A Well now I have just been reviewing mixed martial arts and happened to find this video of a rising MMA star, “Killer Willard,” the Boxing Kangaroo teaching his trainers the fine points of Outback Kangaroo kicks and punches. The funny thing about this to me (other than a giant rat-like boxer) was the kangaroo was actually pretty good. I had to try and work this video in somewhere and it seemed to fit nicely with MMA

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I watched the International Fight League (IFL) on TV last night and was entertained by the heavyweight match featuring Roy Nelson vs. Brad Imes. I did not know either fighter but heard that Imes used to play football and was in the WEC and UFC. I was expecting the chubby (ok - fat) Roy "Big Country" Nelson, 6' 1", to be dodging punches from the 6' 7" Imes. Take a gander at this fight - I think you will enjoy this.

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As you probably know by know from reading this blog, I enjoy a good contest. I stumbled upon some kick boxing from Eurosport Fight Club on Youtube.com that featured a match from Eurosport’s Netherlands vs Thailand Kickboxing Series. I’m not sure exactly when this fight took place but it was uploaded to Youtube.com on January 31, 2008.

The series seems to be a national team competition featuring some really great fighters. For the Netherlands, Jimmy Eimmers is fighting and Hansuk is representing Thailand. Take a look at this video below.

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Wow… what a fight! I just saw five rounds of exciting action and found out that Urijah Faber can strike! In this first defense of Urijah’s belt that went the five rounds, he had a worthy opponent. Jens Pulver was able to escape the ground and pound game by sitting up early in the match. Faber was able to cancel out Pulver’s striking with fast lunge/counter punches and hooks. I’ve never seen Faber strike so much and found he could hang with Pulver. Jens was in trouble in the second round but came out of it and took the fight back to Faber, who in turn had to go to the ground to recover.

The last three rounds were marked by some ground work but mainly striking where Pulver was attempting to pick some shots and then was beat to the punch most of the time. You could tell these fighters really respected each other’s fight skills after the bout.

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This is a quick post to let everyone know that depends on free TV… tonight (Saturday, May 31, 2008) on CBS (according the TVGuide.com):

  

Scheduled: Kimbo Slice takes on James “Colossus” Thompson in a heavyweight bout in Newark, N.J. Also: Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith in a middleweight fight; and Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young in women’s action.

This should be exciting action and (I think) the network TV’s first major foray into the exciting MMA world of fighting! It is kind of interesting to me that it has taken this long to get real fighting to the networks when so much of their (the networks) investment has been in the ancient sport fighting of my grandfather’s era (do you want to know how I really feel?)

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For many of you that have taken karate lessons and learned how to do all of the basics, you may still be wondering; Will it really work? And, How can I make karate work for me? I have read a wikipedia article (one should not rely on wikipedia as authoritative as it can be edited by anyone) on Model Mugging where a gentleman decided to focus on self-defense instead of traditional karate because it did not work for many women (in his judgement).

Karate lessons will give you all of the tools you need to fight back but it will not fight back for you… meaning you will have to get over the feeling of, “Is this really happening to me” and come up with a quick plan. Part of a karate education is supposed to be exposure to fighting and getting some self-confidence to find some moves that work for YOU! If you are just focused on getting the pretty belt or the recognition that comes with a black-belt… you are probably wasting your money.

I will try to relate some of the moves that give me confidence in almost any situation…. moves that I cannot use in sport karate or full-contact karate for the most part. I will try and relate what it is like to be in a real fight for your life as I have been in plenty (all fights after high-school are really (and should be) fights of last resort), and I will try and put it all together for you. And yes – I think anyone can be trained to fight in a self-defense situation. My most favorite move is the counter-punch or lunge punch. Here is a quick video demonstrating this very simplisticly (there is a lot more to it if you want to be successful).

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I just read a story about Elle Macpherson using Tai Chi to get her handbag back from a robber here. I was kind of amazed that a supermodel would be walking about unaccompanied but even more amazed that she, after getting robbed, would get her purse back! After reading the story - all I can say is Elle probably did get some confidence from Tai Chi. Here is a picture of Elle McPherson with a surfboard. She looks like she stays in good shape.

Another Supermodel that can fight is Michelle Waterson. She works at Hooters by day and is starting to fight MMA. Michelle was in Oxygen networks, "Fight Girls." It is really cool to see someone living their dream. Michelle states in her videos that karate is her way of life. She is a black belt in Karate and learning Muay Tai and Wushu. Here is a picture of Michelle doing a front-snap-kick.

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I have been hearing about Cung Le for the past year from my wife’s nephew, Tony Corleone, who has contributed some rap music to Cung Le’s bouts. I have not seen Cung Le in person but I have been reviewing some of his videos after he took the middleweight title from Frank Shamrock. This guy is a fighter after my own heart! I love to see a striker compete in MMA. Here is a video of some of Cung Le’s highlights.

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