Seems like everyone is cashing in on the MMA these days. FEG (Fighting Entertainment Group), ProElite (PELE:PK) and Showtime Networks announced last month a deal to bring the “K-1 Dynamite” mixed martial arts (MMA) series to the United States for the first time. “Softbank presents Dynamite!! USA in association with ProElite,” this SHOWTIME Pay-Per-View event will take place June 2nd at Los Angeles’ Memorial Coliseum. The event will host a mixed martial arts fighting event for the first time in its 74-year history. Mr. Tanikawa, CEO of FEG claims “Mixed martial arts has shown tremendous growth in recent years and events like this show that we are looking to raise the bar in making it one of the more popular sports in the U.S.”
UFC and PRIDE have most of the big-name MMA fighters locked up, but the idea of K-1 working together with EliteXC, England's Cage Rage, Strikeforce, Bodog Fight and SpiritXC is fun to think about. “Softbank presents Dynamite!! USA in association with ProElite” will combine the disciplines of karate, kickboxing and kung fu, as well as masteries of jiu-jitsu, judo and wrestling. The action takes place in a boxing-style ring, which provides easy accessibility for TV viewers and audiences. FEG holds events in more countries worldwide than any other MMA organization. The events, which draw in excess of 90,000 fans to packed arenas, have been broadcast in more than 130 countries, including New Years Eve prime time broadcasts that average more than 40 million viewers worldwide. The Dynamite!! USA is being broken up into two events, EliteXC will sponsor the early portion and broadcast it on Showtime, while the second half (the K-1 portion) will air on PPV. I think that the combined star power of an ex-WWE wrestler, a 7’2 Koren, a NFL hottie and a martial arts legend, there should be no trouble publicizing the event and raking in the dough for Showtime and all the sponsors. All the fighters bring different sets of skills to the ring, which makes for truly entertaining combat.
Dynamite!! USA promises to be one of the most exciting MMA events in history. Making their MMA debuts will be former NCAA Division I wrestling champion, WWE pro wrestler, and Minnesota Viking tryout Brock Lesnar, NFL alum Johnnie Morton. Taking on Lesnar will be 7-foot-2 South Korean giant Hong Man Choi, aka “Techno Goliath.” Also joining the fight card on June 2 will be mixed martial arts legend Royce Gracie.
Lesnar is a North Dakota native who rose to WWE stardom in shows such as WWE Raw, SummerSlam and WrestleMania. He could be a legit future MMA star if he can take a punch. He's already leaps and bounds ahead of most MMA fighters in terms of power and wrestling ability. If he can strike and more importantly, absorb strikes, he may just be major force at heavyweight. His competitor Hong Man Choi, a K-1 Asia champion, will be making his first U.S. MMA appearance at the June 2nd event. Gracie, a 14-year MMA pioneer and UFC Hall of Famer, began his training in the discipline of Jiu-Jitsu and has taken on many larger opponents during his career, including 6’8, 486 lb. Sumo Grand Champion, Akebono, who Gracie defeated. Morton, a Los Angeles native and football star with University of Southern California and the NFL’s Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers during an illustrious career, will be making his MMA debut at “Softbank presents Dynamite!! USA in association with ProElite.”
First of all HELLO has anyone seen Johnnie Morton? I had wondered what happened to him; I may hafta purchase a ringside seat, just to see him without a shirt on! And who the hell ever heard of a 7’2 Korean, or a 7’2 person period? Those two factors themselves may have me planning a trip out west, scalping tickets to see Johnnie boy and the Korean giant!
The pay-per-view fight card, which begins at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, will feature up to six fights, with co-main events. Prior to the pay-per-view, SHOWTIME will televise three explosive bouts featuring EliteXC stars Jake Shields, Antonio Silva and Gina Carano. In the weeks prior to the live event, SHOWTIME® will air a six-part series entitled “Countdown to Dynamite!! U.S.A.,” profiling fighters, detailing the match ups and previewing the historic night of action. New episodes of Countdown will premiere every Monday at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT beginning April 30, on SHOWTIME.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
K-1 Dynamite MMA Coming to the States
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
From street fighter to pro
Four years ago Jamie Johnson was a streetfighter, today he is a kickboxer preparing for his first professional fight against an opponent eager to smash an elbow, knee, hand or shin into his head.
On Sunday, the 21-year-old Taupo man will fight in Brute Force, a Melbourne- based tournament for top Muay Thai fighters.
Muay Thai, a versatile, straightforward martial art where the hands, shins, elbows and knees are used extensively, is the traditional combat sport of Thailand.
Johnson, added to the line up by promoters just a few weeks ago after another New Zealand fighter pulled out, is looking forward to the chance to win the $10,000 prize purse.
He has upped his training and, with confidence in his ability, he has a good chance of making his mark on his first trip overseas since he was two years old.
I think I've got a fair bit of power and my fitness is a lot better than it used to be. It's exciting to get into the ring and it puts a different aspect on fighting,? he says. Johnson came across kickboxing almost by accident.
Three years ago the dairy farmer was on the lookout for a chance to take up boxing. Instead he found former professional kickboxer and trainer Scotty Thomson, who had recently moved to Taupo.
I headed on down [to the gym] and never looked back, says Johnson, who has come a long way since his days as a teenager on the lookout for a scrap.
I used to get into heaps of fights I just liked fighting, he says. Training has bought a new aspect to combat, which for him now requires brains as well as brawn.
It's [kickboxing] helped me control my anger a bit better and improved my discipline.? He trains at least three times a week and manages to build on his fitness in his spare time with a bit of pig hunting.
Johnson has learned a lot from Thomson, who has been involved in kickboxing for more than 20 years.
