A Growing Trend

The growing sport of mixed martial arts worries some local deputies, who say teens are mimicking the fight moves in backyard bouts that could lead to injury.

Orange County Sheriff's Deputy Lance Christensen, a school resource officer who covers unincorporated south Orange County areas, said he has increasingly been counseling kids from several high schools in the past year who are participating in ultimate fighting – a form of mixed martial arts that once was an underground sport but is now becoming a mainstream activity.

"It's a growing trend," Christensen said. "It's become mainstream in the last year and the kids have just embraced it. It's one of the newest trends that's taken off."

Within the past year, he came across one fight involving 100 spectators at an area park.

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A Wipe Out

India -- A Haryana village erupted with joy as news came in of the Supreme Court sentencing to death a couple who had mercilessly killed eight members of their immediate family in August 2001 for property worth billions of rupees.

The Supreme Court Thursday upheld the death penalty given to Sonia and her husband Sanjeev Kumar who murdered her father Relu Ram Punia, a former Hissar legislator and billionaire, mother Krishna, stepbrother Sunil and his wife Shakuntala, their three small children aged four, two, and two-months-old, and Sonia's younger sister Priyanka, 16.

The victims were murdered at their sprawling farmhouse, 30 km from Hissar city, after late night festivities to celebrate Priyanka's birthday on Aug 23, 2001.

Sonia, a taekwondo martial arts black-belt holder and only 20-years at the time of the crime, later told police investigators that she and her husband feared that they would be dispossessed of the family's huge property in Haryana and subsequently committed the crime.

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More Goon-Do

You guessed it, another martial arts "expert" and criminal. And how's this: "(...) hockey sticks and other deadly weapons". I knew it - hockey is as deadly as it gets!

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India -- Despite court's direction RAK Marg police failed to act against 'karate' expert.

Salim Mohammad Ansari is a known goonda with as many as 12 cognizable cases recorded against him.

The Bombay High Court had passed an order in December 2006 to register a case of severe assault against him when he and his gang assaulted one Abdul Samad Saheb Shaikh and his brother with hockey sticks and other deadly weapons.

However, one and half months later neither Ansari nor any of his associates have been arrested.
A division bench of the High Court came down heavily on the police officers who have been asked to take immediate action against the accused as well as the officer who is guilty of protecting him.

Shaikh and his brother had bought a commercial gala 2-B1 at Home Trading Compound, Golap Hill Road, Sewree. As soon as they took possession of the gala, Ansari, who boasts of having trained policemen in martial arts and has contacts in both the police and municipality, approached Shaikh and demanded Rs. 50,000 as protection money.

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Courage

Earning a black belt in tae kwon do takes dedication, commitment and discipline for any child, but for two autistic SouthCoast boys, it also took courage.

Ian Mayo and Collin O'Brien have been studying at Kwon's U.S. Tae Kwon Do Center in North Dartmouth for four years. Both boys earned their black belts on Jan. 27. Both boys are autistic.

Ten-year-old Ian has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism. As a result, he has limited social skills and sensory problems. Those limitations made Pam and Robert Mayo of Dartmouth nervous about putting their son into tae kwon do. "What if he doesn't behave? What if he doesn't listen? What if he runs around? That's all I could think of," said Mrs. Mayo.

Ian surprised everyone, not only with his enthusiasm and performance in class, but with how much he has grown through the program.

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Bad Kung-Futball

The mass brawl against Queens Park Rangers was not the first on their training tour. Ever since the Chinese Olympic team embarked on their tour of Europe as part of their preparations for next year's Beijing Olympics, they had been embroiled in controversy.

Ugly incidents had erupted during three of the nine matches played in Europe since the team started their tour on 9 Jan.

Fighting broke out during their match against French side Marseille's development team.
On Monday, their match against Chelsea's reserve team was another ill-tempered affair that saw one Chinese player sent off for violent conduct.

The Beijing Times put the blame on the China FA in an editorial, saying: 'The father should be blamed for the son's fault.'

Other critics on sina.com labelled the brawl as 'Shaolin Soccer'.

One pundit even said that getting 'hammered' by QPR not just brought shame to Chinese football, but also disgraced Chinese kung-fu.

