Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about martial arts concepts and history.
On Thursday, January 31, 2020, Grandmaster Pat Weseman promoted me to 4th Dan in Taekwondo at the Advanced Class. When I started classes with Grandmaster Weseman and her husband Art, I did not foresee reaching this milestone. I originally started taking classes with my nephew Jim in Spring 1995. After getting married in 1996, I stopped taking classes for several
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,
The first three ranks in the Zimmerman Self-Defense System are Yellow Belt, Orange Belt, and Green Ranks. These ranks represent the beginning curriculum. The intermediate ranks are Blue Belt and Purple Ranks. The advanced ranks are Brown and Red Ranks. After training for a minimum of 4 years and being at least 16 years old, a student can test for
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
Marvel Studios released the series Iron Fist on Netflix on March 17, 2017. The series based on the Marvel comic about Danny Rand, a young man presumed to have died in a plane crash. Rand is rescued as a child by monks, who teach him martial arts in the Himalayas. The series contains a number of great martial arts fight scenes.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come back to more traditional bodybuilding training as a supplement to my martial arts training. Traditional bodybuilding is less ballistic and leaves me less vulnerable to injury. When I was younger, I never worried about injury nor did I get injured often. Once I passed 35 years old though, I started getting injured much more
Ryan Hall fought Gray Maynard at the TUF 24 Finale on December 3, 2016. I heard about the bout on the Anik and Florian podcast. Ray Longo talked about the bout and shared his concerns that Hall completely shut down Maynard but his style may make it difficult for him to get fights. After watching the bout, I understand what
A few weeks ago, I started another twelve week program focused on putting on muscle mass. The primary focus of the program is lifting heavier weights and using free weights primarily. The well-respected personal trainer, who designed the program, insists that you follow it “as written”, a common ask from program designers. I trained legs on the first day. When