Western boxing
Girl Power Expressed Through Karate Kata Perfection
If you have been following this blog lately you probably have noticed that I like to mix things up between different martial arts styles such as Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu aka BJJ aka Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, Western Boxing, Jeet Kune Do, Wing Chun Kung Fu, just to name a few.
Today, I’m in the mood for some really impressive Karate moves. The kind of moves you see when true artists are at work or better performing a kata.
For those of you not familiar with kata, here a short description:
Kata is a Japanese word for choreographed patterns of movements that can be performed either solo or in pairs or even groups.
Kata is commonly known in the Japanese martial arts such as Aikido, Judo, Karate, Iaido and others.
You come across patterns of movements in other non-Japanese martial arts such as Tai Chi Chuan and Taekwondo. They just use Chinese and Korean words instead.
To get a better idea of what karate kata perfection looks like, have a look at this video clip of the Japanese Female Kata Team competing in 2008.
Amazing! But I will let you be the judge.
Another Week In Review At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
Here’s your week in review at TheMartialArtsReporter.com and two great quotes, just because it’s that season again!
Gegard Mousasi, MMA Fighter With A 27-2-1 Record And Only 24 Years Old
From Leiden,The Netherlands, referred to by many as “Europe’s Best-Kept Secret”.
Is Yildiz Aras The World’s Best Female Karate Kumite Competitor?
From Istanbul, Turkey, meet the “Strong Girl”.
New Zealand’s Maori Haka Get Warriors For Battle
From ‘Lord of the Rings’ country comes a ritual that will get any opponent’s attention.
Bruce Lee And Albrecht Pflueger. Albrecht Who?
Find out who this karate pioneer is and what role he played in my life.
Yoga And Martial Artists
If it helps Rickson Gracie in his workout regimen, could you possibly benefit from yoga?
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu – Behind The Scenes In Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Rio is more than just the ‘Girl from Ipanema’.
And here are the two quotes as promised. I hope you like them.
“Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.”
Lord Byron
But wait, there’s more!
“Nurture your mind with great thought, for you will never go any higher than you think.” Benjamin Disraeli
Thanks again for following me at TheMartialArtsReporter.com
Gegard Mousasi, MMA-Fighter With A 27-2-1 Record And Only 24 Years Old
Today I would to introduce to you a mixed martial artist who has been consistently climbing in the MMA rankings in an almost stealth-like manner.
Not too long he was referred to as “Europe’s Best-Kept Secret”. It’s time to reveal the secret.
Born in Iran to Armenian parents, Gegard Mousasi and his family moved to the Netherlands when he was only 4 years.
The university town of Leiden, also birthplace of the Dutch Constitution, has become home to this exceptional mixed martial artist.
The very talented Gegard Mousasi started with Judo as a kid and then by age 15 he immersed himself into Western boxing.
Astonishingly enough, it has been reported that after training for only about a year, he became Dutch amateur boxing champion.
The next stepping stone was kickboxing which has a long tradition in The Netherlands and that has brought out many amazing fighters. (I look forward to talking about them in the very near future.)
Equipped with profound skills in Judo, Western boxing and kickboxing as well as the desire to take on new challenges, Mousasi entered the arena of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).
He currently fights on Team Jurojin and is also a member of Red Devil Sport Club.
His first official MMA fight on record was in April 2003, when he was still 17 years old! Mousasi was declared the winner after 3:40 minutes of the first round by TKO.
He had a 5-0-1 record until Mousasi had to swallow his first loss in February 2005, which led him to make numerous changes in his approach to MMA.
The only other loss he had to suffer was in August 2006.
It has been now over 3 years and a rather successful undertaking for Gegard Mousasi who has a stunning fight record of 27 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw (early on in his career).
He was good for a surprise by signing up for a K-1 fight in 2008 against Musashi which he quickly won in the first round through referee stoppage.
After competing as a Middleweight, Gegard Mousasi has moved up to Strikeforce’s Light Heavyweight division.
I admit that I am very impressed with his overall fighting skills, demeanor and professional approach to his career.
And at the relatively young age of only 24 and if he stays injury-free, there’s no telling how far and how long Gegard Mousasi can go.
Do I hear the UFC and Dana White calling?
Senior Grandmaster Ed Parker Sr., The Father Of American Kenpo Karate
Ed Parker Sr. certainly influenced quite a number of martial artists and his influence continues long after he passed on in 1990. Sadly, he died of a heart attack at the early age of 59.
