Archive for August, 2009

14 Aug 2009

Martial Arts, MMA

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

    • The best Mixed Martial Arts Utah has can be seen tonight at Horns Elite 10

    Last night we headed over to the weigh ins for Horn’s Elite fight Night 10.  Good hell, what a room full of fighters.  It’s amazing how far we have come since the days of “Tough Man” competitions with a couple of shmucks flailing away at each other in a ring.

    Many people may not realize this, but Utah is currently turning out some of the best fighters in the game.  This is thanks in no small part to Jeremy Horn, one of the best and most experienced MMA fighters in the world and the amazing facility he runs here.

    Tonight, August 14th, will be the 10th of Jeremy Horn’s Elite Fight Night’s.  I can’t wait.  If you haven’t bought tickets yet, you can get details on Horn’s Elite webpage, or buy them at the door.

    A few fighters in particular that I will be keeping an eye on, and wanted to mention here though:

    Travis “T-train” Marx.  Travis is currently 14 and 1, with that single loss coming from Steven Siler, reigning champ out of the Throwdown gym, and quite frankly on of the toughest guys around.  Of those 14, only 3 have gone the distance.  One of the main things about T-train though, is he is a lot more than an accomplished fighter.  Travis had great personality and charisma.  He really was one of the most like-able guys at the weighins.  If you’re a brand, looking for someone to promote, and interested in getting more exposure to the Extreme Sports crowd, I would strongly recommend Travis as a great personality to tie that brand to.

    David Castillo.  David is currently 5 and 0, and although he doesn’t have a cool fight name yet, as far as I’m concerned, anyone who has seen him fight would call him David “Oh shit, I have to fight that guy?” Castillo.  I first saw David fight in Horn’s Elite Fight Night #8, where he ended the fight by breaking Paul Sizemore’s ribs with body shots.  David’s body shots are truly earth-shaking.  Hell, I’d almost rather keep my hands down and take shots to the head rather than go through what I have seen him do to people’s bodies.  David repeated this performance against an amazingly tough Eric Hernandez in Throwdown Quatro.  David is a fighter who I can guarantee we will be seeing in the UFC and other promotions.  Just as Travis Marx, these are a couple of guys that would do any brand proud.  You can see here, we had a chance to do a brief interview with Castillo about his upcoming fight:

    The last fighter I want to make mention of is Dave Foley, fighting out of Foley MMA in Ogden.  Foley is a bit of a mixed bag on his record (2 and 2), but the heart he showed in his fight against John Sharp in Horn’s Fight Night #8 was really impressive.  I think we will see some good things from Foley.

    I also plan to live-tweet what’s going on at the fights.  Check out our twitter stream, and we’ll see you tonight!

    12 Aug 2009

    Hapkido, Martial Arts

  • Posted by Utah Martial Arts Feeds

    • Hapkido TV Escape from Throwdown

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

    Someone picks you up and tosses you down. They are on your back trying to drive you to the ground and…? Here is an escape that really works!

    “Join Us”
    Allen Hughes
    HTV
    If you are unable to view this video click here

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

    12 Aug 2009

    Krav Maga, Martial Arts

  • Posted by Paul Evans

    • intensity vs technique

    Post by Paul Evans

    Time in each class (which is usually one hour) is obviously finite, so you are always making a choice: emphasize technique or aggressiveness?

    Of course, you can and should include both. No Krav Maga class is complete if you haven’t done at least one or two stress drills, and students should leave every class drenched in sweat. But at the same time, if all you do is stress drills, students can miss out on simple concepts that make their techniques more efficient (and, therefore, allow them to become even more aggressive). The simplest example of this is the student who is willing to punch aggressively and powerfully, but continually drops his hands while punching. At some point, we need to slow his training down to help him build better habits.

    The opposite is also true: focus too much on technique, and your students become technicians who don’t understand the violent, uncomfortable, stressful nature of a real fight. This is a crime no Krav Maga instructor should ever commit.

    So…we understand the dilemma. How to resolve it?

    My solution is by no means the only one, but I find it workable. I oscillate back and forth in my lesson plans over the course of two or three months between aggressiveness and technique. While making sure that every class has elements of both, I will focus a little more on technique for a month or two, and then move toward more aggressiveness. I am conscious of the emphasis, and I plan for a transition from one end of the spectrum to the other. This way students in Level One classes (average time in that level is 3-4 months), get a healthy dose of both technical understand and stress training.

