Enter the Dragon GIF's Set 4

Today's set of animated GIF's from Enter the Dragon features Bruce Lee and his kicks. This is the last set in commemorating Bruce Lee's 72nd birthday. In the near future, I will be making a few more GIF's from this movie, as well as his other movies.

Enter the Dragon GIF's Set 3 (Sammo Hung)

Following the previous installments of Enter the Dragon animated GIF's I made, here is today's set. If you missed the previous sets I have links at the end of this post.

Today's set features a young and svelte Sammo Hung! In the opening scenes of the movie, Bruce Lee is in a contest vs Sammo Hung in front of many monks and Mr. Braithwaite.

I had fun making these animated GIF's. Enjoy!



For the previous installments in this series, please check out:

• If Bruce Lee Was Alive Today - Enter the Dragon GIF's Set 1
• Enter the Dragon GIF's Set 2 (Jackie Chan)

Enter the Dragon GIF's Set 2 (Jackie Chan)

Continuing with my Enter the Dragon animated GIF's, here's the 2nd installment.


Did you know a young Jackie Chan was in Enter the Dragon? Yep. He even got a brief screen fight with the star Bruce Lee.

If you missed the first set, you can view the GIF's here. Tomorrow, for my third set, it will feature Bruce Lee vs someone "related" to Jackie Chan. I'm sure you can guess who it is!

If Bruce Lee was alive today, ... (Enter the Dragon GIF's Set 1)

Happy 72nd Birthday Lee sifu! I wonder if he would look like this?

生日快樂, 李師父!

*Ging lai*

I know everyone has seen Enter the Dragon a gazillion times, but here is the first set of 3 Animated GIF's I made in honor of Lee sifu.

Enjoy!

MMA: Joe Silvia's technical comments on GSP's Double-leg Takedown of Carlos Condit in UFC 154

My friend Joe Silvia aka Ausgepicht made some technical comments on GSP's double-leg takedown of Carlos Condit in UFC 154.

Excerpted from http://www.spladdle.com/forum:

You'll notice GSP punches the hip LIKE EVERY SHOOT should do and Condit is forced to drape over his shoulder. WITHOUT EXCEPTION EVERY DOUBLE LEG SHOULD BEND YOUR OPPONENT AT THE HIP. He is following three fundamentals of the double leg pick up.

• DEEP PENETRATION STEP
• PUNCH OPPONENT'S HIP WITH YOUR SHOULDER
• FINISH DOUBLES STANDING

You can't lift a person who is standing upright because you are then lifting 100% of his weight. By making a person bend at the hip, you have achieved four goals:

IN MEMORY OF: Hector 'Macho' Camacho

RIP Hector Camacho


Copied from http://m.espn.go.com/wireless/story?storyId=8667942&city=newyork&wjb=

Hector 'Macho' Camacho dies at 50

Associated Press | November 24, 2012

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Hector "Macho" Camacho, a Puerto Rican boxer known for skill and flamboyance in the ring as well as for a messy personal life and run-ins with the police, was declared dead on Saturday, four days after being shot in the face. He was 50.

Shot while sitting in a parked car outside a bar Tuesday with a friend in the city of Bayamon, he was declared dead at the Centro Medico trauma center in San Juan.

The friend, 49-year-old Adrian Mojica Moreno, died at the scene of the shooting. Police said Mojica had nine small bags of cocaine in his pocket and a 10th bag was found open in the car.

Originally from Bayamon, just outside San Juan, Camacho was long regarded as a flashy if volatile talent, a skilled boxer who was perhaps overshadowed by his longtime foil, Mexican superstar Julio Cesar Chavez, who would beat him in a long-awaited showdown in Las Vegas in 1992.

Camacho fought professionally for three decades, from his humble debut against David Brown at New York's Felt Forum in 1980 to an equally forgettable swansong against Sal Duran in Kissimmee, Florida, in 2010.

In between, he fought some of the biggest stars spanning two eras, including Sugar Ray Leonard, Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya and Roberto Duran.

Happy Thanksgiving 2012

To the readers of my site, I wish you and your loved ones a Happy Thanksgiving! Even if you are not American, my wish is in the Spirit of this holiday.

