Author Archives: blogger

Martial Arts Benefit – Self-discipline Improvement

Self-discipline is perhaps one of the most difficult traits to cultivate not just in others but especially in ones self. Children naturally find it harder to learn self-discipline because they lack the experience and maturity to fully understand its value. But if you enroll your child in a martial arts school, self-discipline and a lot more positive traits are his to conquer in no time!

Why Its Important for Kids to Learn Self-Discipline and Self-Control Early
While it is certainly your duty as a parent to teach your children how to differentiate right from wrong, its also important to train them early to make such decisions for themselves. If you allow your child to grow up depending on your authority and other external factors to determine the proper thing to do, he shall find himself helpless and incapable of doing whats right even as an adult, much less care about the consequences of his actions.

When you teach your child self-discipline early, they take their first steps to growing up and taking responsibility of their actions. They begin to understand about the things they have to do not just because theyre told but because its right. They will understand, for instance, that homework, house chores, and even eating broccoli, are things they have to do, even if its somewhat unpleasant.

Self-control is naturally intertwined with self-discipline. It is impossible for one to exist without the other. Whereas self-discipline governs ones ability to make decisions, self-control governs ones control over his mind and body.

With self-control, your child learns early that its not right to let their angers rule their thoughts. They also to learn to exercise their will and use mind over matter.

The Benefits of Having Self-Discipline
Once your child attains self-discipline through martial arts, youll be surprised at positive impact it can have in his life.

More Self-Confidence
Greater self-discipline is equivalent to greater progress in martial kids. And with kids, their self-confidence tends to grow every time they move another level and the color of their belt changes.

Better Health
Youll find self-disciplined kids easier to guide when it comes to proper nutrition, too. Your kids will be more willing to listen and obey once you explaining to them the benefits of eating lots of greens and avoiding too much junk food.

If they are struggling with weight problems, youll also find it easier to maintain the proper diet and exercise regime for them. Their martial arts sessions will naturally help in keeping them physically fit as well.

Improved Social Interaction Skills
Self-discipline also helps children develop positive social interaction traits. They become friendlier and although they may become more competitive, they also understand the importance of sportsmanship, teamwork, and equality. They also become more understanding of other childrens differences with them and avoid bullying or ostracizing other kids because of those differences.

Greatest Martial Arts Movies Of All Time

After hundreds of movies, thousands of eye-popping fight scenes and millions of punches thrown…which ones are the best? Which ones have I been missing out on my whole life? Which ones must I have in my collection in order to not bring shame upon my family name?

We’ve scoured the internet. Reviews. Forums. Amazon. Postings. Bulletins. And this list is what we’ve come up with as the greatest Kung-Fu movies of all time and why you should watch each one. Pay attention to movies involving Yuen Wo-Ping as either director or action director, there’s a reason why half this list is movies where he was involved!

If you want to watch trailers of these movies, go to: http://www.experiencemartialarts.com/articles/movies.html

(you can also get directly to these movies in http://Amazon.com from this website)

#1 – Way of the Dragon (1979)

This is the only finished film to be written and directed by Bruce Lee. (Game of Death is the other one but is unfinished) We could write a lot about the plot, characters or fight scenes…but all you really care about is watching Bruce Lee fight Chuck Norris in the final battle.

Martial Artists: Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris
Director: Bruce Lee

#2 – Shaolin Temple (1982)

Depicts the amazing history of the Shaolin Temple, the focal point for Chinese Martial Arts. Think of the Shaolin Monks as Jedi Knights (an elite group of fighters) and the rest of China as the messed-up universe that Star Wars takes place in (people who are afraid of the elite fighters and want to take them out of power). Much work to do, you have, young Jet Li. *picture Yoda’s accent on that one* Define Irony: A movie shot at the site of the Shaolin Temple, telling a story about the fall of the Shaolin Temple, sparks so much public interest that the temple was re-opened shortly after the movie released.

