Martial Arts News 3.14.09

• Pioneer in MMA marketing dies in car crash.

Lewis, 45, was known for his signature face paint stripes and was a pioneer in mixed martial arts… He and his friends sold T-shirts at local gyms and events before founding the clothing line TapouT in 1997. The line is sold in 20,000 stores worldwide and last year had more than $50 million in revenue.

• Bobby Lashley interviewed about leaving WWE for MMA.

But now he has a new challenge in front of him, making the transition from wrestling to mixed martial arts.

• New York assemblyman is a strong critic of MMA.

Reilly likens MMA to dogfighting, and insists promoting the sport would contradict the state’s goals of stopping domestic violence and bullying in schools.

• What happens when a national sport intersects with a national problem?

Mexicans such as junior middleweight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., former flyweight champion Fernando Montiel, super featherweight champion Humberto Soto and former lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo will appear in separate fights.

That’s a good thing. But is it a bad thing to hold this event during a time when, although the violence has subsided in Baja California, more than 1,000 have been killed across Mexico since the beginning of the year?

• Ross Taekwondo wins at tournament.

Ross Taekwondo owner and seventh degree black belt Ronda Russell, of Demopolis, captured two first place finishes in the women’s black belt open-hand forms and black belt women’s weapons forms divisions and two second place finishes in women’s black belt competition sparring and women’s continuous fighting.

• Elder martial artists do well at Karate tournament.

On Saturday, they competed in the traditional martial arts competition. Annarino won silver in forms and bronze in weapons in the Black Belt 65-and-older Division.

• One federal agent credits judo as a formative experience.

As a hobby, he enrolled in judo classes at the YMCA.

The martial arts experience became a formative experience, he said.

“It taught me to settle down,” he said. “It taught me self-discipline and self-esteem.”

• What happens when Karate and beer combine?

Scotty Karate would make an excellent companion with hearty stews, especially beef stew.

• MIT Sport Taekwondo does well at tournament.

MIT’s competitors wasted no time in demonstrating their readiness for competition as the forms part of the tournament began.

• 70-year-old martial artist is involved with 25-year-old Karate program.

The program has been a huge success, teaching kids the values of self-respect, respect for others and non-violence.

• Grandson of Jigoro Kano slated to step down from the All Japan Judo Federation.

Yukimitsu Kano, the grandson of the founder of judo Jigoro Kano, will step down from his post as chairman of the All Japan Judo Federation and director of the Kodokan Judo Institute at the end of this month, the head council for Kodokan decided Friday.

From the blogs:

• Portland area Tae Kwon Do Grandmaster passes away.
• Ross Training introduces us to a 55-year-old commando!
• Wim Demeere rolls out a new look.
• TDA Training wants to know if the economy is impacting your martial arts training.
• TurtlePress posts some sample videos.
• Ikigai list five very bad martial arts ideas. Dang it but I actually owned several pairs of those neon parachute pants! In my defense I ONLY wore them to the gym.

Need a Human Weapon fix? Well it looks like the Brooklyn Monk has gone Web TV!

Announcing the launch of Martial Arts Odyssey, the new Web TV show, starring Antonio Graceffo (The Monk from Brooklyn) as he travels through Asia, training and documenting martial arts.

This may be the first video. If it isn’t you can peruse the Monk’s YouTube channel and figure it out yourself.

-BCP

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