martial artists
My Conversation With My Filipino-American Barber – Revisited
Yesterday, while getting my hair cut, my trusted barber also told me about Mr. Philippines.
Even though he couldn’t immediately remember his name, he knew that he was an accomplished bodybuilder and a very skillful FMA practitioner.
So, I simply set out to find some more information on Mr. Philippines, who was considered a National Treasure of the Philippines.
He was Rolando Pintoy Dantes, born June 15, 1944 and unfortunately died way too young on March 16, 2009.
Rolando Dantes was an international action movie star as well as a Filipino martial artist who trained with the legendary Grandmaster Remy Presas for over 30 years.
Furthermore, he trained in Filipino stick fighting with other highly acclaimed masters such as as Cacoy Canete and Edgar Sulite.
As one of the best-known Filipino actors, Rolando Dantes had leading roles in movies including “The Pacific Connection” and “Arnis: The Sticks Of Death.”
Dantes was a bodybuilder who won the “Mr. Philippines” title five times between 1969-1980 and placed in competitions for the titles “Mr. Universe” and “Mr. World”.
R.I.P., Rolando “Mr. Philippines” Dantes.
A Very Unusual Week In Review At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
I Really Hope Thiago Alves …. - 26 Year Old Brazilian MMA Fighter And Superb UFC-Welterweight FacingThe Biggest Challenge Of His Life.
Do You Punch Like A 7 Year Old? I wish I could punch like this kid. Find out what I mean.
Inglourious Basterds And Infamous Choke On The Ground Got Me Thinking About A way Out.
Move Over, Jackie Chan And Jet Li, Because Here Comes Donnie Yen Who Stars Again As Wing Chun Legend, Ip Man
The Kid From Beaufort Who Became Heavyweight Boxing Olympic Gold Medalist And World Champion And I Had No Idea Until Last Week.
Erin Go Bragh! And Don’t Forget The Shamrocks! Ireland Forever And Boy, Did I Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day In Savannah.
I would apppreciate your feedback to any of my previous posts and even topics that I haven’t touched on yet.
Talk soon.
Do You Punch Like A 7 Year Old?
Normally, most adult martial artists and boxers would probably say that they are way better.
And who would blame them.
But after watching this clip, 7 year olds are getting alot more respect.
I think Adam Azim is awesome, even if he doesn’t go pro.
Move Over, Jackie Chan And Jet Li, Because Here Comes Donnie Yen!
When it comes to martial arts action movie superstars, Jackie Chan and Jet Li have unarguably become household names.
But there’s another performer out there who has been around for many years now and who has been finally getting the attention and, in my humble opinion, long deserved star status.
Well, actually, he is considered the top action movie star in Hong Kong.
He is better known as Donnie Yen.
Martial artist and former stuntman turned actor, director, action choreographer and movie producer, Donnie Yen was born in Guangzhou (Canton), in the Southern Chinese province of Guangdong, in 1963.
When he was 2, his family moved to Hong Kong and then nine years later to Boston, Massachusetts in the United States.
At a very young age he developed a strong interest in martial arts, with his mother being a Wushu and Tai Chi practitioner, who even had a school in Boston.
Donnie studied numerous martial arts from Taekwondo to Wushu and became a very proficient martial artist, who was even admitted to the prestigious Beijing Wushu Team.
In the early 1980s, he starting working in the Hong Kong movie industry as a stuntman and then eventually getting acting roles until his breakthrough in 1992 in Once Upon A Time In China II (together with Jet Li).
He went on to act, to direct, to produce and to leave his mark as a distinguished fight choreographer in a number of productions such as Legend of the Wolf, Ballistic Kiss, Highlander: The Endgame, Blade II, Hero (again with Jet Li) as well as Shanghai Knights (this time with Jackie Chan).
In 2008, he starred in the biggest box office success in Hong Kong and China, Ip Man.
The movie depicts the life of the revered Wing Chun master and teacher of Bruce Lee.
They just recently announced the release of the sequel, Ip Man 2, which will be end of April 2010.
Just to whet your appetite, here’s Donnie Yen in action:
How did you like his chain punches?
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.
Do You Know The Art Of Fighting Without Fighting?
Now, wouldn’t that be cool?
Has anybody seen Bruce Lee in “Enter The Dragon”?
That was a rhetorical question. You hasn’t?!
I just love this one scene in which Bruce Lee’s character and the other fighters are traveling via junk from Hong Kong to Han’s island for the martial arts tournament.
One of the Western fighters has a really bad attitude and is giving the personnel a really hard time.
Bruce Lee’s character steps in and teaches him a lesson he’ll never forget.
I just love this one:
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:
The Week In Review At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
Whenever I put The Week In Review together, I become aware how fast time flies by.
