Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Today, Tam and I will be married twenty years. Unfortunately, life in Missouri is 20 years, so I hope she doesn’t want to apply for parole. I’m hoping she decides to keep me around for a few more years. On July 27, 1996, Tam, my mother and sisters prepared the clubhouse for our wedding later that afternoon. They wisely kept
This week my oldest son Kenneth turns 19 years old. Besides finishing school, Kenneth’s biggest focus is the martial arts. He is particularly passionate about teaching self-defense. Over the years, I have trained 14 nieces and nephews plus all three of my children in the martial arts. Last week, the first member of the third generation started with us. To
My daughter asked me the other day if I had seen any of the Olympic Judo. She was surprised when I told her I had not. Besides being a black belt in Taekwondo, I’m a brown belt in Judo. Like both my sons, Caity trained in both TKD and Judo as well. However, I dislike the political considerations made in
Ad Santel gained his reputation as a dangerous catch wrestler from his frequent bouts with judoka from Japan during the 1910s and a story from the second George Hackenschmidt training camp for the Frank Gotch rematch. According to legend, Frank Gotch paid Santel, a skilled submission wrestler, $5,000.00 to injure Hackenschmidt’s knee in training. While this story may or may
Recently, my youngest son Caleb obtained his first job at a local fast food restaurant. I was proud of him because Caleb decided he wanted a job, filled out a number of applications and obtained a job close to the house. Caleb found the job to be a good fit because of the location and working environment. It is interesting
My great grandmother Lydia Margaret “Dollie” Story Zimmerman’s youngest sister Hattie May Story was born on August 20, 1896. Hattie was Dollie’s half-sister as she was the daughter of George Washington Story and his second wife Margaret Sweat. Dollie’s mother was George Story’s first wife Malinda Davis. Hattie’s mother Margaret either died in giving birth to Hattie or passed away
On October 29, 1868, “Irish Giant” Ned O’Baldwin and English prizefighter Joe Wormald met in a bare knuckle prize-fight outside of Boston in Lynnville, Massachusetts. O’Baldwin stood 6’06” tall and weighed around 220 pounds. Possessed of a violent disposition, O’Baldwin had the perfect attitude for the ring but poor social skills outside of it. Fans of both men arrived in
When I earned my 1st Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo during December 2005 at Willow Martial Arts, I had already studied Judo for three months. My instructor, Master Pat Weseman, is a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Judo as well as a 6th Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo. With this background, a number of our self-defenses were Judo based, so I
My stepfather, Ernest C. Diaz, raised me, so I included his family in my genealogical research. However, Dad’s father, Joseph Diaz, emigrated from Mexico and his mother Marie Moellenberg was a first generation American born to German immigrants. Finding information on his family has not been easy. We know Joseph’s father was Ulalio Diaz and his mother’s birth name was
My second great-grandfather George Washington Story was born in August 1843 to Gilford Dudley Story and his second wife Nancy Jane Story nee Womack. George was born in Shawneetown, Gallatin County, Illinois, USA. He was the fourth of Dudley’s and Nancy’s nine children. George Washington Story married his first wife and my second great-grandmother Malinda Davis on November 26, 1863,