'Johnny English Reborn'

Just brilliant - "no pain, no gain" :-)

An Amazing Recovery

Arizona -- When Darla Loy, 28 at the time, was diagnosed with 'Mixed Connective Tissue Disease' (MCTD), an autoimmune disorders akin to Lupus, her doctor told her that she needed to take pain medication, anti-inflammatories and steroids - probably for the rest of her life.

The reply from the woman was simply that it was not going to happen, according to sandspringsleader.com.

Rather, the determined woman started her own research and began fighting back - eventually taking up karate at the same place her young son was a student.

Her determination, changes in diet and karate workouts soon helped her begin to lose weight and she found her confidence was restored. She was indeed able to do without the medications to the amazement of her doctor.

After getting a passion for karate, she advanced to aerobic style kick-boxing, before finally going into the ring as a full-fledged kick-boxer.

I urge you to read this truly inspirational story about  a woman with a remarkable fighting spirit.

Cop-Fu

China -- 48-year-old Mir Zhang, a Chinese police officer in the Hei Longjiang province, has studied kung fu techniques rigorously for more than 20 years, according to metro.co.uk. These studies has allegedly left him invulnerable to pain and injury.

In any case, he does seem to take a lot of it, and it may seem like criminals and thugs on his shift had better think twice.

Below, you can see him shrugging off bricks smashed on his skull with a sledgehammer. Other feats include a steel spear being forced into his throat and breaking heavy stoneware pots to pieces with his head.

Nailing It

China -- To paraphrase Monty Python - "And now, for something completely else" - here's a brief article about kung fu expert Li Xin performing a head stand on top of a nail...

Impressive? You bet. Will I be doing this? Nah, I suppose I'll simply pass on this one. It does look rather painful, thank you very much :-)

Fighting Disability With Taekwondo

Here's an inspirational story from etruth.com about dedication and overcoming obstacles - in effect what martial arts is all about.

I sure need these kind of reminders when I might be tempted to feel sorry for myself or come up with excuses. What about you?

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Indiana -- 53-year-old Linda Koeppel might not move as quickly or kick as high as others in her taekwondo class. However, the Elkhart woman is using her slower speed to move past a disability that limits her ability to move her legs.

Koeppel battles a condition which causes loss of muscle tone and unpredictable burning, stabbing or dull pain in most of her right leg and some of her left. The condition, called 'reflex symptomatic dystrophy' does that she experiences pain in each step, and some days she doesn't make it out of the house.

She has to sit down and stop exercising every 10 to 15 minutes. "As you can see, my training takes longer than someone who can just come in here and train hard," she said.

Just getting to the gym can be a struggle. She wants other people fighting disabilities to know she feels their pain -- literally -- but that they can still enjoy exercise. "If it takes 20 minutes to put one sock on, that's OK," she said.

Training has helped her ward off the depression that set in shortly after she couldn't move around and drive normally.

Karate: Key to Her Health

UK -- Bronchiectasis is an incurable lung condition involving scarring of the lungs. 16-year-old Lauren Davies, who suffers from this severe condition, didn't let it stop her from becoming a black belt in karate.

The teenager suffers from breathlessness and tiredness and her condition is so severe she may be facing a lung transplant in later life.

But the Castleton teenager has fought her health problems to work her way up to first dan, and also works part-time as a karate instructor in Sudden.

The girl told rochdaleobserver.co.uk: "I have a lot of pain, I constantly have a cough, I have a lot of breathing problems and I get tired a lot. But karate has really helped. My karate friends have been like family to me. They have really helped me through all the tough times I have had."

She has now written a self-help book about her life titled Miss Goals, in conjunction with her karate teacher.

The book tells the story of how she has overcome her problems. She said she hopes the book will help other youngsters with the condition.

Knee Arthritis and T'ai Chi

A study has been presented at the meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, according to presstv.ir.