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Acting on Instinct

Oakwood Hills -- Belinda Staurowsky credits her martial arts training for her ability to remain calm as she and Oliver Pence rescued Timothy Shafer from his burning house Thursday night.

"I saw fire coming from a house of people that I knew," she said. "And I rushed to help."

Staurowsky, who lives across the street, said that she saw a situation of need and acted on it. Staurowsky, 42, said she started calling out for Shafer as she crawled toward the back door to avoid the smoke.

"It was like I was looking in a chimney," Staurowsky said.

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Plenty of Fight

Maren Namdar's partner wasn't around to need her or feed her when she was 64 — nor to help her off the floor.

She walked into Napa's Guangxi School of Martial Arts last year and told Master Instructor Pat Tyrrell she had taken a bad fall and needed to learn how to fall without getting hurt.

Tyrrell told her, "Maren, I can teach you how to fall and more."

A year and a half later, the German-born Namdar has learned to defend herself from more than gravity. She has learned the American mixed martial art of Kajukenbo Self-Defense.

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Uplifting Experience

Gujo Do karate? I suppose the reporter here is trying to say Goju ryu karate-do ... Apart from that, it's a really great article - inspiring!

Story:
California -- Del Harvey is finally realizing his lifelong dreams. For the first time in his life, he is closer to managing his own money, living independently and making his own decisions.

"I've learned a lot, like being more alert and more conscious of things around me," said the 41-year-old developmentally disabled Whittier resident. "Now I am able to know how to take care of myself."

Harvey credits karate and his martial arts instructor, Kyoshi Anthony Marquez, for his new outlook.

For the past five months, Marquez, a veteran martial artist from Victorville, has been teaching Harvey and 30 other developmentally disabled adults Gujo (?) Do karate, the martial art of Okinawa, Japan.

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Persistence

Pride seems to radiate off 33-year-old Craig Hafner of Harbor Springs as he stands, dressed in white, carefully tying on his black belt. A smile spreads across his face as he makes sure the belt is tied correctly.

Although it’s just another Friday night practice at the American Taekwondo Association Black Belt Academy, Hafner takes extra care with his new black belt, inscribed with his name and the word "persistence." After all, it took Hafner, who was born with Down Syndrome, five years to earn the top level tae kwon do belt.

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Karate Accident

Massachusetts -- A teenage boy suffered serious head trauma following a karate accident at the Holiday Inn Sunday morning.

The boy, whose name fire officials did not release due to his age, was flown by medical helicopter to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston after the accident.

Mansfield Fire Lt. William Burgess said the injuries were serious and that the 16-year-old needed attention at a trauma facility. Exactly how he was injured was not yet clear, Burgess said.

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Cheating

Japan -- Just when sumo's biggest star was set to assume his place among the sport's all-time greats a scandal has surfaced to knock him off his game.

Mongolian Asashoryu, whose real name is Dolgorsuren Dagvadorj, won his 20th Emperor's Cup in January, putting the 26-year-old on pace to become one of the most dominant wrestlers in the history of Japan's ancient sport.

But now he's being accused of cheating.

Recent reports in weekly magazine Shukan Gendai have rocked the sumo world with claims that grand champion Asashoryu paid off his opponents to let him win.

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Rugby-Do

UK -- The Wales (rugby) head coach, Gareth Jenkins, has become obsessed with the way Australia and New Zealand apply pressure at the contact area by using guards to push opponents out of the way to protect their own ball and to disrupt the opposition's.

He calls it counter-rucking and has hired a judo expert to help his players gain a grappling technique.

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South Korean Amnesty

South Korea announced an amnesty yesterday for 434 politicians and businesspeople, including suspended International Olympic Committee member Park Yong-sung.

Park, former chairman of the Doosan Group, saw his IOC membership suspended last year after he was sentenced to a suspended prison term and a fine on embezzlement charges in a case stemming from a family feud over control of South Korea's oldest conglomerate.

The 66-year-old is still president of the International Judo Federation, a post that automatically makes him an IOC member, his office said.

The IOC ethics commission will hold a meeting and make a recommendation to the IOC executive board about Park, said Julie Lee, an IJF official.