Martial Artist: Jet Li (His debut movie)
Director: Chang Hsin-Yen

#3 – Ong Bak (2003)

Raw action without wires, Tony Jaa brings a new martial arts style to the big screen and does so in style. Muay Thai (Thai Boxing) is stronger and more direct than the Chinese styles you’re used to seeing with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, giving a new look to how a martial arts movie can be done. You’ll be seeing more of him…guaranteed.

Martial Artist: Tony Jaa
Director: Prachya Pinkaew

#4 – Iron Monkey (1993)

Doctor by day, thief by night…Iron Monkey is your classic Robin-hood meets Kung Fu. It’s an action packed flick that can’t go 5 minutes without an excellent fight scene. It all comes down to a battle between Iron Monkey (ie Robin Hood) and an ex Shaolin Monk (remember, these guys are like the Jedi Knights of Chinese martial arts…they’re elite). Remember that guy Yuen Wo-Ping I mentioned? Well he’s the director in this one, so you know it’s good!

Martial Artists: Yu Rong-Guang, Donnie Yen
Director: Yuen Wo-Ping
Action Directors: Yuen Cheung-yan, Yuen Shun-yi

#5 – 5 Deadly Venoms (1978)

No room form “martial arts beauties” in this one, there’s so much blood and action that they only cast male actors. Exit the traditional elaborate costumes and enter the muscular, skin-bearing, bloody martial arts style that would become a trademark for director Chang Cheh. Each cast member is trained in an art resembling one of 5 venemous creatures (Scorpion, Snake, Centipede, Gecko, Toad) with the 6th cast member being trained in all 5. Six main martial arts actors = LOTS O’ ACTION

Martial Artists: 6 Martial Artists (yes, 6 main characters)
Director: Chang Cheh

#6 – The Seven Samurai (1954)

One of the greatest classic kung-fu movies of all time and arguable Kurosawa’s best work. Some Samurai of the time were down on their luck (homeless) and willing to do anything for a meal. A village under attack by bandits recruits a group of seven such Samurai warriors and asks them to help defend their village. The movie is about the Samurai teaching the village how to fight and culminates in a massive battle between a village and almost 50 attacking bandits. The acting is superb, the emotions run high and Kurosawa keeps you hooked from beginning to end.

Martial Artists: 7 Martial Artists (all names you won’t know since this movie is so old)
Director: Akira Kurosawa

#7 – Legend of Drunken Master (1994)

Some will say this is the greatest martial arts movie of all time because of it’s balance between plot-line, comedy, drama and amazing kung fu sequences. Probably Jackie Chan’s best martial arts performance. You’re going to love the final scene where you learn what Drunken Master really means. We’re talking box-splitting, fire-spitting craziness!

Martial Artist: Jackie Chan
Director: Lau Kar-leung

#8 – Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)

Based on a Pentalogy (yes, that’s 5 books) written by Wang Dulu, this movie covers mostly the 4th book. Critically acclaimed to cross international borders with it’s amazing character development, intricate plot, martial arts ideals, stunning special effects and quicker-than-the-eye fighting scenes, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon set a new standard for martial arts movies. Telling Zhang Ziyi (the lead female character and an amazing martial artist) to get back in the kitchen would likely cost you 50 punches to the bags. Be ready for subtitles, cuz turning on the English track is like watching…uh…like watching a kung fu movie in English.

Main Martial Artist: Chow Yun-fat
Other Martial Artists: Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, Chang Chen, Cheng Pei-pei
Director: Ang Lee
Action Director: Yuen Wo-Ping

#9 – Kill Bill vol. 1 (2003)

You’re going to want your home theatre room for this one. It’s tough to beat beautiful women beating the crap out of each other in fast-paced, action-packed, make you cringe, bloody, gory, cut-’em-up (more buzz words go here) movie jam packed with as much martial arts death as possible. Tarantino expertly uses every camera angle and a plethora of special effects to deliver a better-than-real visual experience that gives this blood-and-guts thriller an artistic feel you’ll appreciate at the end. Did I mention is has Uma Thurman in it?

(Kill bill vol. 2 brings closure to the set, but hey…we had to choose one movie. Say Five-Point-Palm Exploding Heart Technique 5 times fast.)