As we just finished dinner and about to eat dessert I am reflective of the many things I am grateful for in my life:

•Health

•Happiness

•Family

•Friends and Instructors who share their knowledge, time and experiences




THANK YOU!

UFC 154 - Georges St. Pierre X Carlos Condit Highlights (Animated GIF's)

Georges St. Pierre, the Welterweight Champion, had a 19 months layoff due to a torn ACL. This past Saturday he fought Carlos Condit, the Interim Welterweight Champion. GSP was in fine form and that right knee was 100%. 

I made some animated GIF's of the highlights of the fight. Count 'em! Not one, not two, not three even... eight I tell ya! Eight animated GIF's for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy!  

Round 1 

GSP's elbow opens a cut near Condit's right eye.

Call me silly I liked this oblique kick/high kick to the head combo - bad feint/setup by Condit though ... his combo was on autopilot and he didn't make adjustments in READING the situation ... GSP wasn't fooled.

IN MEMORY OF: Grandmaster Ron Duncan

I remember when I was younger, there was a martial arts documentary called The Warrior Within. It featured many MA masters such as Dan Inosanto, Chuck Norris, and Prof. Ron Duncan.

For those who don’t know who Grandmaster Ronald Duncan was, here’s a photo from the Black Belt archives. He’s the man on the left. (It’s not the best shot, but it’s all we could find on such short notice.)

Mr. Duncan’s history in the martial arts went way back. In our January 1965 issue, the Instructor’s Profile department listed the 27-year-old as head instructor at the Bushido School of Self-Defense in Brooklyn, New York. He had a background in hakko-ryu jujitsu and numerous other Japanese and Okinawan arts.

In the ensuing years, Mr. Duncan would become known as the “father of American ninjutsu.”

 

Copied from Black Belt Magazine's Facebook page

GRAND MASTER RONALD DUNCAN
American Ninjitsu

Born in Panama. Professor Ronald Duncan began training in boxing at the age of seven. Since Professor Ronald Duncan grew up in an area where many of the elite military forces of that country were training in jungle warfare, he learned at an early age to read the signs of nature for directions in and out of the jungle. It was the beginning of a long and very involved career in many aspects of the martial arts.

Ronald Duncan went on to serve in the United States Marine Corp where he was a member of the USMC Judo team and earned one of his earliest black belt rankings. Professor Duncan went on to earn a black belt in several other disciplines such as Hakko Ryu Jujitsu, Dai-nippon Jujitsu Ryu, Sosuishi Ryu, Kin Dai Gakko Ryu, Aikido, Aiki-Jujitsu, Kempo, Kobujitsu (weaponry), and Shinobino-jitsu (popularly known as Ninjitsu). His teachers were all legendary men; Charlie Neal, Ernie Cates, Tatsuo Uzaki, and Don Draeger. 

IN MEMORY OF: Lindsey Largusa

The FMA world has lost another of its luminaries. Guro Lindsey Largusa, son of GM Ben Largusa has passed away.

My sincerest condolences to Guro Largusa's family, friends and students.

RIP

Here are some videos of Guro Largusa:

Tim Cartmell on Sport Fighting and Internal Principles

I was reading a book with interviews of various Neijia (Internal Martial Arts) masters. There is a lot that is interesting in that book, but one part was of particular interest. Tim Cartmell, has loads of experience in the Chinese Martial Arts as well as attaining a black belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu. Always interested in what he has to say since he experience in both "traditional martial arts" as well as neijia and BJJ. Interesting what he said about Jack Dempsey's book, Championship Fighting, and how it relates to Xingyi (Hsing I).
 

Tim Cartmell on Sport Fighting and Internal Principles

...

If you read the original Judo documents, what Jigoro Kano actually wrote, you wouldn't know that you weren't reading the Tai Ji classics - they're virtually the same. The Ju in Judo is Rou in Chinese; it's the word that people translate as "Soft." It doesn't mean soft like Jell-O. You're always halfway between hard and flaccid. Rou is like bamboo, or like grass. Rou is flexible, you have structure and strength, you yield and snap back, that's the idea of Judo. Ju means to be pliable, to use the opponent's strength against him, have a superior angle, all those things that the Chinese recognize as what we now call internal. 