    At our gym, we are just transitioning out of a technique-oriented phase into more aggressiveness (of course, I feel the need to restate that every class includes stress drills! It’s not a matter of omission, just emphasis). I just laid a challenge down to our instructors: I want to see who can generate the most “Oh-my-god-that-was-hard” comments from students. (The day after my challenge, one of our instructors made a brand new member throw up.) I will let you know what sort of results we see.

    Let me know your thoughts on aggressiveness v. technique training!

    12 Aug 2009

    Judo

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

    • Doctor Gordon is a God!

    BackAbout a week ago I worked especially hard in my Judo class. Although I didn’t feel like I took any real hard falls, or got mangled in any way, I noticed as I headed to my car that I had a really bad headache.

    From that moment on, for the following week I couldn’t go more than 4 hours without Excedrin or I would be levelled with a headache so bad I felt as if I might throw up. Now, I don’t normally get headaches… so this had me a bit spooked. I got thinking perhaps a concussion… but I didn’t think I had hit my head.

    I decided to try a chiropractor. Now, I have only actually been to a chiropractor probably 3 times in my whole life. I tend to be skeptical of people who get hooked on any sort of medical treatment… I prefer to try to “tough it out” when I get hurt, and it seems that many people can’t go more than a month without a visit to have their back tweaked.

    Day before yesterday I went in to the offices of Bryan Gordon. First off, he’s a great guy. He’s into the martial arts, and funny as hell. It really put me at ease, and made me feel that he understood me and my situation. 10 minutes later, a little snap-crackle-pop, and I’m walking out feeling great.

    I went to Judo last night for the first time in a week. I worked a good two plus hours, and I don’t hurt at all.

    I’m sold.

    Doctor Gordon, you’re my hero.

    (801) 562-1531
    Bryan Gordon

    If you practice the martial arts, and get hurt, have headaches, that nagging back pain, or whatever, I cannot recommend Bryan any stronger. I feel so much better :)

    Okay… I’m ready to throw. Who’s next?

    11 Aug 2009

    Grappling, Martial Arts, MMA

  • Posted by Utah Martial Arts Feeds

    • Grip Fighting

    This Article comes from SLC MMA

    To see the full original article click here

    In a sense, all grappling begins with a battle of grips.  Even in the standup game, the clinch positions and pummeling are extensions of the grip. Submissions are set-up by a proper gripping situation and to an extent, strikes can be too.

    Randy Couture uses his grips to set up his preferred clinches, so does Karo Parisyan. From what I’ve seen, Jens “Lil Evil” Pulver uses grip fighting to set up his favored style of dirty boxing. A lot of fights really get dictated by the flow of the gripping positions.

    Here are some videos to get your creative juices flowing.

    First things first, the vid above shows some of the two handed gripping positions like the s-grip and the gable grip.

    From the guard, there is one particular gripping situation that has both frustrated and delighted me – depending on who’s using it. You have one deep overhook and use that arm to reach over to the opponents non-hooked wrist. You’ve blocked his use of both of his arms and you’ve one free arm to punch, manipulate an armbar, or get into rubber guard’s mission control. In the video above, Kenny Florian uses this grip to stand up from the guard.

    I was first shown this by Eric down at Fusion gym – I’ll tell you, it’s tough to escape.

    Double wrist control from the guard is more potent in submission grappling than it is in MMA, and even more potent in gi jujitsu. In the video above, Frank Trigg illustrates why. Circling thumb-side and delivering elbows, compressing the hips forward when you do, helps break the grip and deal damage at the same time.

    This circling applies both ways though, if you’re on the bottom and a guy is double wrist controlling you, you can swim around like this to break his grip.

    Above: Greg Nelson, at Erik Paulson’s CSW, elaborates on grip training, freaky wrestler strength, and training.

    For Judo players and gi Jujitsu, grip fighting is huge. Every match begins with a grip, and if you can control the grips throughout, you control the match. The above video shows a drop seoi nage drill that is pretty slick. Tony, one of my instructors, showed me something similar that the Gracie-Baja guys were killing people with down at the Mundials. You set up the same way, entering in for seoi nage, but instead of passing through the legs you disappear on the the side of the legs and remain control of the sleeve. You finish with an easy single leg take down, among other things.

