I am ALWAYS open to new information. Someone by the name of John emailed me the following message:
“A correction/clarification to the part of the article that mentions Bill Aguiar.
Bill Aguiar opened his first Martial Arts school in Fall River in 1967, long before he first met Count Dante. Sometime prior to 1973, Aguiar, for the first time, met and trained with Count Dante in Chicago. They became friends and kept in touch until Dante came to Fall River in 1975.
Bill Aguiar already had a chain of four martial-arts schools. One each in Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton and Worcester. It was sometime during this visit that Aguiar helped Dante organize, what has become known as the Taunton Death Matches, at the Roseland Ballroom.”
I thank John for this information.
In Chicago few of the old timers know anything about William Aguiar, Jr. There is quite a bit of curiosity about their association. We all know that is where Count Dante ended up but he still maintained a residence here and did not say much about what he was doing in MA to many people apparently.
This whole excersise for me is about clarity. About getting as close to some truth as I can about the man and to make some effort to demystify the legend.
I will include some other letters from people that I think worth sharing in future and if I get their permission.
I said that Dante moved to Fall River in ’75, but I believe he actually came in ’74 (maybe even as early as’73) and stayed through ’75.<BR/><BR/>Did you see the "wkf presents count dante" scan I sent to you? It shows that Dante was making an appearance in nearby Portsmouth R.I. possibly as early as ’73 or ’74 (they’re raising money for the ’74 championships).<BR/><BR/>Do you know anything about