Farewell To The Diamond

You may already know this. But for those who don't, one of the greatest kickboxers to ever live has passed away. Known as the "Diamond", Ramon Dekkers died of what appears to be a heart attack. He is the first westerner to have success in Thailand being named fighter of the year there. He fought for many years and was a legend in the sport. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eW_Fp_P-Xg

Battle of The Bar (Not Drinks)

Here's a cool clip of fitness buffs battling out with calisthenics. Think you're in shape, check these guys out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVfpe8MAPc8

Rousey's Armbar

Ronda did it again this past Saturday. She won again by first round armbar. Liz Carmouche put up a good fight, but it wasn't enough to stop the arm bar of Rousey. The advantage that Rousey has over opponents is that she is a young world class athelete with a strong base in something (Judo) coming into a sport where she is facing athletic women who don't have a strong base (not coming from a world class level). I see her doing the same thing to future opponents for a long while. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvTkrDkLQ78

Drills or Sparring?

When learning to fight, what is the best method? Sparring of course. Now when you are just learning, you will want to do repetitive drills to get a basic understanding. Once you got an understanding, you have to go through the learning curve of doing against a non-compliant partner. Let's say you want to perfect a technique. Your sparring partners know what you are doing, so, how do you do it? You have to find ways to set it up and trick them. The best way to do this is to understand movement. You have to know how the body responds to certain movements. If you throw a hard hook at someone, you will see how the body prepares to absorb the blow. You learn to read his body language, so you can follow up with another technique. When fighters get together and drill set combinations they have to realize that in a fight patterns reoccur. I look for reoccuring patterns. If you fight in set patterns, I will figure you out. I always try to do something different. I never do the same thing over and over. I always try to change, to adapt. So, be creative and do something different. Never focus on set anything.

Kinds of Karate

There are so many kinds of karate and many styles of competition out there. Looks see some. Kyokushin (knockdown karate) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7OMHI67DII Tradtionial Point Karate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm8Raddemqw Koshiki Karate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iizbs40-89g Kudo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyikzfnTym0 Shidokan (the Triathlon) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJccFuPxOf4

89 Year Old Staying In Shape

Alright now. You have no excuse not to be working out. Here's a clip of an 89 year old man telling you to stay active and keep it moving. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_ruim68MKg&list=SP2EAA9EF3B32F50EF&index=6

Wrestling Out Of Olympics?

A lot of folks are upset that wrestling might be excluded from the 2020 Olympic Games. Wrestling is one of the original sports of the Games and many are in an uproar over this decision. But, don't freak out just yet, because this has not been finalized yet. There will be two more meetings with IOC to determine the final outcome. Now, you have to understand that sports in the Olympics have to produce money and and TV ratings. Wrestling has been on the decline in overall viewership over the last few Olypmpics. Ticket sales and venues were down TV viewership was down. Now wrestling groups will have to work on making the sport more global. BMX is coming in because it appeals to a younger generation. Tae Kwon Do almost go the boot, but changed up their game (modified rules so fans can understand, boosted ticket sales, etc.). Wrestling will now look to market itself and get more countries involved with the sport. So all is not lost. Wrestling will come back.