Kung-Flu Fighting

Everybody was kung flu fighting...

Texas -- Through a campaign called "Flu Fighters Tour", the Department of State Health Services in Texas is reportedly teaching kids how to stay germ-free, using music and kung fu style movies.

Across the state, 40 schools is provided a the chance to learn protection against flu, like staying home while you're sick and washing the hands properly, according to cbs19.tv.

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 :-)

An Old Punk And Tai Chi

James Newell Osterberg, Jr. is probably better known as Iggy Pop. The 61-year-old rock icon - known from the legendary band 'The Stooges'.

Anyone who has been to an Iggy concert can attest to how the guy really has an amazing physique for his age. And as we all know he's definitely been around the block a couple of times as far as drug abuse and injuring himself during shows goes.

Newspostonline.com recently had a story about the veteran rocker. Iggy revealed that he was in great shape due to the fact that he did tai chi (which he practices regularly) ... as well as a "slamming girlfriend" :-)

Iggy Pop and tai chi ... I'll be darned.

Tiny Karate Hooligan

A tiny Romanian boy, 12 years old, has got his criminal career ended when he stabbed a teenager for his mp3 player and finally was deported from Hungary, according to news.monstersandcritics.com.

The pint-sized hooligan - who reportedly has never attended school and can't read or write - had allegedly already achieved "fame" on the Internet, appearing in a video in which he showed karate moves and freely admitted to living from theft and having his "home" in a Budapest underpass.

Karate Player Sentenced

Bulgaria -- In Silistra, a 26-year-old karate player with a previous criminal record, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for brutally killing a folk singer named Pasko Dereliev in the beginning of 2007.

The singer was declared missing after he disappeared on January 11 from a pub in the town, where he staged a performance.

Dereliev's mutilated body was found after a four-month search in a ditch between Tsar Samuil and Nova Cherna (two Bulgarian villages).

Megadethkwondo

Shortly receiving a certificate of appointment as the WTF's Goodwill Ambassador of the World in a ceremony in Seoul on October 27, 2007, Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine said that his life had changed for the better thanks to taekwondo.

"Taekwondo is a great discipline. For me, it was one of the things that changed my life," Mustaine said in a recent interview. "It (taekwondo) helped me to eliminate a bad lifestyle of drug and alcoholism. It helped me to believe inside of myself and find the strength inside of myself that I never knew that I possessed."

Disco Dojo

Yep, it's the latest fitness fad from LA - [...drum roll...] Disco Dojo (sic.)

"We can't possibly have the boring old stuff, now can we? People want to be entertained, they demand something fresh and exciting... This karate stuff is sooo last week!"

Story:
Maybe you want to try kicking things up a notch to make things a little more interesting.
You don't have to be a dancer or practice martial arts to take a disco dojo class. "But you can train like one," says Scott Cole, creator of disco dojo. "

What is this class exactly? "Fun, F-U-N," Cole says. "It's a combination of martial arts and dance. I had a dance aerobic background, and then I started taking martial arts in my early 30s and then started combining kickboxing, tai-chi, taekwondo, all into the mix of Latin salsa, some of the kicks, punches, and some of the disco moves too."

Source

More Blues for Seagal

Not long ago, Steven Seagal was one of the best-paid action stars in Hollywood. The martial arts master played crime-busting anti-heroes in films that generated more than $1 billion in ticket and DVD sales during the 1990s. Now he appears in low-budget productions that go straight to video.

Seagal says he knows why: Five years ago, he was implicated in a plot to frighten two journalists out of writing unflattering stories about him and his former business partner.

An FBI affidavit detailed allegations that Seagal hired private eye Anthony Pellicano to terrorize one of the reporters, a freelancer working for the Los Angeles Times.

The investigation soon changed course, focusing on allegations that Pellicano spied on celebrities and other members of the Hollywood elite. The onetime detective-to-the-stars is in federal prison, awaiting trial on wire-tapping and other charges.

Seagal and the alleged plot to intimidate journalists became a footnote. The actor was never charged, and federal authorities have privately told reporters they have no persuasive evidence against him. But the FBI has never publicly cleared him.

Seagal said the publicity has been devastating to his career. He wants an apology.

Source

Family Keeps Vigil

Hang in there buddy.

Story:
New York -- The family of the tow truck driver who was right on top of the steam pipe that exploded in Midtown spoke about 21-year-old Gregory McCullough's progress.

His mother told the NY Times he had opened his eyes for the first time last week, "They can't tell us if he'll be OK because his injuries are too severe. He is still in a coma but the nurses said he can hear us. So I sing to him and I know he's listening. I know he can hear me."

McCullough, who also attended classes at John Jay College and studied karate when not working, suffered burns over 80% of his body, and doctors put him into a medically induced coma. It's estimated that the heat of the steam from the 83-year-old pipe was at least 400 degrees.

Source

Skunk Fu

This sounds like great fun :-) Apart from the rap "music", that is.

Story:
An Irish cartoon which has taken the animation world by storm is finally set to hit British television screens this month.

Skunk is a Western kid learning kung fu from a wise old panda in China, so that he can help the resistance fight against the evil black dragon and his army of ninja monkeys.

He is brave but impetuous, he must learn to master kung fu and his temper if he is to defeat the dragon. This leads to many action-packed and hilarious adventures.

The series also has a theme tune written and performed by the notorious Ghost Face Killa of the Wu Tang Clan to gel with the hip-hop kung fu flavour of the series.

Source

Kung Fu Ghetto

Here you have another really funny spoof - a hillarious mix of kung fu and "nigga" talk.

