Crisc-O-Sensei:
- Seagal-san writes Putin a letter!
Steven Seagal has met Vladimir Putin in Russia and considers him “a prominent world leader” and hopes for his response. The “Russia 2045″ movement was founded in 2011 in Moscow by the ground of prominent scientists. They intend to combine all existing groundbreaking medical technologies and develop new ones in order to produce artificial human body and, eventually, allow humans to reach immortality.
- Follow this link to see Seagal coaching Machida. (NSFW)
Watch as he tells Lyoto Machida to “use your mind, I don’t care if you kill him. I don’t care. You f%&k him up. You take him out”.
The Prime One:
- Chuck’s Kickstart Kids program gets a little help.
McIngvale donated $150,000 to Ford Bend ISD’s Kickstart Kids program. Budget problems forced the school district to get rid of the six instructors who teach martial arts to about 1,500 students.
JCVD:
- Sounds like they plan to remake Bloodsport.
Now the filmmaker finds himself linked to another project as Screen Daily has heard news out of Cannes that Noyce is set to direct a remake of the 1988 Jean Claude Van Damme action flick Bloodsport with Robert Mark Kamen, writer behind Fifth Element, Taken and The Transporter franchise, scripting it.
- JCVD is also suffering from hearing damage.
Jean-Claude Van Damme’s doctor has ordered the movie star to don protective ear wear on film sets, after diagnosing him with high-frequency hearing loss.
- The Muscles from Brussels is also stated to appear in Expendables II.
Van Damme’s longtime collaborator, writer-director Sheldon Lettich, gave word that Muscles from Brussels will indeed be playing one of the film’s antagonists along with Bruce Willis; who is said to be it’s main villain.
The News:
- Hopkins pulled it off!
When Bernard Hopkins left the Bell Centre ring as the oldest boxer ever to win a world title there were messages waiting from the man whose record he beat — George Foreman.
- Now here’s a cause worth donating to.
She never complained. Four-year-old Madison may not understand cancer, but she knows she is ill and knows she must take medicine to get better. When the nurses administer her chemo, she likes to help them push the needle into the port surgically implanted in her chest.
Without the catharsis of MMA training, Seeley isn’t sure how he’d cope.
- These stories still amaze me.
A boy of 10 who lost his sight after a rare reaction to penicillin has become a judo champion.
- Here’s one about how youth can benefit from karate.
“Karate kids are very intelligent because it takes a lot of concentration to learn a technique. And they show this concentration in school,” said the mother of four and an accountant who herself practices karate.
- The Macho Man goes to that great turnbuckle in the sky.
Wrestler “Macho Man” Randy Savage died Friday in a car accident in Florida. Savage was one of the most popular stars of the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling in the 1980s and 1990s.
- I couldn’t do it. That being noted, I’m not sure what these feats really prove?
As of Saturday afternoon, Suzanne Finnegan, 45, holds the distinction of being the first woman to set a world record for most wooden boards broken in one minute.
- Female aikido master uses the art to help her psyche.
For her, martial arts, specifically aikido, has always been more about the mental side. This sixth dan black belt knows that behind the physicality and the philosophy lies a simple way to happiness, exemplified in Tamura’s life and in her dojo in Yokohama.
- Not a bad idea.
The local fitness center has had Krav Maga sessions since January, and has joined with the National Sexual Violence Resource Center to raise public awareness and educate communities and individuals on how to prevent sexual assault.
- Yet another “spiritual leader in a martial art” story!
In fact, Meiri is a vibrant, funny, well-traveled, outgoing, physically and mentally active woman who is also a wife and mother, a black belt in taekwondo and rabbi of Congregation Beth HaTephila, Asheville’s Reform Jewish community.
- Pepper spray 1. Black belt 0.
It was unbelievable pain. I was completely blind,” said Mituta, 56.
Mituta, a fifth-degree black belt, said he had never encountered pepper spray in his self-defence classes.
“If they didn’t have the pepper spray, I am sure I would have taken them all down,” he said confidently.
Unfortunately, they did have pepper spray. And that, my friend, is the lesson!
The Blogs:
- Keep that beginner’s mind!
The article below was written by Paul Mitchell, my Karate Sensei and Tai Chi teacher. It’s a brilliant insight into the mental approach to your training whatever your style.
- Head on over to Chiron if you want to face violence.
“Facing Violence” appears to be doing well, as near as you can tell from its Amazon ranking which has stayed under 10k for eleven days and counting.
- Boy, ain’t that the truth!
Sitting is killing you.
- Matthew has a real interview! (and by real I mean he actually filmed the darn thing!)
I’m very pleased to present this interview with Bill Hayes, 7th Dan Kyoshi of Shobayashi Shorin Ryu.
- Lori breaks down the shoulder throw.
Last week I discussed how to work up to throwing a much bigger person. The post was inspired by the difficulties that a very small woman (5’1″, 115 lbs) at my dojo was having when attempting to do a shoulder throw (ippon seioi nage) on a much bigger man (6’1″, 210 lbs).
That’s great but I want someone to make a video that explicates how a tall lanky guy like me can throw you short buggers!
- Jesse tell you why your bunkai may suck!
Continuing on the bunkai (practical applications of Karate’s kata) theme from some of the last posts (to me, Karate = bunkai, in case you haven’t noticed), I thought about all the ridiculous bunkai you sometimes see out there.
- This post by Sensei Strange relates directly to that karateka who got pepper sprayed.
So you train endlessly. So you break boards. You practice martial arts. The attackers, the professionally violent are not looking for a fair fight. Here is a film from my home city last week. The film is of a lady getting attacked. The film is rough, but not too brutal to watch. It is well worth it, because bad guys don’t play fair.
- John Zimmer gives Seagal a fair shake.
Master Steven Seagal is kind of an anomaly as he has trained in Japan in various martial arts but is mostly known for Aikido. To be truthful here I did not know he was a master of Kendo or that he also has black belts in Karate and Judo. You see I did not hear about Seagal until his movies started coming out in the late 1980′s.
The Videos:
The first one comes from the Everett Chiropractor Center blog. 100-years-old and doing a tai chi demo! The guy looks like 80 to me!
By practicing this Style along with Tai Chi walking you will gradually discover all the areas of your body that tense up unnecessarily during these movements, and you will consciously relax them – through practice. Eventually, you will cease to tense up any muscles that are not required during the movement. Think about how efficient you will become; think of the energy you will save.
I just figured out that Black Belt Magazine has its own YouTube Channel! Here’s a few videos featuring the tactical flashlight.
- Why use the tactical flashlight
- Attack deterrent
-BCP
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Throws and Bunkai
I wish I could develop the patience to do a video of how we do tall to short throws in our class. I keep taking my camera, but never remember to use it. I’ll keep bringing the camera and maybe I’ll get things going. We do a deep zenkutsu into the opponents stance to get below the hip level. I’m not saying I’m any good at it, but it offers an alternative if you find yourself in a pickle in close.
I loved the Bunkai stuff. The 7 things was great and the links he had were really interesting. I found watching the traditional guys do their interpretations intriguing. It makes me think in a little more depth about what’s going on.