USA vs. Jack “Papasan” Stern: Stern’s Yudo, Judo, Hapkido and Kojido Fraud: PT 2

 

Jackie Albert Stern, also known as "Papasan," was a martial arts instructor whose fraudulent activities were exposed in the mid-1990s. He falsely claimed to have extensive military service and martial arts expertise, including being a Medal of Honor recipient and a black belt in Judo. In reality, Stern had served in the U.S. Army but never saw combat or advanced beyond the rank of private. He purchased a Medal of Honor and wore it publicly, leading to his arrest.

In December 1996, Stern pleaded guilty to wearing a Congressional Medal of Honor without authorization and altering his military discharge papers to obtain military and civilian benefits he wasn't entitled to. He was sentenced to one year of probation, ordered to write apology letters to all living Medal of Honor recipients, and required to volunteer at a Veterans Administration hospital for 250 hours.

Additionally, Stern's martial arts credentials were fraudulent. He claimed to have trained under renowned martial artists and to have founded the Korean Yudo & Hapkido Association. However, investigations revealed that his martial arts background was fabricated, and he had been selling unearned and fake ranks to students.

To get the complete picture you certainly have to read part one of USA vs Stern here - https://theninjerkiller.blogspot.com/2025/02/usa-vs-jack-papasan-stern-sterns-yudo.html. 

Jack Stern's entire history was dug up by the Broward County Sheriff's Dept and the FBI and then it was all  laid out in court. There are a lot more details that showcase the extent that Stern's lies went to. There were indeed some very surprising things too much to cover in a article or two. Stern was so bold with his lies he told law enforcement of his exploits in war and that he was a karate champion. The lies that Stern personally told deputies, on his ride alongs with them, are what lead to his arrest and conviction.

According to court records and police reports and even news paper articles, The truth about Jackie Stern all starts with his Medal of Honor claims he used the claims to set himself up as a judo and hapkido instructor upon moving to Florida. Stern testified that he had bought the Medal of Honor at a New Jersey military memorabilia show in 1986 for $500. Stern said that for two years, he hid the medal of Honor in a box. Then in 1988, he told his family that he had won the Medal of Honor in the Korean War. 

Stern's lies grew bigger from there.

In 1989, Stern moved to the Bonaventure subdivision in Fort Lauderdale, where he told his new neighbors he had been a prisoner of war. Stern started going to the sheriff's substation and do ride alongs patrolling neighborhoods in its Citizen Observer Patrol program. During his "ride alongs" Stern started telling deputies he was a paratrooper with the 187th Airborne and expanded his credentials to include retired New York City police detective, martial arts and judo claims and of all things a Karate champion. 

Stern's many claims to the various deputies he rode with included being a Army captain, that had "won" the Medal of Honor, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He claimed he was wounded in enemy action in October 1950 in Suchon, Korea. Stern claimed he was a POW and that he wore the ears of the enemy around his neck. 

Stern's "war stories" and claims got so outlandish and brazen that the Sherriff's Dept. started looking into Stern. 

Det. SGT. Ciacciarelli's investigation revealed that a stolen medal of honor had been taken from the New York area about the time Stern showed up. Ciacciarelli concluded that Stern hadn't stolen the medal, but he contacted the FBI about Stern's many military claims. The ensuing investigation revealed that Stern altered his military service record on his official Defense Department form (DD214).

 According to Stern’s real military record, Stern had served in the Army but he never left the country, was never overseas, never stepped foot in Korea, never saw combat, and was never promoted above the rank of private. 

On May 31, 1996 Ciacciarelli setting up a sting operation to arrest Stern, persuaded Stern to bring the medal into the station on the pretense of being photographed with Ciacciarelli's son and other deputies. An FBI agent sat waiting in an adjoining room. Pictures were taken of Stern proudly displaying the medal before he was informed he was under arrest. Then Stern was shown a copy of his actual DD214. 

Immediately upon seeing the military document Stern began CRYING AND SOBBING UNCONTROLLABLY. Without being asked a single question Stern admitted to Sgt. Circciarelli and the FBI that he lied about his entire background. Stern admitted that he altered and falsified his dd214 and other military documents to collect benefits that he wasn't entitled to. 

Stern used this medal of honor claim to get his foot into a karate school to teach Judo and Hapkido. He falsified rank certificates and martial arts association cards. Stern had told the school owner that he had half a century of background in judo with the great judo masters of Japan. He had ripped those students off by selling worthless judo rank and fake rank certificates to the karate students based on their karate rank.

Stern pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale to wearing a Congressional Medal of Honor without authorization and altering his military discharge papers to obtain military and civilian benefits that he wasn't entitled to. Newspaper articles and people present at the sentencing say that Stern apologized to everyone military, police and to the martial artists he had defrauded.

Stern was ordered to publish a public letter of apology in a quarter-page newspaper advertisement featured in the Sun-Sentinel newspaper on Memorial Day in 1997. Additionally, Stern was required to write personal apology letters to all 174 living Medal of Honor recipients. Lastly, Stern was ordered to volunteer at a Veterans Administration hospital for 250 hours. Stern was also to submit himself for psychiatric and mental health treatment. 

Final Thoughts

When it comes to Jack Albert Papasan Stern, he should be a case study of martial arts and criminal fraud.  There are a mountain of lies that have been built over the years even after his death.  So many that in fact that there is no way to address them all in just a couple of articles.  Stern was so brazen with his lies, he told them directly to the Broward county Sheriff's deputies who he would ride around with in the Sheriff's department's citizen observer patrol program.

