BRET GORDON AND STEVEN HATFIELD: KONTEI KODOKAN JUDO LIES AND DECEPTION

In 2020 Bret Gordon and Steven Hatfield popped up with claims of being 5th and 7th degree black belts in judo. Steven Hatfield claimed to be a 7th dan and Gordon a 5th dan in judo who were licensed and endorsed by the Kodokan in Japan. Bret had posted a copy of his instructor’s Kodokan Member card online as proof of their so-called lincense to teach and endorsement and credentials for all to see. On thier websites a lineage to the Kodokan in Japan passed through a Jack Stern. They have advertised and made many a claim that they teach "real judo the way Kano intended". 

First problem was; Bret Gordon who was not even 30 years old and by any legitimate Judo school and judo organization standards had not even been alive long enough to have earned a 5th degree black belt rank in judo. As for his instructor, Steven Hatfield was also far too young for the rank he claimed. To put this in further perspective Mike Swain, a former Olympic judo silver medalist is 62 years old and is a 6th dan in judo presently. I myself am almost 60 and will not see 6th dan until I am well into my mid to late 60’s. Bret Gordon in his mid to late 20’s and Hatfield in his mid to late 30’s was claiming a 5th dan and a 7th dan. 

The Kodokan membership card (pictured left) that was offered as proof of Hatifled's license or endorsement is only a gym membership card. People do purchase them as souvenirs. The card on its own isn’t representative of anything else more than a gym card. ANYONE can purchase a life time Kodokan member card, at the Kodokan whether you actually train there or not. They are available to tourists. There is even a vending machine you can purchase the card from. The cards can even be purchased online and over the phone with the Kodokan. These cards bare no rank on them, they are simply member cards much like a gym card. Neither are these cards offered or given as a license or endorsement of any kind. referring to them as anything more than a member card is a MISREPRSENTATION of the use of the card. 

Gordon and Hatfield both for whatever reasons later recanted their claims of Judo 5th and 7th degree black belts. After stating that both the 5th and 7th dans were typos made by their website designer, they then claimed lower judo ranks, a 2nd dan for Gordon and a 4th for Hatfield. Hatfield and Gordon acquired these ranks thru the USA TKJ. Gordon then claimed that these ranks were recognized by the Kodokan through USA Traditional Kodokan Judo (USTKJ). Bruce Bethers, the President of the USA TKJ has even verified publicly that the USA TKJ is not affiliated with the Kodokan (pictured below). So why the need for such a false claim? 

On Hatfield's and Gordon's Kontei Judo website its stated that their judo “lineage” is also comes from Jack Stern. On the site there is a picture of a person sitting next to Mifune at the Kodokan and the person claimed to be Stern is circled (picture below). Stern supposedly trained at the kodokan with Mifune during his military days. However, Stern never served in the military over seas. See related article on Jack Stern's false military and martial arts claims and stolen valor court conviction here; https://theninjerkiller.blogspot.com/2023/09/kodokan-fraud-in-florida-pt-2-lineage.html

There are also two emails from the Kodokan that state that there is no record of Stern training at the Kodokan. One is in the screen cap below. If you read the screen cap below you will see the Kodokan response on the left. The kodokan said there was no record of Stern training at the Kodokan. The Kodokan simply stated this is a picture of Mifune with Foreign students. Yet this is posted on konteijudo.com (below) as evidence of proof of their kodokan lineage. 

By all accounts the person circled in the picture (above in yellow and below left in red) appears to be Sensei Hal Sharpe. The Kodokan has verified that there is a record of Hal Sharp training at the Kodokan and with Mifune in the early 1950s (two pictures below right are of Sensei Sharp circa 1954 for comparison). Readers can look up Hal Sharp and find pictures to judge for themselves.

The kodokan does verify that there is NO record of Jack Stern ever training at the Kodokan in their data base. A Kodokan member card is also shown on the Kontei Judo web site that was allegedly Jack Stern’s Kodokan card from 1960. 

I sent a request to the Kodokan to verify the card and if Mr. Stern did indeed ever train at the Kodokan. Again the Kodokan, even presented with the card and card number could not verify the card was even authentic and stated they have no record of Stern training at the Kodokan in their data base. They also noted that they searched by the card itself, then by his name and his date of birth and found no record of Mr. Stern.

Furthermore, Mr. Stern was also given several lifetime bans starting in 1997 or 98 and then another ban was issued in the 2000s from all three National Governing Bodies for submitting “unverifiable” documents for rank recognition and promotion. The NGBs here in the states banned Mr. Stern for a lifetime, NGB bans have serious long reaching ramifications. Stern’s NGB ban would literally extend to his students and black belts. In other words none of their judo ranks earned through Stern would be recognized. To avoid this, they would have to be reevaluated and retested by a certified rank examiner from an NGB (USJA, USJF, USA Judo). 

The Kodokan has also verified that Bret’s instructor Hatfield is not a licensed or endorsed instructor nor has any rank that is recognized by the Kodokan as they originally implied.  There is no known affiliation with the Kodokan that Gordon has claimed through Hatfield, the USA TKJ organization, or even Stern.

The Kodokan in japan verifies that Hatfield registered/purchased a Kodokan Membership card. No rank of Hatfield’s was recognized. There is no rank on the card. Buying a member card with the Kodokan is NOT the same as registering rank to be recognized by the Kodokan. That is another application process. A process that would require any foreign judoka to go through a Kodokan recognized National Governing body of their country. In the case of Gordon and Hatfield it would be USJA, USA Judo and or the USJF. 

Nor is the card proof that Gordon's or Hatfield's schools or organizations they create and their members are affiliated with the Kodokan.

Despite their efforts including using the term Kontei Kodokan Judo to imply a connection directly to the Kodokan. The implications asserted are very misrepresentative, an “exaggeration” of the actuality of the circumstance.

According to the their websites Hatfield started training in judo in 2000. By recognized Kodokan standards it takes 42 years MINIMUM to achieve 5th dan with little tournament experience. If there is no verifiable competition record or experience it will take longer to attain this rank. Hatfield is currently claiming a 4th dan with the USA TKJ. By Kodokan standards it would take 31 years minimum, longer since Hatfield has no verifiable tournament experience. Gordon currently claims a 3rd dan in Judo however like his instructor Hatfield the number of years he says he has been doing judo are far less than what is required. Circumventing Kodokan standards is not what Kano intended especially when you haven't actually trained in Kodokan Judo. 

Claims regarding the Kodokan in Japan can be checked out. In the case of Gordon's and Hatfield's kodokan judo claims I did that very thing. On August 8^th 2023,  I made an inquiry directly to the Kodokan in Japan regarding both Bret Gordon and his instructor Steven Hatfield. In less than 9 hours I got a short, very stern and very direct response.

The Kodokan in Japan made it very clear in their email response (pictured above) that neither Gordon or Hatfield hold any instructor status or rank with the Kodokan! They are not Kodokan black belts. They are not Kodokan instructors. They are not authorized and CANNOT promote under the authority of the Kodokan. They CANNOT get their students ranks recognized by the Kodokan! Gordon and Hatfield have no authority given to them by the kodokan! 

It is incumbent upon both Hatfield and Gordon to prove any actual Kodokan judo training. They haven't provided ANY. The Kodokan themselves have verified that neither one of them hold any rank through or that is even recognized by the kodokan...no instructor status, no endorsement or license. 

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