Maybe not totally PC (politically correct) - it is rather very un-PC - but so what. It is still funny as heck.

If you find offensive language offensive (duh...) you would absolutely not want to watch the clip :-)

This is one crazy mix of "sex", fighting, bad language, dope, rap music, and polka (yep - polka!). You've got to see this!

You can download the clip here (14.20MB wmv file)

Remember that you can see lots of other funny martial arts related clips here

"Mixed Music Arts"

Couldn't have said it better myself. You would be amazed by the numbers of musicians, painters, dancers, writers etc. who's into martial arts.

Story:
The connection between performing music and training in boxing and martial arts may not seem obvious. But for those who do both, the disciplines are closer than most spectators would imagine.

“I studied music for many years, but coming here has taught me a lot,” musician Dan Hare said, standing in the South Surrey training facilities of the White Rock Boxing Club and The Dragon’s Den Martial Arts.

“There are lots of parallels between this kind of training and being on stage. You have to have the energy, you have to know how to pace yourself – and remember to breathe. I look at myself as an athlete when I’m on stage.”

Source

Rap-kido?

Well, I guess it was only a matter of time before one of these individuals had to "prove" their macho image by talking about Ultimate Fighting.

After all, they are so tough that they probably fear looking at their own reflection in the mirror. I don't see them actually fight though; you see, you have to take off your bling-bling in the ring thing...

Story:
Ice-T has always been one tough S.O.B. No disrespect to his mother, but I heard Ice-T is considering a career change.

The rapper is a longtime martial arts enthusiast and is looking to get into Ultimate Fighting. Ice, who is well into his 40’s, reportedly said that his specialty would be submissions moves like Suge Knight.

Anyway, I also heard that Ice is willing to use Nelly has his sparring partner, if Nelly is down.

Source

Big drum-drum

Sure, Taiko is cool (taiko actual means big drum, or big fat drum, so the often used term taiko drum is - shall we say - a little strange), and it's sometimes being used today as an element along with martial arts.

In feudal (like in "many moons ago") Japan, taiko were often used to motivate troops, to help set a marching pace, and to call out orders or announcements. The drummer was responsible for setting the marching pace on approaching or entering a battle.

But to present a sentence like this: "They practise their unique style of martial arts drumming from dawn until dusk," is eh.. *slightly* over the top.

Taiko is NOT martial arts, it's a traditional Japanese musical art form, some times used alongside martial arts. Taiko, which has a history of about 2,000 years, refers to the art of drumming and the drums.

Apart from the warrior aspect, traditional Japanese music often developed as a part of drama, such as Noh, Kabuki and Bunraku.

Story:
They live in a tight-knit community in the mountainside of Kyushu, Japan. The 16 members of Drum-Tao practise their unique style of martial arts drumming from dawn until dusk.

And, no, they don't get complaints from the neighbours.

Their 10-hour day training involves a lot of mental and physical discipline.

Story

Art vs. sport

Philkip Scudieri draws a distinction between the Budo experience and sport.

"It is our goal to find unity through body, mind and spirit," he said. "Our people have won trophies but we focus on inherent qualities."

Scudieri started studying the martial arts in 1971 after suffering a back injury. He had been working as a musician in Washington and was interested in self defense.

"When you're coming out of a night club at 3 o'clock in the morning, and you've got money in your pocket and $20,000 worth of band equipment, it's good to know how to defend yourself," he said.

Before he became an instructor, Scudieri worked for several years as a bodyguard at concerts for acts such as Little Feat, Patty Smith, and the late Root Boy Slim.

The job often required him to figure out whether rowdy music fans were trying to get on stage for a photo-op or to harm the musicians.

"My martial arts training really helped in being able to determine people's intentions," he said. "Ninty-eight percent of the time the people just wanted to have fun. When I worked, nobody got hurt."

Source

Another MA guitarist

Apart from making music, Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen's other favorite pastimes are dedicated to his health, working out, and martial arts.

Apparently, the Brit guitarist trains Muay Thai.

Source

Just kinda clicked

It's a sad truth about our society -- young people not realizing the effects of their sometimes loathsome behavior toward their peers.

Now, Brenna McPheron stares right back and marches on, secure in her place in what can too often be a cruel world. Brenna's bigger than all that now, drawing strength, confidence and happiness from an unlikely source.

It's been almost two years since Brenna was introduced to the world of martial arts and the soon-to-be senior at Bald Eagle Area High School swears she doesn't know where she'd be today if her piano teacher -- yes, her piano teacher -- hadn't urged her to try it out.

"She told me, 'I think this would be really good for you,'" Brenna said. "I figured I'd give it a try and then I ended up actually being decent at it. It just kinda clicked, I guess."

Source

Drunken kung-fu

How embarrassing...

Story:
Hong Kong -- An apparently intoxicated Jackie Chan disrupted a concert by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Jonathan Lee in Hong Kong and exchanged insults with the audience, a news report said Tuesday.

Ming Pao Daily News said Chan suddenly jumped on stage at the concert Monday night and demanded a duet with Lee. He then tried to conduct the band but stopped and restarted the music several times, Ming Pao said.

Source

Hip Hopkido

...Or maybe we could think of it as Crew-do?

Story:
More details have been announced about a new all-star hip hop fighting game, which will feature the likes of Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes.

The game will see players trying to rule the streets of New York City by winning fights and rising among the ranks of your crew.

Source

Her real passion

Milla Jovovich is an actress, designer, and musician. But she tells Lesley O'Toole that martial arts are her real passion.

Jovovich says that her preparation for Ultraviolet was akin to "training for the Olympics". Were it an Olympic sport, her discipline would be wushu.

Source