Martial Arts News 5.13.08

• Cuba cleans up in judo medal count.

Cuba and Brazil dominated again during the second day of the Pan American Judo Championships, while the United States had some highlights of its own.

• Vietnamese take gold at world junior TKD.

Vietnamese martial artist Hoang Ha Giang has secured a gold medal in the women’s 49 kg category at the 7th World Junior Taekwondo Championships in Izmir , Turkey.

• Canadians earn shot at Olympic Judo.

Canadian judokas Keith Morgan and Marylise Levesque have punched their ticket to the Summer Olympics.

The pair guaranteed their berths on Thursday in Miami at the Pan American judo championships, which also doubles an Olympic qualifying event.

• Columnist critical of MMA–especially in relation to fighter safety.

I admit, that’s just one death in many years — which is amazing in my opinion.

I guess my main concern is safety. Why can’t they wear helmets and other protective gear?

Probably because no one will get hurt and that seems like the point.

The lady has a point. Is part of the MMA appeal hearkening back to a tamer version of the Roman gladiatorial games? Is it a martial sport and a blood sport? Would the promoters be putting butts in seats if there was not blood, knock outs, injured limbs, and the risk of something worse? All interesting questions…

• Perhaps this review of a martial arts movie is a nice counter to what the MMA critique is suggesting?

Mamet, who has a purple belt in jiujitsu, clearly is fascinated by the philosophy underlying it, which explains such Eastern-influenced exchanges as: “You train people to fight?” “No,” Ejiofor responds. “I train people to prevail.”

• The “which art is better” debate continues on.

Branstetter said that for years he’s heard —- and been involved in —- endless arguments about who is tougher, the boxer or the karate expert, the kung fu fighter or the kickboxer, the Jiu Jitsu master or the wrestler.

I really think that often the wrong question is being asked or it’s being asked poorly. Who is tougher? That’s a bad question and I can tell you that all of the above stylists undergo some hard training. So, I think they are all “tough”. Which martial arts is the best from a self-defense perspective is one good question. Early UFC started to answer that question but then it got turned into a martial sport. Nothing wrong with that but now it’s not a fair comparison in my opinion. It’s like putting up a boxer against a kick boxer and then asking which is better. One can use fist and feet while the other is limited to just fists. So, it’s not a fair question to begin with because, for the most part, the boxer is limited and set up for failure.

• Taekwondo is even in India.

Group photo of the winners at Invitational Taekwondo Championship organised by Panchkula Taekwondo Association on Sunday.

That’s a wrap for this week!

~BCP