Muhammad Ali
This Week In Review At The MartialArtsReporter.com
Thanks for checking in today.
You are always welcome here at TheMartialArtsReporter.com
Today, I am introducing something here for the first time and I hope you enjoy it:
A Weekly Review Of The Preceding 6 Days – Just Click On The Link Of The Post You Missed Or The One You Liked So Much That You Just Have To Read It Again.
Also, I would like to introduce an inspirational quote that I just know you’re going like.
Wishing you only the very best, always.
Garage-Style Filipino Stick Fighting (Arnis, Escrima, Kali) with Dan Inosanto
Tips From Former Navy SEAL Hand-To-Hand Combat Instructor, Paul Vunak
Senior Grandmaster Ed Parker Sr., Father Of American Kenpo Karate
Joe Lewis, The World’s Greatest Karate Fighter Of All Time
Manny Pacquiao Or What I Learn From My Barber
Albert Einstein For Martial Artists And Anybody Willing To Learn
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” – Albert Einstein
Manny Pacquiao Or What I Learn From My Barber
Is Manny Pacquaio Now The Best Boxer Of All Time?
The answer is “Yes” according to my barber.
Yep, I got my hair cut today and I look awesome. My wife agrees.
My barber, as you might remember from a previous post, is a born Filipino, now naturalized American and he impresses me every single time with his knowledge of and admiration for Filipino national hero, Manny Pacquiao.
As you might have heard, Pacquiao beat fellow welterweight Miguel Cotto from Puerto Rico last Saturday in 12 long and brutal rounds.
Now, don’t forget that Miguel Cotto knows his stuff. He is a very powerful and agile boxer. Taller and heavier than Manny Pacquiao, thus you would think that all the advantages would be in his favor.
It sure looked like it after the first round on Saturday in Las Vegas.
But honestly, I didn’t see the fight.
Didn’t have to, because I got the all the insider information from my barber today.
Admittedly, I did check out the post-fight press conference and this is what I took away in a nutshell:
Manny Pacquiao has now won 7 different world titles in seven weight divisions! His fight record is 50-3-2. Whoa!
Nobody has ever done anything like this before. Not even “The Greatest” Muhammad Ali or Sugar Ray Leonard or Marvin Hagler or Roberto Duran or ……!
You gotta be impressed.
And you know what else?
Manny Pacquiao isn’t even 31 years old yet!
During the post-fight conference he looked a couple of years older and understandably, he just fought a very tough opponent for 12 rounds for a world title.
He took a number of blows early on in the fight, but according to my barber, he quickly took control and was definitely in charge of the ring.
Miguel Cotto’s family could watch him take the beating and left before the fight was over. No mas!
Like I said, I thought Pacquaio looked older right after the fight. Under his fashionable hat, which has almost become another one of his trademarks, his right ear was bandaged.
Well, if you think he looked bad, think again.
Miguel Cotto wanted to show up for the press conference, but the medical doctors ordered him not to and instead go immediately to the hospital to have his cuts and bruises taken care of. Ouch!
I guess he really took a beating, but he’ll be alright. I wish him from here a speedy recovery.
Back to Manny Pacquiao: This guy is amazing not only in the ring, but also outside of it.
As you know by now, he is a national hero in the Philippines. He is also in acting, politics, moviemaking and music recording.
Right after the press conference Manny Pacquiao was already scheduled to give a concert and reportely sing eight songs.
The things I learn from my barber.
I’ll be seeing him again in a couple of weeks. Can’t wait.
Jhoon Rhee, Taekwondo Grandmaster And National Treasure
Back in the day or should I rather say in the late 70s, when I was actively practicing Shotokan karate, some of my buddies and I would go check out Taekwondo schools on our “off” days.
But there never were any real “off” days, because we were just so karate-crazy. Can any of you relate?
I must say that we picked up some great ideas about improving our own kicking abilities on those “off” days by thinking and looking outside the box.
Then came the phase of incorporating contact in our sparring sessions.
And what a blessing it was when I stumbled across information in some martial arts magazine that Jhoon Rhee had developed Safe-T-equipment in 1972 which absolutely revolutionized karate training and tournaments not only in the U.S. but worldwide.
