Martial Arts

What a shame! If this suicide really was prompted by failing to medal at the last Olympics, then this is a complete failure to recognize what is important in life and what isn't. http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/Russian-official-says-Elena-Ivashchenko-suicide-the-result-of-Olympic-failure-061813 MOSCOW (AP) A Russian judo official says a four-time European judo champion who committed suicide had been depressed since failing to win a medal at last year's London Olympics. Authorities said Elena Ivashchenko died on Saturday at age 28 after jumping off the balcony of a 15th-floor apartment in the Siberian city of Tyumen. The director of a Tyumen judo center, Vyacheslav Yurlov, told the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that her depression had started after she was eliminated in the quarterfinals at the London Games. Yurlov also said Ivashchenko needed several operations to treat a leg injury and had another one scheduled. Ivashchenko won gold at the European Judo Championships in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012. Want to discuss this blog post? Come find me on Facebook at my Mokuren Dojo FB group ____________________ Patrick Parker www.mokurendojo.com

The D’Arce Choke is one of a handful of submissions starting from half-guard position. Check out a detailed feature on how to perform the technique below… The post D’Arce Choke from Half-Guard appeared first on MMATraining.com.

Saturday morning I drove to Fort Lauderdale, Florida which is about an hour from my house to learn the “Ba Gui Fa” system of healing and pick up some CEU’s for my acupuncture license. Although the first part of the day was all theory it laid the foundation for practice and application. After lunch is when the fun started. We used a combination of cupping and Gua Sha to relieve pain and correct imbalances and clear the facial tissue. Although the cupping and Gua Sha (scraping of the skin) shows up as redness and temporary marks, they dissipate within a few days and for the most part take care of the pain and stagnation action in the muscle. If you look at someone’s back after treatment you would think they got in a fight or had road rush up and down their back. A few years ago I worked on 2 children to clear up a lingering cough. When they went back to school the teacher called childhood services because she thought there was some abusiveness going on at home. When I was in China you would see people walking with red round marks and red spots all over their bodies. The treatments usually removes blood stagnation considered pathogenic, promoting normal circulation and metabolic processes. The patient experiences immediate relief from pain, stiffness, fever, chill, cough, nausea and so on. Gua Sha is valuable in the prevention and treatment of acute infectious illness, upper respiratory and digestive problems, and many other acute or chronic disorders. I have been doing both cupping and Gua Sha in my office for the last 20 years with great success. When I was studying with Jerry Alan Johnson he showed us how to combine the treatment with medical Qi Gong and now I have discovered how effective it is with Gua Sha as well. I use it to clear up stubborn coughs, colds, pain, and asthma. It even works well for knee pain, sore shoulders and neck pain as well as stomach problems. Treatments like this have no side effects and work like magic to clear up stubborn problems in no time at all. Once the problem is resolved I teach the person how to keep the Qi and blood flowing so the problem doesn’t return. I always know if the person is practicing or not by the amount of treatments they need. If I am working on them and the patients isn’t the healing process takes twice as long. I wish you the best in your Health, Wealth and Happiness Dr. Wu Dhi Ps. Want to learn these techniques? I share them with the members of the Qi Gong Inner Circle www.qigonginnercircle.com I’ll send you a DVD with a technique to increase your chances of living a longer life with less pain more energy and a lot of fun. Join us today.www.qigonginnercircle.com

The Tang Dynasty was a high point of culture in ancient China. Especially esteemed were poems. Some of the best poems of that period have been collected into an anthology known as The 300 Tang Dynasty Poems. A online version of the anthology may be found here.Li Qi A LUTE SONGOur host, providing abundant wine to make the night mellow, Asks his guest from Yangzhou to play for us on the lute. Toward the moon that whitens the city-wall, black crows are flying, Frost is on ten thousand trees, and the wind blows through our clothes; But a copper stove has added its light to that of flowery candles, And the lute plays The Green Water, and then The Queen of Chu. Once it has begun to play, there is no other sound: A spell is on the banquet, while the stars grow thin.... But three hundred miles from here, in Huai, official duties await him, And so it's farewell, and the road again, under cloudy mountains.

The Striking Thoughts News Team can neither confirm or deny that this is footage from Bob and Tater’s 2013 International Red Light District Tour  The Guardian broke a story about two Buddhist monks who may have given in to the temptations of modernity. A group of Thai Buddhist monks fly in a private jet, wearing stylish sunglasses and carrying designer luggage. The footage has upset some Thai Buddhists who view the lavish lifestyle on display as inappropriate. In unrelated news, Master Ken opines about Okinawan Karate. -BCP Filed under: Humor, Karate, News Tagged: Buddhist monks, Enter the Dojo, Martial Arts, Master Ken