    Here’s a Judo friendly grip strategy video and another one about setting your power hand.

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

    10 Aug 2009

    Hapkido, Martial Arts

  • Posted by Utah Martial Arts Feeds

    • Hapkido TV MMA Self Defense Jake “The Snake” Paul

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

    This impromptu interview happened at Mushin Self Defense. Jake “The Snake” Paul talks about his upcoming welter weight title fight and MMA Self Defense.

    Good Luck Jake!
    Allen Hughes
    HTV
    If you are unable to view this video click here

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

    10 Aug 2009

    Martial Arts

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

    • Top 5 ways to kick Martial Arts Butt!

    We have all seen the Martial Arts in displays of ability that border on the magical.

    Why, just last night I watched a movie on TV where Jet Li went into a cage and single-handedly destroyed Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, and probably thirty other guys.

    But the question we are all left with is: How the heck do I do that??

    The answers my friends are clearly demonstrated in this fight scene from “Undefeatable” in 1994, where we see amazing use of what can only be described as:

    What-The-Fitsu

    1- Weapons.  A true hero never really rises to his peak until confronted with an unfair fight.  Time and time again we see the hero and villain face off evenly.  Not until the villain picks up a weapon do the Karmic tides begin to turn.

    2- Growls and snarls.  Martial arts is all about focusing the senses.  Guess what… God gave you five of them.  The more of them you can bring into play the better.  Bruce Lee was one of the early practitioners to demonstrate this little understood technique.

    3- Flesh.  You will never see a boxing match, MMA match or any good Jello wrestling done in a parka.  Strip down, oil down, and get to work ninjas.

    4- Trash talk.  Trash talking is key.  The real power punch of trash talking is if you can work in a good “tag line” that can be used again later.  In this clip we see the unheard of, and amazing display of a trash talk tag-line tag-team right at the end of the clip.  What can one say but “wow”?

    5- Let him slap your lady.  As we can see in this clip the oft-employed technique of your girl getting slapped so you can rescue her is what finally ends things.  I personally have had great success with this technique.  I have even gone so far as breaking wind in public places, and blaming my wife, just so I can jump to her defense and throw down some kung-fitsu-jitsu.  I especially like this technique because it harnesses yet another of the the five senses as part of your arsenal.

    Live good.  Fight good.  Wear tear-away clothing, and enjoy the clip.

    10 Aug 2009

    Martial Arts, MMA

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

    • Update on Kimo

    Well, as many of you watched, we were one of the many, many sites on the Internet that reported in error on the death of Kimo Lopoldo a couple of weeks ago.  Although I must say, that although Kimo faced challenges in his life, it was with fond reflection of his strength that we reported on his death.

    Well, apparently he’s still alive… and the bad news:  That whole fondness things didn’t last.  With his first video interview “postmortem”, Kimo made it clear that there should be no question about who he was in life… just watch the video, and you can decide for yourself:

    So why do I choose to write about this now?

    Well, I received a message from

    “Good New Movies
    In ASSOCIATION WITH
    Biblical Films”

    asking that I give equal coverage to a movie that Kimo has been working on as I did to his death.  A shameless ploy to capitalize on the God-send of Kimo making the news in order to hype up their movie?  I tend to think so… but you can decide for yourself:

