Judoka Stealing Toothpaste?

Toothpaste - Illustration from Wikipedia

Judoka stealing toothpaste? really?

To put it mildly, this seems like a really stupid things to do when you risk losing participation in a major event like the 2012 Olympics.

It is so stupid, that I may be tempted to believe there is something else going on here than an urgent need of toothpaste. Haaretz.com reports.

Israeli judoka Soso Palelashvili was arrested Friday on suspicion of stealing toothpaste from a grocery store in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Israeli judo officials immediately decided to ban Palelashvili from competing in the Dusseldorf Judo Grand Prix, putting a serious dent in his hopes of reaching the 2012 London Olympic Games.

What's your opinion of this? Seems rather strange, right? Apparently a troublemaker, but this is strange.

A Ninja Informant

Germany -- A 2009 diplomatic cable, sent from the embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan, allegedly cites an Iranian martial arts teacher -  referred to as a "ninja black belt master".

The informant allegedly claimed that karate clubs were "under intense pressure to cooperate with Iranian intelligence and Revolutionary Guard organizations, both in training members and in working as 'enforcers' in repression of protests and politically motivated killings."

This is according to WikiLeaks and monstersandcritics.com.

More Hijab Trouble

Iran -- The Iranian national karate federation (IKF) have banned the Shitoryu Shukokai Union style for women following an international tournament held in Germany.

During the World Championships, the youth athletes were forced to unveil their hijab (a religious Islamic head garment), according to tehrantimes.com.

The Iranian team was reportedly forced to compete in the World Championship without wearing hijab after they were not allowed to participate in the event by the organizers.

"The offenders should be punished (...)," a representative of Iran's Karate Federation Alireza Ahi, has said.

Wrong House

Germany -- A 25-year-old knife wielding burglar apparently picked the wrong place for a raid in Bremen; the owner was a judo black belt ... and he was willing to fight.

The intruder was rifling through jewellery in an upstairs bedroom in Bremen when he was caught and held by the 39-year-old householder, according to teletext.co.uk. The judoka then held the burglar until police arrived.

Senior Friendly Martial Arts

There are many myths within martial arts. One of them is seeing the arts as a youngsters only activity.

This is probably something that will change over time, as more and more people in their 60s, 70s, and even 80s take up various forms om martial arts - not only tai chi.

Here is a great article ('Senior citizens and martial arts do mix') from Germany about the many potential benefits of doing martial arts for those of us "out of kindergarten" :-)

Martin Halle, a noted sports medicine physician at the Technical University of Munich, Germany says that "Strength, coordination, and endurance diminish in old age." And he adds: "These are precisely the things that martial arts can train very well."

As long as you consult your doctor -- a good advice no matter your age -- and know about the few risks involved in some of the arts, you're absolutely good to go!

The "krotty" kick

In case you wonder, "krotty" is also known as karate... And what's this - someone missing with this über-lethal kick? I thought only *experts* were allowed to flash the serious stuff (like the judo chop, krotty kick, ninja finger signs and jiu-jitsu strangulation)?

Story:
Germany -- A 29-year-old man was one of three arrested following an incident on the fringes of a wine festival in Guntersblum, near Mainz.

A group of six Germans encountered a Sudanese and an Egyptian man in the early hours of August 19, according to Dailystaregypt.com.

The 29-year-old is believed to have shouted a racist slur, threatened to ''flatten'' the two and then tried unsuccessfully to karate-kick the Sudanese man, who was then beaten, a prosecutor said.

When the Egyptian tried to help his companion, he was attacked with a broken bottle and had a finger injured. Passers-by then intervened and called police.

Klodeckeln-Do

Sure, this is a great feat, and I'm confident this is a great guy, but still... I'm always left with sort of a pressing question, a simple: why?

Even though one can pee on electric fences doesn't automatically make it a brilliant idea to do it... The late, great Bruce Lee probably said it best when he talked about why he didn't break boards: "Boards don't hit back".

Story:
41-year-old Kevin Shelley from Indianapolis is a fourth-degree black belt in taekwondo. He can probably defend himself against a lot: muggers, troublemakers, now even the occasional wayward toilet.

The Carmel personal trainer credited his technique in a successful quest to set a Guinness Book of Records mark by using his head to break 46 wooden toilet seat lids in 60 seconds.

Shelley recently appeared on a live, German version of the "Guinness World Records" television show to compete for the world record in breaking "klodeckeln" (wooden toilet seat lids) with his head.

