Movie Review: The Warriors Way

I just watched The Warrior’s Way on Netflix while stretching, and was pleasantly surprised. Their plot description didn’t really lead me to think it would be any good.

“Fugitive Asian assassin Yang journeys from the Far East to the Wild West, where he holes up in a tiny town in the American badlands. There, he meets local drunk and ex-fighter Ron, as well as a beautiful circus knife thrower with a dark secret.”

So you have an “Asian assassin” in the old west? Throw in Kate Bosworth? What could go wrong? Six-guns and swords? I decided to queue it up, but kept my thumb on the trigger (remote) so I could quickly move on.

My summary review:

Not a great story, but beautiful cinematography in a Kill Bill-style bloodbath flick with less gore. A blend of Japanese mythology and comic book spectacle with Matrix effects mixed in in a Wild West setting. Typical revenge story mixed in for good measure.

Good mindless entertainment.

Check out the trailer:

Ab and Back Strengthening Exercises for Kicking

What do you think? Sang Kim should know! http://bit.ly/uYUu0x

I do not envy this task

And yet, I am sure he’s honored to do it. Chiron: Speaking For The Dead.

Amazing Body Control

Semper Fi - and thank you Marines!

As Paul at Tactical Arnis reminds us, today is the birthday of the US Marine Corps. Thanks for doing what you do Marines!

-Nathan

Joe Frazier open thread

Joe Frazier has answered the final bell.

Please share any thoughts in the comments. I will try to put together a post worthy of his accomplishments, and may quote some of your sentiments.

Thanks,

Nathan

Technorati Tags: frazier,ali,rumble

I agree

Thanks for your service Ventura, but... http://bit.ly/vz0Hvi

TGIF November, 4, 2011

Just a few things I thought you’d enjoy. Enjoy your weekend, and TGIF!

1. Striking Thoughts’ post, James T. Kirk: The Master of Whooping Ass! has to be #1. I was gonna do a post on Kirk’s fighting moves, but, you snooze, you lose, right? Enjoy!
2. Sensei Klein has a good post on How to Help Children Overcome the Fear of Their First Martial Arts Class
3. Someone has no sense of humor in France
4. Six teens arrested for 'Knockout Game'
   Six teenagers, five boys and one girl, were arrested Friday afternoon for allegedly attacking a 51-year-old man a week ago. A follow-up to my post The Knockout Game and How We Should Respond

Dual Force is a bad idea

I agree with what the SGT Says http://bit.ly/tWo0R1

Nutrition for MMA

The MMA Zone on Key Factors In Proper Nutrition For MMA Fighters

Heroes among us.

Thanks officers!

Video: Train slams car; Officers save woman, baby inside

Todays TDA Tip: Defensive Mastery Sets Up Counters

Watch Mike Tyson destroy Reggie Gross.

Several good lessons here:

1. Tyson makes great use of mixing up body and head shots in a good ratio. It's a maxim in boxing that the body sets up the head, but the inverse is true; good head punching closes and raises the opens up the body. In our case (martial artists), it also opens up the legs for kicks and sweeps.
2. This fight fits the mold of the taller versus smaller fighter well until 4:34. The taller man (Gross) moves well, sliding and stepping laterally, using his jab well to keep the shorter man (Tyson) away, and covering up in close. Tyson did what was typical for him early in his career, too, stalking and moving forward, constantly using side-to-side upper body movement and keeping his body squared to be able to use both hands equally well. Tyson demonstrates perfectly that the smaller man is better inside, especially when the longer arms of the taller fighter are extended. He gets there by slipping!
3. At 4:34, everything changes. Notice that Tyson is working well against a covering Gross (stuck in a corner, then on the ropes), then takes a half-step back. Gross makes the mistake then of thinking that he's got his range and unloads! Tyson then demonstrates why he was such a feared fighter in his prime - his defense! Watch him slip, bob, and roll with punches that, if they connected, would surely KO even a steel chinned fighter. Tyson's feet are wide and planted, and his weight is forward on the balls of his feet all the while, waiting... Gross did everything right - up, down, over, under, lefts, rights, overhands and uppercuts. Nothing. Nothing connected solidly. He got careless and was swinging from the upper decks.

The real lesson is that the counter only comes from the defense. Learn not to get hit and be in position to do the hitting!
For more information:
TDA Don't reach out - video
TDA Fight fire with water
TDA Training to Miss
TDA Why Do We Get Hit?
TDA The pain and pleasure of slipping

Technorati Tags: Mike Tyson,Knockouts

This Probably Won't Help the "Cause"

I am just a simple voter, taxpayer, and citizen, but this kind of pisses me off. Every part of these protests against ____ are costing us money every day. They do not file permits, do not pay for the costs of services like extra police presence, and disrupt life for the law-abiding. Any sympathy that I had was gone once they started pissing and masturbating in public, sexually assaulting each other, and, now, destroying private property. Via USAToday.com

A group of about 300 men, many wearing black, some carrying wooden sticks, was part of a group of hundreds who set out to cause a general strike in the area around City Hall. The smaller group smashed several windows of the Wells Fargo branch while chanting, "Banks got bailed out; we got sold out." They also spray-painted an expletive on the outer wall of the bank. Employees were inside while this took place, but it did not appear that anyone got hurt.

I realize this is a political issue, but it's also become a public safety and law and order issue. The First Amendment protects speech, but not disorderly and criminal conduct, otherwise, I could claim a mugging is a protest and, thus, protected speech.

If you have a cause, explain it, sell it, motivate the voters to vote for it. Don't try to intimidate Americans - we don't take too well to it.

Update: Take a look at some of the destruction.

Nice lesson from Master Tan

Check out The Little Dragon Doesn't Dragon Step

"The contradiction: form is ultimately an artificial movement designed to teach us to move naturally. The practical technique was never meant to be a literal expression of the form technique but it must express all the hidden fighting principles concealed in the form."

I need to see it. Lawrence shows it.

Sheriff With Advice on Attacking Women (Video)

His advice? Don't. 

This looks awesome! Ground N Pound Teaser

From BLACKFIVE: Ground N Pound Teaser

Calif. school police union slammed for edgy t-shirts

Maybe this wasn't a great idea.

The Knockout Game and How We Should Respond

Is the “Knockout Game” real? How can we respond?

“You don’t know them, so why care about hurting them?”

This Gateway Pundit post takes the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to task for equating foreclosures and the opposition to “health care reform” with something called the “knock-out game.” I’ll leave the politics to the Gateway Pundit post, and instead focus on the following:

In April an elderly man was attacked by a mob of black youths playing “the knock out game” while walking home from the grocery store with his wife. They killed him.

In June a group of black youths beat a gay man bloody playing “the knock out game.”

In August black teen mobs targeted St. Louis cyclists in the knock out game.

In September, a 73-year-old man was knocked unconscious just outside of Tower Grove Park.

In October St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay was the first person on the scene on after a local man was beat unconscious by a mob of teens. The youths were “playing” the “knock out” game. The victim’s jaw was shattered and needed to be wired shut. There were several broken bones on his face.

Bob's Martial Arts Monthly is up!

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