Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
On Friday, March 13, 1903, the Franklin County Judge William Davidson arraigned William Rudolph and George Collins for the robbery of the Union Bank and the murder of Pinkerton Detective Charles Schumacher. Rudolph and Collins plead “not guilty”. Judge Davidson assigned three attorneys to represent Rudolph and Collins. William Rudolph gave a confession to the St. Louis media, which was
A common myth in martial arts is that a master studies for 40 years, develops an almost superhuman understanding of self-defense, creates the perfect system and turns out generations of unbeatable fighters. Prior to the popularity of mixed martial arts, many of the magazines such as Black Belt were full of stories about which martial art was the best. If you polled
On December 10, 1920, an eighth St. Louis Police Officer would lose his life, the most officers to die in the line of duty in the history of the St. Louis Police Department. Four of the officers’ murders in 1920 would never be solved. This last murder would be one of the four murders never to be solved. Charles M.
The Missouri record for issuing marriage licenses in one day was broken on Wednesday, November 23, 1904 by 151 couples in St. Louis, who wanted to tie the knot on Thanksgiving Day 1904. The previous one day record was 117 couples set in St. Louis prior to Thanksgiving 1903. The Justice of the Peace, R.J. Carroll, set up shop in
My stepdad Ernest C. Diaz married my mother on June 8, 1981. Dad and Mom worked to make sure we had a normal family life. In 1981 or 1982, they decided to take my sisters and me to a professional wrestling show at the Checkerdome (also known as the Arena). Our favorite wrestlers were the Von Erichs. David Von Erich
I was watching the UFC Fight Night prelims on Facebook Saturday night. The fights all ended in before time expired. One ended in the third round, one in the second round and three in the first round. One of the things that I notice was that none of the fighters in the first four fights were attacking from guard. They
After my mother married my stepfather, Ernest Diaz, in 1981, he was looking for a way for us to spend time together. I was camping with the Boy Scouts, so Dad decided that camping would be an effective way for us to get to know each other. A friend of Dad’s owned property and a cabin in Greenville, MO. We
Abe Attell was a tough boxer. He won the World Featherweight Boxing Championship twice. He and his brother Monte were the first brothers to be world boxing champions at the same time after Monte won the World Bantamweight Championship. Abe Attell won his first title when he was based out of the West End Boxing Club in St. Louis, MO.
Judo enthusiasts may be unaware that one of the greatest Judo fights ever film occurred in a movie from 1945, Blood on the Sun (affiliate link). James Cagney, who was a brown belt in Judo, stars in the film as Nick Condon, an American newspaper editor for the Tokyo Chronicle prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. A few Japanese government officials
On Friday, October 21, 1904, five St. Louis Police Officers went to a rooming house at 1324 Pine Street, site of today’s Soldier Memorial, to arrest three men suspected of an Illinois train robbery in July of the same year. What occurred next would be one of the most storied shootouts in St. Louis Police history. During the World’s Fair,