grappling
Col. William E. Fairbairn, The Father Of Modern Hand-To-Hand Combat
The more I have been reading about Col. Fairbairn and the fighting system of Defendu or gutter fighting, the more intrigued I have become.
Defendu incorporates movements and techniques from Tenshin Jiu Jitsu, but what makes it unique, is that with the assistance of Eric A. Sykes, he actually made techniques easy to learn and to remember, especially when under stress.
As this system does not call for any complicated moves and physical fitness, just about anybody can achieve proficiency in a fairly short period of time.
Originally, Fairbairn developed and taught Defendu to the 9,000 Shanghai police officers and even to the famed 4th Marine Regiment known as the China Marines.
Get this: Fairbairn founded, developed, trained, and headed the Shanghai Riot Squad. It was the first ever Special Weapons & Tactics Unit, and even today it serves as the prototype for S.W.A.T. teams as we know them.
Did I mention that this all occurred between 1907 and 1940 in Shanghai which was considered one the most dangerous cities in the world at the time?
First an international settlement and later under Japanese occupation, Shanghai dealt with a tremendous amount of gang wars, drug trafficking, murder, political assassination, prostitution and kidnapping, just to name a few.
Defendu is considered as the first police defensive tactics system. Defendu includes striking, kicking, biting, gouging, trapping, holds and joint locks, throwing etc. in close quarters.
What appeals to everyone serious about self-defense is that it gets right to the point and avoids high kicks and jumping techniques which can look great on the Big Screen, but shouldn’t necessarily be used when you just want to get home safely.
Fairnburn was an accomplished Kodokan judoka (certified by Jigoro Kano!) who also incorporated some basic ground fighting techniques along with chokes and take downs as the basic grappling defenses.
After retiring from his police work in Shanghai in 1940, Fairbairn returned to war-time Great Britain where he received the assignment to train British and Allied commandos at a top-secret location. The special operators were then responsible for training the US Army, Marines, Rangers and OSS (later CIA) operatives.
Col. William Ewart Fairbairn was born in 1885 and died in 1960. He was a British soldier, police officer and while training WWII Allied forces and later Western intelligence services, he was considered the most knowledgeable expert of hand to hand combat at the time.
Here you can see Fairbairn demonstrating elements of his system together with another close combat legend, Rex Applegate.
And here is what Bill Wolfe has to say about Col. Fairbairn:
Ricardo Liborio, BJJ/Grappling Legend On A Mission To Help Blind Kids
Today, I just came across a story that I found to be very inspirational, to say the least.
If you follow martial arts, especially MMA (mixed martial arts), you are no stranger to BJJ (Brazilian or Gracie Jiu Jitsu).
Considered Grandmaster Carlson Gracie’s best student, Ricardo Liborio has proven to the grappling world to be an absolute BJJ legend.
Among numerous titles and accomplishments in competition, Ricardo was also the first BJJ heavyweight world champion.
After moving from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to the United States, Ricardo joined forces with Dan Lambert, Marcelo and Conan Silveiro to form the ATT (American Top Team) in Florida and their fighters have been leaving their mark in both the MMA and grappling arena.
Now that might be impressive and all, but what I really think is cool is the following:
Inspired by his 4-year-old daughter, Bella’s blindness, Ricardo Liborio is holding a summer martial arts camp for blind kids in Coconut Creek in Broward County, Florida.
Ricardo and his team of instructors are teaching 15 kids from the age of 6 to 12. Some kids were born blind, others unfortunately lost their sight later on, like Bella Liborio due a genetic disorder.
Guys, we all have our challenges learning new martial arts moves, maybe even old ones. How about learning new moves you can’t see, because …..you can’t see?
The kids at the summer camp, which is organized by the non-profit organization Lighthouse, have to rely on touch and commands they hear from their instructor.
And because they can’t see the position, their instructor will place them in the position and simply explain how the move actually works.
Once they feel how the move works, they can imitate it and with their instructor’s aid, they can try doing the movement by themselves.
