martial artists
Greetings! Enjoy The Week In Review At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
This sure was another exciting week at The MartialArtsReporter.com!
And here it is “The Week In Review”.
I hope you enjoy your Sunday and find the time to take in all the video clips in their entirety.
Celebrating The Life Of Brandon Lee, Who Would Have Turned 45 Today
Get A Great Lower Body Stretching Workout In Only 3 Minutes!
Here’s An Upper Body Stretching Workout In Just 3 Minutes!
Boxing Insights From My Filipino-American Barber
Jeff Imada, The Genius Behind Great Action Movies
We Will Never Forget 9/11 American Hero And Judo Champion, Jeremy Glick
I hope you come back tomorrow for a new post.
Take care. Stay safe.
Emil Farkas, “Sensei To The Stars” And A Lot More
Having taught, among others: Herb Alpert, Fred Williamson, Dennis Hopper, Lalo Schifrin, Sherry Caffaro, Mike Connors, Peggy Lipton, Raymond St. Jacques, Irene Tsu, Peter Fonda, Linda Blair, Al Ruddy, Lou Adler, Paul Williams, Ted Mann, James Cann, Phil Spector, Barry Gordy, Jeff Barry and Lorenzo Lamas, our featured martial artist has been dubbed “Sensei To The Stars”.
Research shows that Emil Farkas is more than that. A lot more.
Hungarian-born American martial arts instructor, author and fight coordinator Emil Farkas started his martial arts career while still a youngster, and before age 20 he had earned his black belt in both Judo and Karate.
Both his parents were Holocaust survivors, and young Emil was born in the Hungarian town of Munkacz right after World War II, and grew up in an Orthodox home.
When he was 7, young Emil started getting into fights with some of his Hungarian classmates and he decidedto study judo at the local sports club.
In 1956, after Soviet tanks crushed a short-lived uprising, the family fled and ended up in Toronto.
Farkas quickly learned that anti-Semitism had preceded him across the ocean and so he was driven to put all his energy into his judo classes and trained almost every night.
Several years later, the first karate instructors arrived from Japan and Okinawa and Emil Farkas was immediately taken by the athletic kick ing and punching techniques. He became so proficient that he earned his first black belt in judo at 17, and in karate at 18.
In the mid-1960s, the Farkas family moved to Los Angeles and 19-year-old Emil looked for a job to support himself while attending college. He became a bodyguard to music industry mogul, Phil Spector.
In 1970, Farkas’ career really started to take off. That’s when he founded his own school, the Beverly Hills Karate Academy, which he still runs today. The timing was also good to attract Jewish parents and their kids, especially after the Israeli military victory in 1967.
Working for Phil Spector helped Farkas meet actors and screenwriters in Hollywood. As martial arts movies started to become popular, Farkas was in constant demand as a stunt and fight coordinator, training stunt doubles, and working with cinematographers on “choreographed action” or fight scenes, in Easy Rider, Killer Elite, Mannix, Spiderman, The Hulk, Mission Impossible and The Fall Guy, just to mention a few.
Sensei Farkas used the long waiting time on the movie sets to write books on the martial arts. He has co-authored numerous books, including the authoritative “The Original Martial Arts Encyclopedia: Tradition, History, Pioneers.”
As a martial arts instructor, Farkas now focuses mainly on “street-effective self defense” through Shotoka, a branch of karate that Farkas developed.
Today he is one of America’s most respected martial arts instructors and is without a doubt internationally recognized as a leading authority on the martial arts.
Currently, Sensei Farkas holds a 7th degree Black Belt in Karate, 4th degree Black Belt in Judo and a 4th degree Black Belt in Ju-Jitsu.
Not surprisingly, he is also an accomplished expert in realistic street combat, having worked as a bodyguard for many years.
In 2000, Farkas and Benny “The Jet” Urquidez founded the Los Angeles Film Fighting Institute, which was one of the first schools of its kind in the United States to teach martial artists the intricacies of stunt work.
