Archive for July, 2009

21 Jul 2009

Uncategorized

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

    • Kimo Leopoldo Dead at 41

    Long time Mixed Martial Arts fighter and UFC Legend Kimo Leopoldo has died from a suspected heart attack at the age of 41.

    I still remember crowding around the TV in front of a recording of a recording of a VHS tape and watching then-unknown Kimo walk into the UFC and lay a pounding on the seemingly invincible Royce Gracie in UFC 3 in 1994.

    It is a reminder to us all of our own mortality.

    Kimo continued to fight in big promotions up until 2006, most recently as a part of “Extreme Wars.”

    Those who have seen Kimo won’t soon forget his impressive appearance, fighting skills, and his extremely memorable entrances (Kimo once walked to the Octagon carrying a full sized cross on his back.)

    Unfortunately, Kimo also faced his own demons during his career, battling both performance enhancing and other drugs (Kimo tested positive for anabolic steroid in 2006, and was arrested for possession of marijuana in February of this year.)

    Whatever he battled however, Drugs, challenges, Royce Gracie, Kimo never gave up.  He was always up for a good fight, and always reminded us all that no one could ever be counted out.

    We’ll miss you Kimo.  Rest well.

    21 Jul 2009

    Hapkido, Martial Arts

  • Posted by Utah Martial Arts Feeds

    • Redirect Grab

    This Article comes from Hapkido TV
    To see the full original article click here

    This is a a redirection from a lapel grab. Traditionally in Hapkido this is done after the grab. However, the release is very difficult if the attacker is larger and stronger than the defender. In this video we back up one step and teach a turn to avoid the grab.

    This is similar to a technique used by a bull fighter. We use the energy that the attacker is generating to redirect the attack itself. If a bull fighter can “redirect” a 3000 Lb bull, then a smaller defender can redirect people that are way bigger.

    First we avoid by making a circle, then either catch and redirect the arm or escape. This puts the opponent off balance and sets up a throw. We are actually using the attackers motion to release the grab, or re-grab and throw the opponent.

    We want to emphasis the circling, Jiujitsu, Aikido, Judo, Brazilian Jiujitsu Aki Jiujitsu and Hapkido all use circles. We also need to make note that this technique can be done from a lapel grab, or a strike and practice the intent and motion of the attack. We should never practice this as a static technique.

    “Together We’re Better”
    Allen Hughes
    HTV

    To comment on this post, please visit the original article click here

    21 Jul 2009

    Grappling, Martial Arts, MMA

  • Posted by Utah Martial Arts Feeds

    • Sotomayor and Your Right of Self Defence

    This Article comes from SLC MMA
    To see the full original article click here

    Let me just start by saying that I personally think you, (and  I) have a legal, innate right as Americans to self defense.  True, MMA is an entertainment sport and not a system of self defense per se, but martial arts are fundamentally rooted in the notions of self defense.

    In Utah, we more or less have adopted a “Castle Doctrine” which is the idea that my home and my personal space, wherever I’m standing, (so long as its legal to be there) is my castle. If you attack my castle, I have a right to use deadly force to protect it.  An officer from a sheriff’s office explained to me like this, “You should never be forced to flee where you are. You can stay and fight.”

    When ass needs to be kicked, I think you have a legal right – yea, a moral imperative – to put fist into face. (But don’t take that for legal advice, no matter how awesome it sounds).

    That being said, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has said some curious things about your right to self defense.

    .

    Granted, the right to self defense relates to gun control and can be a sticky issue. So a senate hearing would be a good time to clear that up. I love how the Senator Tom Coburn asks her, “Do you have a personal opinion, or can you give me your opinion, of whether or not in this county I personally, as an individual citizen, have a right to self defense?” and she says, ” I don’t know.”

    Yep. She doesn’t know. And for her opinion – she doesn’t know if she has one? Maybe the question was confusing.

    Oh, but if she did have an opinion, it’s abstract and irrelevant.  Kind of like how irrelevant it was that John Mccain wanted to ban MMA because it was brutal cockfighting. Or irrelevant that an “all natural cherry soda” with “no preservatives” also contains “no actual fruit juice”.