Grandmaster Parker grew up in Hawaii and started with Judo and Western Boxing at a very young age.
In his late teens, Frank Chow introduced him to Kenpo Master William Chow by whom he was promoted to black belt in 1953.
After moving back to the U.S. (Hawaii did not officially become a state until 1959) he opened up his dojo/karate school in Pasadena, right outside of Los Angeles, California, in 1956.
Grandmaster Parker’s studies and practice of karate were influenced by Japanese and Okinawan elements which guided him in the creation of his very practical and effective martial art and fighting system simply known as American Kenpo.
His teachings had a profound effect on numerous students who went on to become martial arts greats in their own right such as Larry Tatum, Vic Leroux and Dan Inosanto.
Interestingly enough, during the Long Beach International Karate Championships in 1964 organized by Ed Parker Sr., a young and until then unknown martial artist was given exposure to a broad audience and from which he stormed the martial arts scene in a manner never displayed before. His name?
Bruce Lee.
It was also during these days in Long Beach that Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto met for the first time to become friends and martial arts allies that would change martial arts and the entertainment industry forever.
But back to Grandmaster Parker.
Besides teaching, writing books and promoting Kenpo Karate, helping other martial artists open their own dojos, Ed Parker Sr. was also active in the movie industry as a instructor, stuntman and actor in movies such as “Kill The Golden Goose” and one of my favorites “Revenge Of The Pink Panther”.
Senior Grandmaster Ed Parker Sr., The Father Of American Kenpo Karate.
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.
NFL vs. UFC = Ocho Cinco vs. Anderson “Spider” Silva
Now, this should be fun!
I leave up to you to decide who it’s going to be more fun for:
Ocho Cinco or Anderson “Spider” Silva?
UFC President Dana White has accepted Ocho Cinco’s challenge on behalf of UFC World Middleweight Champion, Anderson “Spider” Silva, to a charity fight.
Silva has been rated among the top four pound-for-pound mixed martial artists for some time now. The other three are Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko, Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and George St. Pierre aka GSP.
Does Ocho Cinco know what he is getting himself into?
Is the challenge for real or will he back out (right before fight night)?
Will his employers, the Cincinnati Bengals or the NFL even allow him to step off the Gridiron and enter the Octagon?
Even though Ocho Cinco has been reportedly lacing up the boxing gloves to enter both the boxing and Muay Thai ring, I have more questions than answers.
It gets even more questionable considering a possible match-up of Chad Ocho Cinco Johnson vs. Anderson “Spider” Silva after closely looking at the following video clips.
Savate Or How The French Really Can Fight
Well, alright, so ‘La Grande Nation’ is known for fashion, wine, cheese, croissants, the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysses etc.
We have also been led to believe that the French are masters in retreat and surrender.
So how did they then ever become a Colonial Power?
Are you telling me they acquired all those colonies and had all this influence on several continents by simply sweet talking over a glass of Beaujolais?
I beg to differ.
And whoever said the French run away from every fight?
Without the Marquis de Lafayette and his fellow Frenchmen, the thirteen colonies wouldn’t have attained independence from King George to be come the United States of America, at least not that fast!
And let’s not forget the venerable French Foreign Legion:
Whenever these guys are deployed to clean up some corrupt thug-infested Third World country you know who’s gonna be on the receiving end of a serious beating.
And yes, I am aware that the French Foreign Legion is made up of a lot of ….. foreigners, alas non-French.
Nevertheless, French make up the majority and run the show. And what a show it is.
Years ago, I met a former Legionaire who was originally from Madagascar (the actual island off the coast of East Africa, not the animated movie!).
This was one very soft-spoken dude who told me a little about of his former military service, only after I noticed his French paratrooper “diploma” on his office wall.
He talked about his deployments in the 80′s as the opportunity given to him to do some “travelling”.
The destinations always turned out to be some places that were really wild in the 80′s like Lebanon and Chad. Heck, they probably still are, right?
But I digress….
Anyway, I came across a French fighting style that is extremely effective not only in the street where it was created in Paris and Northern France.
Mon dieu, this one will keep you on your toes and bobbing and weaving.
Savate contains elements of Western boxing and a number of kicking techniques, some of which remind me of Muay Thai and Wing Chun.
Savate translates in English to old shoe or boot. So, it’s no surprise that practitioners actually wear shoes while they’re at it.
Believe me when I tell you that Savate is a very effective fighting style to be reckoned with. O la la!
Check out the video clip below and let me know what you think!
Au revoir, mon ami!
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