Is Frank "The Man" James good or bad for 10th Planet??

[stlnl]

Jake Whitfield: In the legal world we call that hearsay. Honestly, I think it's rude and disrespectful to come on here for the first time just to blast one of our members, the system and our master! Yes, you did it in a "respectful" dialog, but I still find the act itself to be extremely disrespectful to all of us, especially Frank, and Eddie. You should have sent that message to Eddie himself because now you've besmirched Frank's name to no end in front of the entire family and you have no business doing that since you are not a part of this family, in fact you're a self-proclaimed hater of this family. All of your stories are clearly loaded with bias and you are portraying Frank as a despicable person which is completely unfair to him. If all of what you say is true I would be very surprised because all of my encounters, albeit they're limited to text, have been nothing but pleasant. It's a shame to think that what you've said might be substantively factual, however I'm most certain that you've made him sound worse than he is. On the flip side, if you actually are being completely candid and not exaggerating, I guess I can say thank you for taking the time to let us all know, but I still think it would have been more tactful and respectful to send this to Eddie first and let him choose whether or not to share it with us all. Some instances of libel one just can't recover from, true or untrue, and this feels like it might be one of those instances.

Oh well, what's done is done, but I just had to tell you how I felt about that one. Sorry Frank, I hope these allegations prove to be false, but either way keep your head up and keep training. With jiu jitsu comes humility. We could all use a little more humility.

Well, the only thing he said in his post, for the most part was stuff Frank said in other threads (the Brazilian arrogance thread) just from a different perspective. Other than the detail about Charuto not giving Frank a purple belt. He says he talked both to Owens, and to Charuto and gives a way to email to confirm......that looks pretty strong in so far as backing a claim. Of course he is biased regarding Frank, they dont like each other, both said so. But he also gives a means to fact check the only thing that isnt confirmed (in different versions on both sides) by giving an email linl.

[Matt "Gumby" Glach]

Well, the only thing he said in his post, for the most part was stuff Frank said in other threads (the Brazilian arrogance thread) just from a different perspective. Other than the detail about Charuto not giving Frank a purple belt. He says he talked both to Owens, and to Charuto and gives a way to email to confirm......that looks pretty strong in so far as backing a claim. Of course he is biased regarding Frank, they dont like each other, both said so. But he also gives a means to fact check the only thing that isnt confirmed (in different versions on both sides) by giving an email linl.

Even if it's all true to the letter, I still disagree with the way he posted it here. It's not his place to do so, he can talk to Eddie and allow him to use his discretion since this is his forum, his website, his family (our family but he is the father). An outsider has no right to come on here and speak the way he did of any of us, frank, eddie, quatoof, anyone. But I'm not one to get all mad and up in arms about something so insignificant so I'll leave it at what I've said. Nothing but love here. Nothing but love.

[stlnl]

Well he posted it here because Frank was mentioning him by name the other day in a discussion. Who is more family here by the way, a legit Brown belt, or a guy who seems to have lied about grappling credentials? If Frank didnt lie, and is indeed a purple under Charuto, it is most certainly way, way out of line. If he did............well

[Jonathan Wylie]

Eddie oppened this for discussion in a public forum. I dont think he "blast(ed)" Eddie he actualy paid respect. As far as Jake speaking on Franks criminal record Frank himself has confirmed most of those things himself on this forum.

[Matt "Gumby" Glach]

Well he posted it here because Frank was mentioning him by name the other day in a discussion. Who is more family here by the way, a legit Brown belt, or a guy who seems to have lied about grappling credentials? If Frank didnt lie, and is indeed a purple under Charuto, it is most certainly way, way out of line. If he did............well

I still like to give a guy the benefit of the doubt, at least until we hear his side of the story. And you seem to be missing the point of family. An outsider, no matter what his belt color, is not family. He openly "hates" 10th planet. Frank has never lied to me, and he's been nothing but nice to me, and he has participated in countless discussions on this forum, so regardless of the allegations, I do consider Frank to be a part of this family, and I do not consider Mr. Whitfield to be a part of it. Whether Frank will continue to be a part of this family in the future remains to be seen, that will ultimately be up to Eddie. Let me be clear that I'm not defending Frank's alleged actions at all, I'm just saying give the guy a chance.

[Matt "Gumby" Glach]

Eddie oppened this for discussion in a public forum.

That's a good point.

[AllanSwann]

i dont think it was really all that rude. he was just telling us his story. and i belive it. there are a bunch of ppl out there that bullshit about were they train and what belt they are. i think a month or 2 ago we had the same prob. a guy saying he was a brown belt. when it turns out he got it from some fake or somethin like that. and than that dude that had the 10th planet logo on his site from australia. i think the dude is a fake. and u can tell he has a bad temper just by the stuff he was saying in his posts

[stlnl]

Understandable. So, do you think Charuto has lied about Frank, that he gave him a purple belt and now has decided to lie and say he did not? That one thing, to me, in this "MMA age" where fraudulent instructors seem to pop up at every corner, galls me more than any aggressive arguments on the forum or personal issues he had with Jake Whitfield.

For the most part I take back and forth on the forums as just interaction and nothing too personal. But keep in mind, this is a fellow who is seeking 10PJJ affiliation, and seems to have said he was a rank he is not. That, to me, needs looking into.

[Matt "Gumby" Glach]

Understandable. So, do you think Charuto has lied about Frank, that he gave him a purple belt and now has decided to lie and say he did not? That one thing, to me, in this "MMA age" where fraudulent instructors seem to pop up at every corner, galls me more than any aggressive arguments on the forum or personal issues he had with Jake Whitfield.

For the most part I take back and forth on the forums as just interaction and nothing too personal. But keep in mind, this is a fellow who is seeking 10PJJ affiliation, and seems to have said he was a rank he is not. That, to me, needs looking into.

Well to be perfectly honest, I think what Mr. Whitfield said was probably pretty accurate, and I'm sure the people he cited can most likely confirm it all. It's unfortunate, and it saddens me that the 10th planet reputation might lose a slight bit of clout, but those actions certainly are not representative of the rest of us. Personally I could care less about rank and I'd be perfectly happy as a white belt the rest of my life if not for the fact that I'd be extremely disappointed with myself for failing to progress. And of course I think it's wrong to represent a rank that you haven't earned but I do understand the male psyche and sometimes people make mistakes and say things they wish they could take back. Granted it seems to have happened more than once with Frank, but still, I get it. I'd never lie about belt color just because I think it's disrespectful to the system and those who are dedicated to its rules and recognitions. But don't we all deserve second chances?

[Jason_C]

I attended Neale's RG seminar that Frank had a major part in organizing. I was extremely impressed with everything about it. Frank was awesome, Neale was awesome, even Frank's girl Michelle was awesome. Frank is really passionate about the 10P system and like every last one of us, admires Master Eddie Bravo. I can't comment about anything negative. I'm also pretty shocked to read about some of the claims made against him. If they are true or not I believe in forgive and forget. Life's too short to be bickering. If Frank apologizes to the appropriate parties which it appears he already has, then let it be.

The person who we should be asking is Neale. I'm just a paying member of this website, have only attended a handful of classes with John Roderick, and went to the RG seminar with Neale. He is the journeyman who has probably spent the most time with him and is a journeyman who has put his licks in with 10PJJ.