Actors: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Action Director: Yuen Wo-ping

#10 – Fist of Legend (1994)

A classic story of Chinese vs. Japanese martial arts, Fist of Legend is actually a remake of the original Bruce Lee movie, Fist of Fury. If Bruce Lee is like the original James Bond, Jet Li is the Pierce Brosnan. He’ll never be the original, but the modern film-making and larger budget bring the entertainment value just a hair above the original Fist of Fury. (The ghost of Bruce Lee is probably going to strike me down for writing that) The Yuen Brothers are known for amazing action choreography, and they totally deliver on this one. (Casting Jet Li may have helped them a little too.)

Martial Artist: Jet Li
Director: Gordon Chan
Action Directors: The Yuen Brothers

The fun doesn’t stop there.

We tried to stop at only 10…really, we did. But we just couldn’t control ourselves.
“Once it hits your lips, it’s so good!” – Will Ferrell in “Old School”

To see the movies that deserve “Honorable Mention”, go to http://www.experiencemartialarts.com/articles/movies.html

Whether you enjoyed this list or think we snuffed your favorite movie, we’d love to hear what you think. Post your comments at: http://www.experiencemartialarts.com/blog/archives/16

Mixed Martial Arts – The World’s Fastest-growing Sport

How soon things change. It seems like yesterday we were talking about how fast the fan base for Nascar was growing. Some people even foolishly talked about it possible taking over the NFL in popularity someday. Nascar’s growth and fan base has since taken a hit, most likely due to the recent economy problems over the last couple of years. That said, Mixed Martial Arts, MMA is the new reigning “worlds fastest growing sport” as we enter 2010, and looks to be for the foreseeable future.

Don’t get me wrong, the NFL is still the 800 pound gorilla when it comes to total fan base and world popularity, but MMA has shown substantial growth over the last decade, and even faster over the last 5 years. No growth like this ever lasts forever, but it’s hard to say how long it could last for MMA, given the momentum the sport has, and more specifically, the UFC or Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The UFC is currently MMA’s biggest promotion, and therefore has the world’s best stable of fighter’s. The UFC has also become the new darling of Las Vegas much to the chagrin of the powers that be in the boxing world. But instead of being bitter, the sport of boxing needs to take a look at why that is. For one, you can’t get any big fights for free anymore when it comes to boxing. The UFC on the other hand, air’s free broadcast’s labled “UFC Fight Night” on Spike ever couple of months at least, and usually more than that. And these are normally big main events that the hardcore fans want to see, not fighters that nobody knows.

And more recent, news of StrikeForce’s signing of the worlds best fighter Fedor Emelianenko shook the MMA world, and now Fedor will hope to become a household name by way of free network broadcasting of the sport’s most popular fighter in a contract with CBS.

The key to enjoying the excitement of the sport though, is to understand all the different aspects of the sport, and to recognize the transitions that you see throughout a typical fight. The least understood of these being the “ground game”. To the casual observer, this might seem boring compared to striking (the term used in MMA referring to the stand up phase of a fight). And sometimes it is with average talent. But when you have two world class grappler’s going at it, its the most exciting part of a fight in my opinion.

What a new fan should watch for on the ground is the use of “the guard”, and the escape from this position for the other fighter, also known as “passing the guard.” The guard position consists of the fighter on bottom to control his/her opponent by wrapping his/her legs around the waist of the fighter on top while controlling the head, keeping him/her off balance, making it easier to sweep or submit the other. Normally the fighter on top or “in the guard” will try to get his/her legs around the leg’s of the opponent, or to “ground and pound” the other fighter with strikes from the top position. There are usually no submissions from inside the guard.

It’s impossible to cover all the nuances of the sport in this article, but once the more common ideas of the grappling part of MMA is understood by new and non fans, the more enjoyment will come out of watching great fights and understanding how technical these fighters are, not to mention the level of conditioning that it takes to compete in this sport. Most think it rivals that of their counterparts in the NFL, or any other sport for that matter. So the next time you are around a new fan, take a minute to explain the fastest growing sport in the world. See you at the fights!