A number of Ricardo Liborio’s blind students have continued their training to win national grappling championships and to actually become instructors themselves.
But what seems to be at least as important to Master Ricardo Liborio is the difference he is making by helping the kids live happy and fulfilled lives.
Should Ken Shamrock Retire From Professional Fighting?
Just recently living MMA legend Ken Shamrock lost another fight in the cage. This time against veteran cage fighter and extremely effective kicker, Pedro Rizzo from Brazil, who himself is not even close to current World Championship status, but who can still cause some serious damage.
46-year old Ken Shamrock, who at the peak of his professional fighting career was also known as “The World’s Most Dangerous Man”, is still in incredible shape, but unfortunately he doesn’t implement the way he was known for or better feared of.
Together with legendary Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock was the first MMA fighter to be inducted into UFC’s Hall of Fame just 5 years ago.
The vast majority of his recent fights, Ken Shamrock has lost during the first round, which just has to be to frustrating to say the least.
With his name recognition he still can get crowds excited to show up in throes to watch him step into the cage.
With his vast experience and extraordinary fighting skills that encompass some of the best submission grappling prowess the world has ever witnessed, I firmly believe that Ken Shamrock could easily become a highly sought champion trainer/instructor, fight commentator/analyst and so much more that would even pay some serious dinero.
So, again I ask you “Should MMA Legend Ken Shamrock retire from professional fighting?’
While you contemplate, enter “The Lion’s Den” and meet one of the best MMA fighters ever, Ken Shamrock:
Cung Le And The Chinese Fighting Art Of Sanshou
Just recently I heard about a Chinese fighting art ….. on the tennis court!
As I was talking with a team mate, I learned from him that he had been a practitioner of a style I had briefly heard about years back, but I never really looked into any deeper.
Until today.
Originated in China the style is called Sanshou (free hand) and at times Sanda (free fighting).
It is both a self-defense system and a combat sport.
Sanshou combines a number of extremely vital and effective elements such as kicking, punching, throwing, grappling and applying joint locks.
One of Sanshou’s special emphasis is the so-called kick-catch, whereby one person throws a kick and the other person catches the kick and then trips the other person’s leg they are standing on.
Thinking about it, that’s what we even practiced way back in my Shotokan karate days. I just made that connection while writing this.
Sanshou as a sport is regulated by a bunch of different rules depending on amateur or professional status and also on the location of where the fights take place like China or the U.S.
Among all the successful and very skilled Sanshou fighters, one practitioner has really stood out for me during the years and he has without a doubt made a name for himself. He is the Vietnamese American kickboxer, mixed martial artist and actor, simply known as Cung Le from San Jose, California.
Cung Le has won too many titles and championships to list here, but I will mention that he won the Strikeforce Middleweight World Championship by beating legendary mixed martial arts champion Frank Shamrock about 2 years ago. Cung Le actually broke his opponent’s arm by executing devasting kicks during their fight.
Cung Le has been actively pursuing his career on the Big Screen and was awarded a role in Bodyguards And Assassins starring Donnie Yen which was released last December.
I found a video clip that I think you will enjoy if you like action-filled fight scenes. Warning: It can be a little rough and tough at times.
I Know That “Judo” Gene Lebell Could Have Choked Him Out
Did anybody else watch “24″ last night?
I must have already told you guys that “24″ is probably the only TV show I actually watch on a regular basis.
Last night was no exception and I must say this season has been pretty exciting and full of twists and turns.
And out of nowhere legendary Gene Lebell , “The Godfather of Grappling” shows up briefly on the show and I’m driving my wife nuts:
“Hey, that’s Gene Lebell! Did you see him? That was him, right?! That’s awesome. OMG”
Even though I couldn’t admire him for very long last night, because the writers of the show had other plans. If you know what I mean……
I don’t want to give anything away, because some of you might not have seen yesterday’s episode yet.
Anyway, this is the last season of “24″ and Jack Bauer will be missed around here.