The study is reportedly showing that traditional Chinese martial arts (t'ai chi) helps in alleviating pain in individuals suffering from severe knee arthritis.

It is said that practicing the slow t'ai chi for an hour twice a week not just reduce the pain in those suffering from severe knee osteoarthritis but also tackles depression and improves physical function.

Kicking Autistic Boy

Texas -- A 20-year-old man from Troup, has reportedly trained martial arts since the age of 6. He recently told a court how he has "a very short temper" and an "anger problem".

This young man has been found guilty of using kick boxing to "discipline" a young autistic boy - with the approval of the boy's mother, according to tylerpaper.com.

The boy's mother, 34, allegedly did nothing to stop her boyfriend from repeatedly kicking her then 11-year-old son as a neighbor videotaped the abuse.

The woman admitted at her trial that she caused bodily injury to her son by striking him and by failing to protect him during the incident on April 24.

Oh dear...

Back With a Vengeance

Minnesota -- You may recall the St. Paul guy called "Afro Ninja". If you do, you may also remember how he tried to do a back flip/nunchaku routine back in 2004 and ended up with a rather impressive - and painful, for sure - face plant.

Startribune.com reported on August 5 how the man - who is actually a professional stuntman - is working on turning misfortune into a positive thing. How? Allegedly by making a movie about it. The clip has reportedly been the basis of a low-budget film that he has starred in as well as produced, called "Afro Ninja: Destiny".

All the credit to him, I say. Seriously, show me someone who haven't taken a nosedive and I'll show you a liar (or a person with severe lapses of memory).

The only thing that separates our mishaps to his, is that there were no camera to shoot us when we did our "seriously silly break-fall routine" :-)

Shirtless Karateka

When will they ever learn? Denying a man his rightful cigarette ... no wonder he didn't want to be arrested!

And as we all know, any karate stance is dangerous stuff - probably the most deadly martial arts move ever. So when someone is capable of "exhibiting different karate style stances randomly" - shirtless no less - then oh my goodness, here comes the pain again!

Reportedly, this poser in Bremerton, Washington punched both a bystander and a police officer before he was arrested.

Good it wasn't taekwondo stances after all. Nothing can stop that, not even a judo chop.

Gus Has a Huge Heart

Florida -- Gus Egerer is a fun-loving person with a heart the size of a tank - someone who shares his will of steel with other disabled folks, according to wtlv.com.

Gus says the folks at the Cerebral Palsy center in Jacksonville are his heroes. They call Gus their hero.

Mr Egerer is a black belt in karate, something he achieved after losing an arm. Now he teaches folks with disabilities how to fight back and defend themselves.

Years after losing his arm in an acident, he severely hurt his back in a fall. Now he gets a morphine-like painkiller through a pump implanted under his skin. Even so, he hurts just about every day.

Pain-Free With Tai Chi

There's a new study on tai chi, conducted by the University of California at Los Angeles' (UCLA) Center for East-West Medicine. And reportedly this study adds one more medical malady to the list: Tension headaches.

Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, founder and director of the center and co-author of the study, says that "A lot of people have tension headaches and they just take Tylenol or over-the-counter medications, which buys them some relief, but doesn't get to the root of the problem. We teach them how to deal with negative emotions."

Tai chi addresses body-mind issues, Dr. Hui added, which can help improve a practitioner's quality of life.

According to the National Headache Foundation (NHF), tension headaches are the most common form of headache, with about 78 percent of adults experiencing one at some point in their lives.

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

A Steadfast Rock

Getting a black belt is a great achievement for anyone, but it meant a little more to 53-year-old Pam Whittington.

Her instructor mirrored her smile. After teaching her for six and a half years - step-by-step - he knew how much she deserved it.

Earning the grade gave her a new outlook on life, and it became a steadfast rock in a life that had been filled with hardships.

