pressureguy

Don Frye won the UFC in Feb of 96 and again in Dec of 96 years back and he was a boxer/wrestler. He dominated the matches he won, but I don't think that boxing and wrestlinge unique enough to garner attention to the western martial arts in the way that we want. Also, Mark Coleman won a few times and he was a strict wrestler. pressureguy

http://kick-team.home.att.net/ Click there for and then click on "Videos" for 31 free kata/form & demonstration downloads. pressureguy

I am fascinated by the non-oriental martial arts, but realize that people can't know what is not readily available. Really, who can drive 300 miles one way to take a class in a rare style? To add to this thread, here are a few non-oriental (or close to it) styles that some here may never have heard of: Tahtib - Egyption martial art Capoeira - popular African/Brazilian style that many have heard of by now Juego del palo - Stick Fencing of the Canary Islands Lua Hãlau O Kaihewalu - Hawaiian martial art Shileigh Bata - Irish stick fighting style Glima - style of wrestling in Iceland Sambo - Russian style with some jiujitsu roots English quarterstaff - style based on that English weapon Also, there are some styles popping up now based on American Native American weapons and hand to hand techniques, but those have only recently been put into defined systems, but are nonetheless very real styles now. I highly recommend checking out this site/group which deals esclusively with these styles: http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/western-arts/ pressureguy

I have never heard of Bartitsu until yesterday and am fascinated by non- typical martial arts. Here is a piece of an article about it: ===================== Bartitsu From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Bartitsu stick fightingBartitsu is an eclectic martial art developed in England during the late 1890s and early 1900s. In 1898, Edward William Barton-Wright, a British railway engineer who had been living and working in Japan, returned to England and announced the formation of a "New Art of Self Defence". This art, he claimed, combined the best elements of a range of fighting styles into a unified whole, which he had named Bartitsu. As detailed in a series of articles Barton-Wright produced for Pearson's Magazine between 1899 and 1904, Bartitsu was largely drawn from various ko-ryu ("old school") forms of Jiujitsu, with the addition of tactics and combat techniques from British boxing and wrestling, French Savate, and a combat stick fighting style that had been developed by Professeur Pierre Vigny of Switzerland. In 1902, Barton-Wright wrote: "Under Bartitsu is included boxing, or the use of the fist as a hitting medium, the use of the feet both in an offensive and defensive sense, the use of the walking stick as a means of self- defence. Judo and jujitsu, which were secret styles of Japanese wrestling, he would call close play as applied to self-defence. In order to ensure as far as it was possible immunity against injury in cowardly attacks or quarrels, they must understand boxing in order to thoroughly appreciate the danger and rapidity of a well-directed blow, and the particular parts of the body which were scientifically attacked. The same, of course, applied to the use of the foot or the stick. Judo and jujitsu were not designed as primary means of attack and defence against a boxer or a man who kicks you, but were only to be used after coming to close quarters, and in order to get to close quarters it was absolutely necessary to understand boxing and the use of the foot." (Barton-Wright, 1902: 261) (end of cut and paste) ==================================== This is fascinating. I wonder what could have been because it wasn't until the 1960's that Bruce Lee got credit and some respect for mixing fighting styles into a system of its own. Edward William Barton-Wright did his version of an ecclectic martial art in 1898, a time where martial arts were as foreign as visitors from outer space would be to us. If things would have gone a little different, the martial arts might have been introduced to western society as something that "non-orientals" could do as well over 60 years sooner than they did (give or take 10 years). He did seem to get some notoriety as his style was mentioned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the Cherlock Holmes' novel "The Adventure of the Empty House" (1903). I wonder what things would be like in the martial arts world had he become as popular as Bruce Lee. By the way, I would highly recommend reading the rest of the article at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartitsu There are several links at the bottom of that page that will give you more info in addition to a longer version of the story I listed in the previous post. pressureguy

2nd Degree Black in Kindai No Karate 1st Degree in Zenshotokai Karate

I actually ran a school for over a year outdoors in a local park. The park has a covered picnic area approximately 40 feet by 40 feet. It has only one wall in the back and the other three sides are open air. When the weather was really nice, we would move to one of the three baseball fields or one of the four tennis courts. One thing that was nice was the park was never busy in the mornings, that way we weren't "advertising." We were just there to have fun. I have built a very slowly growing association for people who train and teach outdoors and in places like garages, parks, and backyards. Check it out if you get a chance. pressureguy http://www.backyardmartialarts.org

I have kept one since my first day of martial arts back in 1991. Now it has moved from a notebook to two full 3 ring binders full of notes and diagrams that I have kept. The only tricky part is figuring out a short hand method of writing down techniques so that you understand what you are reading. I did a pretty good job of that, as I can see and understand techniques that I learned over 12 years ago. pressureguy

http://www.budokaratehouse.com I don't know anything about them, but that above link is a 3 year live in program in Japan. They advertise in Black Belt magazine every month. The ad basically says: 3 year live in program, all expenses paid by the program, dormitory rules are very strict, daily training is madatory, no contract, no obligation, no catch. The address is listed in the ad, but just go to the website for more. When you get info on that, or any other place, keep us posted. I am curious in what you find out. pressureguy

I want to make a list of benefits of martial arts training. I am looking for the obvious (health, self-control, etc.), but I really want to see some unusual ones. pressureguy

Saturday April 9th on Spike TV 12 hour marathon of The Ultimate Fighter reality show, which ends in the live final matchup fight. pg

That place is the cheapest that I have seen. There isn't a better site to buy gear and uniforms at than there. I have a wholesale account with KWON, but I still end up going to AKMAS half of the time. Another site that has an odd variety of stuff is tigerclaw.com pressureguy

In our school, we wear tshirts during the summer - our summers stay at 100 degrees F. I like the idea because when we do outdoor workouts, we don't wear belts. Those shirts could act as a replacement for the belt in that case. pressureguy http://www.backyardmartialarts.org

I saw an ad for the Macho Martial Arts Company's new items and their newest item is.......a yellow, white, red, or blue shirt! Actually, it is a very good idea - a simple solid color shirt to match your belt. I like the idea a lot, but it would probably be cheaper and faster to go to your local bigbox retail store and buy them there (unless you have a wholesale account with Macho of course). pressureguy

You think that is bad? Go to ebay.com and type in "martial certificate." Then type in "karate certificate." Try it and prepare to be sick. I just tried it and came up with 20 results all selling black belt certificates for $6-20. pressureguy

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14185547&BRD=1306&PAG=461&dept_id=187834&rfi=6 Comments?