They are calling him a liar.
Keith Raniere that is.
His former followers are saying the self-proclaimed “smartest man in the world” lied about his being an East Coast Judo Champion when he was 11 or 12.
Frank Report wants to give Mr. Raniere the benefit of the doubt.
And he has at least one defender.
In a recent post, Vanessa Montenegro wrote in defense of Keith Raniere.
He was an East Coast Judo Champion at age eleven defeating Asian masters and Americans.
Keith had records of this and pictures as well. However a landlord threw this out when he was young. But in those days they did not have internet or the same kind of record keeping. But a little research – for there are living judo masters – who remember a 12 year old child coming to the East Coast Judo championship and tossing about grown men to the astonishment of everyone.
There seems to be little doubt that Mr. Raniere recalls his championship victory – although there seems to be confusion about how old he was at the time.
According to Keith Raniere’s online biography he:
‘was an East Coast Judo Champion at age eleven.’
According to an earlier interview he gave the Albany Times Union, published  June 26, 1988 story, “Troy Man has a Lot in His Mind” Mr. Raniere
“was East Coast Judo champion at age 12.”
Mr. Raniere was born, he says, on August 26, 1960. He would have been 11 from August 26, 1971 until August 25, 1972. He would have been 12 on the same dates from 1972-1973.
It should have been newsworthy that an 11 or 12-year old boy defeated adult judo masters to win the East Coast Championship.
Frank Report did find an East Coast Judo Tournament held in Newark, NJ.  The amateur tournament – held every year since the late 1960’s – is not ranked as an “E level” event and, therefore, not likely the championship Mr. Raniere said he won since it does not qualify as serious competition.
The tournament is primarily for children, starting at age four – who compete with other children usually in front of their parents.
However, a clue is offered in the Spanish language Wikipedia page for Mr. Raniere:
Como atleta, superĂł a Michael Jordan al ser campeĂłn de judo, a los 11
This is translated as:
As an athlete, he overcame Michael Jordan as a judo champion at 11.
There does not appear to be any Michael Jordan who was a noted judo expert.
If this is basketball star Michael Jordon, if Mr. Raniere defeated him at age 11, Mr. Jordan would have been eight years old.
Frank Report searched the online records of:
East Coast Judo Tournament, The Michigan Open Judo Championships, Ohio Judo Championships, North Coast Judo Championships, Great Lakes Open Judo Championships, Judo Ontario Events, Polish Judo Championship, The Olympics, the USJF/USJA Junior Nationals, the Pan Am Games and there is a not a single mention of Mr. Raniere.
He is not in the US Judo Hall of Fame.
Black Belt Magazine makes no mention of him in any issue in 1971, 1972 or 1973.
Sports Illustrated refers to an East Coast Invitational Judo Championship in 1972 but makes no mention of Mr. Raniere, who certainly would have newsworthy had he actually been the East Coast Judo Champion at such a tender age.
In fact, Frank Report was unable to find any mention of him in association with judo  anywhere other than in his own bio and his TU interview.
Mr. Raniere told supporters there were pictures and a trophy but that a malicious landlord threw these out.
As Vanessa said there must be
“living judo masters – who remember a 12 year old child coming to the East Coast Judo championship and tossing about grown men to the astonishment of everyone.”
She made a compelling and persuasive argument when she wrote:
“Use common sense. This is not a lie anyone could tell and get away with. No one has ever disproven it in 20 years. Think of that!”
Perhaps Mr. Raniere would not mind answering the following questions and put these rumors of his being a liar to rest:
– Who did you defeat to win the East Coast Judo Championship?
– What weight and age division?
– What was your belt rank? i.e white, yellow, green, etc.
– What was the name of the dojo where you trained?
– What was the name of your sensei (And please don’t say it was Mr. Miyagi)?
– What exactly was, or is, the East Coast Judo Championship?
– Is it sanctioned by any international, or national organization?
– Do you know of anyone who has proof i.e. – a medal, a report, written record etc.?
– Are there any eyewitnesses? Photographs of you with a trophy?
– What year was it [your bio fails to mention the year]?
– How many others won an “East Coast Judo Champion” in the year you won?
– Did you win against a child or an adult?
– If you won against a child,  would that make you a children’s East Coast Judo Champion?
– What was the actual title of your championship?
– Why don’t you revise your bio to state particulars about this judo championship – such as  title, year, the man/child you defeated?
– If it was a children’s prize, should you state your competitor was another child?
At the end of the day, everyone wants to believe Mr. Raniere is honest.
A little help from him – just standard things – that anyone who posts an online bio claiming to be a champion in a competitive sporting event is expected to do – will go a long way in keeping the faithful believing.
