Boxing
Taekwondo Grandmaster & Man Of Contrasts, Hee Il Cho
9th degree Black Belt Master Cho, who turns 70 this year, empitomizes the winning attitude of “I Can And I Will”.
Born in Pohang, Korea, in 1940 during the Japanese occupation and growing up as an adolescent during the Korean War (1950-53) life was not for the faint of heart.
Master Cho started his martial arts training at about the age of 10 after being beaten by a couple of teenage punks.
And again, his Tang Soo Do training was not for the faint of heart. Only the toughest made it through the rigorous daily 5-6 hour grind.
By the age of only 13, Master Cho attained his 1st dan and upon reaching the age of 21 he was a 4th degree Black Belt!
He complemented his Taekwondo training with boxing for around 2 years.
When he was 22 years old, Master Cho was called to serve in the Korean Army. During his tour he even taught Taekwondo to Indian, Korean and U.S. special forces.
By the time he left Korea for the United States in 1968, Master Cho was already a 6th dan.
After moving from Chicago, South Bend (Indiana) and Providence (Rhode Island) he ended up in Los Angeles where he lived, trained and taught from 1975 till 2000.
No other Taekwondo practitioner in the world has donned more martial arts magazine covers than Master Cho. More than 70 times!
Master Cho has been considered controversial by some in the Takewondo community for his views on how the art should progress and evolve, all whilst maintaining tradition and on the same token expecting TKD to move forward. He also ruffled feathers for incorporating boxing training and techniques to make Taekwondo practitioners more-rounded martial artists.
The Black Belt Hall of Fame Inductee and Black Belt Instructor of the Year has been marveled for his kicking abilities, especially his spinning kicks.
Master Cho has displayed his amazing kicking skills in countless books (e.g. “Man Of Contrasts”), videos, movies and seminars conducted throughout his martial arts career that now spans 60 years.
Hee Il Cho continues to teach in Hawaii where he now lives.
I would like to end today’s post with a very interesting statement Master Cho made in reference to a number of incidents, in which after being challenged by some guys walking into his school and beating them and then only to get sued for injuring them.
“All this has created a great conflict within me, for if I cannot use my skill to protect myself from any person who walks in off the street and demands a fight, how can I hope my student will retain confidence in my ability to teach them this skill? And yet, if I use my skill and hurt someone, even in self-defense, have I not betrayed the spirit of what martial arts are all about?”
And I know how much you enjoy “Masters In Action”:
I Really Think He Was “The French Steve McQueen”
Our today’s person of interest was a boxer and a very promising European football/soccer player before becoming an extremely successful actor on the Big Screen in Europe in the 60s through the 80s.
Born in a suburb of Paris in 1934, Jean-Paul Belmondo, shot to fame in Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 classic Breathless which was later rehashed with Richard Gere.
He rapidly became the most popular French star of the decade, working with top directors like Louis Malle and Francois Truffaut.
Belmondo was a major box-office draw in countless movies and the epitomy of the French rogue in films like 1930s gangster saga Borsalino and spy thriller That Man From Rio.
Later he starred in a bunch of far-fetched action sagas and comedies, preferring to do his own stunts. You know how I appreciate that!
American movie and TV series buffs will like this:
Belmondo was saluted in a 1967 episode of the U.S. television sitcom Get Smart.
In the episode “The Spirit is Willing” a top agent of the sinister spy agency KAOS is named Paul John Mondebello, an obvious alteration of Belmondo’s name.
My personal favorite Belmondo movie is The Professional (Le Professionel) directed by French director Georges Lautner, which is based on the award-winning 1976 novel Death of a Thin-Skinned Animal by Patrick Alexander.
The music was composed by the legendary Ennio Morricone and the theme music Chi Mai became a worldwide hit.
The plot goes something like this:
Belmondo plays French secret agent Beaumont, who is sent to Malagawi (fictional African country) to kill their president for life (=dictator) Colonel Njala. But before he can get to Malagawi, the political situation changes and the French secret service betrays him to African authorities. After a long and of course unfair trial (Belmondo’s character is drugged) he is slapped with a long-term prison sentence.
Our hero however escapes to France and lets his former chiefs know that he still plans to kill Njala, who is in France for an official visit. That’s his way to get revenge on the ones who betrayed him. And boy, do they get nervous and send their henchmen on his trail.
Belmondo, I mean Beaumont, is always at least one step ahead of them. And in the process humiliating and even eliminating some of the major betrayers. He even manages to kill Njala simply by leading his rivals to accidentally killing the dictator.
