Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about martial arts concepts and history.
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
The secret to success in the martial arts or any area of life is mastering the basics. While this statement sounds intuitive, very few people actually do it. Many practitioners find the basics “boring” and want to move onto more advanced moves. The problem with this approach is emphasizing a 1 percent move over a 99 percent move. Taking Taekwondo
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
One of the best Christmas gifts I ever received was a VHS tape of Grand Master Helio Gracie’s original 40 lesson curriculum from the Gracie Academy in Torrance, California. The Grand Master filmed his original curriculum with his grandsons, Ryron and Rener Gracie. The Grand Master must have been in his mid-eighties, yet his technique was still very crisp and sharp. Ryron
When I was a kid growing up in St. Louis, the only martial art that I had heard about was Karate. Taekwondo was considered Korean Karate. I did not know about any of the grappling arts at that point. However, KPLR Channel 11 ran a series of films on Saturdays for a month featuring Mr. Moto, played by Peter Lorre.
These five Judo throws are fairly simple to execute and are not dependent on a Judo gi for proper execution. A throw can often devastate an attacker and take the fight right out of them. 1) Osoto gari (Major Outer Reaping Throw) -Don’t neglect this throw because it seems very basic. Olympic Gold Medals have been won with it. The
While watching the Facebook Prelims for UFC 161, I observed a trend that happens often in mixed martial arts competition. One of the competitors would get a dominant position but would sacrifice it to chase a submission. He caught the other competitor in close to ten submissions but the other man escaped all ten and one a close split decision.
In the distant past, one of the new holders of a teacher’s certificate in a traditional martial art brought a wheel barrow with round wheels for approval to the head of the style and his top two instructors. Previously, the wheel barrow had square tires and was referred to as a square barrow. The student waited with expectation as the
One of the best thing about the martial arts such as Taekwondo is the ability for fathers, mothers, children, grandchildren and other family members to train together. You develop a mutual interest you cannot replicate by sitting in the stands watching your children play baseball, soccer, etc. Besides training with all three of my kids and my wife, who trained
A couple of years ago, I decided to stay at the rank of brown belt in Judo for a while. As a black belt in Taekwondo, I always assume that you keep going until you reach black belt in the art you are practicing. However, I began to change my mind about continuously trying to obtain a black belt