October 2005

. . . . . . . . . . . . LATEST HEADLINES . . . . . . . . . . . . Business: Increase your profits by demanding students to 'always give 110 percent'. . . . . . . . . . . . . Medical Study: Attention deficit students learn 30% faster training with focus pads . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.S. Poll: Did Satsuma Ninja's kill the American Indians? . . . . . . . . . . . . . Women in Martial Arts: "BJJ only became popular with Men when Women started kicking their asses in traditional Arts". . . . . . . . . . . . .

Martial Arts Breakthrough!

A new and devastatingly effective wrist-grab release technique recently discovered in kata!

Health Watch

Studies show the national rise in average weight of Martial Artists over the past two decades is largely due to an increase of water distributed within the Arts.

Weapons

Hypocritically conflicted traditional Okinawan Karate stylist voices concern to Sensei about studying Kobudo weapons after learning the translation of the word ‘Kara-Te’.

University

Ground Arts banned on campus after 3 beer kegs in gym found tapped.

Politics

How rubbing elbows with authors of Martial Arts books will get you that 6^th Dan.

What's Up with Fashion

New revolutionary Obi designed to hold Gi pants up.

Business

Keeping your Dojo open – Trimming your Art to meet the national rise in obesity

Reader's Questions:

No really, which Martial Art actually IS the best?

Next Week:

Do standup-fighters believe ground-fighting Arts are beneath them?

FEATURE STORY

Martial Arts pioneer invents new official dan rank: ‘Nan-dan’ or N^th degree Black Belt.

Technique Of the Week

Forming effective self-defense postures from Kanji symbols.
	This week: Mountain Block.

Sensei Says:

“Tough shit. I told you to expect the unexpected, dumbass.”

Ninja Sighting !

Liger Earth Ninja – Black Forest, Canada

“Over four feet tall, and reaching puberty!” say startled observers.

Leaves traces behind found by authorities: “Yep, it was definitely a sub-ninja. Lil’ bugger left behind a trail of stink-bombs and camel-toe footprints.”, says Inspector.

Lifestyle

Article: Managing spousal relationship around training and forum time.


Martial Science
Current theory of Martial Arts evolution challenged by proponents of ‘Intelligent Design’.

Energy Arts
Combine the power of your Chi and Dynamic Sphere to lower this winter’s oil heating costs.

Tourney Scene
Sony Research Labs wins first synchronized group kata event in Las Vegas after a split decision by judges’ debating inclusion of artificial life forms.

Culture Check
Korean Arts still determined to make indigenous martial history from 4,000 year old cave drawings. France counters by claiming Savaate developed from hunting woolly mammoths before Ice Age.

Kids Korner
Testing: Using your parents’ love to get your next belt color.

Rememberance: Lifetime Martial Artist recalls entire Dojo Dynasty.

This month, we remember Kip Downing of Massachusetts who died 4 years ago; he was a respected lifelong patron of “Soke Sid’s Kung-Fu Studio of Self-Defense”. He survived three generations of Sensei at that studio as he recalls before his death:

“…then in the 1980’s things started to change with technology, Grandmaster Sid III incorporated a unique teaching style using a TV and VHS pre-recorded tape of him teaching the class. Never got used to saying ‘OSU’ to a television. Then in the late 1990’s, Supreme Grandmaster Sid IV inherited the dojo and changed the minimum BlackBelt age to 8 years old and added 10 more belt colors. This apparently made an exponential difference to business in class size compared to the previous minimum of 16 years old and 4 belts. Wouldn’t have been so bad except the new curriculum was hard to keep up with at my age since it was now based on impossible moves found in electronic games and defeating a ‘boss’ for each belt levelup…”

His only regret before his death was that in his 50 year Martial Arts career, he did not rank-up beyond purple belt with blue stripe. Kip was laid to rest in a private class ceremony donned with Gi and Obi. We remember Kip and his true warrior spirit.