There is no understanding why a sociopathic pathological liar lies. They just do. It's a default mechanism. They cant even tell you the truth about when or where they had lunch. Pathological liars may be driven by a need for attention, power, or to maintain a fabricated image and to appear more successful than they really are. 

Court records show Stern only had about six letters written to the judge, on his behalf, asking for leniency. Two of those letters were from his wife and son. It is fair to mention that all six of these letters to the judge blamed Stern's behavior, actions and fraud on a "massive and debilitating stroke", which according to his son left him 100 percent disabled. In the nineties Stern, was according to reports, walking with a cane.  

I don't buy that the stroke affected Stern's judgement. Stern had admitted to Sgt. Ciacciarell that he didn't want anyone to think he was a loser. 

This "need" to deceive others is typically for some personal benefit and in cases even personal financial gain. When a pathological liar engages in fraud, their lies are often intricately woven into their schemes to deceive others even taking advantage of family and friends. They may say you're a friend or refer to those around him as family but this is not thevtruth ....you are a just someone to potentially be taken advantage of.  What is understood is that lying is just a tool for them....a means to an end.  

Looking at the pictures that are supposedly of Stern over the years there isn't a single picture of him doing any techniques. What we see are pictures that are supposedly him sitting next to somebody...like Mas Oyama who was in street clothes and a hawaiian shirt. Not in a gi or dobok. Not a single picture was taken with Oyama in a dojo doing a single technique or being an uke for such a legendary karateka that movies have been made about? Well getting picture with the actor who plays Daredevil at comic con doesn't mean your in the movie with him....it just means you're a fan. 

What's been placed on the internet by Stern and those who perpetuate his martial facade is pure Walter Mitty fantasy and out right lies. Those who have perpetuated the lies of Jackie Albert "Papasan" Stern have relied for several years on a single thing; that the court records that shed light on the fraudulent martial arts claims that Stern perpetuated in the Florida Judo and Korean martial art community could not be found. 

Statement from a police trainer and firearms instructor and judoka submitted to the judge and admitted to the court. 

Stern bragged about being a war hero, a medal of honor, silver star and bronze star recipient, a Green Beret, Airborne, Special forces bad ass who had “half a century of judo background training with the great masters of Japan, a deadly hapkido master from Korea and Karate champion. The Bull shit was piled high!

When placed under arrest for his fraud, Stern started crying and sobbing hysterically. Wailing for his wife to come and take him home so loud that his wails could be heard through the entire building of the Broward County Sherriff's dept.....well Boo Hoo, Jackie.

According to testimony and accounts from law enforcement personnel Stern found himself looking at some pissed off local deputies and detectives. Not just because Stern had claimed to be retired fellow law enforcement detective but because a lot of Broward County Sheriff's Department officers were also practicing judoka. 

Damn karma can be a mother fucker.  

Judo, Hapkido and Hakko ryu are the arts stated to have been the background of Stern per the former KONTEI JUDO WEBSITE and Stern's own KYHA WEBSITE. 

What was proven in court and court dockets, was that Stern was a martial arts fraud. Stern admitted this to police and in court while crying and sobbing. Ernie Lopez, who wrote for the USA TAEKWONDO MAGAZINE sat in the court as Stern wept and sobbed apologizing to the military. law enfocement and the martial artists that he had defrauded. 

In my search for any information on the "storied" martial arts history of Jack papasan Stern (as according to Bret Gordon and the Kontei Judo website), there is no record of Stern ever training in Judo, Hapkido or Hakko Ryu Jujutsu. 

I checked with resources and records in the USA and abroad concerning Stern’s many membership cards in Judo, Hapkido and Hakko ryu that were displayed on the lineage page of the Kontei Judo website. 

There were a total of twelve member cards from various martial arts organzations and a xeroxed rank certifcate, that were supposedly Stern's pictured on the Kontei Judo webite.....NOT A SINGLE ONE CHECKED OUT. 

An email was sent to the Kodokan along with a screen cap of the stern's supposed Kodokan card Gordon claimed was Stern's. The Kodokan from Japan responded with that there was no record of a Jack Stern ever training at the kodokan. No data could be found by name or birth date or card ID number in thier records.

There are no records of Stern training at the Kodokan or being involved with the kodokan, especially training with Mr. Mifune despite the claims of the Kontei website and related social media pages which housed these claims. 

The photo attributed as Stern, circled in red and  sitting next to Mifune is actually Sensei Hal Sharpe. This has been verified. The picture below on left taken in 1954, is of Hal Sharpe sitting next to Mifune. Sharpe had won the Japan Foreigner Judo Champion tournament that was conducted by Mifune. 

1st picture: In 1954, Hal Sharpe (circled) won the title as “Japan Foreigner Judo Champion”. The tournament was conducted by Kyuzo Mifune (3rd from left), 10th Dan.  Center picture: Chu Kawakami, 9th Dan, and his son Rei Kawakami, 4th Dan, and Hal Sharp (circled), 3rd Dan and Captain of Kawakami’s dojo team. 3rd picture: Shinzo Takagaki and Hal Sharpe (circled).