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A Judo Move

UK -- A drunk driver was wrestled to the ground and arrested - by a judoloving 12-year-old.

Peter Clatworthy held the 19-year-old driver for 10 minutes until cops arrived after he smashed into three cars and tried to stagger away from his van. Two drivers suffered whiplash injuries.

The Nottingham pupil said: "He swung a punch but I dodged and swept his legs from under him using a judo move."

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Tai Cricket

India -- Ancient Chinese martial art Tai Chi would form part of the regular training programme for cricketers from this year at the MRF Pace Foundation.

"Tai Chi helps in giving physical training and making people mentally strong. It helps players keep their cool on field during a match," T A Sekhar, chief coach at the Foundation, said yesterday.

Sekhar said the martial art had been introduced at the Pace Foundation last year.

The Indian cricket team had sessions on Tai Chi to help them focus and concentrate better and also improve their overall fitness and body control, he said.

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Another Sword-Nut

Where do all these fruit-cases get their training, that's what I'd like to know. Like so many others, his "knowledge of martial arts" is probably nothing more than watching too many movies ...

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18-year-old Caleb has turned up safe six months after his disappearance from his Chino Valley home this past June. He's sticking with the story that four or five men entered his home armed with knives and attacked him in his bedroom.

But Caleb, who professes a knowledge of martial arts and sword-fighting, says he had it out with them and was able to escape. Despite all these blades swinging about no one got hurt, and the only part of the house in disarray was the living room.

Friends have told police Caleb was planning to stage his disappearance after his high school graduation. They said he had visions of dying a martyr in a revolution in China.

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A Most Courageous Kid

Illinois -- Michael McCarthy was born with a severe birth defect in his legs that left him unable to walk.

When a Chicago family adopted him from a Russian children's home at age 4, Michael's only way to get around was to scoot on his hands.

After undergoing surgery at Children's Memorial Hospital and being fitted with two above-the-knee prostheses, Michael slowly taught himself to walk, first with a walker, then with crutches.

Michael, now 10, faced a tough new challenge Sunday. He was picked to lead off 2,400 people who climbed the 83-story Aon Center in a Children's Memorial fundraiser expected to raise $350,000.

Michael also has learned karate. His coach, Jeff Kohn, said that in his 30 years of teaching, Michael is "far and away the most extraordinarily courageous kid. He raises the level of everyone's expectations."

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False Claims

UK -- A karate coach and TV stuntman caught falsely claiming disability benefits was jailed for 15 months yesterday.

The 49-year-old man, who worked on shows such as The Bill and Coronation Street, was filmed giving a karate class to youngsters by undercover investigators.

The fraud investigators, working on an anonymous tipoff, also found the dad-of-two was working as a security guard.

A court was told he made about £33,000 in illegally claimed benefits between 2001 and 2005, saying he could barely walk.

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A Good Child

The teen's karate instructor pleaded guilty to having sex with her and was sentenced Tuesday to probation in Lake County court.

The 21-year-old man teaches at a karate school in Gary. He admitted that on several occasions in early 2006, he had sexual relations with a 14-year-old karate student.

The owner of the school, told the Lake Criminal Court Judge that Rias was a "good child."

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A Mean High Kick

Wesley Brooks has cerebral palsy, and a mean high kick. For the last two and a half years he has grown fond of karate.

Wesley was born three months premature on the way to the hospital. Weighing in at less than a pound, doctors gave Wesley a 75 percent chance of survival.

"He's overcome a great deal of odds," his mother said.

When his younger brother began to take karate lessons in the summer of 2004, Wesley thought it an opportunity to conquer yet another adversity.

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Lady Lunch-a-Lot

UK -- Just when you thought you'd seen it all before, along comes a programme that succeeds in opening your jaded eyes to a previously unimaginable world.

It had never crossed my mind that there might be people outside of Japan with a desire to compete professionally at sumo wrestling. And it had certainly never occurred to me that some of those people might be women. British women at that, the sort of careworn, mountainous souls you sometimes see pushing over-stocked shopping trolleys round the aisles of Asda.