8 seasons in today’s competitive TV environment and I guess you can say they had a good run.
But I digress.
Let’s get back to “Judo” Gene Lebell who was featured here months ago. Just do a search in the archives.
And also check out this short interview. You gotta love the him:
“When in doubt, choke ‘em out!”
Erin Go Bragh! And Don’t Forget The Shamrocks!
Hey guys,
Got back from the second largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade and festivities in the United States.
After New York City, Savannah is a close second when it comes to the best that St. Patty’s has to offer.
On a quick side note, St. Patrick’s Day is an official holiday in Ireland, but not necessarily the official drinking day it is here in the U.S. of A.
But back to Savannah, Georgia: This city of somewhere around 200,000 population has a long tradition celebrating everything Irish.
This year’s parade was its 187th and there are quite a number of citizens of Irish heritage.
On the Eve of St. Patrick’s Day I was able to witness several bands of bag-pipers face off. It was absolutely mesmerizing.
These guys come from as far away as NYC, Boston and even the Emerald Isle, aka Ireland!
We didn’t celebrate into the wee hours, because we had to be at Calhoun Square by 5:30 a.m. and that meant getting up at 4:15 a.m.!
Why so early if the parade doesn’t start until 10 in the morning?
Traditions are strong here, which means securing your curbside spot at 6 a.m. to set up your chairs, gazebos and all your goodies. And that means a lot of food and drinks with friends and family.
The parade was amazing and went for around 4 1/2 hours. What a great experience thanks to our newly found friends and life-long Savannahians.
I guess everybody makes the connection between Irish and their national symbol, the three-leaf clover or shamrock.
The shamrocks I want to remember today are former UFC fighters and brothers, Ken and Frank, who are legendary in their own right.
Let’s start with Ken Shamrock (UFC Hall of Famer), who was the first Superfight Ultimate Champion before the title was renamed to Heavyweight Champion.
During his reign this one-time professional wrestler was considered the world’s best mixed martial artist and even today he is still considered one of the best fighters of all time.
Ken Shamrock is the older adopted brother of former UFC champion, Frank Shamrock.
At one time known as “The World’s Most Dangerous Man”, Ken Shamrock is also the founder of one of the most successful MMA camps, “The Lion’s Den”.
And then there was his younger adopted brother and fellow UFC champion, Frank Shamrock.
Nicknamed “The Legend”, Frank has also been called the best competitor in UFC history.
He held the UFC Middleweight title, before it was renamed Light Heavyweight.
Like his brother, Ken, he is also an expert at submission fighting.
Nowadays, Frank is in great demand as a fight commentator and coach.
Here some great tips from the author of “Mixed Martial Arts For Dummies”:
What A Week In Review At The MartialArtsReporter.com!
St. Patrick’s Day was awesome and the rest of the week wasn’t too shabby either.
If you are a single mom or know someone who is, please take note of this Personal Safety Alert For Single Moms.
We all know that Bruce Lee could punch and kick, but he also knew something about the art of fighting without fighting.
Surprise – surprise! What you didn’t know about pro golfer Phil Mickelson.
Going Green: Happy St. Patrick’s Day And Irish Stick (Shillelagh) Fighting!
This guy blows me and his opponents away: The Best Pound-For-Pound Fighter, Also The Best Ever Fighter In The World?
Amazing: Ultimate Fighting has become a household name, but what did the first ever Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC 1, Look Like?
Talk soon, my friends.
What Did The First Ever Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC 1, Look Like?
It’s amazing that more than 15 years have passed since the very first Ultimate Fighting Championship event UFC 1.
In only two weeks from now we are looking at UFC 111!
The original event took place on November 12, 1993 in Denver and was more of a tournament than just individual fights in various weight divisions.
There were 8 fighters and no weight classes and no rules! well, there were some rules such as no biting and no eye-gouging.
One of the basic ideas that the creators had was to get fighters/martial artists from different styles to determine the most effective style.
When everything was said and done the winner was Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner Royce Gracie, who was by far the lightest fighter beating a number of way heavier opponents.