In 1995, Farkas founded his own federation, The United International Martial Arts Federation, whose goal is to promote traditional martial arts worldwide.
Emil Farkas has shared his vast martial expertise as a Hand-to-Hand combat instructor to the Canadian Army as well as Women’s self-defense instructor at UCLA.
He has been on the cover of all major martial arts magazines including Black Belt Magazine, Karate Illustrated, World Karate, Inside Kung Fu, Combat, Fighters, Official Karate, Combat Karate and Budo.
In 2000, Farkas was inducted into the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame.
Hats off to Sensei Emil Farkas! ”You have come a long way since your childhood days in the Hungarian town of Munkacz.”
The Week In Review At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
The Week In Review At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
“Time keeps on moving into the future.”
But that shouldn’t stop us from having a look at this past Week In Review. Enjoy!
This has to be my personal favorite technique ever. Don’t miss “Back To Basics: Karate Middle Punch (Chudan Zuki)“
“Chewing on” an injury myself, I thought you might benefit from “Should Injured Martial Artists Still Work Out?”
At times underrated and underestimated “Judo: No Kicking And Punching, But It Can Still Hurt Like Hell!“
Do you know who ‘The Greatest Sports Figure Of The State of Iowa’ Is? Dan Gable, Olympic Wrestling Icon From The U.S. American Heartland
Yeah, it’s that time of the year again: “Jack Bauer/Kiefer Sutherland Of “24″ And The Art Of Fighting“
Congratulations To Fellow Martial Artist, Robert Downey Jr.! Wing Chun Practitioner Wins A Golden Globe Award for Sherlock Holmes!
Take it from the Little Dragon, Bruce Lee And The Power Of Goal Setting
Enjoy your Sunday!
I’ll be back here tomorrow. You, too?
Should Injured Martial Artists Still Work Out?
Good question.
It all depends on the injury and its severity.
Let me give you a very practical and current example:
It looks and feels like I irritated my right Achilles tendon on Tuesday. I will openly admit that there have been several short moments of frustration, but ‘Thank God’ these moments have been very few and very brief.
I am not alone with this type of nuissance, aka injury, which is helping me re-assess my warm-up, workout and nutrition routine.
Whenever there is an explosive movement involved your physical activity such lunging forward, sprinting etc. the risk of irritating your Achilles tendon can become an issue.
It does not apply to everyone the same way and to the same degree. It depends on age, overall physical fitness, how prone your tendons are to injury, how warmed up your body/tendons are, how well your body is supplied with the right nutrients, etc. etc.
Well, anyway, here I am talking about an issue that we tend not to give much attention to as long as we are injury-free, of course.
After immediately sustaining the injury I took 2 Ibuprofen to fight the inflammation and possible swelling and started elevated icing.
Of course, I have prescribed myself to rest and not putting any unnecessary weight or stress on the inflicted leg as well as applying Arnica-based creme.
“Rinse and repeat.” Meaning I will apply the same for at least 48 hours.
I am also taking natural supplements and enzymes to support to healing process.
After 36 hours I am already feeling both physically and mentally a lot better.
I have been through some injuries in the past that were much more painful and called for a longer recovery period than this one.
They were for example a dislocated right shoulder (my stronger arm) and 2 herniated cervical discs. OUCH!
Now finally back to my original question: “Should injured martial artists still work out?”.
In my own personal case, I have been working around the injury, such as working my back muscles while sitting and lying down and not putting any pressure on the injured leg.
I will still be working my arms, abs and upper body before putting in a stretching session.
While being less mobile during this period, I will reduce my calorie intake and will probably come out of all this even more ripped than I consider myself right now. Ha ha.
My glass is half full, because I am not dealing with a cracked rib, torn stomach muscle or some other debillitating injury that would really suck. Or even worse, damage to the fourth sacral nerve that put Bruce Lee out of commission for numerous months back in 1970.