    All I’m saying here is that its relevant.

    Plus, she is wrong, because the Supreme court has ruled on the notion of self-defense and how it relates to the second ammendment – in the 2008 ruling, DC vs Heller.

    On the bright side, Sotomayor does know how nunchucks work. (Go to about 2 minutes 30 in the vid) That’s comforting.

    But hey, what do you think?

    To comment on this post, please visit the original article click here

    21 Jul 2009

    Hapkido, Martial Arts

  • Posted by Utah Martial Arts Feeds

    • Redirect Grab

    This Article comes from Hapkido TV
    To see the full original article click here

    Here is a twist on the “lapel grab” defense. Hope you enjoy it!

    “Join Us”
    Allen Hughes
    HTV

    To comment on this post, please visit the original article click here

    21 Jul 2009

    Grappling, Judo, Karate, Kenpo, Martial Arts, MMA, Muay Thai

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

    • Training at East West MMA

    IMG_0267My son (Ty) and I are always looking to improve our game.  We have been doing Judo and some Jiu Jitsu for nearly two years now, and definitely plan to continue doing that.

    But we have tried several other things recently to round our game out a bit.

    There is a gym that opened up relatively near my home in Riverton that I had been meaning to check out.  This weekend I did, and here’s my report:

    East West MMA (The sign out fron says “Karate”, but they teach a lot more than that.)

    When I walked in to the the building, and started looking at the facilities I was really amazing by how big it is.  The way the building is set back off the street, and down ina  bit you really don’t realize how lare it is until you really get down into it.

    The space for training was big enough that with a large numbe of us there was still plenty of room not only for everyone to train, but also for everyone to spar, at the same time.  This is really unique in comparison to some gyms/dojo’s.

    Also, at the back of the room in this picture was a trampoline that allowed you to jump into a foam-filled pit.  this ended up being really nice.  My kids had a blast on friday night while I was sitting in on my first class.

    Though you can’t tell form this picutre, the floor has great padding under it, and we were able to take some pretty good falls without gety hurt.  I did end up with a few carpet burns, but I think that a long-sleeved under-armor style shirt and my Gi pants should primarily eliminate that.

    Oviously I have not been attending for a long period, so I can’t tell you a lot about their training, but I will tell you what I know so far:

    It was nice to see them doing training in striking, as well as in ground work.  I have absolutely no Mauy Thai background, and not a ton of Karate, so the workout was not only very instructional in my technique, but it really got my heart pumping.  This seems like a great place if you are looking to burn off a lot of calories.  A fair amount of the workout seemed to include pushups and things like that.  Some people like that type of training because it builds strength and cardio, others hate it and want to focus on technique.  I won’t throw my bias in one way or the other, but just let you know what seems to be included, and then let you decide.

    We also had some great sparring.  We put headgear, and had to try to take down an opponent who had boxing gloves on and was pummelling us with strikes.  Obviously being a big guy with a Judo background was nice in this exercise, but it was an amazing workout, a ton of fun, and really built good relationships between class members.

    A lot more takedown and ground submission sparring and training followed.

    The gym is very clean and new, the people friendly, and the skills of the teachers seemed to be very good (Bryce arm=barred me about a hundred times I think :)

    I still love my Judo class and will be sticking with it, but I intend to attend East West regularly as well to learn new skills.  I was very impressed, and will be writing more about my experiences in the coming weeks and months.

    21 Jul 2009

    Grappling, Judo, Martial Arts

  • Posted by Utah Martial Arts Feeds

    • Dr. Chen, a Judo Genius

    This Article comes from Utah Judo
    To see the full original article click here

    IMG_0270Judo Saturday was a real treat.  Mike Hermosillo, my Sensei, has amazing Judo.  I am always impressed and blessed by his insights into my technique.  Saturday however, we had Dr. Chen come in to work with us as well.

    Dr. Chen trained my Sensei in Judo… and Dr. Chen’s skills are amazing.