But as he tries to escape ….
Heck, I can’t give everything away, because you might watch the movie one day, right?!
Here’s the trailer (in French) with some action scenes all shot about 30 years ago.
Au revoir, mes amis!
Is UFC’s Dana White Rooting For Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell Or Tito “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz?
Well, it sure sounds like these two former Light Heavyweight Champions will be facing off again in “The Octagon” in the very near future. Supposedly sometime this Summer.
Let’s have a look at the stats, shall we?!
Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, age 40, 204 lbs., 6′2″, record of 21 wins and 7 losses
versus
Tito “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz, age 35, 205 lbs., 6′2″, record of 15 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw, whereas two of his losses were against his next opponent who just happens to be Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell!
Dana White is bringing back these two MMA legends to fight each other, because there are still some unanswered issues between them and their names with considerable fan bases will certainly draw big crowds.
It’s simply good for business and that’s very important for MMA and UFC in specific if they want to continue to leave professional boxing in the rearview mirror.
My question however is, “Is Dana White Rooting For Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell Or Tito “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz?”.
To answer that question, let’s just check out these clips I found:
For Tito 
or
for Chuck
Let me know what you think.
James Cagney, First Martial Artist To Star In A Movie
Academy Award winning actor*, James Cagney (July 17, 1899 – March 30, 1986) gained fame and won major awards for a wide variety of roles.
Cagney is best remembered for playing “tough guys.”
In 1999, he was even ranked #8 among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time by the American Film Institute.
Today, I would like to share something astonishing with my readers that most people certainly do not know.
Not only a proficient boxer, James Cagney was also a certified Judo black belt!
James Cagney starred in the 1945 movie Blood On the Sun, which contained one of the most impressive fight scenes ever shown in a movie. Seriously.
Casually known as “The Professional Againster”, Cagney was definitely the real deal and insisted on performing his own stunts. Thus, Cagney required judo training from expert Ken Kuniyuki and Jack Halloran, who was a former cop.
I was able to find a clip that shows Cagney and Halloran going at it without all the special effects that are available to moviemakers nowadays.
Remember that this movie was made almost 70 (seventy) years ago!
Enjoy James Cagney, First Martial Artist To Star In A Movie!
*Academy Award for Best Actor in “Yankee Doodle Dandy” in 1942.
Learn The Muay Thai Clinch From Walter “Sleeper” Michalowski
While training in Muay Thai years ago, my trainers emphasized the importance of knowing how to clinch and how it can help control your opponent.
If applied correctly and decisively, it will be to your advantage. For real!
And there is one guy who can credibly demonstrate this technique, because it has worked for him countless times while fighting and beating some of the best in the business. Even in the birthplace of Muay Thai, which of course is Thailand.
His name is Walter ”Sleeper” Michalowksi.
Walter is the owner and head instructor (kru) of Sityodtong USA in Pasadena, California.
And this is what I found on their site:
“At his last pro fight he was the featured main event at the newly built Pattaya Stadium in Thailand. He fought against Phothong Sor.
Preapan, a formidable opponent that was fifteen years his junior with twice as many recorded fights. The bout was broadcast on Thai national television and Walter won by an impressive first round knockout victory.
Walter’s record is 32–5-0 and include two United World Muay Thai Middleweight titles, three UWMTA Junior Middleweight titles and an International Muay Thai Council Middleweight North American Championship title.
When asked if he’ll ever fight again, Walter’s response is neither a firm yes nor a definite no, because as a gym owner his focus and passion is training students and developing fighters.
Walter attributes his success in the ring to having logged many miles with top-notch trainers and coaches. He was a staff instructor in the Jeet Kune Do Concepts under Richard Bustillo and his conditioning trainer for several of his championship titles was with notable strength and conditioning coach, Matt Ribaudo from All Star Fitness.
In addition to Muay Thai, Walter is also a skilled boxer and since early 2000 he has trained with Freddie Roach and Justin Fortune at Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood. ”
Train this one and it will serve you well.
The Week In Review At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
Hey guys!
I hope you had a great week and you are enjoying your weekend.
You might have already noticed that I have added a very cool inspirational feature of “The Quote Of The Day” on the right side bar.
So, instead of just 2 quotes a week, you’re getting at least 7 a week, or at least one a day. Sounds like taking your daily vitamin!
