November 2, 2011
Budokan Martial Arts Academy
You think our workouts are rough…
Some days are harder than other, but every class is work, hard work. Some of us are doing this because we have the dream to fight, some want an intense workout, others may come in just knowing what they see on tv or the internet and are interested.
Either way, we all work hard, I’m the type of person that I won’t give up, I may not be the fastest or strongest, but I will never give up, and I won’t be happy till i am that first one to cross the finish line. A lot what we do is mental, you need to have strong mind and be able to push yourself, always! On bad days, sick days, and everyday we need to be able to leave everything at the door. All those little nagging injuries, all the annoyance of our everyday lives, all our stresses, we need to be able to be strong enough to power through and use all those negatives to push us to be stronger.
I know that it’s alot easier said than done, but with a strong mind, everything else will follow.
Never Stop Training!
Keiko Fukuda of San Francisco, California, was promoted to the rank of 10th dan (degree) black belt in Judo this week by USA Judo, the sport’s national governing body. This is the highest ranking one can achieve in judo, but Fukuda is not featured in Bloody Elbow’s world scouting report, nor is Fukuda being courted by the UFC, Bellator, Dream, or any other MMA organization, because Keiko Fukuda is a woman, and she’s also 98 years old.
Meredith May at the The San Francisco Chroniclereported on Ms. Fukuda’s achievement this week, and if you’re still not impressed, consider this: only three other living judokas have reached the 10-degree black belt level, and they’re all men. Even more importantly, Fukuda is the last surviving student of Kano Jigoro, who invented judo in the late 1800s in Japan.
Here, Fukuda reminisces about her early years of practicing judo under Kano in Japan, and making some tremendous personal sacrifices to devote her life to the art:
Fukuda is the only living student of judo’s founder, Jigoro Kano, who opened his judo school, the Kodokan, in Tokyo, in 1882. Kano added a women’s section to his school about 40 years later and invited Fukuda to train because of her martial arts lineage. She was the granddaughter of a renowned jujitsu master who had taught that Japanese martial art to Kano.
“At first, all I could think of was how aggressive the maneuvers were, and how unusual it was to see women spreading their legs,” Fukuda said.
She was 21. She felt destined to practice judo. She declined her family’s plans to marry her to a dentist when she met with him and he told her she’d have to give up judo. She wanted to honor her grandfather’s legacy, a family martial arts tradition that passed to her because her father had died young and a brother was in ill health.
The nonagenarian also shares one of her crowning achievements:
Fukuda studied the kata, or choreographed forms of fighting maneuvers, and she became the expert in a slower, gentler version called ju-no-kata.
She rose quickly to a fifth-degree black belt – the highest rank for women at the time – and demonstrated ju-no-kata at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.
Evan at her current age, Fukuda is still teaching judo in the Bay area:
At 98, she is still teaching the Japanese martial art three times a week at a women’s dojo in Noe Valley, giving pointers from a fold-out chair, wearing her ki – and the red belt that signals her superior rank.
She waves two students over who are practicing fending off a knife-wielding purse snatcher, using finesse and balance to harness power. Fukuda, her hands shaking slightly, holds their fingers and moves their thumbs into their palms. Better. She nods, and the students bow in gratitude before trying the move again.
Fukuda emphasizes accuracy and speed over muscling and winning at all costs. She’s less interested in winning tournaments than she is in passing down respect for the art form.
“I think a lot of why I am 98 has to do with judo,” Fukuda said. “I have my health, and judo is my connection to less stress and difficulty. As far as I know, no one has lived their life completely for judo as I have.”
You can learn more about the amazing Keiko Fukuda in the film, “Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful”, a documentary about her life. A trailer can be viewed here.
Dominick Cruz! Congratulations!!! UFC Champ!!!
Dominick Cruz waited for more than four years for another crack at Urijah Faber, and he
made sure he did not let the opportunity pass him by.
