Thursday, September 30, 2010

Judo Athlete, Rape Trial

Colorado -- During a trial, a 17-year-old judo competitor spoke about how she had pleaded for a former (2008) U.S. Olympic athlete to stop and get off her during an alleged raped her in his Colorado Springs hotel room.

The young judoka was 15-years-old and drunk at the time of the alleged assault by the judo fighter, according to gazette.com.

Following a tournament, the girl had been out drinking with friends when she reportedly ran into the man.

Chuck Release Death Grip

Well of course Chuck Norris is all you need to fix the iPhone 4 death-grip antenna mystery. Why? He's Chuck Norris for crying out loud!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Lesbian Taekwondo Abductor

Some things apparently never change - like martial arts instructors doing crazy and some times even unlawful things.

Kind of like in this case from thejakartaglobe.com where you to have an Indonesian, lesbian taekwondo instructor having an affair with an under age student. But wait, there's more...

Allegedly, the girl's parents had the her handed over to local child protection services to have the child "cured" for her sexual orientation. But wait, there's even more...

The 26-year-old instructor reportedly found out where they kept her young lover and managed to "remove the girl from the shelter" - an act which I believe tend to be labelled as abduction.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Rather Crowded...

China -- No less than 3,170 kung fu (wing chun) practitioners, recently performed the nine series of 'Wing Chun Fist', to music.

The performance was held in Luo Village, Foshan, the hometown of Ye Wen, kung fu master and teacher of Bruce Lee.

The performers were local resident as well as enthusiasts from wing chun associations worldwide.

Officials said the performance was also allegedly registered as a Guinness world record.

Ippon?

Perfect mawashi geri yodan (high roundhouse kick) - sorry it was the referee that was in the way. Total face block. Not much sympathy from the other students though...

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Russian MMA Nutcase

Guys, guys... Come on... A criminal, probably insane, and definitely a right-wing nutcase by any standard. But still, let us welcome him with open arms, a big hug and an even bigger bottle of vodka. We are all so cozy and friendly over here; we like to see the good things in people, you know...

Story:
Norway -- A Russian MMA champ, known as Tarzan the Redhead, who fled a psychiatric facility in St. Petersburg has been held in Oslo after applying for asylum, according to themoscowtimes.com.

Police officials said the man was detained on suspicion of violating the country's law on gun ownership and having possible links to organized crime.

A YouTube video shows the 30-year-old man entering a Norwegian immigration office (and yes, that is Russian and Norwegian being spoken).

In the video you can see how "Tarzan", wearing a sweatshirt with Nazi insignia, says, "Sieg heil," as he raises his arm in a Nazi salute before entering the office.

The fighter tells a female immigration official that he arrived in the country by boat and gives her the pistol and his driver's license. He also asks her to search his name in Google.

Dmitry Dyomushkin, who is a friend of the man and the leader of the banned ultranationalist Slavic Union, said "I wished him all the best and told him not to act like a nutcase."

...which apparently didn't help much I might be tempted to add.

The heavyweight MMA champion was found guilty in 2009 of carrying out several robberies. However, he was sent to a criminal psychiatric hospital after an examination which deemed him insane.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

A Neo-Fascist MMA Fighter

Poland -- An alleged neo-fascist MMA fighter from Finland was reportedly allowed to fight in Lodz, Poland and show off his Nazi tattoos, according to thenews.pl.

In a statement to Polish radio, Marcin Kornak from "Never Again" - an association which fights against racism, xenophobia and intolerance - said "It’s a scandal that a neo-Nazi was allowed to participate in the show."

Sunday, September 19, 2010

"Great Role Model"

Utah --  A 29-year-old karate instructor, described as "an excellent teacher and a great role model for the kids," has been arrested after prosecutors said he sexually abused young female students at his school, according to deseretnews.com.

The man was charged with 15 felony counts including 12 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, two counts of rape of a child and dealing in harmful materials to a child. Documents alleges the man abused four girls, all under the age of 13, between January and September this year.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Criminal Harassment

Update: The man has been given a conditional discharge by a judge and ordered to stay away from his former lover. He will be on probation for two years and is not allowed to contact the woman or the woman's current boyfriend.

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Canada -- In mid August, a Grimsby martial arts teacher pleaded guilty to criminal harassment, according to stcatharinesstandard.ca. The case reportedly  involved a former partner, a young woman the 36-year-old man met through his martial arts school.

After admitting to having threatened  the woman causing her to fear for her safety, the 5th dan black sport ju-jitsu instructor was told he would be sentenced on September 20.

Music and Martial Arts

The author of this great article about a Vietnamese flute and martial arts master named Trinh Nhu Quan, claims that "music and martial arts are viewed as two wildly unrelated genres".

The martial art of master Trinh Nhu Quan combines movements with feet and hands where the flute is used as the weapon. This art is known as a "flute sword". According to the author, the art was created between 1883 and 1913 by peasant insurgent leader Hoang Hoa Tham (or De Tham) as a means of self-defense against French colonialism in the Yen The area in province of Bac Giang.

