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?

Confuse-Us Speaks #27

A yes... our very own old Grandmaster of martial arts weirdness, Confuse-Us, is back with another edition of stage diving into the mixed-up world of martial arts lunacy!

Confucius - Illustration image from fotopedia.com/Google

This time he's found a piece from timesofindia.indiatimes.com, where you will find some (let's called them) "rather interesting" bits and pieces of information.

According to Devadanam, Aikido or mixed martial arts is the best form of self-defence and is generally taught to commandos of special forces.
Sailesh Varma of Association of Mixed Martial Arts India said, "Aikido is an effective self-defence technique that focuses on dislocation of joints and nerve points. On mixed martial arts, Varma said that it was a combination of several martial arts such as Judo, Aikido, Muay Thai and Karate.

Okidoki - It really is good finally to be informed about aikido! Being obviously uninformed, I thought (silly me) that aikido was something totally different. I guess it just goes to prove how little I actually know...

And that aikido is being a part of MMA ... wow, who would have known! These sneaky folks are good to keeping that a secret for so long. Most be some ninja activities for sure.

Or could it simply be that the good folks - here a martial arts instructor - of India knows something which has simply passed the rest of the world by?

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?

Inexperienced Fighter Dies

Thailand -- An inexperienced, 48-year-old Muay Thai boxer and farmer died after collapsing in a fight for which he was set to be paid just 400 baht (approximately US $13).

The father-of-two had reportedly agreed to the fight, even though he had fought only two times before. The man struggled to with the expenses of his daughters' education while caring for his wife's elderly parents and disabled brother, according to bangkokpost.com.

My heart goes out to these poor, hard-working people. How utterly meaningless and sad.

Got 'Car-Ried' Away?

UK -- An employee at a car dealer in Liverpool was beaten by a 29-year-old Muai Thai fighter, according to menmedia.co.uk.

The heavyweight fighter and Muay Thai expert - who also trains children - reportedly lost his temper and eventually assaulted the employee after learning that his wife's car hadn't been fixed.

Muay Thai Fighter Dead

Florida -- Adrienne Simmons, a female Muay Thai fighter who took a strong blow during a fight recently died from the injuries she sustained, according to americanchronicle.com.

The 34-year-old woman from Atlanta, Georgia, received a left hook during the the last and final round of a bout at a hotel in Orlando, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.

Firefighter Fighting

New York -- Nypost.com reported about how NYC Fire Department pension board said they would look into how a 42-year-old firefighter, retired on a disability pension at three-quarters pay, is able to fight in Muay Thai matches.

The Post earlier reported how the former firefighter was collecting a $74,624-a-year disability pension while participating in Muay Thai bouts.

A spokesman for the NYC mayor said they would review the case. He added they would examine any case where they thought someone with a disability pension did not have the condition documented by the medical board.

Jaa Ordained as Monk?

It is being reported that Tony Jaa of "Ong Bak" Muay Thai fame has withdrawn from the movie industry to become a Buddhist monk in the North-Eastern Surin province of his native Thailand, according to pattayadailynews.com

He has reportedly shaved off his locks, taken his Buddhist monk vows and has been officially ordained by the abbot at a local temple.

Muay Thai Champ Killed

Russia -- In what appears to be a contract killing, 27-year-old former world champion in Muay Thai ("Thai boxing") Muslim Abdullayev, was found shot dead in Moscow on December 24.

The body was found with multiple gunshot wounds to the head at a stadium in the north of Moscow, according to news.com.au. Two men allegedly attacked the former champ as he came from a training session.

Russian Muay Thai federation officials claimed Abdullayev had been involved in something they called an "unpleasant conflict", which may have involved former members of the Russian national team.

The Diddly Deadly Limbs

Ahh... the deadly hands of Muay Thai; nothing more lethal ... except for a knife, gun, battle ship, bomb or cruiser missile? Nah, forget that, let's settle for the diddly deadly hands.

Oh, and let us not forget the judo chop, karate kick, jiu jitsu grip or ninja flip - those are totally deadly too, of course! Oh yes budoka - we are all registered lethal weapons for sure :-)

You see, philstar.com recently mentioned an incident between a security guard and a Muay Thai representative during a Filipino National Sports Association meeting.

The Muay Thai man was refused to enter the premises by the guard. The Muay Thai representative apparently took this personal. He delivered a punch to the guard's stomach "to express his sentiments".

"(He) is trained in the martial arts and his hands are considered deadly weapons," a source said. "I don’t think it was right for him to treat the guard this way because after all, he was just doing his duty."

Cuts Hair Chases Criminals

Refugio "Fugi" Escobedo from Atlanta, Georgia is 71 and is leading what seems to be an interesting kind of double life. What else would you be saying about of a combination of bounty hunter and ... are you ready for this ... hair stylist!

The man - who certainly is quite a character with long and flowing black hair - is described as a self-defense expert by ajc.com. As far as the quite risky bounty hunting business goes, he says he often works alone.

Escobedo, who earned a karate black belt in Puerto Rico, says he wanted to attend beauty school in Texas from the moment he looked into a beauty college in Houston and saw "200 or 300 women in this place."

Later, Escobedo expanded his martial arts training to aikido, as well as Muay Thai and other disciplines.

He Intervened

In Bangkok (Thailand), a former Muay Thai boxer has been jailed along with a woman he saved from a rape attempt, according to bangkokpost.com.

