Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
On April 13, 1936, Ed “Strangler” Lewis wrestled his final legitimate contest with Lee Wykoff
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/q2pnhj/Episode_58uqay.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I will be talking about some
On October 20, 1916, Ad Santel, a noted “hooker” or skilled submission wrestler, met Taro
Who is the greatest legitimate professional wrestler to wrestle in the United States? How do
Joseph (Josef) Diaz was my stepfather, Ernest C. Diaz’s father. Ernie or Dad was the son of Joseph and Marie Diaz nee Moellenberg. Joseph was a first generation immigrant from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Joseph was born on May 12, 1893. According to his death certificate, his parents were Ulalio (Eulalio) Diaz and Betty Diaz nee Ramiro. I have
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
On April 27, 2013, on what would have been his grandfather and namesake’s 71st birthday, Ken “Trey” Zimmerman III became the first black belt in the Zimmerman Self-Defense System under his father Ken Zimmerman Jr. “Trey” began studying martial arts shortly before his fifth birthday. “Trey” has trained in Taekwondo, Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Gojo Shroei Weapons System. His goals
“B” films resulted from Hollywood distribution companies implementing a double bill or two movies screening strategy at theaters they owned. When the Great Depression led movie goers to start forgoing films between 1930 and 1932, Hollywood studios, which still controlled production and distribution, came up with the idea of showing two films back-to-back to give customers more bang for their
Theodore Roosevelt served as the twenty-sixth President of the United States from 1901 to 1909. TR is famous for the “Strenuous Life”. He practiced boxing and wrestling through his twenties and thirties. What is not as widely known is that he practiced Judo around 1904, when he was in his mid-40s. Roosevelt would eventually earn a brown belt in Judo. Yoshiaki
Being both a fan and film historian, I was aware of Sunset Blvd.‘s reputation in film circles. Billy Wilder’s 1950 film tells the sad story of a forgotten silent film star Norma Desmond. William Holden is a screen writer, who stumbles upon her crumbling mansion and agrees to help fix her screenplay. Norma believes the screenplay will lead to a
Why do traditional martial artists continue to despise the lessons of mixed martial arts? I am amazed that twenty years after Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 1, some traditional martial arts still feel that they have nothing to learn from MMA. One of the Taekwondo tournaments, where I used to referee, has a submission grappling division. When I had a break, I
Juve vs. Fantomas (1913) is Louis Feuillade’s second film adaptation of the popular crime series by Marcell Allain and Pierre Souvestre. Rene Navarre plays the role of Fantomas and his many aliases. Edmund Breon portrays Inspector Juve. George Melchior plays the role of Jerome Fandor, a young journalist, who assists Juve in his investigations of Fantomas. Juve and Fandor are
On November 12, 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, a fourth degree black belt in the little known art of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (commonly called Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the United States) cut through an eight man style versus style martial arts tournament. Royce Gracie would turn the martial arts world on its head. After his walk through the
Max Linder (1883-1925) built the Pathe’ Film Studio in the early 1900s. Linder’s comedy influenced Charles Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton. Linder is largely unknown today because his biggest film successes were in the 1910s. Most of his films are considered lost. Film fans today have the benefit of resources like the Internet Archive, which has a number of