembled BJJ. When did you start "Jiu Jitsu" by the way? Because the world has known about BJJ since the 90s. Many people knew about it before then, but that was when the initial surge of popularity began.

Show a BJJ rank certificate or gtfo.

[PDA]

Let me start this with I understand from a BJJ /Outsiders perspective this must seem a bit strange. All school and systems do things differently than others. Period. I personally know Master/GM Donald Moore and have known him since the early 1990's when was the top instructor under GM John Pelligrini of Combat Hapkido System. Moore was also a highly ranked TKD Master from several local TKD schools in Chicago area as well as TKD Division under ITA also from John Pellegirni. I received my TKD 1st and 2nd Degrees from both Donald Moore and John Pelligrini before going on to train in Combat Hapkido to earn a 1 Degree in that system. I had also trained in Hapkido/TKD and Various other systess , JKD, Arnis and Muay Thai while in Chicago. I worked with them for many year before starting my own school and choosing JKD/ARNIS and Combatives systems with Hock Hochheim. I can vouch for Donald Moore as real genuine, caring instructor. In most of these videos he is teaching kids, and you don't teach kids the same as adults. Combat Hapkido approaches ground fighting with the mentality of GET OFF THE GROUND ASAP. Not trying to play lock up, or choke out, on the ground while onlookers kick your teeth in. BJJ has its place, but its not meant for every situation. Knowing GM Donald Moore, I can vouch that he has earned every certificate he has received over the years. I've seen that video of the guy awarding multi high Dan blackbelts all at once, and at first glance an outsider would probably take offense or not truly understand. Most black Belts after 5th Dan are Honorary in nature for years of learning and devotion to the martial arts. BJJ I know for a fact that they hold back rank unless you are Brazilian. The Korean do the same thing. as do the Japanese etc. A thing that most BJJ practitioners do not even know is there are hundreds of JuJitsu, Jiujitsu styles that came from Japan alone. And there are more "American Styles" of Jiujitsu. Not all jiujitsu is BJJ the same as not all BJJ is Gracie family Jiujitsu. At my school in Chicago we practiced Street JuJitsu, long before BJJ was ever even known or heard of. Some of the basics were the same, but many were not. Many BJJ techniques for tournaments, will get you killed on the streets. Ive been to BJJ schools where the focus is solely tournament training, and others that focus on self defense. The bottom line is "Walk a Mile in a Mans Shoes" before you judge him. Go out and Train for 40 years everyday, teaching and holding seminars and traveling around the world teaching, and in 40 years, you decided if you earned your rank and accomplishments. Oos!

Please can you post his competition record in any of his styles?

Whilst I appreciate that there are examples of rank being awarded in arts by legit instructors when traditionally they are not (I think we have an example on this site with Omega with Sambo IIRC)
There is usually a significant amount of verifiable evidence available of their skill and experience in said art.

Can you give us more information about who trained Donald Moore in Muay Thai so we may better understand how may have achieved his white - black belts and by whom they were awarded?

If Buakaw suddenly started grading students from white to black in Muay Thai in the US there wouldn't be many complaints outside of people competing with him for business and a few traditionalists.
They would not however be criticizing his own skill or that of his students.

Muay Thai is a competition focused art so despite the vast majority of practitioners not competing they probably train under or with somebody that has or does making it quite easy to verify the quality of their training.

With regards to walking a mile in a mans shoes prior to judgement that is irrelevant here.

This is a consumer advocacy site, he is marketing himself using his qualifications to enable people to assess his qualification to teach and hand him money thereby asking for scrutiny to separate himself from others in his area good or bad.

[PDA]

I have no idea about his Muay Thai training or record if he ever had one. I have never seen that on his resume. This is the current site and bio http://synergycombatarts.us/about.html
I know GM Moore to be genuine, down to earth guy, full of integrity and would never lie about his qualifications of his abilities. I know that recently, he had to retire from teaching as he has
been battling MS for the past few years. So he was forced into early retirement. I know he left certain organizations because they became about money making over serving their members.
So, as far as I know he has never trained or fought in Muay Thai. Although he has known many Grandmasters in many styles.
I personally am very familiar with Muay Thai and trained for a year at Degerberg Academy in Chicago under Chai Sirisute's students, and a few times in Kamala, Thailand while on Vacation.

Again, please check his website and bio but I do not see any mention of Muay Thai, nor have I ever seen that on his resume. Thanks.

It is in his YELP advert:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/america-ins...ial-arts-elgin

and here on the site you gave:

http://synergycombatarts.us/muaythai.html

Have you seen any certificates for any of his grades?

[Myn]

It is in his YELP advert:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/america-ins...ial-arts-elgin

and here on the site you gave:

http://synergycombatarts.us/muaythai.html

Have you seen any certificates for any of his grades?