Besides that let’s just dive right into all the exciting posts and what else happened this last week:
Honor Student – Muay Thai Style
Self-Defense From A Pinned Down Position
Bartitsu, The Fighting Style Of Detective Sherlock Holmes
Canadian UFC Welterweight Superstar Georges St. Pierre And “Operation Olympic Wrestling 2012″?
Get Ready For A Western Boxing Prodigy
First U.S. American Judo Brown Belt And 26th U.S. President
Talk to you soon.
Bartitsu, The Fighting Style Of Detective Sherlock Holmes
The latest blockbuster movie starring Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as his trusted asstistant, Dr. Watson, puts some serious martial art skills on display.
People have been asking me what style it actually represents and I must admit I had to do some research which has been a lot of fun.
Here is what I found out:
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author and the creator of the literary figure, better known as Sherlock Holmes, referred to his main character’s fighting style as ‘Baritsu’, which turns out is just missing one letter to be entirely correct.
The martial art is called ‘Bartitsu’ and was named by E.W. Barton-Wright.
Barton-Wright had lived in Japan in the late 19th century and studied Jiu-Jitsu, among others with Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo.
Returning to his native London, he conferred with several martial arts experts in boxing, Savate, walking-stick fighting and Jiu-Jitsu, to create his own system which would incorporate several aspects of a ‘Gentlemanly Art of Self Defence’.
Bartitsu became very popular in the very early 20th century, not only among men, but among women, who also very effectively used their umbrellas to defend themselves against big city London thieves and criminals.
Unfortunately, there was a falling out between Barton-Wright and his Japanese star student/instructor and his successful Bartitsu self -defense system along with school literally vanished overnight.
The Bartitsu Society that is reviving this century-old self-defense system provided the following video documentary. Enjoy!
First U.S. American Judo Brown Belt And 26th U.S. President
As I write this post, I make myself aware of the fact that even though the Japanese martial art of Judo translates into ‘the gentle way’ that it is not felt that way when you are on the receiving end of some of these highly effective submission techniques.
But let’s get back to today’s Mystery Man.
If you are a U.S. history buff, you already know whom I am referring to as the 26th U.S. President.
If not, here’s another hint: This gentleman’s face can be seen on famous Mount Rushmore.
But wait a second:
He’s not the only one honored there, because he is in the company of three other U.S. Presidents who left a lasting impression on history.
Well, who is it then?
Along with Thomas Jefferson, he is considered the most well read politician to have ever served.
He was also a fervent supporter of Abraham Lincoln’s civil war policies.
No, of course we aren’t talking about George Washington.
We are talking about no other than Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt!
He was a very active outdoorsman, avid practictioner of physical activities such as wrestling, boxing and yes, Judo.
Teddy Roosevelt was a 3rd degree Judo brown belt in his living years, taught by Master Yamashita, who introduced Judo to The United States in the late 1800s.
There you have it:
The First U.S. American Judo Brown Belt And 26th U.S. President, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt.
Talk soon.
Fight Deal For Manny Pacquiao Vs. Floyd Mayweather Set For March 13, 2010
Will this really be “The Fight Of The Century”?
And if so, the 20th or 21st century?
Can professional boxing thrive in direct comparison with mixed martial arts events such as UFC, Strikeforce or World Extreme Cagefighting in general? And not only on the exceptional nights featuring amazing fighters such as Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather?
The announced fight has all the necessary ingredients for a commercial success.
The top two Pound-For-Pound Fighters in the world:
Pacquiao, WBO welterweight champion, has a record of 50-3-2, with 38 knockouts.
Mayweather, currently No. 2 (who previously held the top pound-for-pound spot), holds a clean 40-0 record with 25 KOs.
I will be heading back to my Filipino-American barber in the very near future to get my hair cut and I will let you in on all the insider information.
Thanksgiving Week In Review At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
I Hope You Enjoy Thanksgiving Week In Review At TheMartialArtsReporter.com And A Quote I Really Like!
Sifu Eddie Camden, The Instructor Recommended By Martial Arts Legends
Martial Artists And The Day After Thanksgiving, Aka Black Friday
Happy Thanksgiving 2009 From TheMartialArtsReporter.com
Peaceful Warrior Wisdom For Martial Artists (And Others, Too)
Urijah Faber, The California Kid Of World Extreme Cagefighting
Jet Li, From Humble Beginnings To Action/Martial Arts Movie Superstar
This week’s quote for readers of TheMartialArtsReporter.com:
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but the number of moments that take our breath away. ” Unkown
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