The ordinary women in this documentary saw sumo as a way of empowering themselves, to prove to the world that they are more than mere couch potatoes.

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A Martial Arts Cleric

This is way cool!

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UK -- A sheffield minister is hoping to add a black belt to his white collar - when he caps off years of martial arts training later this year.

Rev Noel Irwin, aged 42, who runs the Victoria Hall Methodist Church in the city centre, has trained for years in a variety of martial arts but hopes to achieve his ju-jitsu black belt in June.

Currently a brown belt in traditional ju-jitsu, he also trains in the modern Brazilian ju-jitsu style with the Gracie-Barra group at Hillsborough.

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Nightclub Bouncer Sentenced

Sadly, this shows the wrong kind of training for the job. Even if the person is capable of doing the job, it is not always that he/she has the right set of tools to do it properly.

When you are pushed hard and/or long enough you may subsequently react with what you have been trained to do.

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A 30-year-old Brisbane nightclub bouncer has been jailed for seven years for killing a drunken patron with a martial arts style "roundhouse" kick in the head.

The bouncer was manning the door of a Morningside hotel in the early hours of June 14, 2003 when he delivered the fatal kick to a 27-year-old man.

A witness told the court that the bouncer, who had studied martial arts for six years, delivered a swift roundhouse kick to the right side of the patron's head. The patron fell to the ground and later died.

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Still Kicking

Jake Erling wasn't supposed to live past age 13 after being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Thanks largely to tae kwon do, he's got plenty of fight in him.

Because he has cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening genetic disease, people said he wouldn't live long. But simple words of praise in karate (sic.) class made him believe he could be whatever he wanted to be.

Erling, 30, is so fit that he can spar with other black-belt fighters for two hours, and he often does. It seems almost inconceivable that at age 5, he wasn't expected to live past 13.

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Chuka Sticks

A Port Jefferson, N.Y., attorney has vowed to appeal a federal judge's denial of his challenge to his arrest for possession in his home of two "chuka sticks," or "nunchaku."

"A law that punishes a person ... for the peaceful possession in his or her home of two sticks connected by a cord is nothing less than draconian, and should embarrass us all," said the attorney, James M. Maloney.

Maloney, 48, is a former Merchant Marine officer and paramedic. He said in an interview that he has been involved with the martial arts since 1975 and was introduced to the nunchaku by teenage friends in New Jersey.

He said he incorporated the sticks in a style he developed called "Shafran Ha-Lavan," Hebrew for "white rabbit." He told the court that he had never used the nunchaku to harm a human being or animal. Rather, he said he used the device to hone his dexterity and coordination.

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Student dies

Vietnam -- A 15-year-old male student died after falling unconscious and slipping into a comma after winning the title of a district-level martial arts student championship held last Sunday in Ho Chi Minh City.

After winning the 57kg final bout, Ho Cong Nhat Thanh, left the ring, took off his head gear and protective wear and sat in a corner to rest, witnesses said. He suddenly slumped down, unconscious as those around him looked on with concern.

He was immediately rushed for first aid and brought to local hospital where he slipped into a coma. Diagnosis from doctors revealed he had suffered a brain hemorrhage.

He passed away at 2am the following morning.

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Shaolin business

Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Chinese kung fu, made more than 100 million yuan (US$12.9 million) in ticket revenue last year as its promotional activities attracted more visitors, Henan Shangbo, a Zhengzhou-based newspaper reported today.

More than 1.5 million tourists visited the temple in 2006, up 300,000 from a year ago, the newspaper said.

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Taiwan-do

Taiwan used to be known internationally for its economic prosperity. Nowadays it is the violence in its Legislature that makes the island globally well-known.

When physical confrontations first appeared in our Legislative Yuan, many foreign observers said the violence was only a sign of the island's transition from authoritarian rule to democracy.

But it's been 20 years since martial law was dismantled on the island. There are no signs yet that the chaos has abated.

There is much truth in the widely held view that, to succeed as a lawmaker in Taiwan, one had better be well trained in such martial arts as taekwondo or karate.

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Family affairs

"Trained in an unspecified discipline of martial arts ground fighting." Hmmm, I do wonder, that couldn't by any chance happen to be BJJ? Either way, something must really be wrong with these kids!

