Martial Arts News

Toni McSorley Becomes First Woman Inducted Into Martial Arts Hall of Fame

Apr 25th, 2009

Toni McSorley – Martial Arts Hall of Fame

Saturday April 18, 2009

Toni McSorley started taking martial arts classes at a small dojo in her neighborhood after becoming good friends with the instructor’s middle daughter. She was only 13 years old at the time. Forty six years later, she has now received welcome and deserved notoriety for her prowess by being inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame.McSorley currently has her own studio called Arts of the Samurai in Knoxville, Tennessee where she teaches Agedo Karate and Toyama Rwu Kendo. She notes that Toyama Rwu Kendo is “an old battlefield art that is very simple and to the point.”

Receiving the honor in Richmond, Virginia a few weeks ago seems to have meant a lot to her. “Women are still second-class citizens in a lot of respects,” she says. “The first year we showed up for state competition, they took me off the floor for opening ceremonies, because they didn’t want a woman in the picture,” Toni says. “The first year I coached at nationals they sent a man to help me. . . This one really meant something special (the induction), because when I started, if you were a woman or a kid and you showed up at a martial arts school, normally the first thing they did was try to get you to quit because they didn’t want you there.”

Well, no one is attempting to get her to quit anymore. That would be foolhardy. Congratulations to her on a great honor.

Source: About.com – Martial Arts

Republished by: Dave Heuthe, American Kobe Jiu Jitsu Federation Black Belt & Certified Instructor. Dave provides group personal defense classes where lessons are taught in various locations, privately, at Bob Malvagno’s School of Self Defense, and through in-house work programs (e.g. -Fire Department, employer, churches & synagogues, community centers, etc.) in the Nassau County and Sufflok County, Long Island (LI), NY area. Dave’s business is to provide programs that help his students (adults, seniors, teens & children) master self defense. BECOME A CLASS MEMBER TODAY!

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Charity Martial Arts Day Held (Swindon, UK)

Apr 6th, 2009

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Jiu Jitsu Takes on Amur Tigers

A MARTIAL arts combat day in Swindon raised funds that will help save the lives of near extinct Amur tigers and leopards in Russia.

More than 30 people took part in 100 rounds of sparring at New College’s sports centre yesterday which was organised by Ashley Eaglestone, chairman of Swindon Martial Arts.

An outer circle moved around an inner circle of people to have 40 seconds of sparring each before moving onto the next opponent.

The aim of the day was to raise more than £2,000 to help support the Amur charity.

Money will be used to send a vet out to the far east of Russia to catch, treat, tag and release some of the rarest wild cats on the planet.

There are only 450 Amur tigers and 35 Amur leopards remaining in the wild.

Members of Jujitsu Karate Kai, the Swindon Skikuki Karate Club, Smnf Kickboxing, LA Marshall Arts, the Amateur Kickboxing Academy and Swindon Muay Thai Kickboxing were all involved on the day.

Ten-year-old Natasha Edwards from Rodbourne, who goes to Even Swindon Primary School, said: “Martial arts give you discipline and you can protect yourself if you are attacked in the street. My favourite move is a flying side-kick.

“This is a good event as it helps raise money for the tigers and the leopards who could become extinct if nothing is done to protect them.”

Sharon Miller from the charity Amur was hugely thankful after the Swindon event proved a great success.

She said: “This money will go towards sending a top English vet out to Russia for a month.

“In that time he’ll go out with a small team who will spend days waiting to catch these wild cats. It could be about four they manage to get.

“They can then check for disease, plan their fertility management and tag them.

“There are 37 people here and just 35 Amur leopards left in the wild – that really puts it into perspective.” For more information about the animal charity, please call 01225 851251 or visit www.amur.org.uk.

Source: Swindon Advertisor for Martial Arts

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Self-Defense Works

Mar 31st, 2009

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Self Defense is Effective

According to the U.S. Department of Justice statistics show that 67% of the time resistance to criminals is effective. In only less than 9% of the situations does resistance make the situation worse. COMMENT: If the perp wanted to work, the perp would’ve gotten a job.

Source: Self -Defense in the News

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9 Year Old Boy Hero in Pit Bull Attack

Mar 23rd, 2009

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Jiu Jitsu Saves the Life of a Young Girl

This is old, but fascinating and true news. January 5th, Bakersfield, CA – A 9-year-old Bakersfield boy is getting a lot of attention after saving a girl from a vicious pit bull.

Drew Heredia and his female friend were walking the girl’s small dog when the pit bull attacked it. The girl tried to intervene but then the pit bull turned the attack on her.

Heredia didn’t run away but instead he jumped on the pit bull and applied a choke hold that he learned at a local Brazilian jiu-jitsu studio.

Heredia held the dog in the chokehold until an animal control officer arrived.

