If I can’t be famous, I’ll be infamous!

The martial artist in me is conflicted by the recent turn of events in Colorado, and the anniversary the mass murder in Oslo, Norway. The Norwegian gunman had more than an hour to hunt down and attack his victims. More than an hour, which means that he had to stop and reload at multiple points. As a person that trains in self defense based arts, I can’t help but think about what I would do if faced by such a threat. Would my training make a difference? Would I freeze or rise to the challenge? Are the arts that I am studying really effective in real combat situation? In truth, I don’t have any answers. I would hope that be able to protect myself and my loved ones. Or at the very least make the son of a bitch regret picking me or mine as a target.

My father was gunned down when I was fourteen as he was closing down his candy shop for the evening. The murderer was never found. Even as a young man I often Continue reading “If I can’t be famous, I’ll be infamous!”

Paintball: Urban Warfare

I started off the Spring break vacation by taking the family for some fun at New York City Paintball (http://www.newyorkcitypaintball.com). The break was just an excuse needed to arrange an early birthday outing for my wife who, believe it or not, had been asking me for months to take her to the paintball facility since it is located right next to LaGuardia. I thought this was pretty funny since my wife is one of the least violent people I have ever known. The kids are a bit more like me. My daughter is into the martial arts and my son is a Call of Duty/first person shooter veteran. To top it off, our good friend Tone Loc was visiting from Norway, so it Continue reading “Paintball: Urban Warfare”

Everybody have fun tonight…. everybody Wing Chun tonight!

City Wing TsunLately I have been eager to get back into the flow of training regularly in the martial arts.  Due to the ongoing physical therapy my knees have been feeling better. So yesterday I decided to visit the headquarters of City Wing Tsun to take a look at their curriculum. For those of you that are unfamiliar with Wing Chun, it is a highly dynamic fighting style that makes use of unconventional hand and foot strikes that are excellent for close quarter combat. It was originally designed by a woman and stresses speed and precision over pure brute force. The unorthodox hand and foot techniques, when applied properly, tend to cause fits for opponents during fights. I had trained in Wing Chun many years back under Sifu Rick and had been eager to try the style again. I have incorporated some of the basics of the system into my own fighting style with some limited success, but I always felt that I was missing some important components and wanted to expand my knowledge of Wing Chun further.

I had been looking for a decent school ever since Sifu Rick moved away and stopped teaching Continue reading “Everybody have fun tonight…. everybody Wing Chun tonight!”

The Slow Road Back: Solo Training

The kid is trying to get back into shape after a long and rough year on a number of fronts. It has been about eight months since I was working out on a consistent basis. Still, in that time I have been able to adequately maintain my weight and general health by eating right. However there is no substitute for regular exercise. Plus the wife and kids have been telling me that I am a great deal more pleasant to be around when I workout. Who could have guessed Continue reading “The Slow Road Back: Solo Training”

Affordable Mini HD Camera setup

Kodak Zi8 mini hd rig

I frequently get a good deal of questions from students and educators on what type of video camera should they buy if they have limited money and they still want great quality. In order to answer these questions I have been looking around for the cheapest rig possible that can still offer decent image and sound quality to recommend to these budget conscious videographers. I did a little research and set aside a maximum budget of 400 bucks for the entire project. The basic criteria for the video Continue reading “Affordable Mini HD Camera setup”

Randori Roundup

Ken Freeman

Pete Muldoon’s seminar from the other day got me thinking about my first Judo lessons, and has me wondering why I ever stopped. From day one you learn how to jump and fall, all while wrestling your friends to the ground. No katas or forms, just controlled roughhousing. Randori, as judokas refer to it. As a kid I loved it. And while I have always gravitated more towards of the striking arts, Judo was one of the first martial arts that I was introduced to when I was younger. Alot of time has past since those days. In fact it had been so long that I was shocked when my mother told me that it had been more than twenty-five years since my last Judo tournament.

I  started taking Judo while I was a camper at Kutsher’s Sports Academy back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The summers that I Continue reading “Randori Roundup”

A judo chop, chop, chop!!

After a week of really crappy weather it was great to get out of the house and attend a combat Judo seminar taught by Peter Muldoon this weekend. Pete, is a 3rd Dan black belt and one of the senior instructors at the Krav Maga Federation headquarters in Manhattan. He was gracious enough take time out of his schedule and share some of his knowledge of throws and takedowns with a group of us on a cold Sunday afternoon.

I had been looking forward to this seminar ever since Continue reading “A judo chop, chop, chop!!”

2009 NYC Marathon

12935_1290648184972_1193263508_30894074_7787199_nMarathon day is here again and my wife is running in her fourth competition. She has been training for the past year and always gets a little anxiously, and therefore makes me anxious, right before the big day. To complicate matters this year, Ski was nursing a shin injury that was affecting her ability to run. Now since my wife isn’t a complainer, I knew that the injury must have been very painful if she was even talking about it. You have to understand that those darn vikings tend to be a hardy lot and whining is like a cardinal sin. I knew was gonna run the race with the injury regardless of what I said, so I said nothing and hoped for the best.

Continue reading “2009 NYC Marathon”