Not a Kung-Fu Kick

No kung-fu kick, karate kick or taekwondo kick either

I don't know about you and your view on this but personally I'm getting pretty sick and tired of reading about how kicks from karate, taekwondo, kung-fu and other martial arts are said to be in wide spread use.

It somehow seems every Tom, Dick and Harry knows how to execute martial arts style kicks in various sport events as well as in street type brawls.

A couple of recent cases: First you have the highly publicized NFL situation where a Pittsburg Steelers' wide receiver allegedly "kung fu kicked"a punter in the face on a kick return. You can bet your last dollar that terms such as karate kick have been used about the incident too...

Then there's a recent news brief from the UK, where a man has been convicted of murder after he was found guilty of "karate kicking" a homeless man to death back in 2013.

What intrigues me the most is how these halfwit sensational-seeking reporters and media outlets seems to be such experts in martial arts that they can distinguish a karate kick from a kung-fu kick or a taekwondo style kick - or even a Muay Thai kick - outside of training or strict competition. I dare say these folks have to be good! One kick and they can immediately say "Yes folks, this is a karate kick for sure!"

Kung Fu style kick - Image from Flickr.com

Sure there are instances where you can be pretty certain about the origin. When Swedish soccer striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic does one of his many acrobatic kicks and moves on the field, you can safely add taekwondo to that - after all he has a background from that martial art.

As for the vast majority of the rest... forget about it! It's just low level journalism and easy-to-spot attempts to generate clicks through attention-grabbing headlines when a kicking situation is tied to the martial arts.

Please stick to the facts. When someone haven't trained a a particular art for a lengthy period of time - it is just a kick and it has nothing to do with any particular martial art. Rant over...

Eric Cantona's so-called Kung-Fu kick

As we all can see, this infamous situation from 1995 in the UK is definitely a kung fu kick... he is flying isn't he?

Tainted Taekwondo Reputation

Is taekwondo seeing a tainted reputation?

It may actually be that the martial art of taekwondo is starting to see a bit of a bad rap, at least far when it comes to the Korean mainland (South-Korea).

It appears evidence is emerging, showing how taekwondo matches are being fixed and the results are being rigged in favor of one of the fighters. A former executive of the Seoul City Taekwondo Association is reported to give an interview with a South-Korean radio program where he talked rumors about bribery to manipulate the results of taekwondo matches.

"Bronze medal costs 10 million won, silver 20 million won, gold 40 million won…"
"(It is) just a tip of iceberg." (from english.donga.com)

One report talked about a father of one taekwondo fighter, a high school student. The judge in one of his son's matches clearly made a lot of bad and highly suspect calls - something which led to the opponent being declared winner of the fight.

A month later, the father committed suicide as a result of the important match in his son's career, writing:

"My son lost the match because of those warnings and he now wants to quit taekwondo. I cannot sleep and I don't want to eat .?.?. and now I am exhausted in the end."

Even though it is quite something else killing yourself over this, it get's worse... 

The father's suicide prompted taekwondo officials to carry out an investigation. It was concluded that the 47-year-old referee had evidently made a number of wrong calls. Then, a year later, authorities announced new findings clearly showing the match had been fixed. The father of the other fighter, as well as officials from the Seoul Taekwondo Association was behind the scandal.

Tainted taekwondo reputation in Korea - Image from Flickr.com

Concussion in Martial Arts

The dangers of concussion in martial arts

The recent death - viewed as a probable suicide - by former wrestler and mixed martial arts fighter Sean O'Haire might definitely be a stark reminder of the potential dangers involved in contact sports where head injuries may be prevalent on a more regular basis.

Here's from sports.yahoo.com:

This issue first came to light in the aftermath of the infamous scandal of Chris Benoit's horrific double murder-suicide. At the request of Christopher Nowinski, Mike Benoit allowed an autopsy to be conducted on his son's brain by the Sports Legacy Institute. The results were shocking. They found that his brain displayed large amounts of abnormal Tau proteins and concluded that he had been suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative disease that can lead to symptoms also found in dementia, like memory loss, aggression, confusion and depression.  

Only a problem in pro wrestling?

It is possible to dismiss this as saying it was primarily wrestling that caused the majority of brain trauma, None the less, we need to be extremely aware of all forms of concussion and brain trauma in all contact sport, all the more so where children are involved.

Here is a video showing the impact effect on the brain from punches and kicks used in martial arts:

Jujutsu Prime Minister

Swedish Prime Minister candidate showing jujutsu skills

The most likely candidate to become the next Prime Minister of Sweden, Stefan Löfven from the Swedish Labor Party, has apparently a few martial arts tricks up his sleeve. Could definitely be nice to have if you need to grapple your opponents :-)

Mr Löfven trained jujutsu (ju-jitsu) many years ago but was sporty enough to show a few moves when he was asked about it on Swedish television recently.

The video clip below (as well as the news article linked to above) is in Swedish obviously...

Best Martial Art for Children

What's the best martial art for kids?

It's a constant debate both within as well as out side of the martial arts community which art is best suitable for teaching kids martial arts.

Most of the times you will be recommended arts like karate, taekwondo, judo, aikido and ju jitsu (or jiu-jitsu). One example is this latest post from scifighting.com. And to be frank, there is absolutely nothing wrong with listing or recommending certain arts like this - we can certainly all agree that these 5 chosen arts (or 6 arts, depending on your point of view) can be absolutely great for children of all ages.

