Ghost students

[ackks10]

I don't know if this happens to any of you, but i would like to know if it does?
the other day my son came home from work and told me about this man who he ran into,they started talking about martial arts, and kenpo came up (thats what i do) well anyway this man said to my son that he did kenpo about 15 years ago with this man named George Elmer,my son said to him "that's my dad" my son said right after that the man changed and said that he really did not train with me,but this is not the first time this has happen ,now what I'm going to say really did happen about about 2 months ago,as everyone knows i love fishing, and one day while i was doing fresh water fishing there was this man on my right, well we started talking and he told me that he was a karate
[SIZE=-1]instructor,(now he did not know that i did anything) and while i was trying to get that bass on my hook LOL i said wow you do karate?? thats cool, he went on to tell me that what se does was something called kenpo,i said oh! whats that??,well to make a long story short[/SIZE],i asked him who taught him karate? he said MR Elmer, now i don't know this man at all,so after awhile as i was leaving i said it was nice to meet you,i did'nt do anything about this,but has this ever happen to anyone with the ghost students.

 

[newGuy12]

That's one of the strangest things I've ever heard.

 

[terryl965]

I have had people in the past tell people they trained with me and recieved there BB from me, I keep records of all my BB and to my surprise never did I ever train this individuals. They are the few that needed credintial and needed to give a name and it just happen to be mine. I still have a guy in south Texas that says I gave him a BB twelve years ago and even told me to my face I did when I told him I was Master Stoker he looked at me and said are you sure. Like I did not know who I was.

 

[ackks10]

I have had people in the past tell people they trained with me and recieved there BB from me, I keep records of all my BB and to my surprise never did I ever train this individuals. They are the few that needed credintial and needed to give a name and it just happen to be mine. I still have a guy in south Texas that says I gave him a BB twelve years ago and even told me to my face I did when I told him I was Master Stoker he looked at me and said are you sure. Like I did not know who I was.

that's funny LOL

 

[lemon_meringue]

That is very very weird. You should have asked him to introduce you to his instructor- would have made for an interesting meeting! :lol:

 

[IcemanSK]

Terry, that has to be the strangest thing I've heard in a long while. Rather than shutting up & crawlin' away he asks you if YOU are sure you're Master Stoker. The nerve of some people!

Well I suppose if folks lie about inflated rank, they'll lie about ever training (even with specific people in specific places).

Funny & sad at the same time.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

When I was in the music business, every local rockabilly and blues player that wanted to have some credential in the conversation all claimed some connection to Danny Gatton, a local legend who sadly passed away. I could liken him to a blues/rockabilly Bruce Lee in how he is perceived by the local guitar playing community.

Anyhow, very few of these guys had the chops to back up most of what they said about guitar playing and music, but by attaching Gatton's name to their list of experiences, they had instant credibility, whether they ever knew the man or not.

For the record, I was never blessed with an opportunity to meet Mr. Gatton.

Daniel

 

[stickarts]

Someone told my dad about his martial arts and how good I was when I sparred him. A nice compliment and good for my reputation, however, it turns out this guy doesn't know martial arts and I had never heard of him in my life, let alone spar with him!

 

[terryl965]

Terry, that has to be the strangest thing I've heard in a long while. Rather than shutting up & crawlin' away he asks you if YOU are sure you're Master Stoker. The nerve of some people!

Well I suppose if folks lie about inflated rank, they'll lie about ever training (even with specific people in specific places).

Funny & sad at the same time.

Yes and after I showed him my driver liscense, he said then who was it that gave me my BB. It had my name on the bottom but it sure was not my sig. He still has his school and still says it was another Terry Stoker that tested him so who know maybe there are two of me running around.

 

[geezer]

That's one of the strangest things I've ever heard.

Well here's another, similar phenomenon. I've been in my system a long time and personally know a few instructors from it's various lineages. Anyway, from time to time I encounter posts on this and other forums by people pretending to be quite knowledgeable about our system under this or that instructor. When I've had the opportunity to talk with their supposed instructor, it turns out that either these folks never studied with them at all, or took a few lessons and then drifted away...only to re-appear as internet Sifus and Senseis --LOL.

 

[Brian S]

You should have had fun with that guy. Or maybe there is another Mr.Elmer teaching kenpo in your town?

 

[IcemanSK]

Yes and after I showed him my driver liscense, he said then who was it that gave me my BB. It had my name on the bottom but it sure was not my sig. He still has his school and still says it was another Terry Stoker that tested him so who know maybe there are two of me running around.

Two of you?! I world will never be the same:angel:

 

[chinto01]

I have had people tell me they have trained with my instructor on Okinawa. Funny thing is when you begin to ask them questions about the dojo they all of a sudden get a case of memory loss and begin to tell you how long ago it was.

In the spirit of bushido!

Rob

 

[girlbug2]

There are a lot of delusional people in the world. They can tell themselves a story and repeat it and embellish it so many times that they actually begin to believe it's true.

And let's face it, karate is a cool thing to fantasize about doing

 

[Kacey]

I've never had this happen in TKD - but there's another Karen Cohn who is a special education teacher in the Denver area; our files got mixed up at one point, and she was interviewed for a job, which was later offered to her - but the person who interviewed her pulled my file by mistake for the call back and called me... it took a while to sort that one out!

 

[Marginal]

Yes and after I showed him my driver liscense, he said then who was it that gave me my BB. It had my name on the bottom but it sure was not my sig. He still has his school and still says it was another Terry Stoker that tested him so who know maybe there are two of me running around.

Probably just your evil twin.

 

[Phoenix44]

Mr. Elmer, is it possible he trained with you briefly 15 years ago and you just don't remember him?

Just a thought.

 

[Perpetual White Belt]

Two of you?! I world will never be the same:angel:

There would be no room for the rest of us to post on the forum though... :uhyeah:

 

[IcemanSK]

I used to train at a kickboxing gym that boasted several world champions. People would travel 75 miles one-way to train there. I lived 25 miles away & would wear my gym shirt to a boxing gym in my town. Guys would come up to me all the time saying they trained at this gym. I'd ask them a few questions to see if they really did train there.

Questions like: What was the owner's dog's name. The dog lived at the gym. If you didn't know the dog's name, you'd never been there.

There were other questions, but very few of these folks had ever been to the gym...let alone trained there. People are funny. Sometimes when they tell a lie enough, they think it's the truth.

 

[Steve]

With the growing popularity of MMA and BJJ, there are at least 5 people walking around pretending to train for every one who actually does. I saw a guy walking around with a purple BJJ belt on his... trench coat. Really. It was a Gameness belt, so there was no mistaking the implication.

It's a sad thing that some people are so insecure, but it's the same thing as guys pretending to be Vets or whatever else. Personally, I'd rather be mediocre at something I really do than an "expert" at something I've never actually had the courage to try.