Author Topic: Count Dante?  (Read 22099 times)

Crafty_Dog

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Count Dante?
« on: November 11, 2005, 06:58:22 AM »
All:
A documentary maker has asked for my assistance:  Has anyone heard of "Count Dante" and if so, what can you tell me?

TIA
CD

milt

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Count Dante?
« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2005, 07:58:00 AM »

Sheep Dog

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Count Dante?
« Reply #2 on: November 11, 2005, 08:05:05 AM »
Count Dante (John Keehan)...whew, where to begin, definately one of the more colorful characters in modern martial arts history.

I would start here:

http://www.e-budo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11300&highlight=count+dante

The man did dojo storming, tried to blow up other schools, and one of his students died at spear point following a dojo fight gone very wrong.
-Never Mistake Patience and Tolerance for Weakness-

Sekiya

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Count Dante?
« Reply #3 on: December 12, 2005, 08:37:10 AM »
I have one of his Dim Mak books form the 1970's. According to thius book, he is the deadliest man to ever walk the face of the earth. He can kill you with opne touch. I'll have to dig it up for more details.
Glen Isobe

Tony Torre

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Re: Count Dante?
« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2008, 08:50:58 AM »
Crafty,

I don't know if this is still helpful but here's a link.

http://johnkeehan.blogspot.com/

Tony Torre
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www.miamiarnisgroup.com

Sekiya

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Re: Count Dante BLog?
« Reply #5 on: October 02, 2008, 11:23:47 AM »
That is one scary blog. I may or may not go back to read more. It's a documentary project?
Glen Isobe

Tom Stillman

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Re: Count Dante?
« Reply #6 on: October 02, 2008, 11:53:50 AM »
 Hey Crafty. I think this site has more useful, detailed info. on the Count.   :?  This guy was off the hook !   Dog Tom                                                                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Dante                  
« Last Edit: October 02, 2008, 12:38:22 PM by Tom Stillman »
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.  dalai lama

G M

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Re: Count Dante?
« Reply #7 on: October 02, 2008, 12:01:26 PM »
Crafty can adopt "Count Dog-te" as his new nom de guerre.  :-D

Crafty_Dog

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Re: Count Dante?
« Reply #8 on: October 02, 2008, 02:40:34 PM »
Actually I am kind of partial to "the Dogfather" :lol:

BTW, there is a colorful story from the 70s about GT Leo Gaje and the Count , , , :wink:

Tom Stillman

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Re: Count Dante?
« Reply #9 on: October 02, 2008, 05:27:58 PM »
Legal stuff involving Dante, copyrights and Floyd Webb                                                                                                                                            http://www.boingboing.net/2007/12/03/documentarian-of-dea.html
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.  dalai lama

Tom Stillman

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Re: Count Dante?
« Reply #10 on: October 02, 2008, 06:30:14 PM »
Maybe this is the infamous fight club that Frank Dux claimed to be part of. I remember him (Dux) years ago, mentioning something about Black Dragon Society.   Also the dance of death was mentioned. Hmmm. :?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-Bqb5pT5N0                                                                                                                             
« Last Edit: October 02, 2008, 06:32:31 PM by Tom Stillman »
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.  dalai lama

G M

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Re: Count Dante?
« Reply #11 on: October 02, 2008, 07:20:28 PM »
Wasn't Dux shown to be an outright fraud ?

Stickgrappler

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Re: Count Dante?
« Reply #12 on: October 02, 2008, 08:13:02 PM »
Actually I am kind of partial to "the Dogfather" :lol:

[begin Guro Crafty voice]

...after all, D-O-G spelled backwards is ...

[/voice]

lol @ me... ages ago Guro Crafty was giving a staff seminar which was hosted by Guro Raw Dog and i was fortunate enough to attend... one portion was going over the ILK angles of attack with the staff and Guro Crafty mentioned IIRC that the angles of attack were like the alphabet... now that we learned D-O-G, we can come up with our own, like D-O-G spelled backwards. don't know why, that just blew me over right then and there lol

Quote
BTW, there is a colorful story from the 70s about GT Leo Gaje and the Count , , , :wink:

i know better than to ask you to enlighten us about GT Gaje and the Count... lol

"A good stickgrappler has good stick skills, good grappling, and good stickgrappling and can keep track of all three simultaneously. This is a good trick and can be quite effective." - Marc "Crafty Dog" Denny

tankerdriver

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Re: Count Dante?
« Reply #13 on: October 02, 2008, 08:15:36 PM »

Jonobos

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Re: Count Dante?
« Reply #14 on: October 02, 2008, 08:21:16 PM »
This thread reads like a bunch of bigfoot stories.