7th Degree Black Sash in Muay Thai Kickboxing

That's NOT a rank. What bullshit is this guy trying to pull?

This dream came true in 1984 when I began my early "formal" training in Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido. I contacted a Grandmaster in Kansas city and told him of my plight. I tested and was quickly told that my skill was some of the best they had ever seen. This was Grandmaster Christopher Kemp and The United States Combat Martial Arts Association. I was granted a 1st degree black belt.

Ahahahaha... I'm done.

[PDA]

That's NOT a rank. What bullshit is this guy trying to pull?



Ahahahaha... I'm done.

Back in 2011 Grandmaster Chris Kemp apeared in another thread here and Hungryjoe discovered that he was a mail order rank salesman .

https://www.bullshido.net/forums/for...oboei-do-kempo

[AprilRains]

I know GM Moore to be genuine, down to earth guy, full of integrity and would never lie about his qualifications of his abilities.

That's nice. The point of this site is to test propositions with factual trials. A valid factual trial is something that behaves differently if a proposition is true or not. That's why "conduct controlled experiments" qualifies, while "believing really hard" does not.

You're going over the top with your assertive, declarative statements, presumably on the theory that the more you bluster, the more believable you'll be. That's far from the case. Bluster behaves the same way whether it's true or false.

If you want to make your case here, you need to provide factual proof of Donald Moore's claims.

[whitebeltinlife]

I couldn't help myself from looking up this guy.
Take a look at the guy's website and what he lists as his credentials. 10 black belts with a total of 63 Dan levels. GM in the style you founded....now that is one of the most spinal tap moments in all of MA.
Shen Do Ryu Aikijutsu...what is that? Can't find information on it but Don is a 6th Dan in it. Multiple certifications from organizations that aren't so..legit. Herbal Healer Academy? A one woman correspondence course with a $10K judgment against them from the AG of Arkansas. That's just one. I couldn't find some of the others. But these grand Intentional MA society of. Such and Such are seem largely to be one man operations.
He probably has a legit BB in TKD and Hapkido and gave himself the rest.

[Myn]

This mount escape is hilarious

https://youtu.be/3w1grzQ9tuc?t=66

[hungryjoe]

Let me start this with I understand from a BJJ /Outsiders perspective this must seem a bit strange. All school and systems do things differently than others. Period. I personally know Master/GM Donald Moore and have known him since the early 1990's when was the top instructor under GM John Pelligrini of Combat Hapkido System. Moore was also a highly ranked TKD Master from several local TKD schools in Chicago area as well as TKD Division under ITA also from John Pellegirni. I received my TKD 1st and 2nd Degrees from both Donald Moore and John Pelligrini before going on to train in Combat Hapkido to earn a 1 Degree in that system. I had also trained in Hapkido/TKD and Various other systess , JKD, Arnis and Muay Thai while in Chicago. I worked with them for many year before starting my own school and choosing JKD/ARNIS and Combatives systems with Hock Hochheim. I can vouch for Donald Moore as real genuine, caring instructor. In most of these videos he is teaching kids, and you don't teach kids the same as adults. Combat Hapkido approaches ground fighting with the mentality of GET OFF THE GROUND ASAP. Not trying to play lock up, or choke out, on the ground while onlookers kick your teeth in. BJJ has its place, but its not meant for every situation. Knowing GM Donald Moore, I can vouch that he has earned every certificate he has received over the years. I've seen that video of the guy awarding multi high Dan blackbelts all at once, and at first glance an outsider would probably take offense or not truly understand. Most black Belts after 5th Dan are Honorary in nature for years of learning and devotion to the martial arts. BJJ I know for a fact that they hold back rank unless you are Brazilian. The Korean do the same thing. as do the Japanese etc. A thing that most BJJ practitioners do not even know is there are hundreds of JuJitsu, Jiujitsu styles that came from Japan alone. And there are more "American Styles" of Jiujitsu. Not all jiujitsu is BJJ the same as not all BJJ is Gracie family Jiujitsu. At my school in Chicago we practiced Street JuJitsu, long before BJJ was ever even known or heard of. Some of the basics were the same, but many were not. Many BJJ techniques for tournaments, will get you killed on the streets. Ive been to BJJ schools where the focus is solely tournament training, and others that focus on self defense. The bottom line is "Walk a Mile in a Mans Shoes" before you judge him. Go out and Train for 40 years everyday, teaching and holding seminars and traveling around the world teaching, and in 40 years, you decided if you earned your rank and accomplishments. Oos!

John,

Pelligrini is and has been part of a large circle jerk for decades. Alas, I can't find my thread now and the computer holding my material is dead. Moore is part of the group. Combat Hapkido is bs.

FYI, I have Hapkido in my tool bag too.

I will contact staff to see if my old thread can be located. It's quite enlightening as to who got their rank in pay to play, trade or actual work.