He broke 46 of the lids in 60 seconds; his opponent - a martial arts expert from Hamburg, Germany - broke 41. The previous 60-second record was 30.

Source: The Indianapolis Star
Read more martial arts stories at: your-martial-arts-resources.com

Splendid

Judo: 1 - Robber: 0

Germany -- A blind judo expert astounded a mugger by pinning him to the ground after he tried to steal his cigarettes, police said according to News.yahoo.com.

The 17-year-old assailant spotted the 33-year-old (identified only as Emil E.) at a train station in the southwestern town of Giessen and thought he would be easy prey, a police spokesman said.

But what the attacker did not know, was that his intended victim was a world-class blind judo wrestler.

The 17-year-old threatened the blind man, then punched him in the face, at which point the martial artist flipped him and held him down until police arrived.

More Soccer Mayhem

How do they know it was a karate kick? Did someone tell the reporters he went into a typical Shotokan stance, or delivered a classical Kyukushinkai leg technique? Could it be that this "mildly aggressive" soccer dad simply soccer kicked the boy?

Story:
A 42-year-old German man was so enraged by a foul during a boys' soccer match that he invaded the pitch and felled the 8-year-old culprit with a karate kick, then jumped on him, police said on Wednesday.

"It seems likely the man was related to the player who was fouled, but it’s not entirely clear at this point," said a spokesman for police in the southwestern town of Hassloch.

Source

Plenty of Fight

Maren Namdar's partner wasn't around to need her or feed her when she was 64 — nor to help her off the floor.

She walked into Napa's Guangxi School of Martial Arts last year and told Master Instructor Pat Tyrrell she had taken a bad fall and needed to learn how to fall without getting hurt.

Tyrrell told her, "Maren, I can teach you how to fall and more."

A year and a half later, the German-born Namdar has learned to defend herself from more than gravity. She has learned the American mixed martial art of Kajukenbo Self-Defense.

Source

Still kicking

Respect! Now punks, remember this lesson.

Story:
A 70-year-old British pensioner, trained in martial arts during his military service, dispatched a gang of four would-be muggers in a late-night attack in Germany.

The man, a native of Birmingham who now lives in Germany, was challenged by three men, demanding money, while a fourth crept up behind him. Recalling his training, the Briton grabbed the first assailant and threw him over his shoulder.

When a second man tried to kick him, the pensioner grabbed his foot and tipped him to the ground. At this point, the three men, thought to be aged between 18 and 25, fled, carrying their injured accomplice with them.

Source

Wrong victim

Germany -- Three teenage thugs ended up in hospital after trying to steal a junior kick-boxing and karate champ's mobile phone.

The trio, all aged 17, cornered Pauli Borchardt, also 17, as he made his way home from a friend's house in Hamburg, Germany.

After refusing to hand over his mobile phone, which he was using at the time to call his brother, the trio tried to take it by force.

But the amateur kick-boxing and karate champ floored all three of them before making it to his home on the same street.

Source

What if...

Here in Europe (Germany) the World Cup is in full swing - matching the size, interest and international TV coverage of the Olympics.
And so what? Dude, there's no martial arts involved! Yes, there's some fighting - lousy fighting - on and off the fields, but no real action!
What if there was action like this?
Ruining the "beautiful game"? I don't think so.
I think any sport could need a mix with some martial arts action - like here in 'Shaolin Soccer'.
Sport, action, humor - what more can possibly any guy or gal want?
If you never liked football (or soccer as the Americans mistakenly call it), here's your chance to do something about it!

You can download this funny clip here (7.24MB, wmv)

A long trip

By the time she was in the fourth grade, Sanja Cvitkusic had lived in three countries, was struggling to understand English in a classroom in the Baldwin-Whitehall School District and trying to compensate for a visual handicap.

Her family fled Sarajevo, now capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the civil war and moved to Germany.

Over the next eight years in the Baldwin-Whitehall School District, Ms. Cvitkusic, 18, has excelled academically, exceeding even her own expectations.

Her standing is especially notable because she suffers from achromatopsia, a rare hereditary vision disorder that makes her color blind, sensitive to light and near- and far-sighted. It is so serious that she will never be able to drive a car.

"She is very goal-driven," a teacher said, pointing out that she has participated in many extracurricular activities and has earned a black belt in karate.

Source