Crane Frolics Chi Kung, Exercise #33. The Grandmother Crane Shakes the Dust from Her Wings a) From the Crane Stance step out with the right leg at an angle, placing the heel gently on the floor. Lean back as you raise your arms up the sides of the body. As the arms are raised upward the palms face downward and the fingers are spread open. Inhale as you raise your arms and lean back. b) Begin to shift the weight forward into right leg and flatten the right foot as you draw your hands in a downward and inward arc towards the center of your body. As the arms move down, turn the hands so that the palms are facing upward when you reach about waist level. Exhale as you move the arms downward. Some people might need to bring both fee together at this point so as to be able to balance well enough to perform part c) of this movement sequence. c) Shift all the weight into the right leg. Begin to raise the arms forward and upward to above shoulder height, palms up, fingers open, arms out to the side. As the arms raise the left knee is drawn upward until it is at about waist height. Inhale as you drawn both arms and the left knee upward. Look forward. d) Draw both arms down and back as you lower your left knee and step backward to the starting position. Step back with the right foot to return to the starting position and a Crane Stance. The hands return to Dan Tian level. Exhale as you move from c) to d). Repeat the same movement sequence above (a-d) to the opposite left side (i.e., stepping out to the left side at an angle, leaning back and raising arms, drawing right knee to waist, then steeping back). Instead of stepping back in part d) you could bring the foot back to alongside the other foot. Then turn the body slightly to the left and begin a repetition of parts (a-d) to the opposite left side. You would need room for moving forward. The model I have used for this movement is identical to the movement performed by Anson Rathbone in his Bird Frolic, #4 Dry Your Wings. Crane FrolicsFive Animal FrolicsValley Spirit Qigong

Mandatory Credit: BleacherReport.com The UFC has announced today that Ricardo Lamas will not be on the UFC 162 fight card. Instead the UFC has gone on and announced that Middleweight fight between Tim Boetsch and Mark Munoz will be promoted to the main card of the event. The Boetsch vs. Munoz fight was slated for the televised portion of UFC 162 the prelims. The move will have the main card at five bouts instead of the scheduled four bouts and currently only three fights are slated at this time for the prelims now that Boetsch and Munoz was brought up to the main card.

Defend University has a great post on protecting yourself from date rape drugs. They are odorless, tasteless and they are intended to incapacitate you while producing enough amnesia that you’ll never remember him attacking you. They are called “date rape drugs” and can be put into drinks or food. And they can kill you. Before you think this can never happen to you, read about this real case of one of our friends being date rape drugged. Leslie in this story still does not know... This is a summary. Please click the title link to read the rest!

Bellator MMA will be back this coming Wednsday with Bellator MMA 96. The event will be featuring the Semi-Finals of the Light Heavyweight tournament featuring King Mo vs. Seth Petruzelli. Tuesday afternoon Bellator held their weigh-ins and here are the results. Main Card live on Spike T.V. Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (205.2) vs. Seth Petruzelli (204.8) Renato “Babalu” Sobral (204.4) vs. Jacob Noe (206.2) * Vitaly Minakov (246) vs. Ron Sparks (264.6) War Machine (171) vs. Blas Avena (170) Prelims Card live on SpikeTV.com Jarrod Card (145.7) vs. Chas Skelly (145.9) Keith Berry (190) vs. Cortez Coleman (185.6) Mike Maldonado (135.8) vs. Chavous Smith (137.7) Keith Miner (155.8) vs. Damon Jackson (154.8) Ryan Martinez (263.8) vs. Rich Hale (240.1) Jeremiah O’Neal (260.5) vs. Raphael Butler (261) Brandon Halsey (205) vs. Joe Yaeger (205.5) Brandon Girtz (155.7) vs. Derek Campos (159.2) Justin McNally (135.4) vs. Steven Artoff (138.8)

It has been rumored for almost a month that Vitor Belfort may face the victor of UFC 162′s main event, Silva vs Weidman. Coming off of a huge TKO victory over former Strikeforce champion, Luke Rockhold, in Brazil on May 18th, Vitor may very well be the number one contender. Belfort is 7-1 in the middleweight division, his only defeat is his Brazilian rival, Anderson Silva. President Dana White says there is no guarantee for Belfort to face the winner of Silva vs Weidman, since he just fought last month. White believes that this fight “makes sense” and that Belfort has earned it. Vitor couldn’t agree more. He believes that he has proven himself worthy of a title shot, not because he has hyped up his fights and trash-talked his way to the top, but because he has simply worked every day to become the skilled fighter that he is. “I go to the gym every day. I work hard. I know I will bring that title back. But it’s not about waiting for the time. It’s about making my time now.” Belfort says. “You cannot go against results, so look at my results. That’s what I mean. Some people earn, and some people don’t. They try to get there without earning it. I believe in every area of my life, I earn — and I earn through the glory of God.” So what do you think? Do you think Belfort has earned himself a shot at the next middleweight title? Share your thoughts with a comment or send a tweet to @eschuey74.