So obviously, for master Quan at least, the arts of music and martial arts are closely related. And I'm in the same boat, something I have touched upon in previous posts. I would argue strongly that these arts are connected in ways more than one.

Unless someone is into the "martial" part alone, skipping over the "arts" section all together - something I see quite a few of the MMA folks doing without giving it a second of thought - then you might begin to reflect upon certain similarities:

Does music (if you take in all styles and genres of music) contain beauty as well as "brutality"? Softness and hardness? slower and quicker paces - tempo changes? Flow and rhythm? How about counter movements? Ascending and descending movements?

And how about the need for proper breathing in performing music? How about the importance of posture? Do you need constant practice in music as well as martial arts? Is there a transfer of energy involved? Can you perform music alone or with others?

Can music as well as the fighting arts invoke strong emotions such as joy, peacefulness, animosity or disgust? Of course they can! I'm not sure about you, but I find it only natural that a lot of people who are in the performing arts also tend to find at home within the martial arts.

As always, feel free to leave your comments below. Oh, and don't forget to read the article :-)

Organized Crime Connections?

Holland -- The new Mayor of  Amsterdam, Eberhard Van der Laan, who reportedly is determined to clean up the city, is looking to ban certain MMA/kick-boxing events taking place in the city, according to headkicklegend.com.

The Mayor has spoken out against some of the martial arts events, citing undesirables elements, from the spectators to the fighters all the way up to managers and promoters.

Authorities claiming to have taken a closer look at certain VIPs from an upcoming, as well as a recently finished event. Authorities have claimed to have found that a majority of these VIPs had previous convictions ranging from drugs and weapons to violence and connections to organized crime.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Karate Chicken

Here's a little amusing clip for you - a boy who tries to scare a chicken with a bit of karate (?) display. Then the feathered one strikes back and the boy chickens out - smart move :-)

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

No iNinpod?

So, the story about Apple godfather Steve Jobs being stopped at a Japanese airport with ninja throwing stars (shuriken) in his luggage isn't completely true after all?

Dang, that would have been such a great battle story. Guess it was simply too good to be true.

I can readily envision Mr Jobs throwing shuriken in the Apple boardroom at giant images of Google maps :-)

Oh well, no iNinpod. Guess it's back to the fantasy drawing board...

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Bad Kung Fu Shoe

New Zealand - It appears that the kung fu shoes - made popular by none other than legendary Bruce Lee - has made a reappearance, at least according to nzherald.co.nz.

They also report that people are experiencing foot problems from walking around in these soft shoes. Well duh, they are training shoes. If you are used to having foot wear with a strong support of the foot, is it really that strange you will experience some problems when you're basically walking around in slippers?

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Former Fighter Sentenced

California -- A 28-year-old former MMA fighter from San Francisco has been sentenced to three years and one month in prison for assaulting an African American man in a Chico bar, and for an unrelated fraud conviction, according to sacbee.com.

In 2008, the accused approached the victim in a bar, uttered a racially derogatory term, and knocked him out with one punch. The victim did not know the attacker and the assault was unprovoked, the prosecution said.

During the trial, the defendant said that the incident was nothing more than one in a long line of barroom type brawls in which he had participated.

Thursday, September 09, 2010

More Victims

California -- The 29-year-old soccer coach and former martial-arts assistant instructor who was charged in August with molesting five boys has been accused of sexually assaulting two more young boys, according to ocregister.com.

The man, who was arrested August 5, taught karate in Fullerton and was a soccer coach for the North Orange County Youth Soccer Premier League. He has now been charged with 24 child molestation counts regarding a total of seven alleged victims..

It has been reported how the suspect met all his victims through the karate practice or through the soccer league. He allegedly befriended their families, who allowed the man to take their sons to the movies.

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Possible Murder-Suicide

Texas -- An MMA fighter and a model are the victims of what appears to be a murder-suicide, according to kvue.com.

The bodies of the 23-year-old model and the 26-year-old fighter were found by police Sunday night in Northwest Austin.

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Judo in Toytown

Oh my - there seems to be some rather naughty action going on in Toyland between Noddy and Big Ears.

According to newsbiscuit.com., Noddy himself claims it is just some late night judo and grappling between the two and that he prefers to grapple with his lucky hat on - hence the sound of the bell. Sounds all well and true to me :-)

A British political comment, you say? Judon't say...

Saturday, September 04, 2010

Kung fu Business

UK -- Two high-ranking civil servants -- employed in the Assembly Government’s Department of Economy and Transport in Wales -- have reportedly been suspended during a probe into how £500,000 of public funds came to be spent on buying a former hotel for a company being led by a Shaolin monk.

The company, the brainchild of the former kung fu world champion, was hoping to open a health and wellbeing centre in the hotel in Llangollen, according to walesonline.co.uk.