 Harold "Hal" Sharp was a well known American judoka and author of books on judo. Sharp was deployed with the army in 1945 to Japan and learned about martial arts. He had documented on film the many years he was stationed and lived in Japan doing judo. Sharp earned his first black belt from the Kodokan. In Japan, he was assigned as being a body guard of Emperor Hirohito. The fraudulent claims regarding Stern were taken from Hal Sharpe's Judo history and experiences. Stern had even claimed to have been a body guard for a prince.

Additionally, the Korean Judo Federation found no records of Stern. I attempted to verify the claims of Stern training in Hapkido through the World Hapkido Federation. Not surprisingly, there are no records of Stern being involved in the art.

At some point after Stern's conviction a claim that Stern trained with Naraki Hara in hakko ryu was presented. Then years later after Stern's death the claim expanded from just training in Hakko ryu to training Goshindo Kempo under Hara as well. I reached out to various people involved with Hakko ryu and Goshindo through Naraki Hara. It comes as no surprise that there are no records of Stern training Naraki Hara. 

In 1964 Naraki Hara was an official representative of Hakko-ryu sent to the USA. This group as I was told is only in its second generation. To my understanding any claims of Stern training with them means that Stern would have had to be a member and active with Naraki Hara. https://web.archive.org/web/20221207065805/http:/www.join-usama.com/blog/in-loving-memory-of-papasan-jack-stern

I have also spoken to numerous representatives of Hakko Ryu Jujutsu and there are no records of Stern, this includes an alleged photograph of Stern with Naraki Hara-sensei.  The xeroxed photo (pictured above) that is claimed to be Stern sitting next Naraki Hara......is in fact not Jack Stern. I want to be clear here everyone in the photo belonged to the same school. Stern never trained at that school. Stern was never a member or student of any of their seniors.

There is zero evidence to show that Stern ever trained in any of the arts mentioned on the Kontei site. The evidence that has been presented such as Stern's member cards and a Xeroxed USJA rank certificate has been found to have been created, fabricated, or taken from other sources. Stern was in fact banned from Judo organizations for submitting fake documentation as his proof of rank. 

This fabricated documentation has since been presented as Mr. Stern’s martial arts background, a fictional past which grew larger AFTER Stern passed away in 2012. More lies were built upon Stern’s lies after he died. 

 Jack Stern FABRICATED many stories, and documentation along with it. This included martial arts documents, member cards and rank certificates. There are no records of Stern doing anything in any regards to the martial arts aside from showing up at random Judo events and telling people wild stories of his son being a gold medalist judoka and introducing himself as a tenth dan in judo. 

All of the martial arts claims regarding Jack Stern rested on one thing...... his supposed overseas service in the military. Stern never served overseas.

Stern's fake judo and martial arts claims garnered him permanent bans from USA Judo, United States Judo Association and The United States Judo Federation, all three of the National Governing Bodies for Judo in the United States.  

https://www.usajudo.com/disciplinary-actions

https://www.usjf.com/membership-expelled-and-suspended-list/ 

https://www.usja.net/suspended

Lastly, I will add that his alleged art  of “Kojido” or “Kojidojutsu” or Stern’s Yudo is either a figment of Stern’s creative lies or someone else fabricated it after Stern passed away and Stern was posthumously given credit for having founded it. Either way the martial art training Stern would have had to have undertaken in order to create the art is just not there. 

 Rank from Jack Stern in anything is worthless, its fraud, its fake.  Any form of perpetuation of Sterns fake Martial arts claims..... is intended brazen and purposeful fraud. 

Other related information:

https://web.archive.org/web/19980111163908/http://www.taekwondoreporter.com/page5.htm#Jack%20Stern%20-%20The%20Great%20Pretender

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/5-offenders-who-received-creative-punishments-for-stolen-valor/

https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1996/12/05/lies-catch-up-with-hero/

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/jackie-stern-man-bought-wore-medal-honor-didnt-earn.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20101114080014/http://articles.cnn.com/1996-12-04/us/9612_04_medal.without.honor_1_unearned-medal-gulf-war-veterans-cnn-interactive?_s=PM:US

BRET GORDON'S SLANDER AND DEFAMATION SENTENCE BY SENTENCE PT. 1

Let this be perfectly clear, I am someone Bret Gordon willfully and intentionally lied about. I am someone who Gordon purposely tried to defame and slander. My instructors are people he tried to defame and slander. 

With all of the lies about jack Stern exposed in my last article, I intend in the next series of articles to point out every where Gordon intentionally and purposely lied about my background. I am going to break his lies down sentence by sentence and word for word. 

Not one word Gordon has ever written about me was remotely correct or the truth at anytime. 

I offered Gordon the opportunity to get on the mats and scrimmage. He pussed out. I offered to promote him if he could show me any skill at all in a scrimmage against me. He pussed out. I offered to scrimmage with him allowing him to use any of his styles against me and I would stick to judo rules. He pussed out. I offered to scrimmage with him and his instructor at the same time.....he pussed out. I offered time and time again. I only asked that Gordon scrimmage prove his metal....if he actually had any, but he pussed out. Anyone seeing a pattern here? He pussies out....a lot. 

I would help anyone even his former students if they wanted it. It's called having honor and integrity. Something Gordon neither understands or has. He rests on lying and defaming others for his validation. His own background is worthless, his ranks are worthless. If you cant back your rank up on the mats they are worthless. Someone who gets winded walking from the couch to the fridge certainly isn't someone to be critiquing hard training legitimate martial artists who can absolutely walk the walk.  