Are you picking an art or a school?

The way I see it, there is something vital missing in the approach of picking an art (or several arts) and stating that "these are the best martial arts for kids!". It is a general statement that may, or may not be true.

The point is that you may have a perfectly suitable art being taught in a way that is not at all beneficial to your child or even children in general. To me, the teacher and the whole environment at the martial arts academy/school/club is absolutely pivotal.

I will argue until my last breath that almost ANY serious martial art can be perfect for a child as long as it is taught the right way - adopted to children in a safe and caring environment.

Agree or disagree? Feel free to comment!

Best Martial Arts for Kids?

Local MMA Fighter Arrested in Decapitation Case

A tragic case from beginning to end

I am pretty confident that neither mixed martial arts (MMA, cage fighting) nor Islam has anything to do with this awful and tragic case from London, UK. I am also pretty confident it has a lot to do with mental and/or drug related issues.

When you have a suspect that evidently has been overheard shouting "The cats have stolen my lighter" as he hacked a poor cat to pieces with the edged weapon, it seems pretty obvious we are dealing with a very disturbed individual.

Other reports claim the suspect had ambitions to become a cage fighter, but that he had gone off the rails and was known locally for dealing drugs.

Still, the media will probably have a field day if it turns out the murderer who decapitated an 82-year-old innocent great-grandmother with a machete is indeed a Muslim convert, an African immigrant connected to local MMA fighting.

Cage fighting, mixed martial arts

Improve Sports With Martial Arts

Can martial arts training improve your sports?

Bruce McCorry claims in this great article that martial arts training can without a doubt help you to become better at regular sports activities, and I agree with him completely.

The article is focusing on how it can improve the sports abilities in children, however, I would also like to say that it goes for adults as well. This is one of the reasons why many team sports (soccer, rugby, football etc.) hire martial arts teachers and coaches to help them out with certain physical details of the game.

How can martial arts training benefit sports activities?

Master McCorry correctly points to a set of vital aspects which will enhance a child's chances to be better at any sport, such as enhanced physical capability, better reflexes, enhanced reasoning, improved self-confidence and sportsman spirit.

I'd also like to add to that how good martial arts training teaches any student to focus on what YOU can do something about (yourself), rather than blaming outside things like the pitch, referee, team mates, the weather and what not.

Learning and executing control is another extremely vital part of the core teaching of any serious/good martial art. The same goes for the ability to focus and staying focused...

As for the enhanced physical aspects, I'd like also to include learning how to fall without getting injured, how to get back up quickly, how to take a hit (within reason of course and there's no hits to the head or excessive force allowed in martial arts training for children!), improved balance, eye-hand coordination and so much more.

You should of course read the whole article referenced above.

Improving sports activities with martial arts training - Image from Flickr.com

Build Your Own Ninja Weapons!

For all you ninja buffs out there

Yes ladies and gents, boys and girls, young and old alike, you can now learn how to build your own ninja approved arsenal of weapons; how cool is that? Obviously very cool indeed ... and you really don't need ninja skills to see that :-)

No less than 37 different ninja weapons for the modern era (I suppose that is right now) can be made with this new book that has been launched: 'Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction: Build and Master Ninja Weapons'.

(...) built from common household and office items—plastic utensils, markers, clothespins, paper clips, wire hangers, and discarded packaging—all clearly detailed on materials lists. Builders are offered a variety of samurai stars, blowguns, throwing darts, siege weapons, and ninja tools to choose from. Armed, trained, and shrouded in black, readers are now prepared for missions of reconnaissance, sabotage, and other grim errands.

Seems like a definite must have for kids of all ages, ninja or no ninja!

Not Ju-Jitsu But Very Impressive!

Looks far more like kung fu than ju-jitsu

This 84-year-old Chinese man, named Zeng Guorong, recently performed some calisthenics that could leave anyone, even most folks in their teens or younger, green with envy. Simply fantastic. Not sure how he got the term "jujitsu master" attached to him though.

The pictures, each and everyone extremely impressive leaves no traces of the art of ju-jitsu as I know it after nearly 40 years of training it. They do however leave me thinking of kung fu or tai chi poses.

I'm pretty sure it all stems from the fact that the term ju jitsu, written with Japanese/Chinese characters basically means something along the line of soft, pliable, gentle, flexible ('ju') and art ('jitsu/jutsu'). It would indicate then that this esteemed gentleman is a master in his fitness art of being flexible - which he obviously is :-)

One extremely fit 84-year-old! - Image from peopledaily.com.cn

Woman Use Martial Arts to Fight Off Attacker

Victim says she was saved by her martial arts training

UK -- A woman in her mid 20's was walking in Cheltenham early Sunday morning when an unknown suspect suddenly appeared from the shadows an attacked her.

She told reporters was punched as she fought off the attacker trying to sexually assault her. The victim said martial arts training helped her.

"I have had martial arts training, so I have techniques to be able to defend myself in this situation. I just ran away after he hit me and he legged it in the other direction. I found some help and called the police straight away."
"At the time I just thought about how I needed to stay in control but afterwards I was shaken. It was very frightening."

Saved by her martial arts training - image from Flickr.com

Perfect Police Take-Down

As a martial arts practitioner and instructor, in particular one that teach and train this type of technique on a regular basis, it is really great to see a police officer execute a perfectly timed double-leg take-down. Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

In case you wonder, we call this morote gari in ju-jitsu, but there are of course other names for it as well. Often used in MMA (mixed martial arts).