Iron Mike

Love him or hate him, no one can deny that he was the most feared Heavyweight in the last 20 years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwmW-nnDBOE

Pay The Price To Be A Star

Every since I've been in combat sports, young athletes have always said they wanted to be fighters and champions. People see champions on TV and because they like the sport, they set their eyes on being one too. But, rarely have I seen athletes train like champions. I was fortunate to be in gyms where top level fighters trained as I learned boxing and kickboxing. The top guys were extremely self motivated and worked out differently than everyone else. Guys come in the gym, take their time getting ready, talk to all of their buddies (while working out) and go through the motions of training. The discipline of movement is not the same. People see a guy with a belt, but they don't look at what the guy went through to win that belt. They see the prize and don't think about the journey. Sometimes a champion may forget about the journey. Successful people sometimes forget about where they came from, but they still come from humble beginnings. This means that you have to study, work hard and believe in yourself when others don't. You have to drive on through hard times and never stop believing. Famous Boxing coach, Freddie Roach said, "If a guy walks into his gym and doesn't think he is going to be world champion, then he won't".  Many will say that they want to be the best, but they really don't (want to work hard at it). They get in there and compete and they find out that there are a lot of good fighters out there. When the going gets tough, they quit. So, watch the top guys train. See how they carry themselves and ask them questions. Don't look at the end product and focus on that, but look at the journey too. And as the old saying goes, "If it was easy, everybody would be doing it." Now, get in the gym and train!

Shidokan Morocco

I came accross this clip on YouTube featuring martial arts from Shidokan Morocco. As I've stated before, the Shidokan may not be real popular in the U.S., but it is an international organization with branches in many countries. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Auvrw6aN_4

New York City Friday Night Fights

This past weekend, I got to hang out in the Big Apple, New York, for Church Street Boxing's "Friday Night Fights". This event featured some great amateur and professional Muay Thai Fights. I took amateur fighter Eric Heegard and pro fighters Phil Sehenuk and Harris Norwood. Even though my fighters Eric and Phil lost their bouts, they showed the heart and spirit of true Samurais. They had top notch opponents in Ognjen Topic and Elijah Clark. Harris Norwood and Chris Kwiatowski fought a hard 5 rounds to a draw. Great job on the promotion by Justin Blair and Church Street Boxing. During my short visit I got to hang out with Sensei Duvall Hamilton of Martial Arts Weekly Talk Show and Shidokan Sensei Pat Guillano help us out with getting around the city. I commend all of the fighters who fought this past weekend and I enjoyed my time in NY.

Ewerton Teixera Highlight

Kyokushin Karate Champion and K-1 Fighter Ewerton Teixeira.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-VrlC9E-RU&feature=fvsr

The Champs Secret to Shidokan Triathlon Success

I was I asked by someone why I had success in Shidokan Triathlon tournaments. In Shidokan, I fought in 12 man, 8 man, and 4 man tournaments with no losses. Was I the fastest, the strongest, the best kickboxer, the better grappler or knock down karate fighter. I will say no to all of the above. I was the oldest of the competitors I competed with (not quite, Kickboxing Champ and Shidokan veteran Peter Kaljevic is a couple of years older).  The advantages that I did have were: 1) I had solid competitive careers in single disciplines (tournament karate, Tae Kwon Do, Kickboxing, boxing, etc.); 2) I had a good foundation in single disciplines; 3)3 or more years training in: boxing, muay thai, judo, submission grappling, and kickboxing); 4) I was used to fighting in tournaments (having fought 3 to 7 times in one day in Karate, Tae Kwon Do and Judo); and 5) I knew how to conditioning and train myself as I was a fitness trainer. Most importantly I was SELF MOTIVATED. I had good training partners, but I was my own coach. I put pressure on myself to do what I was supposed to do. I would write down what I needed to do and do it. By doing this, you make yourself accountable. Now I faced some good competition  during those tournaments. I had enough in the bag of tricks to find something my opponents might not know about. For example, Matee Jedepitak was a Lumpinee and World Muay Thai Champion. I was not going to out Muay Thai him. I used side kicks, axe kicks and hook kicks. I used techniques and and rhythm (boxing and Tae Kwon Do) that he wasn't familiar with. I didn't try to out Karate experienced knock down karate fighters like Ryo Sakai and Rino Belcastro. I used my Tae Kwon Do experience to control the kick range and use my kicks. I didn't duke it out with good punches like Tomaz Korcyl, I boxed and used the jab and went to the bodly. In the grappling rounds I didn't try to submit experience MMA fighter Rolondo Higueros. I used transitions to escape and I knew enough submissions defense to keep my limbs in. Most importantly, I learned from the good fighters that I competed against and used those lessons to help me in subsequent matches. After a couple of years, I knew what I needed to do to win a Triathlon tournament. So here it is: 1) Be in Shape; 2) Work on all 3 skillsets (Knockdown Karate, Kickboxing, and Grappling); 3) Get experience in the 3 skillsets individually (go kick box, fight knock down, or enter grappling events); and 4) Train with dress rehersals (get your partners to Gi up and go through 3 fights like in a tournament). There you have it, get out there and train.

Listen to the Interview (Martial Arts Weekly)

For those who missed Richard Trammell talking with Sensei Duval Hamilton on Martial Arts Weekly, you can catch the interview by going this link.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/martialartsweekly/2011/02/28/spotlight-richard-trammell-shidokan-karate-the-triathlon-of-martial-arts