As it is now, the “believers” are leaving rather rapidly. By all accounts, they think you are a rather silly little man who lies a lot.
Please show them just how wrong they are…
Frank Parlato 
Janine Morrison 
J.J. O'Hara 
Richard Luthmann 
Marie White 
Paul Serran
Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us!
“Process” raises a good point – but I think it cuts both ways. If Raniere would lie about stupid little things like a mythical judo championship, then the bigger lies are just part of a lifelong pattern of lying about things. But, in the end, I agree that we need to be careful not to give him any easy “victories” in the battles over his lie-filled life.
VanDouche is the type of person who (when he is not caught) doesn’t tell the whole truth, but doesn’t explicitly tell a lie (or tries not to) when it comes to these list of so-called “accomplishments” (ROFL). The Nazi, him being a divinity, and other outrageous claims that he makes that have been leaked are things he states only for those he’s boiled the frog or brainwashed enough. The problem for him and those who still have a functioning mind is that ethically such rationalizations don’t fly. You can still lie by omission of truth (hence, the “do you swear to tell the truth, the WHOLE truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God” oath), and you can lie by making it seem that your accomplishments are more than they really (relying on people being via suggestion that they then project) are by phrasing them in certain ways without explicitly lying.
So, for example, “was an East Coast Judo Champion at age eleven.” Sure, he could have been, but it all depends upon what he means by “East Coast” and “Champion”. He lives on the East Coast (check), and he was a champion in a three person kid tournament that happened in the basement of his house (check) where his mom was the referee.
Of course, no one gives a shit about that truth when filled in with the details.
Another one is ‘he talked in full sentences by the age of one’ or something like that. Sure, his mom could have witnessed him doing this. But she could have exaggerated. I heard she had some problems with controlling her alcohol consumption. Or by “full sentences” she could have meant “I’m Keith”, or something else extremely simple, and so no one would give a shit about that truth either.
To get into RPI, he needed to take the SAT test. The scores will still be on file at the Educational Testing Service.
If he is the smartest man in the world, they will obviously be double 800 (in that era).
https://frankreport.com/2016/01/30/reader-why-doesnt-raniere-advertise-his-sat-scores/
I think we should be careful here about getting into a pissing match about details. He will always win on details. In other words, we’ll be distracted trying to prove tiny little things – and we’ll lose sight of the bigger picture argument: namely, that he is a manipulative man who has preyed on the lives of others. He doesn’t drive, doesn’t cook, doesn’t work — he just takes other people’s ideas, synthesizes them into his own – and has sex issues. Even if he can prove one little thing (like the Judo BS), that that does not mean everything else is true. He’s a liar – and that is a a problem with his process, not with the details of his content. He taught me that. 🙂
The cool thing is that the CV states a lot of things that cannot be proven or are super hard to disprove. If he was sitting in front of me in a job interview there would be a lot of nice questions that come up with that. But why would he ever answer questions here.
He constructed a impressive story, true or untrue and is smart enough to not mention any degrees he ever made. It would be too easy to find or not find a thesis in a university library for instance. And I guess he is not dumb enough to damage his cult by giving you any information.
His followers will still live by his word and others will question it. Nothing will change. Same with the knife. I bet they will not publish any of their so-called methods. It can only be harmful to them and there is not much to gain.
It reminds me of a story of the famous reactionless drive or Dean Drive. The inventor wanted money not for build engines but for showing the blueprints/schematics prior to the deal… It never flew. But it was a nice scam.
I heard Pam Cafritz was video taping the wrestling match with Cuz Eddie. She also had a stopwatch to time the rounds. Unfortunately, the same bastard landlord through out the tape…
What was the problem the landlord had with k-dawg? I’ve heard many landlord stories, but most don’t end with the landlord breaking into the tenants home and destroying their momentoes. What was her name? Maybe we can hunt her down, and sue her to have the proof of k-dawgs sprinting and martial arts achievements returned.
Frankie,
It’s the k-dawg here. Kr. Vanny. Why you always gotta cock block me Frankie?
I’m just a normal guy with a harem of brainwashed slaves. It’s tough enough to get them to sleep with me but damn, your website is cold.
If you really must know it was less of a judo competition than it was my big cousin Eddie inappropriately wrestling naked with the k-man. But I took him down hard after three hours of passionate oiled judo.
And to this day, I’m still the champ. Now when Eddy and I wrestle naked I do it as the east coast judo champ.
Respect.
Yours truly,
The k-dawg
East Coast judo Champ – naked oil wrestling division
20x champ