It sure did for us after we got the large box full of equipment. This must have been in 1979 or so. But here I go dating myself again.
And would you believe that I still have my set of Safe-T’s. I kid you not!
Jhoon Rhee, who is now 77 years young and a 10th dan in Taekwondo, did more than just that:
After leaving Korea and coming to the U.S. in 1956 he successfully promoted Taekwondo on such a grand scale that he is today widely recognized as the Father of American Taekwondo.
Due to his countless activities, especially in the Washington DC area, promoting overall fitness and American values at their best, Jhoon Rhee was referred to by Congressman Ike Skelton as a “national treasure”.
Jhoon Rhee and Bruce Lee became friends in the 60s and learned quite a bit from each other.
According to Linda Lee Cadwell they had a very close and respectful teacher – teacher relationship.
Bruce taught him how to much punch and Jhoon taught Bruce how to kick.
They exchanged letters (that’s what people used to do before email and twitter!).
During the late 60s, Jhoon Rhee’s self-defense classes became the talk of the town in the DC area after this TV commercial that people still talk about today:
Jhoon Rhee also showed Muhammad Ali, aka “The Greatest” a thing or two about punching:
Even at the age of 77, Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee is still as active as ever, working out on a daily basis which he hasn’t missed in twenty years and getting in his 100 push-ups per day.
Thank You, Jhoon Rhee, for your never ending inspiration!
Are Filipino Martial Arts Underrated?
When the topic of martial arts comes up, I have noticed that the majority of people immediately make the connection with Far East Asian countries such as China (kung fu), Japan (karate, judo, aikido) and maybe Korea (taekwondo).
Make a connection with Southeast Asia, not so much.
When you think of the Philippines nowadays in terms of fighting, you most probably think of the Filipino boxing hero, Manny Pacquiao, who has been dominating the World Light Welterweight division for some time now.
Or some of us might even remember or at least have heard about “The Thrilla in Manila”, the epic boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, which is sometimes even referred to as the Fight of the Century and took place in the Philippines on October 1, 1975.
But Filipino Martial Arts, aka FMA, are not necessarily on most people’s radar, right?
The Philippines is a country in Southeast Asia consisting of over 7,000 islands and a total population of over 90 million (U.S. population is around 300 million).
An amazing fact I found out is that there are over 10 million overseas Filipinos which represents a whopping 11 percent of their total population.
The Philippines used to be first a Spanish colony, named after King Philipp II (hence the Philippines) in the 15th century, and then later a U.S. colony after the Spanish-American War (1898-1902).
During WWII, with the help of some very brave and tenacious Filipinos the U.S. was able to drive the Japanese out of the Philippines.
The Filipinos have a long heritage of martial arts that dates back to when Lapu-Lapu and his warriors fought against the Spanish invaders in the 15th century and even killing the famous Portuguese explorer Magellan, who is known for discovering the Pacific Ocean. Only when the Spaniards came back with guns were they able to conquer the Philippines.
These fierce Filipino warriors were known to be extremely skillful in a number of aspects of jungle warfare (armed and unarmed fighting) and throughout time their skills were passed down to the next generation.
Some of the great Filipino Martial Arts legends that have become household names are Dan Inosanto, Atty. Jose Villasin, Cacoy Canete, Elmer Ybanez, Tony Diego, Teofilo Velez, Richard Bustillo, Edgar Sulite, Leo Gaje, Armando P. Angeles, Leo Giron, Mike Inay, Ernesto Presas, Remy Presas, and Angel Cabales.
Filipino Martial Arts, aka FMA, basically consist of the following:
- Panantukan (empty-handed techniques)
- Eskrima/Kali/Arnis de Máno (blade and stick fighting)
- Pantadyakan (kicking).
Every well-rounded martial artist should seriously consider FMA as part of their martial arts repertoire.
How about some appetizers to get you started today? Enjoy!
Pages
Recent Posts
Archives
Categories
Blogroll
Most comprehensive site for all areas of martial arts related subjects including styles, history, people, movies, books, etc.