Yet Gordon had the gall to lie about, insult, slander, defame and disparage those with proven histories, like every single one of  my instructors. 

https://web.archive.org/web/20201204194651/http://www.join-usama.com/blog/pot-meet-kettle

Gordon’s cowardly ass lies in one of the paragraphs in the article are highlighted below in yellow.

“In his bio on the Winter Haven Judo website, which is his school by the way, Barron specifically leaves out who his Judo instructors were. Doing some more research, the certificates below were posted on one of his numerous blog sites and I can't help but notice a few interesting traits. The most glaring is that his 2nd Dan certificate on the right is in Korean (and both feature the Korean eum-yang in the logo). Does that mean it's really Yudo and he has no right to claim Judo? Or can we admit they're the same thing... Moving on, both certificates are signed by "Terrell R. Tucker" and list "Hoong Woo Ro" as the founder of the Winter Haven Judo Club, which like I said is Barron's own school. If we are to believe everything we find (or can't find) on Google, neither of these two gentlemen ever existed.”

 I want to point out here that Gordon lied in every single sentence of the paragraph above…..

“In his bio on the Winter Haven Judo website, which is his school by the way, Barron specifically leaves out who his Judo instructors were.”

In the first sentence he claims I had left out who my instructors were….this is a lie. To the contrary there were posts that had been up for years before 2020 showing pictures of my instructor, my rank certificates and talking about my formal training in judo. The information was and is found easily online by simply searching Winter Haven Judo club. http://winterhavenjudoclub.blogspot.com/2008/01/newspaper-article-on-judo-club.html  https://winterhavenjudoclub.blogspot.com/2015/05/judo-tougher-than-rest.html

Sensei Tucker and I at the Winter Haven Judo Club. Bottom row: I (Brown belt - Ikkyu) am doing double lapel grip Tai otoshi (1995)

Gordon wrote that my original judo instructor, Terry Tucker, was a fictitious non existent person and that I owned the Winter Haven Judo club and simply promoted myself using forged signatures of a nonexistent person(s). 

“Doing some more research, the certificates below were posted on one of his numerous blog sites and I can't help but notice a few interesting traits. The most glaring is that his 2nd Dan certificate on the right is in Korean (and both feature the Korean eum-yang in the logo).”

Simple answer: Sensei Hoong (Jack) Ro the man Gordon lied about and claimed was fake was Korean. Sensei Ro was Sensei Tucker’s instructor hence why Sensei Tucker would use Korean on his certs. Sensei Ro is also most importantly the one who directed and administered my shodan test. 

Sesnei Tucker charged no money for his tests. I was tested and earned my ranks. I also want to point out that Sensei  Terrell R. Tucker had hand drawn the border on my nidan certificate awarded in 2008 (pictured above). He spent hours on it over a two week period. 

Gordon disparaged and tried to shit on this certificate claiming it was fake. 

Sensei Tucker also purchased my black belt embroidered with my name and rank and a new competition style double weave Gi, that was the top of the line at that time, out of his pocket. This Gi alone was around 400 bucks. I was his first black belt and his only Nidan. 

Gordon being the lying shit fuck he is tried to shit on it. 

Does that mean it's really Yudo and he has no right to claim Judo?

It is pronounced Judo in Korean not Yudo. To actually have learned yudo/judo means one would have been taught it by someone who actually knew it. Gordon built a bed of lies on none other than the likes of Jack Stern, a pathological liar and known judo and martial arts fraud. Who cried like a bitch when he got caught by the police. The fact that he was a fraud was also proven in court no less where he continued to wail and sob on the stand like a..... bitch. Obviously Gordon's idol and picture of a manly man. 

‘both certificates are signed by "Terrell R. Tucker" and list "Hoong Woo Ro" as the founder of the Winter Haven Judo Club, which like I said is Barron's own school. If we are to believe everything we find (or can't find) on Google, neither of these two gentlemen ever existed.”

Now how hard was it to find Terrell R. Tucker online actually? One only had to google his name and it comes up. Apparently that was a task too hard for someone with less than 6^th grade level reading comprehension skills.

Or….. Gordon is just a fucking LIAR!

I have already mentioned the winter haven judo website where the history of the judo program was displayed. The Winter Haven Judo club was started in 1972 by Sensei Ro through the city recreational dept. 

News paper article from mid 90s 

I have to ask why would Gordon claim that Sensei Ro was a nonexistent person? Because Sensei Ro was Korean and Koreans like the Japanese are power houses in judo. Sensei Ro was not only present at my shodan test, he administered my test. I received a Shodan certificate individually from him and and another from Sensei Tucker. 

Gordon only wishes he had the back ground that I have. 

I have been told by former students of Gordon that Gordon at some point took to telling people that his article about me was correct when he wrote it...... yet another lie Gordon tells people about me and my background. 

Gordon is a lying piece of shit, the entire paragraph, every sentence that Gordon wrote was a lie. Not one word of it was ever correct at anytime. Gordon knew I was legit, he knew Terry Tucker and Sensei Ro were indeed real people. Gordon wrote the article anyway, lying at every turn that he possibly could. 

