6 things happening in Martial Arts before the end of this Month.

6 Things that are happening in Martial Arts before the end of this Month.  

1. Saturday September 14^th _ Battle at the Boards II

Chris Romulo has been doing some incredible rebuilding work after Super Storm Sandy destroyed his school Crom Martial Arts last year. The school is now reopen thanks to the loving support of the Muay Thai Community and the Romulo family’s determination. Crom is hosting Battle of the Boards II, a free Muay Thai event promoting Crom’s comeback and the local Muay Thai talent. So head out to the Rockaways Saturday afternoon to watch the fights, the event starts at 3:00.  It’s a free show, and maybe one of the last weekends to make it to the beach, so there’s no reason not to check it out! 

2. Friday September 20^th_Lion Fight 11

Lion Fight 11 is happening in Las Vegas, featuring both Muay Thai and MMA champions on their stacked card.  Cris “Cyborg” Justino, the current Invicta FC featherweight champion returns to Muay Thai to face highly skilled Martina Jindrova.  The Pro fights will also include the pro-debut of New York’s own Angela “Overkill” Hill, who will face Moe “The Giant” Travis. Both fighters have undefeated amateur records, so that fight is shaping up to be a real battle.  Lion Fight 11 will be aired on AXS television, (pro-bouts only) starting at 10 pm EST time. 

3.  Saturday September 21^st UFC 165 Jones vs Gustafsson

 Jon Jones will defend his Light Heavy Weight Title against Alexander Gustafsson in Toronto Canada.   Jon “Bones” Jones has successfully defended his title 5 times, tying Tito Ortiz’s record for the most successful title defenses in his division in the UFC.  If he beats Gustafsson then he will break the record.  He is the youngest UFC champion in UFC history.  

 4. Friday September 27^rd Take On Muay Thai 23

Take On Muay Thai returns to the Resort World Casino with an action packed fight card featuring Justin “The Purple People Eater” Greskiewicz against Eddie Martinez as their main event.  Doors open at 7pm and the fights get started at 8pm.  If you can’t make it out to the fights they will all be streamed on gofightlive.com with yours truly as color commentator. 

 5. Saturday Septemeber 28^th GLORY 10

Glory 10 is going to LA featuring New York’s Wayne Barnett. The main event features Le Banner vs. Kharitonov.  Glory puts on a tremendous show and is also set to head to NYC in November.

6. Every Wednesday at 10pm EST on FOX Sports 1. The Ultimate Fighter Rousey vs Tate.

The Ultimate Fighter is back!  And it feels like it’s the first season all over again because women are now in the house.  Coaches Meisha Tate and Ronda Rousey are bringing their rivalry to new levels every week, and the house looks like it has some serious talent, both male and female. 

Sh*t I Learned This Week: "Enter the Dragon" Edition

Last Friday I was able to go see "Enter the Dragon" at BAM on the big screen.  This is one of my favorite movies of all time and having the opportunity to watch it on the big screen made me see things within the movie that I have never noticed before.

I think it’s very important for martial arts enthusiasts and MMA fans to understand the traditional roots of the sport.  As 70s and as corny as some of the movie may be, it’s still important to understand where the popular interest in MMA comes from.  So I decided to take my young friend Mia with me, who has a serious interest in martial arts, but has never seen Enter the Dragon!  So in addition to my Sh*t I Learned this Week, we also have Sh*t She Learned This Week. (which is shit I already knew, and thought everyone knew already!)

(Thanks to AMC.com for the facts!)

Sh*t I Learned This Week:

Bruce Lee was born in the year of the dragon. He was born between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., which is the hour of the dragon. (To be fair, I already knew he was born the year of the Dragon but I didn’t know about that whole on the hour business)  

Han is played by Shih. Shih was a veteran of some 800 martial-arts films. He would regularly play the villain in the martial-arts movies Lee watched as a boy. (He must have inspired both Doctor Evil and the bad dude from inspector gadget.)

Braithwaite is played by Geoffrey Weeks. Enter the Dragon was his only film credit.  (It’s kind of mean they came up with the name Braithwaite when they knew that Lee had a Cantonese accent.  I mean have you ever met anyone actually named Braithwaite??)

In China, it was considered taboo for women to portray prostitutes or wear face paint. Producers had to hire escorts for $150 per day to fill the roles. (Their faces were painted like the De La Soul album.)

The Shaolin Temple was founded in the fifth century and is famous for its martial-arts teachings. (“You have disgraced the shaolin temple!”  I cannot tell you how many times I have wanted to use that line when I am mad at somebody.)

Jim Kelly speaks the famous line “Ghetto’s are the same everywhere man, they stink!” During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), thousands of Chinese fled the mainland for Hong Kong. The migration created a large pool of cheap labor, and most lived in appalling conditions.  (Word up Jim Kelly!)

Sh*t Mia Learned This Week

Critics call Enter the Dragon the granddaddy of martial-arts movies. It made Lee an international phenomenon.

One of Lee’s attackers is Jackie Chan.  (At least she knows who Jackie Chan is.)

Robert Wall plays Oharra. He was a karate world champion and trained with Chuck Norris.   (I think she only knows Chuck Norris jokes, I don’t think she knows who he actually is)

Lee’s technique of redirecting an attacker’s motion is a foundation of MMA fighting today.  This was the first time an arm bar was featured on screen. (She knows what an arm bar is.  Thanks Ronda Rousey.)

Enter the Dragon was the first English-language martial-arts film.  (Phil Nurse didn’t even know this, so I guess I can’t be too upset about that.)

The South China Sea, at 200 feet deep, is relatively shallow.   (We don’t think there are crocodiles in that sea.  We checked) 

Stay tuned for next week’s posting!  (also, check out the video I made about this topic last Saturday before the fights! Enter the Dragon)