The 27-year-old man intervened to prevent the 40-year-old woman being raped on August 29, 2005.

The incident was viewed by the Criminal Court as an attempt to bludgeon a person to death. The man admitted he "lightly kicked" the would-be rapist. The woman admitted she had used a knife to slash the attacker's face several times after he collapsed after a series of blows from the Thai boxer.

Aggressive Not Angry

Here's a great article about Muay Thai for women.

Amongst other things it talks about being aggressive without being angry - something is vital to all fighting arts.
This statement really rings true: "Overcoming fear is half the battle in any situation -- whether it's in the ring or everyday life."

It does sound though like this is more of a fitness/work-out thing, rather than actual fighting.

Human Weapon

Well, I'll be darned - this sounds interesting!

From the History Channel:
"This summer The History Channel® embarks on a remarkable journey across the globe to reveal the history behind one of humankind’s most ancient skills: the art of hand-to-hand combat.

Viewers will join hosts Jason Chambers – mixed-martial-artist and professional fighter – and Bill Duff – former professional football player and wrestler – as they embark on a mission: to explore the history and practice of these time-honored combat arts.

Together, Jason and Bill fold back the rich historical and cultural layers of Muay Thai, Eskrima, Judo, Karate, Savate and more in the ultimate search of Human Weapon.

The series starts (reportedly) on Friday, July 20.

No Boldenone

According to The Nevada State Athletic Commission, lightweight Kit Cope tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Boldenone following his stoppage loss to Rob McCullough on January 20.

A respected Thai boxer, the 29-year-old Cope's transition to mixed martial arts has been a difficult one, taking just one victory in five fights. Boldenone, popularly known as Equipose, is an anabolic steroid developed for veterinary use.

Source

Got off easy

A bumbling burglar who smashed in a storefront window in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, at 3 a.m. somehow failed to notice the Champion Fight Club next door.

Club owner Dave Lochert, who heard the sound of breaking glass, took it from there, chasing the man down and punching him twice in the gut to make him drop his hammer.

When the man tried to run for it, Lochert told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, "I put him in a hold, swept his feet out from underneath him and dropped him to the ground."

The guy was lucky that's all he got. Lochert is trained in judo, taekwondo, white crane kung fu, ninjutsu, Muay Thai, boxing and kickboxing.

Source

No ban

Malaysia -- The death of a Muay Thai kickboxer on Tuesday following injuries suffered during a tournament was an isolated case and the state government will not reimpose a ban on the martial art.

State Women, Youth and Sports Committee chairman Abdul Patah Mahmood said fighters knew the risks involved and guidelines had been set following the state government’s lifting of the ban on the sport two months ago.

Thai kickboxing fighter Rusuwan Abdul Rahman, 21, had collapsed during a freestyle bout in Pasir Tumbuh on Sunday.

Source

School of hard knocks

I urge you to read the news article about this young Malaysian woman - this is one tough individual! With looks like that, plus a killer work ethic and an iron will, she can go just as far as she wants.

Story:
At age 14, she was hauling sacks of rice to buy her first camera. Nine years, 17 solo country treks and hundreds of crazy exploits later, globetrotting freelance photographer Suzanne Lee tells how her journey has just begun.

How’s this for stubborn? A 16-year-old decides to learn Muay Thai, the mind-blowingly violent art of Thai kickboxing. She seeks a retired master sifu and, for a year, cajoles him to take her on as his student. He finally relents and agrees.

At one point, she juggled four jobs — as a go-kart mechanic, a freelance model, a marketing executive and a gym front desk officer.

Source

Muathai?

Not sure if the Thai are too thrilled about a 'y' left out - it is correctly named Muay Thai after all.

Kind of strange that you'll have a kickboxing association and karate-do federation in Uganda, but will not open up for "Muathai".

It is claimed that the newly formed Uganda Muathai (sic) Boxing Council is "similar with the already functional martial art bodies".

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the whole point? I was led to believe that all sports federations and associations were kind of working along the same lines - promoting their given sport, setting standards, arranging championships, enforcing politics and regulations, following national and international guidelines, working towards media, educating officials and coaches and so forth.

Story:
Uganda -- National Council of Sports (NCS) is reluctant to grant Uganda Muathai Boxing Council recognition fearing duplication since two martial art sports governing bodies already exist in the country.

NCS general secretary, Jasper Aligawesa, said that the newly formed federation was similar with the already functional martial art bodies Uganda (UKBA) and Uganda Karate-do Federation.

Source

Energetic enough

I'm not quite sure if I follow the applied reasoning here: "Energetic enough to love martial arts". It never really occurred to me that you had to be energetic to love the arts...

Personally I know a few who I would insist are rather far from fitting to that description, but they still love martial arts - not that they themselves train martial arts though.

And I would also claim that you don't need to be energetic to do martial arts. One of the points is rather to become more energetic from it!

But then again, what do I know?

Story:
She is tough. She is energetic enough to love martial arts.

Her provocative charm is more than evident in dance scenes from her latest movie, "Dasepo Girl." Her remarks on a TV show have invited a barrage of criticism. The name Kim Ok-bin is enough to draw the attention of virtually everyone.

She is a third dan in Hapkido and second dan in Taekwondo. She learned Muay Thai and boxing for fun.

Source