Cruz (18-1, 1-0 UFC) bobbed, weaved, punched, kicked and wrestled his way to a unanimous
decision over Faber, as he defended his bantamweight crown in the UFC 132
headliner on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Scores were
50-45, 49-46 and 48-47 for Cruz, who avenged the only defeat of his career and
cemented his place atop the 135-pound division.
Cruz utilized all his tools against “The California Kid,” lateral movement chief among them. He
pressed forward relentlessly and landed brilliant multi-strike, multi-level
combinations throughout the memorable 25-minute encounter, tagging Faber with
blows to the head, body and legs.
“I knew he was going to come in awkward like that,” Faber said. “I decided to come straight forward. I didn’t
feel like I was in danger at any point, but it is what it is.”
More than one round was too close to call, as the evenly matched bantamweights went
toe-to-toe with one another for five rounds. Faber found a home for his powerful
straight right hand on several occasions and knocked Cruz off balance with it in
the fourth round, sending the champion into scramble mode. He recovered soon
after, and the two resumed their duel in the center of the Octagon.
“I gotta say, Urijah hits hard,” Cruz said. “His hands are very fast. Urijah’s
hands are good. Don’t [sleep] on his hands.”
The fifth round was arguably Cruz’s best. He backed up Faber (25-5, 1-1 UFC) with a textbook flying
knee and scored with multiple takedowns. Faber was quick to return to his feet
each time, but Cruz often beat him to the punch and left him swinging at air.
“I hit him with a jumping knee, and that rocked him,” Cruz said. “He’s
tough, man. He’s a veteran, and he did well to recover from it.”
The defeat halted Faber’s two-fight winning streak.
“I knew it was going to be a tough fight,” Faber said. “I thought I landed the heavier punches. I had
him rocked a couple of times, but congratulations to Dominick; He won. It wasn’t
enough of an output on my side, and I didn’t finish him. I felt like I won the
fight, but congratulations to Dominick.”
A dream…
We have a dream!
On August 28, 1964 Martin Luther King Jr. stood at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. He started a speech that is now known by many as the “I have a dream” speech. Some of the most memorable parts of the speech include the following.
“I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.” and “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Now before anyone starts asking why we’re talking about Martin Luther King Jr. let me get to my point, and keep in mind in no way am I trying to compare Dr. King to Muay Thai or even put it on the same level. I don’t want anyone feeling insulted.
When it comes to Muay Thai, I have a dream as well, and I know it is not just me, fighters, fans, and everyone who loves Muay Thai alike have a dream for Muay Thai, especially the people who are deprived of Muay Thai here in the United States.
We have a dream that one day we will be able to tune in on any given Saturday night and watch real Muay Thai action on television.
We have a dream that one day we will tell people we love Muay Thai and they wont react with “What is that?”
We have a dream that one day Muay Thai fighters will get paid what they deserve, for the sacrifice of their body, for a sport they love.
We have a dream that Muay Thai will be able to fill arenas, so people can enjoy this excellent art.
We have a dream that promoters will put on nearly flawless shows.
We have a dream, that Muay Thai will pay the bills.
You might think this is corny, but when you love Muay Thai, or any sport for that fact, you want it to succeed. I love Muay Thai, I talk about it to people who have no knowledge about it and many times I get blank stares, but every now and then I get someone willing to go to a fight with me. Some times the fights are not very good sometimes they are excellent, it’s hit or miss, but in the end I know I’m trying to spread the word on the sport.
If you love Muay Thai, even if you just like it don’t let this sport continue on its pace here in the United States, because right now with combat sports being at its peak we have to strike, we have to make our move and spawn the growth of Muay Thai.
Support your local fighters, support your local shows, but at the same time demand better shows. It can’t be give and take, if we give them there money they need to give us good shows, 90% percent of the fighters show up to fight, and its great, but some promoters need to provide better shows. Quality over quantity is sometimes better than quantity over quality.
Do think your boxing is good?