USA vs. Jack “Papasan” Stern: Stern’s Yudo, Judo, Hapkido and Kojido Fraud

 

Jack Stern's Judo and martial arts fraud was exposed due to his Stolen Valor claims in a court of Law.  Presently a few people push the rhetoric that Stern only lied about his military claims and not his martial arts background....nothing could be further from the truth, such rhetoric and diatribe are total lies.  

The following article focuses more on the fake Martial arts claims exposed during the case against Stern than his Stolen Valor claims. I have read over the thousands of court documents regarding Jackie Stern, Jack Albert Stern or Papasan Stern. Letters to the judge from family and friends of Sterns, Sterns own letters statements admitted into evidence and court testimony. 

I have zero intention of sugar coating Stern's fraudulent Judo and martial arts claims and the reason he did it. The fraud Stern was committing on local Judoka, other martial artists and even on his own students was exposed in court. 

Stern didn't have a dojo/school of his own. He taught out a already established Karate school. A school he had gotten into by telling the owner/instructor that he was a Medal of Honor recipient who had learned judo in Japan. Stern then sold these students worthless Judo/Yudo ranks based on the rank the karate students already had. 

When caught in lies Stern would tell another lie or become insulted and threatening when people didn't buy his stories. Stern's ever changing stories are what landed him in jail and ultimately in court and convicted. 

In May of 1996 Jack Albert Stern was called by the Broward county Sheriffs Office to speak to its employees. Being asked to speak at engagements wasn’t something new for Jack Stern as he had spent the better part of ten years telling people he was a POW, medal of Honor in the war and had trained with the judo masters in Japan. 

Stern claimed that through all the years he spent in the armed forces in the Far East, he spent every minute of his free time studying martial arts with the great judo masters of japan. He had been in Judo over 50 years. His son had won an Olympic gold medal in Judo. He headed a Jiu Jitsu system he had inherited and the respected Korean Yudo Association.

Stern walked into the Sheriffs dept sporting his medal and even posing with other law enforcement officers regaling them of stories or his war time exploits. What Stern did not realize was he was about to be arrested....and that there was an FBI agent waiting in another room.  

An investigator then showed Stern a copy of his actual military record. Upon sight of his record without even reading it or being questioned, Stern immediately broke down and started crying, wailing and sobbing uncontrollably. In between his inconsolable sobbing, without being asked a single question, Stern told investigators that he had lied about his military back ground and his martial arts back ground because he didn't want people to think he was a loser. 

Let that sink in, Stern, had bragged about being a war hero. He had bragged about being stabbed with a bayonet in the gut and remained quiet about it so he called escape captivity as a POW. He had claimed to be a medal of honor recipient. Stern who told people he was a Green Beret, Airborne, Special forces bad ass who had “half a century of judo background training with the great masters of Japan” was sitting in the Broward County Sheriff's Office. When placed under arrest, started crying and sobbing hysterically. Shaking and begging to go home, woefully screaming for his wife, who was not even there, to please come get him.  Sterns uncontrollable sobbing and wailing was so loud that it could be heard from the holding cell he was placed in throughout the entire building.  

Stern pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale to wearing a Congressional Medal of Honor without authorization and altering his military discharge papers to obtain military and civilian benefits that he wasn't entitled to. Newspaper articles and people present at the sentencing say that Stern apologized to everyone military, police and to the martial artists he had defrauded. 

Last year in September I made the statement in a blog article that I would be releasing Court Documents backing up that Stern himself admitted that he lied about his martial arts background. 

It appears that since my article the kontei judo website and Sterns lineage bio page has come down. But according to the now defunct web page;

"Jackie Albert Stern, affectionately known as "Papasan," he started his Martial Arts career in 1947 while in the US Military in Chinhae, Korea, in Korean Yudo under Sensei Tae Ju Chung. After one year, Stern's unit was moved to Northern Luzon in the Philippines where he trained under Berabe Paragas in “Stick Fighting” for 2 years. Then he was transferred again, this time to Okinawa and Japan where he trained under O'Sensei Yamaguchi Gogen in Goju Ryu Karate for 8 months. In Japan, he also trained at the Kodokan under Mifune Kyuzo and earned his black belt in Judo, as well as trained in Kyokushinkai Karate under Grandmaster Mas Oyama at the main Hombu in Tokyo. In 1956, he was discharged from the military and stayed in Japan, living with the Otani Family while continuing his studies in the arts."

https://web.archive.org/web/20221007165210/http://www.konteijudo.com/our-lineage.html

 There are more than a few different stories regarding Sterns martial arts claims that are a matter of record. 

I am going to compare what Stern had to say about his military service to what is claimed by Gordon.

The story that has been floating around since 2016 comes from Gordon's websites, blogs and social media pages are as follows; 

In 2016, four years AFTER Stern passed away this article was on Bret Gordon’s USAMA blog https://web.archive.org/web/20221207065805/http://www.join-usama.com/blog/in-loving-memory-of-papasan-jack-stern

Facebook entry in August 6^th 2020

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10158410086857170&id=97582587169&rdid=UQzJza9RHWd4EL1L#

FaceBook entry December 11^th 2021

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10159469889872170&id=97582587169&rdid=60wwc3elvFMmVJVF#

The following article regarding Stern was posted on the USAMA BLOG on 12/27/21

https://web.archive.org/web/20221207073536/http://www.join-usama.com/blog/introducing-the-seikan-judo-jujutsu-association

and this one in June of 2022

https://web.archive.org/web/20221207061802/http://www.join-usama.com/blog/did-you-know-pt-2-koji-do-jitsu

facebook entry August 13^th 2022

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10159877392967170&id=97582587169&rdid=49jn8D95t5zMI3wY#

 Court record – During his court ordered community service part of which he was doing at a VA clinic. It was reported to Sterns probationary officer that the clinic did not want Stern back. He had become a disrupting influence and it was not in their best interest to have him around. Upon being notified of this, Stern wrote a seething letter to the VA clinic, accusing the VA of discriminating against him for not allowing him to continue his community service hours as a volunteer. He claimed to have gone into the military at the age of 16 and where he served three years. He also stated he had worked in law enforcement for 17 years and demanded a apology. 

