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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.

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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!

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Posted by Steve Spencer

Randy Schawang passes away at 42

We recently posted a video by Hapkido TV with Randy Schawang.

I am sorry to report however, the passing of Randy Schawang at the age of 42.  Randy leaves behind three children, and many family and friends who dearly loved him.

Just one such example can be seen in this blog post by “Kate.”

I never knew Randy personally, but obviously he has touched many lives.  At this time however, Randy’s family is in need.  As you can read in this article on KSL,  the family is looking for donations to help wit the funeral.  The details provided are:

“All donations can be made at any local branch of Wells Fargo asking for the account of Randy Schawang Funeral fund.   All donations big or small will be greatly appreciated by the children and family.

God bless and thank you all !!”

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New on Products: Grill Guards, Custom Mouth Gaurds

We have another new item on our Products Page: Grill Guards, Custom Mouth Guards.

How could we cover Martial Arts gear from Utah, and not mention Grill Guards?

If you’re gonna play rough, wear a mouth guard or lose your teeth. That simple.

Why Grill Guards?

- They look absolutely awesome.

- It fits tons better than that piece of crap from Big 5.

- Better protection from a higher quality product.

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Posted by Steve Spencer

New addition on Products Page: Awesome custom T’s for under $10

I am always looking to add more local products to our Products page.  Here’s the latest:

I recently found a place that have I have been having some shirts made: CrewColors.

Unlike many places I spoke to, Ken is open to doing small orders, even onesy-twosey orders. Ken’s product is also amazing. Here is a picture of a black t-shirt he did for me, in high quality Hanes. Also, a really nice moisture-wicking gray shirt.

Ken can do Hoodies, T-Shirts, Wicking or tight fitting workout shirts (similar to Under Armor.)

What really impressed me is this however: Look at the picture to the right. The Logo is not ON the fabric. The Logo is IN the fabric. No more having the picture or letters on your favorite shirt crack after 6 months.

Ken also has a copy of an MMA Logo I have done just like the Judo Logo. I can also ship him any martial art name you want as a Logo witin a few minutes (Muay Thai, etc.)

But if you call Ken at Color Crew, and tell him that Utah Martial Arts sent you, he’ll do shirts with whatever logo or words you want, even your own. Heck, they can even help you make a logo or pattern. High quality shirts under $10. Plus, he has Large and Tall sizes (for a few bucks more.)

Crew Colors: (801) 446-3582

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Posted by Steve Spencer

Diary of an Idiot

I’m writing this post from Layton. I am here for Jeremy Horn’s fight night 9. I have great seats… VIP, right by where the fighters walk out. I have been looking forward to these fights for weeks.

My wife and son are with me. We are all SO excited.

The problem: we got the date wrong. The fights were yesterday.

I feel so empty.

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Utah Martial Arts Launches a Reviews Section

I am often asked by people to recommend a martial arts class in their area for them or their child.  Unfortunately, any one of us only has a limited experience with this.  In order to help out with that, I have launched a new portion of this website to allow people to review, and read the reviews of others for local Dojo’s and Martial Arts studios.

Please go check it out.  If your school isn’t there, let me know, and write a review for it.

You can get to it by clicking here, or by clicking “Classes” from our top navigation.

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Ty Starts his Muay Thai class

For those that don’t know the history of this site, or of my Utah Judo site: although I have done wrestling and some Karate off and on throughout my life, and have been an MMA junkie forever, I really got back actively involved about two years ago when I started taking Judo classes with my don Ty, in order to get fit, and bond as father and son.  He has been a great friend, and in many ways an inspiration on this journey.

Ty has been doing great at Judo and Jiu Jitsu, but he has also been wanting to start working more on hs striking game (which, as you can see from the picture, needs some work .  So, this week we got Ty started in a Muay Thai class.

The first class was great for him.  I could really see him beam when the instructor was working one-on-one with him with the pads, and having him kick and punch them.  I will be working with Ty to get him to write up more about what he’s learning, and his thoughts on Muay Thai as he progresses.

We’ll keep you posted, but for now I think he’s jsut excited to get to hit something

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Throwdown Quatro: The level of MMA Utah brings is Amazing!

This weekend I got a full dose of MMA.  First, on Saturday I attended the Throwdown Quatro fights in the eCenter.  Then, on Sunday I watched the WEC fights on Versus TV.

Now, you might wonder why I even mention the WEC fights in a post about Throwdown.  The reason is that I want to rave about the level of fights that we watched at Throwdown.  The level of fighting that I got to watch in such fights as Davis vs. Martinez, or the Castillo fight was equal to anything that I was seeing on WEC.  The Siler Bias fight had some of the most technical, back and forth Jiu Jitsu you would ever want to watch.

For those that could not attend in person, we did real-time updates of the fights over twitter at http://twitter.com/utahmartialarts

Huge thanks go out to Throwdown for putting on such an amazing show.  Also, massive thanks to both Throwdown, and to Jeremy Horn from bringing this level of talent to Utah.

But I want to make sure and put out special thanks to all of the fighters for putting their hearts and souls into what we watched.

Stryder Davis: Never give up!  You have an amazing future ahead of you.  I love to watch the spirit of a world class wrestler as they transition into MMA.  Your striking game is top toch, and no one has more heart than you.  “Brave Heart” is the gym that Davis fights out of, and the name matches him to a T.

Martinez:  You are a champion.  I know it was hard to have the fight go the distance, and feel that the crowd wanted Davis to get the decision.  It was close and could have gone either way.  Few people on this planet could have continued to take the fight to Davis the way you did.  You deserve that belt.

Smith: Holy crap!  I have never seen a chin like that.  That beating would have killed most people.  Your spirit and will is unstoppable.  Nice job.

Castillo: I love to watch this guy!!  No one, and I mean NO ONE does body shots like this.  I look forward to following your career all the way to the UFC!

If I had any one complaint, it would be that I felt the judges were a bit slighted in favor of the local boys.  But hey, don’t let it go to the judges… Just ask Nick Dias

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Posted by Steve Spencer

Utah Karate Schools Diversifying?

It seems like for years the word Karate has been nearly ubiquitous.

Just as you would make a “Xerox” of something, or go grab a “Coke” (which might well be a Pepsi), or grab any one af several brands of “Kleenex”, so would you look for a “Karate” class for your kids.

There just wasn’t anything else.  Not to mention the fact that, by and large, people weren’t educated enough on the topic to know what the other options were, the differences, or that they should even consider looking at other options.  This is not to imply that Karate is inherently lacking (as Lyoto Machita has shown us.)

But it is to discuss rather that state of ubiquity is perhaps being a bit challenged.  I live in Riverton.  I noticed not long agi, that a new Karate school opened up in my area (You can find them here).  The even have a great domain name (rivertonKarate.com).  But what’s interesting is that they don’t call themselves Riverton Karate.  They are “East West MMA.”  I found this really interesting.  I am curious if we will see more of what had traditionally been Karate classes expand to offer more of an MMA experience.

Obviously this same question holds with all of the styles.

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