Archive for April, 2009

I have been reviewing historical fighting videos on youtube and I was tempted to use the Spartans as my example but I am opting to use a scene from the movie Gladiator to explain my points. First off have you imagined some situations where you might be at a disadvantage if you were attacked?

What if you and your buddies took a short cut through an ally and all of a sudden were accosted by some thugs? Would you break rank and say – every man/woman for him/herself? Yes most of you would get away but think of the unlucky blokes that were not that fast? Yes your conscience would be ok because you called the cops as soon as you were safe but what about explaining to their mothers, wives, fathers, or husbands why you left them behind?

I will explore some situations where you might have to come up with a plan and then take you through some ways to come out ok. Here is a video of some gladiators that were about to be killed by some Roman warriors in the arena.

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This is more of a housekeeping item but I would like to make everyone aware that I published my thesis that was required for my 5th degree black belt (Godan) test. I am a student of Richard “Dick” Willett’s, American Kenpo Karate (sanctioned by the American Kenpo Karate Association). I was enrolled in my second year of college at the time and had taken an English composition class to brush up on my writing skills. Let me just say my writing skills have improved in the last ten years and leave it at that.

I am publishing this document verbatim as it represented my work at that time. Please realize that it is somewhat of a position paper and not really a research paper – meaning that I am biased towards my own martial art. You will find this thesis at the top tab labeled, “Thesis” or click here.

I am always looking for interesting websites that I can share. Here are a few of the latest entries with a brief description.

• Forensic Scientist Blog -> the top 50 self defense blogs
  • This site deals with forensic science, schools and they did some reviews of martial arts sites.
• Jiu-Jitsu Sensi-> a jiu-jitsu school blog
  • A woman teacher that is taking other martial arts to keep current. She writes from a self-defense perspective as she reviews different situations and martial arts.
• Just A Thought -> Michele’s blog
  • A student and instructor of Okinawa Kenpo Karate and Kobudo. Thoughts on Karate, Tai Chi, ACL Reconstruction and the Challenges of Parenting.
• On My Own Two Feet -> Confessions of 41 year-old white belt
  • Martial Artess (Cheri Arbucke) studies taekwondo, where she holds the rank of yellow belt. She’s also dabbled in several other martial arts, including bojutsu, shotokan karate, t’ai chi, and fencing.
• Systema-Steve Wildash -> Systema Russian Martial Arts
  • This is a cool site that reviews how to stick fight, weapons, defense against weapons and such.

I have also added a couple of cool pictures from the 1978 or 1979 Long Beach Internationals in the pictures section from by good friend David Hays. Check these out at the bottom of the pictures section.

I don’t really know why I would be surprised that a Supermodel has martial arts (boxing) training? After all they are just people like the rest of us – that need to keep fit and want to know how to protect themselves in a pinch. I did on story entitled, “Supermodels can fight! Not just another pretty face!” last year where I highlighted Elle Macpherson, and the karate hottie, Michelle Waterson!

I found this boxing workout video of Marisa Miller training! Apparently she is an accomplished Supermodel that has appeared in Victoria’s Secret and SI’s swimsuit models issues. The thing that impresses me more that her being a successful model, is that she has taken up one of the hardest martial arts out there. I remember back to when I was training in boxing for full contact fights. Boxing has killer workouts demanding superior upper-body strength and  coordination!

In this post I will examine boxing training for women and why I think boxing is an ideal fighting method for women from a self-defense and fitness standpoint. Here is a video of Marisa Miller doing a boxing workout for your perusal.

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I have been hearing and reading about this new series on Spike TV called, The Deadliest Warrior. I checked out some videos on youtube and the series seems pretty interesting.

According to Wikipedia.com:

Deadliest Warrior is a television program on Spike TV in which historical warriors are pit against each other in simulated battles. Each episode showcases two warriors in a hypothetical battle to the death; similar to shows like Animal Face-Off and Jurassic Fight Club.

I will do a overview of this TV show in this post for those like me – just learning about this series. Apparently tonight a Spartan will fight a Ninja. Here is a good overview video I found.

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I’ve heard rumblings about the WEC going to PPV (pay per view) with the Brown vs. Faber 2 rematch but it has been put on hold. Wow, what a almost mis-step on the WEC’s part in my opinion. I’ve seen a couple of posts on this and what I am gleaning is the WEC wants to play with the big boys. In my opinion the WEC are the big boys, the 600 pound gorilla if you will because versus TV is widely available.

I am a salty old dog that enjoys the WEC’s liberal MMA rules and of course the price (free on VS TV)! If the WEC went to PPV events, my guess is it would struggle a bit because there is already the UFC fans that are used to paying for those events. I’m not all that sure all of the free versus TV viewers would start paying. What do you think? Lets look at the up coming card and speak a little about Torres last fight.

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A couple of the great flicks I’ve seen were Kill Bill Vol 1 and Vol 2! I really enjoyed the gratuitous violence the bride (Uma Thurman) extracted against her former assassins buddies! The story line is about an assassin leaving her former boss/boy friend – basically quiting the assassin business and getting married to lead a normal life. Well Bill (David Carradine) and his assassins showed up at the wedding and left the bride on life support. The movies (vol 1 & 2) are the brides revenge!

 While I had seen some strong female movie roles – I had not to this point seen so much violence by women in a move! I think this is due to Quentin Tarantino’s vision of bringing back the blood and gore back into movies. You really do have to suspend dis-belief watching these movies because like the typical karate flick, you will see fighters flying through the air – perpetuating the myth that karate fighters are somehow bigger than life! Watch some short sequences from these movies and I will discuss how women martial artists can fight today.

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Have you ever been in a situation where you knew you either had to fight or give up something? Most you you that have learned a martial art have been there – maybe the reason for learning. I had one experience when I was in the 7th grade walking to the store on a nice summer night.

I was approached by a couple of kids asking me where I was going. I told them I was going to the store. They asked if I had any money and I said no! They approached menacingly and I ran the rest of the way to the store! I will finish this story as well as talk about what fear is and how to deal with it. As you know if you are frozen with fear – you will not be much good in a fight. I found this picture entitled, “Fear of the dark” here.

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