Martial Arts

On Sunday, there was a judo tournament, so many of the usual suspects were not at practice until later. The first hour and a half or so was just Scott (an adult novice, north of 200 pounds), Christian, a purple belt weighing around 70 pounds and Elias, his little brother, who is a about 40 pounds on a heavy day. (Apologies if I didn't get the weights exactly right. This is not the LA County Fair and I am not the weight guesser guy.) In such a situation, what you should NOT do is try to teach everyone the same thing. For three hours, we went through different moves for different people (we were eventually joined by Liam, later by Blinky and I don't know who came after that because I had to leave). We all did ko uchi makikomi, although I do think it was a better move for the smaller people. We did it both right and left. We all also did that drill showed on the Armbar Nation site with Julia where they run back and forth doing uchi komi. That is really just a conditioning drill and everyone can get in a little better shape. Then, we did a sacrifice throw into an arm bar. While each person tried each variation - and here Christian is doing the variation I asked Scott to emphasize. The way I usually do this move, is I do the throw, do a backward roll as I do it and land ON TOP of my opponent. Now Scott, as I said, is a good 200+ and well over six feet tall. As I unnecessarily pointed out to him, Olympic gymnast material he is not. So, when he did the throw, I had him do the arm bar as demonstrated above, where he threw his opponent with a sumi gaeshi . There is a nice video of how to do sumi here. We did not actually do it that way on Sunday because that is a bit more advanced. We did it for people who we bent over stiff-arming you. So ... Scott did the sumi gaeshi to the arm bar. Christian did a drop seoi nage to this same arm bar. Elias just did the throw to the pin. Too often I will see coaches who are 5 foot 1 (a perfect height, by the way) who teach everyone to do a drop shoulder throw because that is what they do. Don't be like them. Be like me, Captain Modesty. Oh, yes, check out my book of matwork tips and techniques which did not include the one above. Maybe that will be my next book if enough people buy this one. If not, I guess I'll write my next book on statistics, which would be okay, too.

Strikeforce veteran Conor Heun is an aggressive wrestler with submissions to boot. He’s also an excellent teacher based on his love of MMA, especially in terms of grappling. In the following video, Heun provides insight on how to perform a High-Crotch Corner Turn where the user will ultimately be able to move behind an opponent and take his/her legs out… The post Conor Heun: High-Crotch Corner Turn appeared first on MMATraining.com.

When facing a seasoned submission-grappler it’s not uncommon to see an inverted guard. Of course, with the right information, handling the position isn’t too tough. Check out the instructional on how to deal with passing an inverted guard courtesy of the team at Queens MMA in NYC… government,politics news,politics news,politics

Luc Besson and his EuropaCorp have partnered with China’s Fundamental Films to develop a slate of movies as part of the two companies’ three-year deal that was announced last July. Part of the agreement is to co-finance, produce and distribute the next three installments in the Transporter franchise. Each film will have a budget between $30 million and $40 million, and at least one of them will be shot in China. No word if Jason Statham will reprise his role. Do we really asked for more Transporter movies? I agree only on these conditions: Statham is a lead delivering parcels across Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Thailand), the best Asian action stars play villains (Collin Chou, Tim Man, Byung-hun Lee, Kane Kosugi) and fighting choreography on Corey Yuen, Cyrill Raffaelli and Larnell Stovall… And everyone erasing from their memory existing of crappy TV series. The first Transporter film hit theaters in 2002 and went on to gross $44 million on a budget of $21 million. EuropaCorp decided to move forward with a sequel and was rewarded with earnings of $85 million. The third film was soon greenlit and went on to become the highest-earning installment in the franchise, with $109 million. source: worstpreviews

It’s hard to forget UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo‘s flying knee finish of Cub Swanson during their WEC days. What made the stoppage especially spectacular was the involvement of TWO knee strikes landing during the same sequence. In the following video, the folks at Pro Mai MMA offer up a lesson on how to throw a double flying knee, giving viewers an opportunity to score a similarly sweet victory if landed… government,politics news,politics news,politics

Staying healthy and young is not something that comes naturally. You have to work at it. Every morning I get up and begin my training. I eat healthy, stay well hydrated and stay away from foods like sugar, breads and dairy. You may be asking yourself, why? The reason I stay away from foods like that is because they do not give you the maximum amount of energy. If I bought you a new Maserati for $160,000 would you put the cheapest gas you could find in that car? Of course not, you would put in the best high quality fuel that you could find. You would never put in cheap fuel and why? Because it would make your cool sports car run like a truck and yet, if you are hungry and you stop by 7-11 and grab some chips filled with trans fats, a genetically engineered candy bar filled with corn syrup, or some other strange item that you may think is fuel for your system. There are three rules that I follow: 1.Health 2.Wealth 3.Happiness Make your health #1 and put only the best fuel in your body and in your Maserati. When I train in the morning, I want to keep myself balanced, healthy and strong. The Recharging Qi Gong Program does all of that in the minimal amount of time with the best bang for your buck! Order Now! http://www.rechargingqigong.com/recharging-qi-gong.html I wish you the best in your Health, Wealth and Happiness Dr. Wu Dhi