Frank Shamrock on Cung Le

I was in a bookstore and saw Frank Shamrock's new book. I flipped through it and with the recent Cung Le KO of Rich Franklin, the following caught my eye. If you missed the fight, I made an animated GIF you can view here.

Frank Shamrock on Cung Le

... I knew all about Cung and his fighting style. I knew his skill set. He was very fast. He was able to lean his center quickly in all four directions and avoid strikes. This was important, because it was going to be hard to damage him. I knew he was very good with his feet. ...

... I knew two things about Cung that gave me an edge. First, I knew he didn't have the conditioning. He has never made it, and remained strong, past fifteen minutes. Most of his wins had been in the first round. So I knew he couldn't fight a long fight. I knew if I could keep him fighting and get to the third round, he'd be toast. I also knew that he is afraid to get hit. He hates getting hit. That's one of his dirty little secrets. He doesn't want to have a fistfight. 

...

But I found myself getting tired, trying to hit him when he wasn't there. He was really fast, and he moved in unusual ways. He used angles that were not traditional fighting angles and were not the usual modern fighting style. You never lean back and drop your hands in boxing. You never lean forward and drop your hands in kickboxing. But he was doing that kind of thing. ...

The second round started. I got more comfortable. I was smiling and laughing. But then he kicked me in the side of the head with a roundhouse and knocked my mouthpiece out. He hit me with his shinbone, and I didn't see it coming. We stopped and he let me pick up my mouthpiece, and we grinned at each other. But it made me nervous. I didn't even see the kick. It was that fast. I didn't like being hit by something I hadn't even seen. 







Unchanged: My Life as a Champion MMA Fighter
By Frank Shamrock and Charles Fleming
Copyright 2012
Chicago Review Press
Pages 186-190

9 Regular Objects Turned into Insane Prison Weapons

We all know prisoners have a lot of time on their hands. They dream of freedom and making impromptu weapons to protect themselves or get rid of someone they dislike. Check out their creativity/handiwork.

My favorites are:

• #8. Chair Leg Nunchucks 

• #6. A Toilet Paper Shiv 

• and #1 which I won't spoil.

Copied and pasted from http://www.cracked.com/:

Prisoners improvising weapons out of everyday objects like sociopathic MacGyvers are a staple of every movie that takes place inside a prison. However, real inmates aren't limited to just the sharpened toothbrushes...

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/9-regular-objects-turned-into-insane-prison-weapons/#ixzz2Bz4AW7gP

MMA: UFC on FUEL 6 (Macau) - Rich Franklin x Cung Le

This past Saturday, 11/10/12, UFC on FUEL 6 (Macau) aired.

I like both fighters - Franklin and Le. Hate to see either one lose. Sad to see a fighter of Franklin's experience/caliber to neglect a BASIC - HANDS UP!

I only had time to make a gif of the KO from the realtime footage...sometime later tomorrow night, will make gif's of the KO from the slowmo footage and edit into this entry.

 

My friend Joe Silvia (aka Ausgepicht. is a MMA coach) is always ranting how coaches and fighters don't set up their low round kicks with the hands. Ace paid the price.

Veteran's Day 11/11/2012

Artwork courtesy of the American Legion.

To all Veterans Past, Present, and Future:

THANK YOU!



Copied and pasted from Dog Brothers Inc Martial Arts Emaling List:

Veterans Day began as Armistice Day, when on 11 November 1921, the remains of an unknown World War I American soldier were buried in Arlington National Cemetery, in recognition of WWI veterans and the official cessation of WWI hostilities "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918. President Warren Harding requested that "All citizens indulge in a period of silent thanks to God for these valorous lives, and of supplication for His Divine mercy on our beloved country." Inscribed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier are the words, "Here lies in honored glory an American soldier known but to God."

David Black Mastro - Great Warriors: Sebastiano Venier, Captain General of the Sea

Great Warriors: Sebastiano Venier, Captain General of the Sea

By David Black Mastro (aka TrueFightScholar)

Portrait of Sebastiano Venier, by Tintoretto.

"A soldier all white-haired and at the extreme of old age, Venier performed the feats of arms of a young man--like a serpent that issues out of the dark in spring, casting off his old skin for a resplendent new one, stronger than ever, his eyes flashing fire." 

-- a contemporary historian, describing Sebastiano Venier at the Battle of Lepanto, October 7th, 1571 A.D./C.E.