If you are dealing with any of your own injury experiences, I would love to hear from you.
Even if you’re not, I welcome your comments.
I’m preparing my personal comeback and that reminds me of somebody with a gargantuan comeback in his own right:
Dan Gable, Olympic Wrestling Icon From The U.S. American Heartland
Unanimously, “The Greatest Sports Figure In The History Of The State Of Iowa”, Dan Gable has set the bar in high school, collegiate and Olympic freestyle wrestling soooo high, I wonder if anybody can come even close to matching or surpassing his accomplishments ever.
The reason I need to elaborate on wrestling today (again) is because it cannot be over-emphasized that the vast majority of physical encounters end up on the ground/floor and that’s where your grappling, wrestling, submission skills will be put to the test.
It was also the reason why yours truly as a tradtional Shotokan karateka saw the necessity and took he initiative to at least experiment in Judo years ago.
And honestly, every serious martial artist and every person serious about self-defense should have a very close look at their grappling skills.
Before I really get off track today, let’s get back to Iowa’s favorite amateur wrestling star, Dan Gable, who should serve as inspiration and motivation to you.
His achievements on the wrestling mat are legendary.
As a high school student Dan Gable was undefeated state champ during his sophomore through senior years. But wait, there’s more, a lot more!
While attending Iowa State University, Gable wrestled for three years and won 2 NCAA titles!
His only loss during his collegiate wrestling career was in his final match which brought his overall mark to an mind-boggling record of 181 victories and only 1 loss.
Dan Gable went on to wrestle internationally between 1971 and 1973 where he set his record at 29 wins and only 1 loss. Overall, his national and international freestyle wrestling record was 97-5.
One of his many highlights was the win of an Olympic Gold Medal as a Lightweight during the 1972 Munich Games where he did not give up a single point in all of his matches.
Following his extraordinary amateur wrestling career at the age of 28, Dan Gable became the wrestling coach at the University of Iowa in 1976.
In the nine years, from 1978 to 1986, under Gable’s leadership the Hawkeyes won the NCAA title each year, a record nine in succession.
He continued to coach the team until a sabbaticall after the 1997 season.
Gable’s coaching record in dual meets was 355-21-5 and that includes 15 NCAA titles and 21 straight Big Ten titles. Amazing!
He has also been called upon to coach the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team in 1980, 1984 and in 2000 in Sydney, Australia.
Dan Gable stays involved at the University of Iowa and not surprisingly he has also become a highly sought after motivational speaker.
In Waterloo, Iowa, they now even have a Dan Gable Museum that I am definitely going to check out when I head out there.
Now, let’s hit the mat!
Bruce Lee And The Power Of Goal Setting
There is no doubt that in his relatively short life of 32 years on this planet the legendary Bruce Lee achieved quite a lot. More than most people in several lifetimes.
After recently picking up another book on Bruce Lee I stumbled across a topic that has intrigued me for the last couple of years and that has brought numerous positive changes in my own life in a really short time by applying several things mentioned in today’s post. Seriously.
Today I would like to talk about ‘The Power Of Goal Setting’.
It is not about those New Year’s resolutions that usually fall behind your living room couch by mid February.
I’m talking about setting real, ambitious and yet achievable goals.
But there’s more to it than just saying “I’m going to do this or that.” A lot more!
This post will not cover all aspects of goal setting, but it will give you some direction and I am pretty sure some easy-t0-follow tips that work for me and that worked for Bruce Lee, too.
Anybody known (or unknown) for remarkable achievements most probably read the best-selling book by Napoleon Hill “Think And Grow Rich” and then took decisive action. Yes, even Bruce Lee.
All success begins with …. let me quote Napoleon Hill, who said:
“The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.”
So, how great is our desire to achieve?
Desire is the starting point. But where do we go from there?