Apparently his conviction didn't teach Stern a lesson as he resorted to lying again in his letter to the VA. Stern wrote that he was three years active duty.....during that time in history there were only 2 year active terms during wartime and 4 year active terms during non wartime. Stern was never in Law enforcement either. He worked as Bread truck driver until he lost that job and as a polygraph examiner for a company until his stroke in 85. 

However, if we are to believe Stern's letter to the VA, he writes that his active military service was only three years. He went in at the age of 16. Stern was born Nov. 9th, 1929. He would have been 16 Nov 9th, 1945. Which means at the latest he would have went in the military from 1945 to 1948 or 1946 to 1949.  

The kontei Judo site has Stern being in the military for nine years 1947-1956 and stationed in multiple countries. According to court testimony Stern's children, were born in New York between 1952 and 1956. So Stern obviously wasn't in Japan. During the 50s as was stated on the Kontei Site. 

There is big difference between what Stern wrote in 1997 to the VA than what Gordon posted on his various forms of online media. 

I think it is pertinent to remind everyone Stern made alot of false military claims AND those stories kept changing and that was what brought him to the attention of local law enforcement which led to his exposure as a fraud, his arrest and ultimate conviction. I always found it odd in his letter pertaining to his community service hours to the VA that he didn't mention teaching martial arts to kids? Helping serve his community through Judo. That is after all what Kano intended his judo to be, a service to one's community. Why wasn't he ordered by the Judge to teach at need or at risk children judo?

Court record - A letter admitted as evidence from a certified law enforcement firearms instructor and Police trainer who knew Stern. Stern had told him that he had "half a century years  of judo background studying with the great judo masters of japan" and was a green beret medal of honor winner and retired law enforcement detective. 

In the first paragraph of the second page above Robert brings up the Korean Judo Association. Stern sold judo rank based on a person's karate rank. The cruelest thing he did was defraud his own students selling them worthless rank certificates. Stern had charged everyone for membership in the Korean Yudo Association, supposedly a Korean based issuing authority. He was passing them off as official documents from Korea. 

Stern's so called Korean Yudo Association wasnt Korean and turned out to be an nonexistent organization in the State of Florida. There were no corporation papers, no D.B.A. records, no bank account and had filed no tax returns. The KYA rank certificates Stern was selling were worthless. Stern had these very rank certificates on his own wall in early 1996.  A 6th Dan and 7^th dan issued by the nonexistent Korean Yudo Association, signed by none other that Stern himself, both dated 1995.

The statement made by Mr. Robert, a law enforcement trainer and firearms instructor sheds alot of light on the validity of Sterns Judo claims. Mr. Robert is quite detailed and telling in regards to Jack Stern and how bullying, threatening, abusive and malicious he was. 

Direct letters written to the judge by members of Stern’s family talk extensively about Sterns past, his life and his career. Stern who had not graduated high school, worked many years as a bread truck driver, lost his job. Later Stern went back and got his high school diploma and “started doing good”. Stern would go on to become a polygraph examiner for a company before having a massive and debilitating stroke in 1985. By 1996 Paula Stern and Jack stern were married for 45 years. In her letter to the judge, she stated Stern had lost the normal use of his left arm due to his massive stroke in 1985. 

It was established that by the 90s Stern had moved from NY and was living in Florida claiming to be a medal of Honor winner, a New York city Police detective and a martial arts instructor and Judoka who had “half a century of judo background training with the great masters of Japan.”  

However, there is not a single mention of Stern’s Military or martial arts back ground or involvement in the martial arts in these letters his family (wife and son) submitted to the judge.  I can certainly understand the family not mentioning the military stuff, only two reasons not to mention the military.

1.) He did not ever serve in the military

2.) He served but only in the US.

So why did Stern's wife and son leave out his martial arts back ground as an instructor and not mention his Paja Dojo in their statements and letters to the judge or Stern's attorney? 

Jack Stern did not found or start the Paja Dojo. He was never an instructor there. The Paja dojo still existed but under another name and again not a single record of Jack Stern ever attending the paja dojo for a single lesson much less starting it.  

Stern’s martial arts back ground was a lie, it was fraud, just like Stern’s military service claims. 

According to family members Stern couldn't control himself. He was bitter, abusive, bullying and unruly even toward toward his own family. Fighting with even them. Each family member, in those letters to the judge blamed all the fraud that Stern was committing and his behavior on a “massive and debilitating stroke” that he supposedly suffered in 1985. Jack Stern’s son wrote that Stern was “sick in his mind and in health” and asked the judge to be easy on Stern.  