I just finished four solid days of fishing and hiking. We had rain hit the last day and a half but past that the trip was most excellent. We divided our time between two lakes and one river. For the bulk of the river trip we hired a guide and for sure it was money well-spent. Trout totals for the guided 1.5 days? Bob: 25 Bob’s pal: 30 This particular 10-mile stretch of river has some tough rules including artificial lures only, a size requirement, and a one fish per-day limit. The result is 960 fish per mile with 96% of them being rainbow trouts — some in the 5-6 pound range. Our guide STRONGLY discouraged us from taking any trout from the river. He also had strict photo rules — mainly because the longer the fish was out of the water the more likely it was to be hurt. As such, we both missed bigger photo opportunities. The largest fish caught was 22″ and that by my friend. Our dreams of five pound fish did not come true. Martial metaphor: Trout fishing with a fly rod is very much like a soft internal martial art. It’s more about finesse and accuracy than muscle. So, while we both caught on to casting fairly quick, we both struggled with the finesse of setting the hook in a fast-moving river. Each of us easily missed setting the hook on just as many fish as we caught. We did learn how to float the river with strike indicators (aka bobbers) and wet flies. Also, the guide was money well-spent and was better than any class we could have taken. He had 10 years of experience on this river, had fly fished since he was seven, and was constantly switching out flies until he got us on the right combination. This particular guide was as rough as a corn cob, however, he knew his stuff. His SUV was filthy, on the second day he reeked of B.O., and his boat and gear was worn. He also did not wear the fancy trout outfit that some guides were wearing — opting for sandals, shorts, and a t-shirt. Without the guide this trip would have been sheer disaster. The guide understood the entomology of the river, knew where the holes were, knew where the trout bunched up, and knew how to manage the boat. Hilarious moment of the trip: Two guys in a fancy boat with fancy trout gear went through a run without a single bite. On the end of the run they both ended up with wind knots and had to bank their boat to untangle their lines. We went through the same run and both me and my pal took trout. As I was trying to land mine I noticed that one of the guys was shaking his head in disgust. We did the run two more times and pulled out two more trouts while the city slickers looked on in disgust. I also got some good fly fishing advice from our crusty guide. He advised skipping the waders and just wait until the water warms. He directed me to access points in town — one a half mile from where I live! — and said that I could wade and use strike indicators and wet flies. He also advised stopping at a local fly shop and asking for whatever fly happened to be hot at the time. The only real thing I need to manage is learning how to tie the leader. Also, the only real gear I’d need to add is some sort of cheap trout vest.  Most likely I’ll try this once or twice in the summer. -BCP Filed under: Fishing, Musing, Philosophy, Zen Tagged: finesse, fishing, fly fishing, relaxation, trout fishing

"The sun is always a powerful, invincible image, whether it is the weak illumination of the pre winter solstice, or the savage primal energy of midsummer. Long before humanity developed written language humans must have gazed in terrific awe at the reborn sun each morning, how it over came the dangerous dragon of darkness that it sank into each evening, the provider of light, warmth, sustainer of growing vegetation -life itself--this enormous solar edifice quite clearly was one of the earliest forms of worship as man began to fashion a supernatural interpretation of natural phenomenon from the daily spectacle of the dying and reborn sun. Albert Pike makes the following concise statement in his Morals and Dogma: 'To them [aboriginal peoples] he [the sun] was the innate fire of bodies, the fire of Nature. Author of Life, heat, and ignition, he was to them the efficient cause of all generation, for without him there was no movement, no existence, no form. He was to them immense, indivisible, imperishable, and everywhere present. It was their need of light, and of his creative energy, that was felt by all men; and nothing was more fearful to them than his absence. His beneficent influences caused his identification with the Principle of Good; and the Brama of the Hindus, and Mithras of the Persians, and Athom, Amum, Phtha, and Osiris, of the Egyptians, the Bel of the Chaldeans, the Asonai of the Phœnicians, the Adonis and Apollo of the Greeks, became but personifications of the Sun, the regenerating Principle, image of that fecundity which perpetuates and rejuvenates the world's existence.'"- Christ, Constantine, Sol Invictus: The Unconquerable Sun By Ralph Monday June: Quotes, Poems, SayingsSummer Solstice Celebration

I had missed this one but thanks to the folks at TWNBJJ & event producer Demitri Telfair, here are some pics from the recent Central Taiwan Open. I have to say, that's probably one of the coolest event spaces for a tournament. Congrats guys!

www.taiwanbjj.org