Frank Dux was the guy from that "blood sport"  movie right? He is a real person?

Wild stuff :P


When life gives you lemons make lemonade
When life gives you hemlock, do NOT make hemlockade!

G M

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Re: Count Dante?
« Reply #15 on: October 02, 2008, 08:28:34 PM »
Frank Dux is a real person, the stuff from "Bloodsport" and other things are not true, as I understand. Anyone know more?

Tom Stillman

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Re: Count Dante?
« Reply #16 on: October 02, 2008, 08:37:46 PM »
Ya, I know all about that. I don't claim to be a ninja or any other far out stories. I was just a stoner kid looking for something to do that was more constructive and healthy. Martial arts was an easy choice. It seemed interesting and I met allot of cool people (same with DB's) and got in shape. Dux school just happened to be in the neighborhood thats all. Any claims I make, I make sure I can back up with proof. How other people conduct their lives is not my business nor concern, as it should be! I have to admit, It is a bit of a novelty for me that, I was connected with the school for a number of years (81-83) and many times trained under Dux himself.  I am much more proud of the fact that I had my chances to play in the dog brothers arena. Those will be the richest moments to look back on and say to myself. You were one crazy MO-FO! 8-)
« Last Edit: October 02, 2008, 08:53:41 PM by Tom Stillman »
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.  dalai lama

Crafty_Dog

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Count Dante: Mastermind or Mad Man?
« Reply #17 on: April 20, 2017, 06:20:42 AM »
Count Dante, Mastermind or Mad Man?
by: Tracy Warrener
    The Martial Arts have always been a platform which attracts so many different personalities.  Some regular, everyday people and then there are others who stand out from the masses and are quite different…  Count Dante from Chicago was one such person.

     He was born John Keehan and was raised in a well off family from Chicago. During his high school years, John studied boxing and then later joined the Marines and Army where he learned martial arts.  After studying with various instructors, he earned his black belt and went on to teach others.  Keehan


 

really didn’t like the formal, traditional side of the martial arts and felt that it wasn’t realistic in a street self defence situation. So he created his own style of martial art and called it the Dan-te System. He was known to be a very colorful and an eccentric person and one who liked to brag and talk about his past fighting conquests. One such story he spoke of involved him allegedly participating in death matches in Thailand and China. In 1967, he


legally changed his name to Count Dante.

     Count Dante was key in implementing Full Contact Tournaments in the United States. He was the director of United States Karate Association as well as in 1964 the founder of World Karate Federation. He became well known for taking out ads at the back of Comic books advertising himself as the Deadliest Man Alive and promoted his  instructional book ‘Dance of Death’ and also promoting himself as an expert instructor of the famous ‘Dimak technique’. Aside from his world of martial arts, Dante was a hairdresser, and was known also for his criminal activity and affiliations.


 

      Controversy and his eccentric nature was something that he became famous for.  He was arrested and charged with attempted arson of a rival dojo, his ‘Black Dragon Fighting Society’ made headlines when he and some of his students went to another rival dojo and attacked the students which ended in the death of his friend.


There have been other crimes linked to him as well as his association with known criminals.

     Count Dante was definitely one of the more evocative characters of the Martial Arts world during the 60’s and early ’70’s.  It was almost as Hollywood itself wrote his fascinating story and he was the character developed for a cheesy kung fu movie. He was known as a skilled fighter and a good teacher in what he believed in.  Dante died in 1975 at the age of 36yrs old from a a bleeding ulcer. For someone to be such a major influence on modern martial arts culture, develop a large following of students, and to be a fundamental role in the organizing of such full contact tournaments  it takes someone who is both intelligent and charismatic.  When you couple that with some of his more darker characteristics and affiliations, one may come to the conclusion that he was both a mastermind and a mad man. How ever you choose to view him, one thing is for sure he was truly a very unique individual.