Sterns friends from New York who had known him for more than 25 years wrote letters to the judge as well. They expressed a confusion as to why Stern felt compelled to "inflate his ego and live a lie" upon moving to Florida. 

Gordon wrote the following on his own website in 2022; 

"Regardless of his other training, Judo remained at the core of what Stern taught and pursued. During his lifetime, he was a member of the Armed Forces Judo Association (which later became the USJA), Judo Black Belt Federation of America (which later became the USJF), New York Judo Yudanshakai, Korean Yudo Association, Shufu Judo Yudanshakai and the Kodokan in Japan." https://web.archive.org/web/20221207073536/http://www.join-usama.com/blog/introducing-the-seikan-judo-jujutsu-association

Jack Stern was never a member of any of the organizations Gordon mentions in linked article above......

According to the USJA, formerly the Armed Forces Judo Association, there was no record of Stern holding any rank or even being a member of The AFJA or The USJA. The only record of Stern is in 2006 when he submitted falsified Korean documents for judo rank. The submission of these fake documents subsequently resulted in Stern being banned for life from the USJA (See email below).

The United States Judo Federation was formerly the Judo Black Belt Federation (JBBF). The JBBF was organized around regional/local Yudanshakai (black belt associations) two of these regional orgs was the Shufu Yudanshakai and the New York Yudnashakai. The purpose of these regional Yudanshakai was/is to promote judo in their own area.  In the 1960s entry into the JBBF was restricted to only Black belt judoka, regional Yudanshakai recognized black belts. 

The regional Yudanshukai and the USJF formerly the JBBF keep extensive records of its black belts, members and former members since the inception of the JBBF. 

The Hudson Yudanshukai formerly the New York Yudanshukai has no records of a Jack Stern ever being a member of earning a single rank. 

The USJF formerly the JBBF also confirmed that no records of rank or even membership can be found on Stern. See emails below.

 

An email was sent to the Kodokan along with a screen cap of the stern's supposed Kodokan card Gordon claimed was Stern's. The Kodokan from Japan responded with that there was no record of a Jack Stern ever training at the kodokan. No data could be found by name or birth date or card ID number in thier records. 

A picture posted on the Kontei website, blog and social media posts is supposedly Jack Stern sitting next to Kyuzo Mifune at the Kodokan, according to Gordon.  The man circled in the picture is actually Sensei Hal Sharpe. This has been verified. The picture below on left was taken in 1954, it is of Hal Sharpe sitting next to Mifune. Sharpe had won the Japan Foreigner Judo Champion tournament that was conducted by Mifune. 

1st picture: In 1954, Hal Sharpe (circled) won the title as “Japan Foreigner Judo Champion”. The tournament was conducted by Kyuzo Mifune (3rd from left), 10th Dan.  Center picture: Chu Kawakami, 9th Dan, and his son Rei Kawakami, 4th Dan, and Hal Sharp (circled), 3rd Dan and Captain of Kawakami’s dojo team. 3rd picture: Shinzo Takagaki and Hal Sharpe (circled).

There are no records of Stern ever training in Japan. I made inquiries directly to Korea as well. Fortunately for me that a spokes person took great interest in the information I was providing them and checked with multiple organizations in Korea. 

There is a NOT single record of Stern actually having trained in Judo AT ALL either over seas or in the United States.    

There is no reason to think that anything submitted on Jack Stern's behalf regarding martial arts claims wouldn't be anything but falsified, made up, fabricated.... in other words FAKE! There is no reason to believe anything issued by Stern or carried on by others in Sterns name be it Stern's Yudo, judo, kojido or whatever is any thing other than fake and totally worthless. 

Upon moving to Florida Jack Stern used a medal of honor he that he had purchased in New York and other false information to claim to be a war hero. He then used that story to set himself up as martial arts instructor putting himself into these positions for personal gain. Stern at the end of his letter to the VA attempted to defend his lies by saying what he did was a "victimless crime". 

Stern didn't suffer from some sort permanent or temporary psychological aberration or a lapse in judgement due to his stroke. Stern was a pathological liar. He purposely lied about his training then defrauded everyone he could, his students and even the friends he made upon moving to Florida. 

The reason why none of Gordon's claims regarding Stern's martial background checked out was because it was ALL totally made up, it was fake. Stern admitted this in his confessions. It was one lie built on top of another. All the Judo and Yudo and martial arts member cards and other supposed documentation were ALL fabricated before and AFTER Stern passed away in 2012. 

Getting a martial arts rank from a fraud like Jack Stern means receiving a martial arts belt or level of proficiency from an instructor who is not legitimately qualified to award ranks. This applies to people who claim ranks from Stern or someone who represents him.  Essentially for the recipients of such rank this means you are being given a "fake" rank.

Links to more information on fraudulent claims pertaining to Jack Stern 

https://theninjerkiller.blogspot.com/2024/02/jack-sterns-judo-fraud-conclusion.html

https://theninjerkiller.blogspot.com/2024/09/jack-stern-great-pretender-literally.html

Lets Set This Record Straight

I want this to be perfectly clear, I am not a "detractor" of Bret Gordon. I am someone Gordon intentionally and purposefully attempted to slander and defame in multiple articles on two different blogs that I know of. Gordon made up one lie after the next about me, my martial arts background and my instructors. 