Watch this video…
…how about now? Do you think your boxing is good?
Muay Thai, the art of eight limbs, lets pay attention to the key word, art, not the eight limbs as everyone else might pay attention to. What we do is an art, as well as any other martial art. And there’s only one way to get better at art, and its practice. Watching this boxing video, it’s amazing, but it’s amazing for two different reason. Yes, that is a small child in the ring, that is amazing. But what is really amazing, is the boxing itself. Look how fluid it is. It’s almost seamless, every movement is precise. You can hear that there is power behind the shots. But look at the punches, look how they come back to the face to guard. Especially look at the way he moves when his trainer throws. The bob and weave looks effortless, and to come back and continue a combo is amazing. But how do you think he got to this point. With practice.
Do you feel like this when you train? Do you feel effortless? Does it feel seamless?
This post isn’t meant to discourage anyone, rather it was posted in order for everyone to take a second and think. We all get into such a routine that we get comfortable, and even though we may sweat and work hard and give it our best. Are we continuing to paint our picture?
How bad do you want it?
I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.~ Bruce Lee
As we say, losing is not an option. But if it were to happen, you get back up and you fight to get back on top. As discussed before, that you must push when you train, but you also have to push your mind. It takes a lot to be number one, and there will always be someone that wants to take that away from you. So, how bad do you want it?…
Training
“Pain is weakness leaving the body”
We hear this constantly throughout our training. But have you ever stopped and actually thought about what this actually means? Everyone may have a different interpretation, but simply it means push. Push. When you’re feeling tired, push. When that 30 seconds bell hits, push. At the end of class when you think you don’t have one more push up, sit up in you, push. We have to push our bodies, we can’t allow ourselves to have limits, because once you have accepted your limit, you’ve accepted defeat.
If you push, the results come, and they become more apparent and easier to retain. You feel as your training has become easier. All the little techniques and quirks aren’t as frustrating as they once were. You’ve reached a new limit in yourself and your training. All that is left to do, is push… Reach your new limit.
Next time you’re in our muay thai class, think about this post and this video, think about how young these kids are, think about how hard everyone is training, think about how hard they are pushing.
Muay Thai classes in Lynbrook are simply the BEST!!!
“Thai Boxing at the Budokan is amazing!!!” www.budobjj.com
Muay Thai or also known as Thai boxing is a full contact martial art, which is termed “The Science of Eight Limbs”. This is because the hands, shins, elbows and knees are all used extensively in this art. So a master practitioner of Muay Thai thus has the ability to execute strikes using eight points of contact as opposed to four points in other martial arts or two points in western boxing. This effectively gives the practitioner to debilitate opponents with any combination of the science of eight limbs.
Muay Thai is a straightforward but brutal art practiced in many countries all over the world and is the national sport of Thailand. It uses gloves similar to the ones used in western traditional boxing and is fought in a ring. When I had first started Muay Thai it seemed similar and looked similar at first to traditional western boxing but after my first lesson my view on the art was completely changed forever. I don’t think it could be more different from traditional boxing as the style and feel of it is nowhere near the same. Muay Thai is such an interesting art to learn because there is so much to learn. Muay Thai now has watered down forms of it as a beneficial sport. These are typically called kickboxing. So this is where Muay Thai is a completely unique and devastating martial art.
Muay Thai does although demand a lot of physical fitness. There are a couple of disciplines and conditionings involved with Muay Thai. Some of these include: shadow boxing, running, rope jumping, bag training, sparring, weight resistance exercises, medicine ball exercises, abdominal exercises and in some cases weight training just to name a few. Some of these exercises include full contact conditioning using a Thai pad, focus mitts or heavy bag. These can be physically demanding as the training includes long rounds of hitting pads. This can be from the using the focus mitts to spruce up your jab cross hook or using the Thai pads to master your roundhouse kick.
The fact is there’s so much to learn in Muay Thai and at the same time is very enjoyable leaving you wanting more.