We have to break it down in achievable goals. If your goals are outrageous, you will stretch yourself to reach them which is definitely a good thing. If they happen to be too outrageous, your subconscious mind or inner critic will most probably start sabotaging you.
What am I saying?
Let’s say you are currently making US$ 20,000 a year. You set yourself a goal of increasing your income to US$ 10 mio. by the end of this year. I am pretty sure that subconsciously it will already sound unbelievable and therefore unattainable.
Your goals have to be real, ambitious and yet achievable goal and here comes the kicker:
You have to write down your goals and you have to manifest them on a daily basis like Bruce Lee did. And you have to commit!
Bruce Lee’s personal handwritten statement was dated January 1969 and was titled “My Chief Aim” and read:
“I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest Oriental superstar in the United States. In return I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor. Starting in 1970 I will achieve world fame and from then onward till the end of 1980 I will have in my possession $ 10,000,000. I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness.”
That’s what I call powerful!
And speaking of power, we have more often than not heard about knowledge being power.
I believe that knowledge is only potential power. It becomes real power when applied. Just think about. You don’t have to agree.
In my opinion, it is more like “Knowledge + Action = Power”. Again, you don’t have to agree, but results don’t lie.
I know this post is a bit different from the ones you have been reading here, but, heck, variety is the spice of life, right?!
And we can never get too much inspiration or can we?
I would love to hear from you.
Have an awesome week! No, make that ‘year’!
Even though he is not known to be a martial artist, but he sure knows something about setting and achieving ambitious goals, Australian swimming sensation, Ian Thorpe. Enjoy this video on goal setting!
FREE: 5 Unique Pushups To Elevate Your Training Program
Every martial artist knows how important pushups are in any training program.
Boy, I sure do. And we did a lot of them in karate, boxing and Muay Thai.
Pushups are considered by many experts the single most effective exercise not only because of the number of different muscles involved.
The primary muscles used are generally, chest, triceps, anterior deltoid muscles.
Also positively affected are lower back, biceps and leg quadriceps.
Depending on how large of a pushup workout you implement, you are even improving your metabolism, circulation and cardiovascular health.
And you’re only using your own bodyweight!!!
I have selected 5 unique pushups demonstrated in a video that is just over 2 minutes.
You’re gonna love it!
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.
The First Week In Review In 2010 At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
Again, I would like to wish you guys a very healthy, wealthy and Happy New Year 2010!
Just in case you want to catch up with what happened this past week, here’s the review:
Shotokan Karate De Ashi Barai And Takedown Incorporate a Judo leg sweep and see what happens.
Happy New Year 2010! Wishing you health, wealth and happiness!
MVP (Most Valuable Posts) 2009 At TheMartialArtsReporter.com This has to be one of my personal favorite posts so far!
How Can Anybody Become 2-Time World Champion In Racquetball AND Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu? Find out more about this allround athlete from Hawaii.
Learn An Effective, Yet Underestimated Self-Defense Technique From Sifu Paul Vunak, The Former Hand-To-Hand Combat Instructor To U.S. Navy SEALS.
Inspirational Quotes To End The Year (And Start The Year) These quotes will get you and keep you going.
And as you might already know, it is becoming a tradition around here to end the Week In Review with at least two quotes.
Here is what I have for you today and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do:
“It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war.” JFK
“Facts are stubborn things.” John Adams
Stay in touch.
Happy New Year 2010!
TheMartialArtsReporter.com wishes you and yours a very Happy New Year 2010, accompanied by health, wealth and happiness!
Let’s make this a great New Year!
I have said this before and I cannot say it often enough:
Thank you so very much for your continued support and interest.
I would like to start the year with you by sharing some great quotes that I find very fitting on this very special day.
“In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, never in want.” Irish Toast
“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man.” Benjamin Franklin
“What the New Year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the New Year.” Vern McLellan
It’s New Year’s Day!
And that calls for one of the world’s best bands ever, U2!
I will be with you again.
Let’s say tomorrow.
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