Hard times require hard men. In the late 16th century, things were quite hard for Christian Europe. Divided by both religious and cultural differences (eg., Catholics vs. Protestants, etc), the Europeans were rarely able to present a unified front against the common foe--the Muslim Turks. The Ottomans had been overwhelmingly successful for centuries: they had crushed a Crusader force at Nicopolis in 1396, conquered Constantinople in 1453, took the Eastern European bastion of Belgrade in 1521, captured the Island of Rhodes from the Knights of St. John in 1522, smashed the Hungarians at Mohacs in 1526, & thwarted the Spanish at Djerba, in 1560.

Now, the Turks had assembled the largest fleet yet seen--over 200 war galleys, with supporting vessels. The Holy League had been formed between Spain, Venice, and the Papacy, but relations were always uncertain between the various factions. In 1570, the Venetians had seen their naval commander, Giovanni Zane, fail--and a new leader was needed. That's where Sebastiano Venier came in.

David Black Mastro - European sword cutting feats, by J.M. Waite

European sword cutting feats, by J.M. Waite

By David Black Mastro (aka TrueFightScholar)

The following was taken from the Fall 1995 issue of J. Christoph Amberger's Hammerterz Forum historical fencing newsletter, and appeared originally in J.M. Waite's text, Lessons in Sabre, Singlestick, Sabre & Bayonet and Sword Feats; or, How to Use a Cut-and-Thrust Sword (1881): 

Cut a Broom-Handle or Wand on Two Glasses Without Breaking the Glasses or Spilling the Water: 


Take two stools of exactly the same height. Place a tumbler filled with water on top of each, then lay an ordinary broom-handle on the glasses, so that the ends will rest on the inside edges, each end projecting about an inch over the water. 

Take your sword. (Best for this purpose is something like a naval cutlass, but longer and heavier. The best-sized sword for a man of average strength is one weighing 3.5lbs., with a blade 1.75 inches wide and 31 inches long.) Deliver a downward chop with great suddenness and quickness, striking as near the center as possible. 

This feat may also be done with a thinner wand and two wine glasses. Or you may hang two loops of paper or strong thread on the edges of two sharp swords and suspend the wand on them. 

David Black Mastro - Rob Roy saves a peasant girl

Rob Roy saves a peasant girl

By David Black Mastro (aka TrueFightScholar)

 

During the reign of that miserable bigot, James II., both civil and religious discord reached their climax, and most odious deeds of oppression and cruelty were constantly enacted under the cloak of piety. At some such scenes Rob Roy had occasionally been present as a spectator, regretting that, strong man though he was, he was not powerful enough to crush down the perpetrators. 

David Black Mastro - Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, Basque stickfighting, Canary Island stickfighting, Spanish esgrima, & Filipino eskrima

Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, Basque stickfighting, Canary Island stickfighting, Spanish esgrima, & Filipino eskrima

By David Black Mastro (aka TrueFightScholar)

 

Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera was a Basque soldier, who was the Governor General of the Philippine Islands from 1635 to 1644. He was a member of the Order of Alcantara, which was a knightly order that had been established in 1154, to fight the Moors. The last independent Master of the Order of Alcantara died in 1494, and after that, the Spanish Crown took over the Order, with the King as Master.

As a Basque, Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera had to deal with the ethnic bigotry of the reigning Castillian Spaniards, who often treated many of their loyal subjects from other nationalities (eg., Basque, Neapolitan, Tuscan, Milanese, Sicilian, Filipino, et al) with arrogant contempt. Despite this, Corcuera worked hard to serve the Crown, and his combined Spanish, Pampangan, & Visayan forces were successful against the Moros of Sultan Kudarat.