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A 13-year-old Santa Fe boy named Javier admitted Thursday to pummeling a 16-year-old boy with a metal baseball bat during an unprovoked attack at DeVargas Park in late August, a prosecutor said.

The boy admitted to one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and said he hit the 16-year-old three times in the head and twice in the back with the bat, said Donna Dagnall, Children's Court prosecutor.

Meanwhile, the boy's 14-year-old uncle, German, faces charges for another beating the same night the 16-year-old was attacked.

German, who is being charged as an adult, allegedly attacked and tried to rob a man who was trained in an unspecified discipline of martial arts ground fighting, police have said.

That man was able to fight off the attack, which began near the intersection of Palace Avenue and Cathedral Place and ended in the middle of the Plaza, police have said. The man was not injured.

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Korean ssirum

South Korea's traditional brand of wrestling, called ssirum, has a lot in common with Japan's national sport sumo. Both are centuries old, steeped in tradition and feature jumbo-sized wrestlers battling in a small circle.

While sumo is flush with cash, fans and name recognition, however, ssirum is facing a financial crisis, an organizational crisis, an identity crisis -- in short, just a whole lot of trouble.

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Mirrored movements

Judging by the effortless way he goes through each motion and by the smile on his face, he's done this routine a million times before.

The verbal and physical limitations that beset an autistic child do not keep 14-year-old Kyle Swofford from hitting the mat twice a week with Suzie Franz, his 17-year-old Tae kwon do teacher.

Family members say Swofford has become more verbal, focused and agile.

'I don't plan on stopping teaching Kyle. I plan on teaching martial arts as my career. When I open my studio, I would like to have a class set aside for people that need that one-on-one time,' Franz said.

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Jail sentence

Canada -- A former Brampton city councillor was given a six-month jail sentence today in connection with four historical sexual molestations of young boys.

The 65-year-old man was taken into custody immediately after Justice Bruce Duncan rendered his decision in a Brampton courtroom.

The convicted sex-offender's wife was visibly upset in and outside the courtroom.

Justice Duncan gave the man four concurrent six-month sentences for his May 19, 2006 conviction of four separate gross indecency charges stemming from the early 1970s and ordered him to perform 80 hours of community service when he's released. He will also be placed on a year's probation once he gets out of jail.

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WTF Secretary General

World Taekwondo Federation has named a Korean-American as its new secretary general.

Yang Jin-suk, 65, graduated from Kyunghee University in Seoul in 1965. After moving to the United States, he operated taekwondo gymnasiums in Colorado and California.

Yang, who holds American citizenship, will return to South Korea soon. He worked as a civilian attache for the U.S. military in South Korea from 1976 to 1986.

Yang now serves as a council member in the town of Corte Madera, California, where he was once mayor.

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Taekkyon

Here's a nice clip showing an old taekkyon form. It is performed by Jeong Kyong-hwa.

Some (mostly TKD people) claim taekkyon is "an old form of taekwondo".

The taekkyon practitioners on the other hand, claim that their art is anything but TKD.

Still, some similarities will be found, at least to an untrained eye as far as the forms go. The fighting/competition is quite easily distinguishable.

You can download or watch the clip here (35.40MB, asf format).

Read more about taekkyon (and other martial arts) here.

Determination

Dressed in uniform, brown belt tied at her waist, Trish Thyret stands with knees bent, hands raised and determination in her eyes.

Thyret, 37, is mentally challenged, borderline obsessive compulsive with some and has borderline manic depression.

And she is focused on replacing her brown belt with black at graduation this summer.

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Pleaded not guilty

A Brazilian martial arts instructor accused of lewd acts against four boys, including three students, could face a jury as soon as next month after not waiving his right to a speedy trial on nine charges.

The 25-year-old man pleaded not guilty Friday to one felony and eight misdemeanors. He has already sped his trial considerably by previously foregoing a preliminary hearing on the evidence and moving straight into Superior Court

On Friday, he was ordered back to court on March 6 for a pre-trial conference and March 19 for a jury trial on charges including contributing to the delinquency of a minor, annoying a child under 18, sexual battery and lewd and lascivious behavior.