Let’s enjoy the limited time we have here and make a difference in somebody’s life.
Hard to believe, but true: Ultimate Fighting Championship Is Gearing Up for their 111th event!
Did you know that UFC1 took place over 15 years ago? On November 12, 1993 and the overall winner was BJJ legend, Royce Gracie.
Fast-forward to March 2010: UFC 111 Main event GSP Vs. Dan Hardy. This will be the Welterweight title fight between “The Perfect Fighter” from Canada and “The Outlaw” from Great Britain.
Let’s foil attacks on girls and women and teach bad boys a lesson! Urgent appeal to girls and women: Learn Self-Defense!
This is one of my all-time favorites: Check it out now! Reminder: Italian Female Karate Champion Defeats Mugger.
Alright, so you got all the moves, but … Do You Really Have A Combat Mindset and Do You Really Have A Combat Mindset – concluded?
With all the buzz about Academy Awards, aka Oscars, I thought it might be an interesting approach by introducing the “Scottish Warrior Who Won 5 Oscars“.
There you have it again: The Week In Review At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
I would love to hear from you, so don’t be a stranger!
Tune in tomorrow, when I ask the question ” Whatever happened to …..?”
Reminder: Italian Female Karate Champion Defeats Mugger
The following story broke in September 2008 and it was also posted by my fellow blogger/martial artist John Zimmer over at MySelfDefenseBlog.com
As you know by now, I strongly advocate that girls and women should practice some type of effective self-defense.
That’s why I feel the incident that happened in the Italian capital city of Rome serves as a reminder. And its outcome as an inspiration for girls and women.
Lara Liotta was 29 at the time and already four times Italian women’s karate champion in the under 55 kg (120 lbs.) weight division.
While walking on a street in central Rome in broad daylight a man just approached her and asked her for a smoke.
She told him that she did not smoke and that’s when he allegedly lunged for her and grabbed her around the neck.
Obviously, this guy had no idea who he was dealing with.
Lara Liotta, who also works as prison officer, didn’t waste any time and put her black belt training to good use to defend herself.
Reports say that she executed two swift jabs to the man’s face knocking him to the ground.
I’m just wondering if she actually did 2 jabs or maybe a One-Two (Jab-Cross) combination. Doesn’t really matter right now.
I read that this female karate champion was fortunate she could rely on her skills to fight off her attacker, because there was no assistance from passersby, despite the attack happening shortly after rush hour on a Monday. Maybe it all went to fast for them to notice. Yeah, right.
This is not the first time and I am sorry to say that it will not be the last time that too many passerby don’t give a hoot. That’s just a fact of life.
Lara Liotta told an Italian newspaper that no one helped her or stopped, even though there were a bunch of people around at that time of the day.
After punching the man to the ground, Lara did the right thing.
She ran to the nearby railway station of Termini and alerted police, who caught the perp before he could run away. He was arrested and detained on charges of assault.
I urge you to read her statement very carefully:
“It could have been much worse. What would have happened if this person, instead of attacking me, a karate champion who knows how to defend herself well, had attacked a young girl?”
Lara Liotta also mentioned that she was lost for words.
Well, in this case her action was certainly louder than mere words.
It also looks like there was no time for talking or reasoning anyway.
Shouri, Lara Liotta!
Do You Really Have A Combat Mindset? -concluded-
Yesterday we talked about conditions ’White’ and ‘Yellow’ and today we conclude as follows:
Orange – Specific alert. Something is not quite right and has gotten your attention.
Your radar has picked up a specific alert. You shift your primary focus to determine if there is a threat (but you do not drop your six).
Your mindset shifts to “I may have to shoot HIM today,” focusing on the specific target which has caused the escalation in alert status.
In Condition Orange, you set a mental trigger: “If that goblin does ‘x’, I will need to stop him.” Your pistol usually remains holstered in this state.
Staying in Orange can be a bit of a mental strain, but you can stay in it for as long as you need to.
If the threat proves to be nothing, you shift back to Condition Yellow.
Red – Condition Red is fight. Your mental trigger (established back in Condition Orange) has been tripped. If “X” happens I will shoot that person.
The USMC also uses “Condition Black” as actively engaged in combat, as do some of Cooper’s successors, but Cooper always felt this was an unnecessary step and not in keeping with the mindset definition of the color code since it is a state of action.
Conclusion:
In short, the Color Code helps you “think” in a fight.
As the level of danger increases, your willingness to take certain actions increases.
If you ever do go to Condition Red, the decision to use lethal force has already been made (your “mental trigger” has been tripped).
All credits for introducing this entire concept go to Lt. Colonel Cooper, USMC (ret.).
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