    I stand just over six feet tall, and weight in at around 250.  To have a tiny old guy walk up to you, speak so softly you almost have to strain to hear him, grab you gently with his finger-tips, and then send you flying is quite an experience.

    Further, Mike has informed me that we plan to have Dr. Chen every Saturday in class now.  If you live in Utah and have ever wanted to learn Judo, or if you know Judo and really want to hone your skills, this is an amazing opportunity.

    To comment on this post, please visit the original article click here

    18 Jul 2009

    Martial Arts, MMA

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

    • What is Bisping’s condition? How is he recovering?

    Well, this seems to be one of the big questions circulating.

    I have trolled through online groups, tried to Tweet Dana White (who doesn’t seem to reply to many people.)  I have tried multiple times to call the Gym that Bisping works out in to see if they can tell us.

    Very little luck.

    I have also sent an email to Mike Bisping directly through his blog.  I hope to hear something back there.

    For now, here is what I have been able to find:

    Over half of the fighters from UFC 100 are now out on medical suspension (13 of 22.)

    GSP is out for a month (at least.  If the groin heals fast enough.  If his doctor doesn’t clear him by Aug 11th he’ll be out for six months.)

    Akiyama is out for six months (broken orbital bone.)

    Some other suspensions include:

    • Frank Mir until Sept. 10, no contact until Aug. 26
    • Thiago Alves until Aug. 11, no contact until Aug. 2
    • Stephan Bonnar until Aug. 11, no contact until Aug. 2
    • Jake O’Brien until Aug. 11, no contact until Aug. 2
    • TJ Grant until Aug. 2, no contact until July 26

    By and large these are all guys who did some real banging.  But even a couple of folks who lost by choke (Matt Grice and CB Dollaway) are out until August or later.

    Bisping is out, with no contact until August 26th.  When we compare this to the other medical suspensions it would sure seem as if there isn’t serious damage from the devastating knockout that Henderson dealt him.

    That’s all I have for now.  I’ll let you know if Bisping emails me back.

    17 Jul 2009

    Uncategorized

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

    • Utah Martial arts and MMA classes and Dojos

    I consistently find that our “Classes” link is one of the most popular ones on this site.

    I have been getting very few people submitting new schools or giving feedback on schools however.  I just want to stress to everyone that it’s your input that will make this valuable.  If you attend a class, please send me info on it.  I’ll get it added.  I can also make sure it is anonymous.  If you are afraid of sharing info that can identify you, even give a rating form one to ten, and tell if you would recommend it, and if so to whom.

    If you run a Dojo, please let me know, and have a student submit a review.  I want to make sure that there is valuable information for people on that page.  If I can start getting more feedback I will be happy to have a “Dojo of the month” post or something similar.

    To contribute, simply Contact Me.

    Thanks!

    17 Jul 2009

    Hapkido, Martial Arts

  • Posted by Utah Martial Arts Feeds

    • Michael Hermosillo Judo BJJ Defense

    This Article comes from Hapkido TV
    To see the full original article click here

    Simple concepts of self defense from Professor Michael Hermosillo!

    Enjoy,
    Allen Hughes HTV
    If you cannot view this video click here

    To comment on this post, please visit the original article click here

    16 Jul 2009

    Grappling, Martial Arts, MMA

  • Posted by Utah Martial Arts Feeds

    • ‘Bully Beatdown’ back in Salt Lake

    This Article comes from Salt Lake Tribune MMA Blog (Note: Trib does not send full articles. Be sure to click through to read the entire article.)
    To see the full original article click here

    The second season of "Bully Beatdown," MTV’s MMA-takeoff reality show, is coming back to Salt Lake City. There will be 12 fights shot over four days. Here’s MTV’s description of the show, in case you aren’t familiar:MTV’s "Bully Beatdown" pits former school bullies, handpicked by the people they used to beat up, fighting against certified MMA fighters in a sanctioned MMA fight! YES! This is a

    To comment on this post, please visit the original article click here

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