Article from 2020

https://web.archive.org/web/20201204194651/http://www.join-usama.com/blog/pot-meet-kettle

Article from 2023

https://bretgordon.weebly.com/blog/pot-meet-kettle-barron-shepherd-part-2#/

When Gordon's lies blew up in his face, he told another lie and then another and others after that....for FOUR years. 

Last year fed up with his bullshit, I retained an attorney from a reputable and aggressive law firm. Statements from various people have been collected. According to more than a few of Gordon's former students Gordon went from telling his students that the articles he wrote about me were correct when he wrote them, then claimed it was just a big misunderstanding and then telling students, that he and I have worked things out. 

We most certainly have not worked things out. 

I have no direct communication at ALL with Gordon. Gordon has not reached out EVER to apologize for what he put up online or his other actions regarding my instructors and students. 

Gordon had two choices and only two, to come to a scrimmage and get on the mats with me or apologize publicly on his blogs to my instructors, their families, Randy and his daughter and myself and apologize to the widow and daughter of my dead instructor. Then remove all previous articles written about any of us in all forms of media and text. PERIOD! 

I can back up all my years of training both on and off the mats. I can back up and document every one of my instructors' back ground as well. I don't have a single exaggerated rank or a rank that was gotten through anything other than hard work. Not one fucking thing was ever given to me. I had to fight for every single one. 

It was a 7 year journey to go from white belt to black belt. Not a single class did I miss. This is 2 to 3 times longer than what is required today in all the Judo organizations (USA Judo, USJF USJF). I was a shodan for 12 years, during this time I was teaching judo, competing and going to camps and coaches clinics. Time in grade for a shodan to be promoted to nidan is 3 years but I had 12 years Time in Grade (TIG)...4 times more than what was required by ALL the Judo orgs. 12 years is the amount of time it takes to go from 1st degree to 3rd degree in all judo orgs. Total time from my white belt to my nidan was 19 years.

I was a 2nd degree black belt (nidan) for 8 years. During that 8 years I was still active in judo, teaching and going to coaching clinics and camps. Time in grade for nidan to be promoted to sandan is 4 years. I had 8 years time in grade, twice the amount required by all judo orgs.

My total total time from white to sandan/3rd degree black  - 27 years. It takes approximately 20 years of being active in judo to go from shodan to godan (5th degree BB). I had TWENTY TWO years from 1st degree black belt to the time I got promoted to 3rd degree (Sandan). When I got my 4th I had TWENTY SIX years. This isn't counting the 7 years I put in from white to 1st black.

There were more than enough years for 5th degree BB (godan) and currently for a sixth degree (rokudan), a rank though I probably won't see for a few more years yet. So, If I was faking my ranks like Gordon originally claimed in 2020 don’t you think I would promote myself faster than this? 

Gordon lied in an attempt to cover up and stain all the years I had in training. In a later article Gordon attempted to attack both my 4th and 5th dans failing to mention my literally 40 plus years doing judo. In other words he intentionally omitted the factual and pertinent information to continue to paint me as a fraud. 

This however wasn't enough for the likes of Bret Gordon. 

Gordon made a strange request in another article written much later in 2020 than his first defamatory one, demanding to see my arms. In his article Gordon posted a picture of someone who supposedly was Gerald Smith who had tattoos on his arms. Gordon claimed it was me. I don't have any tats on my arms. I certainly don't need to hide who I am from anyone.  But what the hell Gordon wants to see some manly arms so......

Gordon didn't stop there, he then tried another way to get back at me, Gordon then went after a student of mine and his daughter who lived in another state. Randy got a threatening call one night with someone saying they were going to skin his 13 year old daughter alive in front of him. The next day Gordon drops Randy's daughter's name online. The Ohatchee Police investigated and soon figured out Gordon was involved and that Gordon went after Randy because Gordon hated me and was "too much of a coward to come after me." 

According to the Ohatchee authorities and the Magistrate, Gordon was involved with others and they all pointed their fingers at one another. Feel free to contact: Ohatchee Police Department, 7801 Al-77, Ohatchee, AL 36271  Phone: (256) 892-3156

This wasn't enough for Bret Gordon either. 

Just this past summer (2024), Gordon after years of calling me fake saying my judo back ground was made up and my Judo instructors fake and even non existent or made up people, He sends one of them an email asking to be promoted to a second degree black belt in judo. I believe Gordon did this because he wanted to say that he and I had the same Judo instructor. He wanted to sponge off my reputation as a judoka like a leach. 

A copy of Gordon's email to my instructor asking to be promoted can be found in the following article; https://theninjerkiller.blogspot.com/2025/01/more-proof-of-extent-that-bret-gordon.html

Gordon found out that my instructors don't just give rank away. His email to my instructor is undeniable proof and an admission that Gordon had known that I and my instructors were all legitimate when he wrote his defamatory and slanderous articles. 

I believe that Gordon, rather than publicly apologize for his systematic and purposeful attempts to slander and defame not only myself but my instructors, will attempt to lie his way out of it. I He might claim that those blogs belonged to someone else, and were written by some one else. This will not save him from a lawsuit. 

Gordon's only chance of avoiding a lawsuit is a PUBLIC APOLOGY to me, my instructors, Randy, his daughter and their families.  It is to be presented in an email AND online. All other material regarding me and my instructors and students on his blogs is to be taken down and removed. Nothing less will be accepted. 

And I wont go into what's in court records about Jack Stern's Yudo/judo/kojido/hapkido....yet.....