Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about martial arts concepts and history.
Yukio Tani arrived in England at the turn of the 20th Century. Tani spread ju-jitsu by taking part in challenge matches against professional wrestlers. As part of these challenge matches, Tani demonstrated ju-jitsu. Through the success of these challenges and demonstrations, Tani saw many students sign up to train with him. One of Tani’s best English students used the stage
With Choque, Vol. 2 (Amazon affiliate link), Roberto Pedreira picks up the story of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in what he considers its heyday in Brazil, 1950 – 1960. Besides Carlos and Helio Gracie, several other academies, such as Oswaldo Fadda’s, were also thriving. Judo was gaining in popularity but had not overcome Jiu-Jitsu in popularity. Vale Tudo matches were at the height
I recently read Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil, Volume 1 by Roberto Pedreira (Amazon affiliate link), which tells an alternate story of BJJ’s beginnings than we have been told by in various interviews with members of the Gracie Family. “Choque” translates to “shocking” in Brazilian Portuguese. While Pedreira exhaustively researches and cites primary sources, mostly Brazilian newspapers,
Peter Lorre reprises his role as Mr. Kentaro Moto, Interpol Agent, in Mr. Moto’s Gamble (1938). James Tinling directed this film and Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1937). Tinling’s participation caused Lorre to portray Mr. Moto more like Inspector Chan with a little jujitsu thrown in. In this film, Mr. Moto teaches a criminal investigation class to several budding investigators including
When I started martial arts in my mid-twenties, I thought my skill level would always continue to improve even as I aged. Since I regularly lifted weights, performed cardio and stretched, I thought I could battle Father Time to a draw. Like so many combat athletes before me, I discovered Father Time beats us all. Whether we want to face
We included four or more martial arts in our academy’s curriculum. When I look at these arts, I see a distinct reason that I studied each one. These arts cover striking, grappling, ground fighting and a practical self-defense weapon, the cane. I started studying Shotokan karate in the Fall of 1994. I switched to Taekwondo with my nephew in the Spring of 1995. Taekwondo brought
At our fantasy football draft this year, one of the other owners asked me who I thought was the best mixed martial artist of all time. I told him that based on skill, the greatest mixed martial artist of all time was Jon “Bones” Jones. However, Jones’ frequent problems outside of the Octagon would keep him from being considered the
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
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
When I first started training in martial arts in 1995, the stories tied to the founding of most martial arts were pretty fantastic with superhuman feats of physical prowess and fighting ability attributed to their founders. Whether Kung Fu, Karate or Judo, the founder took the skills learned in previous martial arts, modified it and defeated everyone. These claims are