    “On July 21st, your media organization reported the death of Mr. Kimo
    Leopoldo. In addition to falsely reporting his death, you listed his
    arrests, struggles with drugs and stagnated his career as a UFC MMA Fighter.
    What wasn’t reported was that Mr. Kimo Leopoldo had just finished filming in
    a major motion picture, “In The Closet”. “In The Closet”, winner of “Best
    Religious Film” at the 2009 San Diego Black Film Festival has a theatrical
    release date of October 30, 2009.
    We, as the production company, was devastated of the news of Kimo’s “Death”
    from your news organization. To realize that months of work and our plans of
    going to “The Tonight Show” and “ESPN” were going to be cancelled was
    heartbreaking.  Mr. Lamont A. Coleman (Director),  winner of the NAACP Award
    for Best Supporting Actor in “The Last Street Play” Directed by Paula Jai
    Parker (Hustle & Flow), was outraged by the remorseless attitude from the
    press when his reported death was false. Rosemarie Smith, Executive Director
    of The Coleman &  Smith Artistic Company (Non-Profit Organization), was
    disgusted to read the negative press surrounding his alleged death
    subsequent to the time he spent working with former at-risk teens in her
    organization. To read all the negative press of our star’s past life
    regarding his drug abuse, has become an enormous obstruction to the
    Christian crowd we are marketing to through Good New Movies.
    We are proud and excited to be working with Kimo as one of the stars of our
    film. It is really a blessing to work with him and in contrast to some of
    the accounts rolling around the internet, he is sharp, giving, and very
    focused on his work. In the film, Kimo plays a tormenting demon “Death” as
    one of the leads and was initially concerned about the message the film
    would send. After discussing his faith with the producers, he was pleased to
    see that the film’s message lined up with his belief in Jesus Christ. In his
    time filming with the production, he left everyone looking forward to
    promoting the film with him. His performance in the film is haunting,
    effective and is sure to be another highlight in his career.
    We are asking you to give us an equal platform, via publication, to show
    the positive work Kimo Leopoldo has done with the production, and our
    organizations.  As we begin our marketing campaign, we are giving you the
    opportunity to interview him and the director.
    For more information about our film, please visit
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1323927/, www.colsac.org, www.biblicalfilms.org,
    www.goodnewmovies.com”

    Okay, so you got your free promotion of your new movie from me.  I do want to ask however, in case anyone cares and is out for anything more than visibility: Who really did the damage to Kimo?  The community of bloggers who erroneously reported his death, fondly recalled his life, and (correctly) mentioned challenges he faced with drugs?  Or Kimo himself, who came out afterward looking like an incoherent gang-banger, and snickering about whoever he can’t mention that had him so busy that morning?

    He was more of a role-model when we all thought he was dead.  But… as long as someone gets to capitalize on him being in the news, I guess that’s all that matters :)

    5 Aug 2009

    Hapkido, Martial Arts

  • Posted by Utah Martial Arts Feeds

    • Hapkido TV Ricky Lundell Jiu Jitsu Leg Choke

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

    Ricky Lundell, two time world grappling champion, and youngest US Gracie Black Belt shows us his self defense moves! This is the first in a series spotlighting the “champ”

    “Better Together”
    Allen Hughes
    HTV
    If you are unable to view this video click here

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

    4 Aug 2009

    Martial Arts, MMA

  • Posted by Steve Spencer

    • Status of UFC, Affliction, Strikeforce, and MMA

    Tiny_UMA_PicThere’s been an awful lot of shakeup in the Mixed Martial Arts world in the last couple of weeks.  So just in case you’ve missed some of it, let me give you the whirl-wind update:

    Josh Barnett tested positive for steroids (again.)

    Due to Josh not being able to fight Fedor, Affliction crumbles.

    UFC takes on most Affliction fighters, and the clothing line.

    Barnett headed toward WWE.

    Rumors of Shaq fighting in WEC.

    Dana White is tired of light heavy weight belt being handed off every single fight, so plans to feed a lack-luster Shogun to Lyoto Machita in order to show how really kick-ass Machita is.

    Anderson Silva is pissed that he doesn’t get a title shot at Machita when he moves to fight at 205… has to fight Griffin first.  Even more pissed that Shogun does get a shot.  Feels it’s an insult to Machita.  Publicly states that Machita should refuse the fight.

    Dana, Fedor, and M1 Global negotiate at length.  Comes down to one deal-breaker: Cross promotion.  M1 wants events to be “UFC and M1 Global present.”  Dana says no.  They walk.

    Fedor signs with Strikeforce (the guys on Showtime, who also have Gina Carano.)

    Strikeforce states that it will likely have to go PPV rather then Showime for events in order to afford to pay Fedor.

    Well, that’s about it… you’re all caught up now.  The best news out of all of this is that a ton of good Affliction fighters are flooding into the UFC.  How will Strikeforce fare?  Can they afford the Fedor price-tag in the long run, or are they hanging their success on too few names, just like Elite XC and Affliction did?  Can someone find a way to get Hong Man Choi into the US to fight Shaq in WEC?  Dunno… should be fun to watch :)

    The worst news out of this?  If Fedor pushes Strikeforce to PPV, then I can’t just watch Gina Carano on Showtime.  Dangit!

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