Three years into her training, her life was turned upside-down when she returned home after a martial arts seminar in Las Vegas and found her husband had committed suicide. Despite the unimaginable pain Whittington felt, she leaned on her martial arts training to get her through.

Source

Software Martial Arts

Yep, similar, yet different. Guess this is why so many artists and musicians does martial arts too :-)

Story:
Around the end of high school I studied Tae Kwon Do for a short period of time. Now my oldest son is taking Goju-Shorei at the local park district which has gotten me re-interested in the subject.

Aside from causing pain in my muscles which demonstrates that I'm not a teenager any more it has had another affect. It got me thinking about its similarities between martial arts and software development.

(...) it is fun sometimes to see the way very different things are actually similar.

Source

Chan hurt

Actor Jackie Chan has been injured while shooting a scene for Rush Hour 3. The 52-year-old martial arts expert re-injured his chest, according to Variety magazine.

Chan originally hurt his chest in March while filming the action comedy Rob-B-Hood. According to initial reports, Chan is free from internal injury and has no broken bones.

Chan who normally does many of his own stunt work, tried to work through the pain by wearing a support belt and taking pain medication.

“I was in a lot of pain because it was in the same spot where I had gotten hurt during the filming of Rob-B-Hood,” he said.

Source

Kids fight pain

Here's another news article that you really should read - moving to say the least!

Story:
When the sharp stabs and dull aches of his sickle-cell anemia become unbearable, 15-year-old Terrell Harrison remembers what Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg told him, and his suffering eases.

Goldberg is the founder and director of Kids Kicking Cancer, a Detroit organization that helps children ages 4-17 overcome the pain of cancer, sickle-cell anemia and other serious diseases.

The group offers weekly classes using martial arts, breathing techniques, visualization and meditation to help youngsters gain a greater sense of control over their minds and bodies.

Martial arts involve more than kicking and punching, said Richard Plowden, chief martial artist for Kids Kicking Cancer.

Source

Jumping jacks

100 jumping jacks? Why in the name of sanity would anyone do that, and what's the point (apart from knowing you can do it)?

This reminds me of the sad fact that some martial arts styles and schools still use outdated and sometimes pointless or outright questionable exercises.

Story:
Sally Burke has a hard time sitting still. She finds martial arts to be a good outlet for her energy and can't imagine life without it.

"That would be like taking that thing you love most and say you can never do it again," Burke said.

That worst case scenario almost happened seven years ago. After completing 100 jumping jacks, pain overwhelmed Sally to the point where she couldn't walk.

"I didn't do them any differently then I did any other time," Burke said. "I guess it just hit the nerve that time."

Doctors diagnosed her with Spinal Stenosis. She tried cortisone shots and radio frequency treatments, but they didn't work in the long run.

Source

Saving former fireman

Thomas Terbay stashes his walker along the wall of the mirror-lined studio and shuffles to the center of the room. He raises his arms, moving silently through a series of tai chi positions like a martial arts movie in slow motion.

Sweat beads on his forehead, and every few minutes, he pauses to catch his breath. He apologizes, because for the past two months leg pain has kept him from his usual routine of classes at the Tai Chi & Kung Fu academy.

But Terbay, a former firefighter who credits the mental and physical benefits of tai chi with helping him turn his life around, says he'll be back to his regular schedule in a few weeks. And considering the odds he overcame in getting this far, it's not hard to believe him.

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Pervert art teacher

UK (Scotland) -- An art teacher was today jailed for 10 years for inflicting a "horrifying catalogue" of abuse on pupils at a school for troubled kids.

A judge told Matthew George, 57, that he had misused his power and authority to cause "fear, misery, pain and humiliation" on youngsters at Kerelaw School in Stevenston, Ayrshire.

The court was told unruly pupils were pushed and shaken, and that martial arts enthusiast George liked to practise Kung Fu on them.

The gym wall was pock-marked with holes made by flying golf balls - backing up pupils' claims that they were taken there to be pelted with missiles as a punishment.

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