General Category > Unsecret Lives of Walter Mitty
Count Dante: The Deadliest Man Alive!
JimH:
Keegan/Count Dante was born to TWO Irish parents.
The claim to be of Spanish royalty was not REAL it was fabricated to sell his art,to make him and his federation different.
It was not a lie it was for showmanship.
After Mas Oyama claimed to have killed a bull,Dante was going to have a bull killed by bare hands at a competition.
He spread rumor that the law was going to prevent the Bull from being killed,he drove around with the bull in the backl of a truck and claimed he would kill it on the street if prevented from killing it at the competition.
The day of the competition the bull was taken by the ASPCA.
Many claimed Keegan had a deal to hand over the bull.
The show was sold out.
The claim the Deadliest Man alive was given to him after he won a competition in which he defeated several men and was decklared the over all winner.
Teaching criminals ?
He taught anyone interested.
His vetting process was the training and the full contact sparring.
Not many stayed on,those who did were said to be very good.
He trained all races.
He had many Police officers training with him.
I do not know how one would have vetted criminals in the 60's but we cannot do it today for each student,so I am sure many criminals do train.
The list of men:
Wagner
- Spour
- Short
- Larkin
- Peterson
- Webb
- Aisik
They all claimed to be MILITARY,SWAT,Snipers,inventors of arts which they stole from someone else or a group,they all claimed skills and training which they did not have.
As far as I know Keegan served in the US Marine Reserves and was Honorably discharged,he then joined the US Army and Never claimed his art to be anything but what it was.
Was he is Guilty of is being a showman,with a character like a wrestler would create as an alter ego type thing ?
Yes
Does that make him a Walter to be in the company of the men listed above,I think not.
To me ,he was a PT Barnum or an Aaron Banks of his time,a mantrying to draw an interest in a thing most wanted kept secret.
But then again I am a former student of a Follower of Dante's system,and a Man who was given the title of "Deadliest Man " after Keegan's/ Dante's death.
Keegan had skills and he made a mark on the martial arts of the 60's.
Kentbob:
I like this discussion. I think it boils down to, where does showmanship start and outright lying and deception begin?
Kent
JimH:
Keehan did not teach anything other than his Karate mix.
He did not claim what he taught to be anything but his Karate Mix.
He did not lie to people about what he taught.
He did not lie about it's history,or where it came from.
He was an Irish Guy ,born to Irish Parents.
He taught anyone and everyone who wanted to learn from him.
He was good at what he had done.
When he began teaching Black Groups,Black Men and Women,Hispanic groups and Hispanic Men and Woman,he was Black Balled by those he had trained with and competed against.
He believed the way the arts were changing from practical usable street defensive arts to watered down sport was not the right thing for the arts.
He developed a persona to sell his art.
To stand out and attract customers.
He developed Count Dante and he made up a history for the name,not for his art.
He claimed his Family was banished from Spain and that he was claiming his hostorical name.
The truth is the Name Dante was nothing more than the name of a street near his home growing up.
He was the Count of Dante Avenue,lol.
Nothing more.
No record of any legal name change exists ,it was all to create a wrestlers type persona.
The rest is made up BS ,made up to make himself stand out and to allow him his eccentric personality.
Keehan never sold the Karate he taught as Secrets from passed down Spanish arts,he just sold his KARATE.
His unique style and eccentric behavior allowed him to sell a 5 dollar book on basic Karate Movements through a comic book and he is said to have made a million dollars doing so.
(much like Angelo Siciliano who also sold a course in the comic books and made millions,oh yeah Angelo Siciliano was known as Charles Atlas and he sold a course on building muscle through Dynamic Tension)
Charles Atlas,a name to signify strength and power,a Made up name to sell a product.
I have both mens materials and contributed to both being millionaires,lol.
Or
How about Kelly McCann first selling his materials as Jim Grover ?
As long as no false claims to what is sold and taught are made how are they Walter's ?
Now the other guys on the list:
Wagner
- Spour
- Short
- Larkin
- Peterson
- Webb
- Aisik
These are Liar's,who have misrepresented themselves,their past,their training and their arts to make money,most through some use of Stolen Valor.
Keehan used his eccentric style to sell his competitons and his comic book course,it was used to hype an interest over lie to and deceive .
What people saw at his competitions were No Holds Barred full contact fights between anyone who wanted to enter and compete no matter the STYLE.
He was one of the first if not the first to use breaking bricks and wood to draw people to his training and competitions.
He drew over 4000 people to his competition in Chicago in the early to mid 60's.
He was a salesman for his art.
What people learned was Keehan's Karate,as learned from the likes of Trias,Jimmy Lee,(Bruce Lee's friend and student),as learned from Ed Parker ,Mas Tamura,as learned from training and experimenting with countless others in the arts over the years.
The only real question of possible deception for many is Keegan's claim that he worked on a CIA project called "Operation Water Buffalo",which was to help Castro get into power.
Now Keegan had pictures of himself with Fidel Castro,Castro's Brother and Che Guevera,some are still on the web.
Researchers have petitioned the CIA for verification of Keegan's role or non role in this CIA operation but requests have gone unanswered.
Even Martial artist Harry Smith,who has long ties to the US Military units and US Government agencies,and who worked on Operation Water Buffalo,and was friends with Keegan,said he could not say yes or no to Keegan's involvement or,non involvement in Operation Water Buffalo.
To me,Keegan/Count Dante did not try to lie to and or rip off any one with false claims of training and or experiences in martial arts.
He just taught and put on exhibitions of Martial Arts,using flair of an eccentric on the same level as a wrestler using a name or title to stand out.
Just my opinion.
(again I am a bit biased as a former student of a follower of Count Dante's no rules street Self Defense)
Not looking to change peoples views of Count Dante and if he should or should not be under this label of a Walter Mitty,just putting out things people may not know to show what I think is a difference between the Count and the others who DO belong on the Walter List.
Professor:
That's fair Jim. Readers will decide.
Hock:
The Count Dante webpage
http://www.countdante.com/about.htm
"...in recognition of his having defeated the worlds foremost fistic and grappling arts masters in 'no-holds-barred' fighting matches..."
You have to watch out for those fistics. Huh? No I said "FISTICS"... NOT fishsticks.
Hock
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