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Geneticist sentenced

A world-renowned geneticist William French Anderson was sentenced Friday to 14 years in prison for molesting an employee's daughter who took martial arts classes at his home.

Judge Michael E. Pastor said he caused "incalculable" emotional damage to a victim he described as an insecure and trusting immigrant.

Prosecutors said Anderson molested the girl from 1997 to 2001, starting when she was 10.

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Fighter shot dead

A man held for questioning in Thursday night's shooting death of a Tucumcari martial arts fighter has been released, police said Friday.

Albert Jason Pacheco Jr., 31, was killed in a fight on Main Street, police said. Police detained a man immediately after the shooting, then released him and turned the case over to New Mexico State Police. Officials have declined to name the man they questioned.

Pacheco was shot about 7:45 p.m. Thursday while fighters were being weighed in a gym in preparation for a martial arts event slated for Friday night at the Tucumcari Convention Center. The event, called the Desert Xtreme Blood War, was canceled because of the shooting, said the director of the center.

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Using martial arts?

Using martial arts? Are you sure we're not talking "plain old" torture here? In any case, this sounds really bad.

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Vietnam -- "The Security police was using forms of martial arts such as Karate and Kung Fu. It seemed as if he was practicing his strikes on a restrained Yum. As blood flowed down from Yum’s mouth, nose and ears, Yum fell down on the floor unconscious. At noon they let Yum go back home, but by the time he arrived, his face, eyes and lips were all bruised and swollen and he couldn't eat. As of now, he is still suffering from those severely beatings," the group added.

Grun, who is from the same village, was named as another victim. He was also taken to the local Security Police station on January 24 where officers allegedly "were using martial arts to beat him mercilessly." Although Grun "did not talk back to them, they still beat him up severely." At noon Grun too was allowed to leave "but his face and eyes were all bruised up and swollen and he could barely walk," MFI claimed. He is reportedly unable to work and is recovering from what MFI described as "severe" injuries at home.

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battery charge

A Watsonville elementary school teacher and martial arts instructor, pleaded no contest Monday to a charge of battery.

The 44-year-old, a fourth-grade elementary school teacher and owner of a now defunct martial arts school, was charged with felony child molestation and a misdemeanor of committing lewd acts with a child.

Prosecutor Ross Taylor said the charges stem from an incident where the man had an 11-year-old girl grab his genitals during a kung fu lesson at the martial arts school.

In his plea to the battery charge, the man admitted he had the girl touch him for sexual gratification, Taylor said.

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Ninja couple

Hey ... I thought ninja were invincible, as well as deadly. Maybe these goons here skipped some vital parts of their training?

Story:
A New Mexico man convicted in a 1993 ninja-style kidnap attempt at a Governors Island home using automatic weapons and stun guns has been paroled.

The Albuquerque man, then 38, was sentenced to 13 to 26 years in prison for his role in the attack and his former wife, then 28, received a 10 to 30 year sentence. Both were convicted after entering negotiated pleas in the failed death plot.

Their conviction stemmed from an incident which occurred in the early morning hours of July 18, 1993.

Authorities alleged that the "ninjas" — the couple and another female named Chandra — dressed in hooded black martial-arts outfits, entered the Governors Island home and attacked a couple and their son. The son was Chandra's ex-husband.

The residents fought off the attack and tackled Chandra while the "ninja couple" were able to flee. The two were captured several hours later.

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Master N'don't

Malawi -- Police in Lilongwe on Monday arrested a renowned martial artist, popularly known as Master N'do, who runs a karate academy in the city for allegedly sodomising seven young boys aged between 10 and 13 and were his pupils.

Confirming the arrest, a Lilongwe Police public relations officer said the man was arrested after parents of one of the boys reported the matter to police after noting injuries sustained by their son.

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Rare feat

What started as a mere athletic activity to stay in shape for a man nearing his 60s has evolved into a rare feat.

Guy DeWolf, the 75-year-old owner of Williamsburg Coin & Stamp, last week became likely the oldest person in the state to practice the martial art of Aikido.

Eleven years ago, DeWolf earned a black belt in Aikido at the Peninsula Ki Aikido Club in Yorktown.