OKC Arts Festival

The OKC Arts Festival or Festival of the Arts hosts performances of performing arts, visual arts and culinary arts, and there’s something for the entire community to enjoy. The 2009 OKC Festival of the Arts will be held from April 21-26 at the Festival Plaza, Stage Center and the Myriad Botanical Gardens in Downtown Oklahoma City.

144 Plaza Artists from all over the United States would be among those exhibiting in the Visual Arts category on Hudson Avenue. The Myriad Gardens would be hosting an exhibit of kinetic art called the Windscapes, while you could find a really large-scale exhibit of SculpturePark in the Stage Center Lawn. Under the Performing Arts category there would be street performers as well as non-stop entertainment and performing arts in four stages. Food lovers can sample culinary masterpieces by vendors who participate in the International Food Row held under the Culinary Arts category.

Children and families have great hands-on activities to get involved in the Children’s Area, costing only $2. Pottery Place and Creation Station are the other venues ideal for families to visit, and they can also check out face painting. The shopping venue for children only, the Young-At-Art Mart will include affordably priced artwork at or below $5.

The Festival of the Arts OKC has been held since 1967 in the city. Admission to the 2009 OKC Arts Festival is free and the timings are 11 AM to 9 PM Tuesday to Saturday, 11 AM to 6 PM on Sunday. Pets aren’t allowed.

Visitors to the Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts from outside the city or state can stay conveniently in reputable OKC hotels, partaking of their innate warmth and hospitality.

The OKC Arts Festival hosts performances of performing arts, visual arts and culinary arts. Hotels Oklahoma City – The Bricktown Hotel and Convention Center is one of the finest hotels of OKC and is located only 1.5 miles from Downtown’s Bricktown center.

Deadly Street Fighting Techniques You Won’t Learn In The Dojo!

Traditional martial arts methods might be leaving you feeling annoyed, agitated and bored. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that plenty of black belt martial arts masters would never win in a real world fight on the streets.

You can only learn killer street fighting moves from someone who has actually engaged in street fighting. It’s this type of fighter who has demonstrated and developed the necessary skills to help you survive a fight in the street. You will be taught how to employ every technique and tip listed in this article. Read on for a list of the techniques which you’ll never learn by simply studying classic martial arts methods.

Deadly street fighting techniques #1 : If you have the chance, don’t hesitate to bite your attackers face. If they use their hands or arms to grab close to your face, use your teeth. Every part of the attacker’s body is vulnerable to biting. The attacker’s muscles can be very effective targets, as you can sink your teeth deep into them and cause serious loss of blood. Now the following idea is very important to remember.

Deadly street fighting techniques #2 : If you kick your opponent, focus on the lower portions of the body, such as the knees. One hard kick at your attacker’s kneecap can shatter the bone. If you are fighting a larger attacker, aim your kicks at his groin. If your attacker traps you in a tight hug, kick at their chins and stomp down on their feet. There are many ways to injure the lower sections of your opponent’s body and create significant pain. These are the areas to deliver your kicks towards.

Deadly street fighting techniques #3 : Rehearse these methods with a partner, and improvise scenarios. Work in a spacious area, and find someone who is willing to attack you as if they were an attacker on the street. By being spontaneous, you can practice your responses to an unprovoked attack more realistically.

Deadly street fighting techniques #4 : Gouging at someone’s eyes can be even more effective than delivering a punch during a street fight. When your attacker comes close, your best target is their eyes. Do absolutely anything it takes to hurt and injure an attacker don’t hold back. Aiming for the eyes will create serious pain and temporarily blind them as well, which is a great advantage to have.

Deadly street fighting techniques #5 : Be conscious of weapons being introduced to a fight. I was recently attacked by someone holding a hammer. Someone nearby yelled out that this opponent had a hammer in his hand. I didn’t realize this because of the shere chaos during the fight. I used this tip to make sure he never got a second chance to attack me with his hammer. I quickly won the fight and got out of the situation.

——

I will turn you into a deadly street fighter when you discover the list of 27 barbaric street based self defense moves here! Or you can get some more free self defense techniques from my newest site now!