David Black Mastro - Swordswomen in History #1 - Maria la Bailadora

Picture used with permission. Please click for larger picture.Maria la Bailadora

Swordswomen in History #1--Maria la Bailadora

By David Black Mastro (aka TrueFightScholar)

Maria la Bailadora (Maria "the Dancer"), was one of thousands of soldiers who fought in the Holy League Fleet, at the great naval Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. Maria was the lover of a Spanish soldier, and when he shipped out to fight the Ottoman Turks, she disguised herself as a man, and went with him. At Lepanto, she served on the Real ("Royal"), which was the Capitana (flagship galley) of the Holy League Fleet, commanded by the young, talented Don John of Austria, the b@stard son of Charles V of Spain (and thus King Philip II's half-brother). Maria fought as an arquebusier at Lepanto, and during the climax of the battle, when Don John's Real locked horns with the Sultana of Ottoman Admiral Ali Pasha, she was supposedly the first Christian soldier to board the Turkish flagship. She actually killed a Turk in hand-to-hand combat, with one well-placed sword-thrust. After the battle, she was rewarded for her valor by being allowed to remain in her regiment, even after her true gender was revealed. Author Jack Beeching suggested that, given the Ottoman penchant for taking female slaves during their raids on Christian coasts, Maria might have joined the fleet and fought not only out of love for her Spanish soldier boyfriend, but also out of a desire to get some "payback" against the "Terrible Turk".

The arquebus (arcabuz) used at the time was a smoothbore matchlock weapon, about 4.75 feet long, that weighed about 10-12 lbs. It fired a lead ball weighing two-thirds of an ounce. Maria's sword was likely a double-edged espada with a straight blade suitable for both cutting and thrusting, with a complex hilt to protect the hand. Being a soldier's woman during a time when the Spanish Empire was at its height, she evidently lived her daily life immersed in the martial culture of the time, which stressed skill with both firearms and edged weapons.

For further reading, I suggest The Galleys at Lepanto by Jack Beeching, and the Time-Life title, The Seafarers--The Venetians.

BOXING: Joe Silvia - Keep your hands up!

Excerpted from http://www.spladdle.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5981:

Ausgepicht posted:

After you throw the right hand, don't be lazy...

...bringing it back. If you are a Pro and haven't learned this basic, you should be ASHAMED.

 

Another example of being lazy-dropping your other hand while punching:

 

Another basic that you should have mastered BEFORE you have become a Pro.

Stickgrappler's Note:  Not my GIF's. My thanks to the unknown GIF makers.

BOXING: Why punches in bunches and not singles?

Excerpted from http://www.spladdle.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5984:

Why punches in bunches and not singles?

Ausgepicht posted:

Another fundamental that you should have down.

Here's why:

 

 

 

NOTE:  Not my GIF's. My thanks to the unknown GIF makers.

BOXING: Slipping punches? Part 2 by Leon

Excerpted from http://www.spladdle.com/forum/showthread.php?t=638:

Slipping punches? Part 2 

By Leon

D.E.B.:

Sweet Science 101 for this skill starts with the double end bag [d.e.b.]. Your bag set up must be set up so that the bag isn't too fast. Different tightness for different stages in athleticism is the idea.

Jab the d.e.b. standing profile, but out of the pocket or crease, foot placement wise...think of the d.e.b as the right hand of someone holding the pads, also think of your left foot forward as being right in front of imaginary opponents lead foot [the secret to the d.e.b. is hitting it so it comes back in a straight line]. When it comes back slip to the left [simulates slipping a right hand], slip to the right [simulates slipping a jab], then slip left again and start over but now start on the right so its like: jab, slip right, left, right...instead of jab, slip left, right, left. Do sets of the aforementioned 3 slips for every jab. Its a good idea to be closer to the bag then normal for this drill.

BOXING: Slipping punches? Part 1 by Joe Silvia

Excerpted from http://www.spladdle.com/forum/showthread.php?t=638:

Slipping punches? Part 1 

By Joe Silvia

“Anyone have any good drills for slipping?”

Slips are used against straight Punches (jabs and crosses) and work best at a longer range/distance because they rely on your visual acuity. Remember, footwork and fighting measure are fundamental.

1. Solo Dry Run - Shadowbox, preferably near a mirror to develop proper fundamentals. Add a clothesline and continue refining.

2. Partner Dry Run - Isolate the Jab. Isolate the cross. Work approx. 25 reps each.

3. Boil the Frog - Isolate the Jab. Have partner jab you with light intensity. Work slipping outside, then inside. Do rounds. 2 or 3 minute rounds. 3, 4, 5? As many as it takes until you FEEL you are getting it. Add moderate intensity. Rinse and repeat rounds. Add heavy intensity. Rinse and repeat rounds. Add the cross and start everything from the beginning.