When the trainer and owner of Freestyle Gym arrived in Taupo, he intended to take a break from the gruelling sport - that wasn't to be. Since he has been here he has managed to get 23 people into the ring. Johnson has been the one who has stuck it out the longest.
Compared to places like Auckland, kickboxing is almost non existent in Taupo, which makes the task of finding sparing partners difficult. That could change, however, with the founding of a fight club at Freestyle Gym.
Thomson intends to have the club, which will cater to everyone from beginners to those who want to go pro, men and women, up and running in the next few weeks.
?What I?m doing now is stepping up to the next level by starting up a proper fight club here, says Thomson.
Meanwhile, whether Johnson wins or loses this weekend the experience will be invaluable. In the ring you don?t get beaten, you get taught a lesson, says Thomson.
You learn more from losses than you do from winning.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
THAI LADY KICK BOXER FIGHTS FOR FREEDOM
THAI LADY KICK BOXER FIGHTS FOR FREEDOM
Many of the farang males in Thailand are well into Muay Thai – kickboxing. Local foreign residents go along to the various kickboxing venues in Pattaya to watch Thai guys beating the living daylights out of each other, but if you were to go to Bangkok there’s an attraction of a new kind –ladies beating hell out of each other.
Not ordinary ladies, you understand, at least one of them is a convicted Ya Bah (speed) dealer. Ms Samson Sor Siriporn is a prisoner at Bangkok’s infamous Bangkok Hilton, serving a 10 year stretch for dealing in Ya Bah. However, Ms Siriporn has done so well in her fighting career that she stands the chance of an early release on parole, due to having recently won the WBC light-flyweight title. Next month, 24-year-old Ms Siriporn will be fighting Japan's Ayaka Miyano and she thinks she’s in there with a good chance, not only of retaining her title, but also being able to go home to Lop Buri to start a new lease of life as a shopkeeper.
Ms Siriporn decided to become a pugilist two years ago, partly to relieve the sheer drudgery of prison life where inmates have to sew garments and sacks virtually all day long. However, Siriporn has so impressed her warders that she now has privileged treatment. Instead of having to sew, she gets to fight with her coach or do weightlifting. She’s also on a special high-protein diet and sleeps separately, with other privileged cons.
You might think that Ms Siriporn’s special treatment would earn the envy of her fellow, but less lucky inmates. After all, Thais do have quite a reputation for being envious. But no, the other inmates think she’s great. She also helps relieve the monotony, by staging fights at Bangkok Hilton Prison in Pathum Thani. In a place with few entertainments, the inmates wait eagerly for the next bout, cheering her every punch when she’s in the ring. They really appreciate her efforts. Initially, she had slight problems and threats from other aggressive prisoners, but surprise, surprise, the threats evaporated when Siriporn embarked on her new kickboxing career.
It’s not only her fellow cons that are impressed, either. The prison authorities think she’s great, too. They regard her as a model prisoner and have taken on board her professed reform and regret for her misspent youth. So much so, in fact, that they have taken the unprecedented step of offering her freedom. They appreciate the kudos that Siriporn is winning not only for the prison, but for Thailand as a whole. They also well appreciate the fact that in order to compete on the world stage in the World Boxing Council bouts, she would have to have freedom of movement, which is why they have offered her parole.
Siriporn’s fight for freedom is also supported by WBC Vice President, Kovit Bhakdibhumi, who maintains his organisation is right behind Siriporn in her efforts to secure a conditional release. "We want to show people can make good of their lives, no matter what they did in the past," he said. Bhakdibhumi also regards her as being a good kick boxer, who has exerted herself training-wise and has thus earned the opportunity to start again, but with a punch!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Krabi Krabong - Thai Weapon Martial Art
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Thai Kickboxing: The Body As a Lethal Weapon
Thai Kickboxing (Muay Thai) is one of the remarkable features of Thailand's culture. Earliest accounts tells of the Thai children being encouraged to use their bodies to play games, thus the development of the basic exercises for their induction into Muay Thai in later years.
Thai Kickboxing is more about being acquainted with the body's weak and strong points in preparation for the art of unarmed combat. The body is divided into the nine principle weapons (Nawa Attawat): head, two fists, two elbows, two knees and two feet. There are combination weapons that can be used together with the primary ones. The combination weapons are the shoulders, arms, outer parts of the ankle and even the bottom.
The typical Thai Kickboxing move is the shin kick. The practitioner intends and exhibits a focused kick on the shins of the opponent in the objective of crippling his movement. Thai boxers, who have not trained enough, often fall on the ground when delivered a powerful shin blow. That is why no Thai kickboxer enters the ring without proper shin conditioning.
Mastering Thai kickboxing is not an easy task and requires complete dedication. The training is hard and long. Students are subjected to a punishing regime that includes shadow boxing, running and plenty of bag work. There are drills that one has to practice with Thai pads.
These Thai pads weigh five to ten pounds and cover the wearer's forearm. The trainer usually wears them to absorb the student's kicks, punches and other strikes. At times, the trainer uses them to punch the trainees too. These pads are in a way similar to boxing mitts worn by the modern boxers. So is the training.
Interestingly, there is little or no free sparring in Muay Thai training. Students usually box wearing ordinary boxing gloves. Another popular technique is to grapple standing up with the aim being to land a kick on the knee. However, such kicks and contacts are not overly encouraged.
So if you are planning on learning Thai Kickboxing be prepared for a grueling regimen. More importantly be prepared for the consequences of an art form that was born to meet the needs of the battlefield. Such an art form cannot be anything but potentially lethal. So either steel yourself for the kicks and punches or kick your desire to learn this martial art.