However, during the last five years, he has battled through crippling arthritis that has kept him off the mat with regularity. Just three months ago, DeWolf had both of his hips replaced and was unable to walk.

But after a month-long recovery process, he was able to continue his passion and participate in a two-hour Aikido class at the Gloucester Rec Center last Tuesday.

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Soprano-do

The Sopranos star Michael Imperioli has found a way to quit smoking - take up martial arts.

The actor, who plays mobster Christopher Moltisanti in the hit TV drama, insists he's healthier than ever, at 40, after becoming a fan of tae kwon do.

He says, "I was in terrible physical shape. I smoked a pack (of cigarettes) a day."

And he was so impressed with his tae kwon do lessons, he signed his wife and kids up for classes in Manhattan, New York.

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Hot temper, killer

Turkey -- As both the media and politicians concentrated on pondering the actual reasons for the murder of Hrant Dink, the police said yesterday that the suspect has no ties to illegal organizations or political underground groups, based on the his testimony so far.

Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian descent, was killed outside his bilingual Turkish-Armenian Agos newspaper's office in Istanbul on Friday.

Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah added that the suspect, Ogun Samast, committed the murder due to the influence of nationalistic sentiments.

Samast is reportedly a hot-tempered teenager open to manipulation and has been practicing martial arts for years.

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Brazilian sue-jitsu

For 20 years, Wallid Ismail was a winner in the brutal, fast-growing sport of mixed martial arts, building a worldwide reputation as an aggressive fighter and able businessman.

Now, he is squaring off against four former business associates in a U.S. District Court in Newark.

The Brazilian jujitsu fighter has filed suit against Pro Elite Inc., a New Jersey corporation formed to promote the sport, claiming the company's three principals and another partner broke a multimillion-dollar deal with him to mass market the sport.

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Real-Li?

Few people in their right minds would pick a fight with Jet Li. After all, the actor in martial arts flicks like Fearless and Hero is known for his gongfu skills.

But there were no flying kicks or showy moves on Sunday, during a real life face-off with some angry villagers from China.

Jet and co-stars Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro were in Hebei province to film the Chinese period epic titled, ironically enough, This Violent Land.

One of the crew members got into a dispute with a local driver, reported Hong Kong's The Sun newspaper.

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"karate skills"

Everett Newcomb is charged with second-degree murder. The case against him is entirely circumstantial. There isn't a shred of physical or eyewitness evidence against him.

From all accounts the victim in this case, 81-year-old Arline Payne, was a generous and kind person who took Newcomb in despite his criminal background and reputation for crazy and sometimes frightening outbursts.

The night of May 19, Newcomb went out drinking with a friend. Alcohol does not mix well with the anti-psychotropic drugs he takes and he got a little crazy. They went to a bar, and patrons started complaining about Newcomb who was bouncing around the place doing "karate moves."

Newcomb's friend testified that Newcomb has "karate skills" that sometimes intimidate other people.

The bar manager asked Newcomb to leave and Newcomb went home, according to his friend, in a foul mood. He then got on the phone and started a mad rush of calls to friends and family, leaving terrifying threats on answering machines.

About six hours after his last crazy phone call, Newcomb called 911 and reported that Payne was dead in her room. She'd been stabbed several times and her neck broken. Payne's English bulldog, usually a protective and loyal companion, was alive in the room with her.

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Gymkata anyone?

Wow, I guess I must see this movie! Read this review - it's great :-)

Story:
Gymkata is not a well made movie. It's not a well acted movie, it's not a well written movie, it's not a well directed movie and it's not a well choreographed movie.

What does that make Gymkata? It makes it an awesome movie for all the wrong reasons. There are bad movies that are just plain boring and some that offer a few brief moments of unintentional comedy, but Gymkata is a tour de force of B-movie greatness.

At no point will you not be entertained. What else can you ask for from a movie starring an Olympic gymnast?

The filmmakers obviously designed the entire film around his skills as an actor and martial artist and should be commended for doing as much as they did with so little. It’s pretty depressing to realize the handicapable fighters in The Crippled Masters possessed more fighting acumen in their stubs than Kurt Thomas has in his entire body.

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