Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
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When Wladek Zbyszko travelled from the United States to Brazil for a lucrative tour on
Who is the greatest legitimate professional wrestler to wrestle in the United States? How do
On April 3, 1908, American Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch met World Wrestling Champion George Hackenschmidt
In one of those strange coincidences of history, the Streetcar Union President Sherman C. Patterson was stabbed by a union machinist named Edward Canty after a saloon disagreement. At a time when several of his opponents in the 1900 St. Louis Streetcar Strike would love to have seen him sent on a train out of town, Patterson is stabbed by
William Muldoon, a former New York City detective, won the World Greco-Roman Wrestling Championship by defeating Thiebaud Bauer. Muldoon reigned for ten years before retiring as champion. After retiring, he began to make a living as a personal trainer. Muldoon trained many wrestlers but really came to prominence after getting a woefully out of shape John L. Sullivan fit for
After you earn your Green Rank, you will have completed your first year of training. Congratulations. On average, 75 percent of students who started with you have already quit training. Lucky for you, they will be much better targets for criminals. A humorous anecdote is told about two campers worried about a bear attack. One of the campers tells his
On Monday evening, July 16, 1917, St. Louis Police Officer Julius H. Petring assigned to the North Market Division entered a rooming house at 2301 N. Market Street. Petring asked the proprietor William Dietrich to rent a room for him and his wife. His “wife” was his recently divorced girlfriend Freda Hagenmeyer. Officer Petring had been seeing Freda Hagenmeyer, who
When I started researching the family history, I only knew about two of my great-grandmother Caroline “Lee” Ellis’ nee Johannpeter’s siblings. My grandfather told me a lot about his Uncle “Jules”, Julius Johannpeter. Grandpa lived with Uncle Jules from the time he left Missouri Military Academy in 1932 until he married my grandmother, Alvina Ellis nee Mosblech in 1938. Grandpa
Tom Hyer won the American Bare Knuckle Prizefighting Championship in 1841. Like most prizefighting champions of the Nineteenth Century, he did not fight very often. Hyer normally paid his bills as an enforcer for political parties in New York. Originally, Hyer employed his talents for the Whigs but would switch allegiances to the “Know Nothing Party” with his friend William
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
The picture of Cornelius O’Keefe in the book, In The Line of Duty: St. Louis Police Officers Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice by Barbara Miksicek, David McElreath and Major Stephen Pollihan, struck me the first time I saw it. With his hair parted down the middle and a big mustache, I could see him walking the streets of Downtown St. Louis
On Christmas Eve, 1937, the second Mr. Moto film, Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937) staring Peter Lorre, debuted. International Agent Mr. Moto strives to protect Chinese cultural treasures from international criminals. The Seven Scrolls will reveal the hiding place for the Tomb of Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan’s warriors reportedly buried great treasure with their dead leader. Mr. Moto’s friend Prince
On October 12, 1853, 23 year-old John Morrissey would meet 40 year-old “Yankee” Sullivan for the American and possibly World Heavyweight Prizefighting Championship. Sullivan had been considered the champion since Tom Hyer, who had beaten Sullivan previously, retired instead of fighting Sullivan in a rematch. Sullivan claimed the title and was backed by Hyer, who had made peace with Sullivan.