He won the final match against Gerard Gordeau via rear naked choke and he put BJJ on the map especially here in the U.S.
And fighting would never be the same!
Today, I just wanted to reminisce and look at how it all started:
Tipping Off March Madness With The Week In Review
“Variety is the spice of life.”
I am trying to live up to that saying by posting about different topics that relate to martial arts or not. Anyway ….
In case you were too busy being busy, here’s what you missed:
Bulgarian Greco-Roman Wrestler Is Big In Japan: The David Beckham Of Sumo
It Happened In 1935 … Sarah Mayer, First Non-Japanese Female Judo Black Belt
The Question Is: “Honestly, Are You Really Prepared To Fight If You Have To?”
With ‘The Sensei ‘, She’s Creating Buzz In The Movie Industry And Let’s Just Face It … With A Name Like Lee Inosanto, She’s Got To Be Good
What Goes Up, Must Come Down. With This Guy, Things Appear To Be A Bit Different. Thai Action Movie Star Tony Jaa Defies The Law Of Physics.
There you have it: The Week In Review At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
Have a great Sunday!
I will be reporting again from here tomorrow.
Finland: Sauna, Wodka And A Very Eclectic Korean Martial Art
Most of us would make the connection between Finland and Finnish sauna and even some of the most famous Wodka brands money can buy, right?
But Finland and a very eclectic Korean martial art?
Let me tell you how this post came together.
Last Sunday while getting ready for a tennis mixed doubles match I was talking with one of my team members and his wife about martial arts.
They told me that that they had studied some Korean martial art several years ago in Mississippi, which they referred to as Han Moo Do.
I actually had no in-depth knowledge of this style and they were kind enough to tell me a little bit more such as:
Han Moo Do is a fairly young style which consists of elements of Tae Kwon and Hapkido. They probably told me more, but that’s what stuck with me.
That sounded pretty intriguing to me, so I started to dig a bit deeper and here is what I found online:
Han Moo Do was created by 8th dan Young Suk (Yoon Soon Hwang) about 20 years ago, when the first club was established in Finland!
Lately it has been spreading to other Nordic countries, such as Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
The first club outside of the nordic region was recently set up in Limerick, Ireland. But also even in Mississippi in the U.S. Southeast as I mentioned above.
Hanmoodo is descended from other Korean styles, such as Hoi Jeon Moo Sool and Taekwondo, so Hanmoodo resembles these styles as well as Hapkido in many areas.
Hanmoodo’s techniques include kicks, punches, throws, takedowns, grappling , joint-locking techniques and chokes.
Kicks are mostly aimed at ribs or head.
Punches can be targeted to the body only.
Throws and takedowns resemble Judo and wrestling techniques but are done even more elegantly.
Joint locks mainly target the wrist and elbow but there are also leg locks.
Chokes are performed mostly with forearm and wrist.
The art contains three weapon styles: nunchaku, long staff e.g. Japanese bo; and sword e.g. Japanese katana.
Hanmoodo practitioners are also encouraged to engage in exhibitions where a practiced choreography is presented to an audience. These choreographies feature several practitioners performing self-defence techniques on each other.
In competition, Hanmoodo rules permit kicks above the waistline and punches between the waistline and the head.
All strikes must hit the front of the body and other kinds of strikes are prohibited.
Competitors may also grapple by throwing or taking down their opponent and controlling him/her on the mat but striking is prohibited when either competitor has a hold on the other or is considered to be on the ground.
I have found Han Moo Do or hanmoodo to be a rather interesting mixed martial art that covers the four combat ranges of long, medium and close as well as ground fighting. Oh, yeah, weapons, too.
Personally, I can do without the high-flying kicks, which in no way criticizes the style itself. High kicks might have their justification.
Summa summarum, I am impressed with Han Moo Do and to give you some visuals of it all, here is a clip I found. Hope you enjoy it.
P.S.: My wife and I won our tennis match 6-0, 6-3.!
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