Kung Fu Instructor

Kung fu - Illustration from Flickr.com

A Texas based kung fu instuctor has been found guilty and sentenced to eight years in jail recently, according to http://scntx.com. You can read an excerpt below and get the whole article here.

Just want to mention briefly that - although you can read about quite a number of these cases here - the vast majority of martial arts schools are very safe places in all respects, and that all but a very few martial arts instructors and teachers are hard working, trustworthy and decent people.

That said, it never hurts do use some due diligence when seeking out a suitable training facility for your child in your local area.

Kung fu instructor

On March 16, area resident Ricky Earl Anderson, 48 was sentenced by a Collin County jury to eight years in prison for sexual assault of a child following a jury trial in the 199th District Court of Collin County announced Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis Friday. The trial began on March 12 and concluded March 16.
Anderson, a kung fu instructor, sexually assaulted one of his female kung fu students in his Richardson apartment on Feb. 15, 2004. The victim was 15-years-old at the time of the crime, and under Texas law, a child under the age of 17 cannot consent to sexual contact with an adult. The victim out-cried to Garland Police Detective Curtis Hale in July 2007. Hale investigated the case and coordinated the filing of the case through the Richardson Police Department.
Testimony showed that Anderson, who had conducted many kung fu classes over the years, lived and, or taught kung fu in recent years in Garland, Frisco, McKinney, Richardson, Royce City, Las Vegas, and Ft. Worth.

The good thing is that these individuals are caught and brought to justice. The really sad part is of course that this stuff is allowed to happen in the first place.

MMA Training Kicked In

MMA fighters - Illustration from Flickr

A mixed martial arts trained college student and army vet have rightfully been hailed as somewhat of a hero after his MMA training kicked in and he took a robber down recently in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

GVSU college student Zack Thome stepped up and saved the day when a local business was robbed in broad daylight (10 in the morning) Thursday.

With all the negative press martial arts in general, and MMA in particular, gets from time to time, it is really nice to read about these kind of positive stories.

Here's what fox17online says about the incident

MMA training kicked in

The man that walked into Spike N' Mike's Party Store around 10:00 a.m. last Thursday morning, intending to rob the store, was charged Monday morning.
38-year-old Brandon Slanger was charged with assault with intent to commit an armed robbery, and being an habitual offender. Slanger's preliminary hearing is set for April 5, 2012.
Slanger didn't count on a vigilant, mixed-martial arts trained customer stepping in, however.
"I look at the cashier, I kind of know him, I come in there every day.  I whispered to him, I mouthed to him, 'Are you getting robbed right now?' He said, 'Yeah,' like really scared," said Zack Thome, the GVSU college student who tackled the suspect.

We definitely need more of these kind of inspirational stories. If you have any, then I'd really appreciate it if you took the time to share them!

Bad Massage Therapy

Massage - Illustration from Flickr.com

Apparently he provided some seriously twisted, bad massage therapy...

The Norwegian martial arts instructor, in his 60s and described by media as a martial arts expert, have been jailed after being found guilty of a sexual crime against a young female student, according to vg.no (The page is in Norwegian).

It appears that the man indicated he could release body blockages in his "massage clients" by having intercourse.

Bad massage therapy

In 2008, a martial arts instructor assaulted a young woman after he claimed sex could free her of bodily blockages.
The young woman visited his long time martial arts teacher in order to be treated with massage, heat and light. The court noted during sentencing that the "massage therapist" had abused his position of trust and authority as a martial arts figure to get customers for his dubious "treatment"

Another sneaky old martial arts bugger abusing his position - very sad and troubling indeed.

MMA Banned in Thailand

Muay Thai - Illustration from Flickr.com

Really, MMA banned in Thailand? It definitely appears to be the case, somethings which appears kind of odd in a country where the hard hitting fighters of Muay Thai are national heroes and the martial art - considered brutal by many - is the national sport.

Apparently mixed martial arts has been deemed to be 'too brutal' by the governing Thai sports authorities.

Makes me wonder if there isn't some form of political pressure behind this decision.

MMA banned in Thailand

Here's a small excerpt of what bangkokpost.com has to say about this kind of strange move.

SAT officials met this week to discuss whether holding an MMA event was lawful or not following a request from a private company and they finally agreed that under the 1999 boxing law, it is unlawful to stage an MMA event in Thailand.
"Organising a MMA event here would hurt the image of Muay Thai," Sakol said.
There have been two MMA events held in Bangkok and neither were approved by the SAT, according to Sakol. He said the SAT was asking the Interior Ministry's legal advisors to consider action against any MMA organisers.
"If you want to do this kind of business, you should do it in another country," Sakol said. "Organising MMA here could mislead the public into believing that Muay Thai is brutal."

So there you have it - apparently MMA is too brutal, but Muay Thai is OK. Weird logic if you ask me. What's your opinion?

Judo Serial Killer

Judo throw - Illustration from Flickr.com

Before anything else, remember to visit our newest martial arts news related site Best Martial Arts News.

You will find more news on that new site, while we'll of course also continue to maintain this blog here ... albeit somewhat less regularly.

The case about the judo serial killer is from latino.foxnews.com and it's about a judo champion who's being accused of strangling 5 people to death in Honduras.

A judo serial killer

A martial arts expert who has been a fugitive from justice since May 2010 and is accused of strangling five people was arrested by Honduran police, authorities said Tuesday.
The spokesman for the prosecutor's office, Melvin Duarte, told Efe that Gandhi Espinal Raudales was arrested several days ago.

Don't know about you, but a judo champ who allegedly strangle people to death is a chilling thought indeed. What's your thoughts in this matter? Remember to comment below!

MMA License Reinstated

MMA fighters - Image from Flickr.com

Well known MMA heavyweight fighter Josh Bartlett failed a drug test back in 2009.

Since then he have been fighting to get his California mixed martial arts license back.

Well, it now appears he's back into the game. It is said that the primary reason is that California "needs good fighters." Mmamania.com reports:

Strikeforce heavyweight attraction and former PRIDE FC star Josh Barnett had his mixed martial arts (MMA) license reinstated today (March 5, 2012) during a special hearing in front of the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC).
But not without provisions.
"The Warmaster" must consent to "random biological fluid testing" at a time and place determined by the commission prior to his participation at any event held in the state of California.

Karate Instructor Accused

Karate grading - from Wikipedia.org

It may seem like almost an everyday occurrence that there's another taekwondo or karate instructor accused of a sexual crime of some sort involving a juvenile student.

However, considering the huge number of karate or taekwondo schools and instructors/teachers out there - it's more than anything a statistical thing that these arts are taking the spotlight more often than others.

Also, let us not forget that the vast majority of martial arts teachers are honest, dedicated and trustworthy individuals.

That said - one such case is really one too many, and it involves all martial arts in a significantly negative way.

Here's an excerpt from wtsp.com regarding a recent case from Florida:

A Sarasota teacher was arrested Friday on charges he had sex with a 14-year-old student seven years ago.
According to the affidavit, the victim, now 21, told her brothers that she had sex with John Garcia, a karate instructor at the Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences, when she was in middle school.
On Febr. 7, the woman told police in a statement that during the incident Garcia dismissed the class, locked the door, and sat her in his lap. He then began to fondle her and proceeded to have sex with her. The woman said this was the first time she ever had sex.

As always, feel free to comment below.