The girl was taken to the hospital with numerous puncture wounds. She and her dog are expected to recover.

News Source with Video: Jui Jitsu saves girl’s life

Re-published by: Dave Heuthe, American Kobe Jiu Jitsu Federation Black Belt & Certified Instructor. Dave provides group personal defense classes where lessons are taught in various locations, privately, at Bob Malvagno’s School of Self Defense, and through in-house work programs (e.g. -Fire Department, employer, churches & synagogues, community centers, etc.) in the Nassau County and Sufflok County, Long Island (LI), NY area. Dave’s business is to provide programs that help his students (adults, seniors, teens & children) master self defense. BECOME A CLASS MEMBER TODAY!

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Man Unwisely Tries to Rob Tae Kwon Do Studio

Mar 18th, 2009

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A Private Martial Arts Lesson to Remember

Fox Point, Wis. — A robber gets more than he bargained for when he targets a Tae Kwon Do studio in suburban Milwaukee.

The robber thought he could quietly slip in and out of David Kang’s studio in Fox Point with some loot.

What he didn’t realize is that he would encounter a Tae Kwon Do master who wasn’t about to let him off the hook. Kang was giving a private lesson Tuesday and heard someone in his office. Kang found the man going through his closet, grabbed him by the neck and sat him down while he called police.

The robber took off and Kang gave chase, finally catching up with the man and holding him by the neck until police arrived.

Source: Martial Arts on Fox News

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Helio Gracie, Promoter of Jiu-Jitsu, Dies at 95

Mar 15th, 2009

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Helio Gracie Dies

SÃO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — Helio Gracie, one of the main creators of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a form of mixed martial arts that gained worldwide popularity, died Thursday. He was 95.

His death was announced in a short statement posted on the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy Web site, which said he was buried in the mountain resort town of Petropolis, near Rio de Janeiro.

The Agencia Estado news service said the cause was pneumonia.

Gracie introduced a series of adaptations to traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu that emphasized leverage and position as a way to compensate for size differences among opponents.

More than 40 sons and grandsons of Gracie and his brother Carlos helped popularize Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu around the world.

One of Gracie’s sons, Rorion, was a founder of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, an organization that promotes mixed martial arts as a combat sport in the United States, where it is seen as a more exciting alternative to boxing and wrestling.

Gracie is survived by his wife and nine children.

News Source: The New York Times & The Associated Press

Published by: Dave Heuthe, American Kobe Jiu Jitsu Federation Black Belt & Certified Instructor. Dave provides group personal defense classes where lessons are taught in various locations, privately, at Bob Malvagno’s School of Self Defense, and through in-house work programs (e.g. -Fire Department, employer, churches & synagogues, community centers, etc.) in the Nassau County and Sufflok County, Long Island (LI), NY area. Dave’s business is to provide programs that help his students (adults, seniors, teens & children) master self defense. BECOME A CLASS MEMBER TODAY!

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Predator Alert

Mar 7th, 2009

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How Safe Are You?

In Englewood and Haqckensack NJ several women were attacked and sexually assaulted.

He targets women walking alone and attacks them from behind, knocking them down and groping them.

While you can’t grow eyes in the back of your head, you must remain aware and vigilant. Have pepper spray in your hand, or even your cell phone ready to dial the police.

The woman who fared the best were the ONES WHO FOUGHT BACK! Yelling, screaming and one even bit his fingers…now he can be identified easier.

Remember, criminals don’t want to be caught, identified or captured. What ever you can do to increase the chance of that happening works in your favor.

News Source: North Jersey Predator Alert

Re-Published by: Dave Heuthe, American Kobe Jiu Jitsu Federation Black Belt & Certified Instructor. Dave provides group personal defense classes where lessons are taught in various locations, privately, at Bob Malvagno’s School of Self Defense, and through in-house work programs (e.g. -Fire Department, employer, churches & synagogues, community centers, etc.) in the Nassau County and Sufflok County, Long Island (LI), NY area. Dave’s business is to provide programs that help his students (adults, seniors, teens & children) master self defense. BECOME A CLASS MEMBER TODAY!

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Jiu-jitsu Fights to Throw Off Gender Barrier

Mar 7th, 2009

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Is There a Gender Barrier in Jiu Jitsu?

ABU DHABI // Some parents have banned their daughters from taking part in compulsory martial arts lessons in one of the emirate’s middle schools.

They say the jiu-jitsu lessons, designed to find future international champions, are “not for girls” and have made their daughters return the uniforms, a teacher at the school said.

The programme is being run under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, who is an admirer of jiu-jitsu, along with his brothers Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed and Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed.

Sixteen coaches, including four women, have been brought in from Brazil to teach the sport at the 12 boys’ schools and two girls’ schools in Abu Dhabi chosen for the pilot scheme, which is still in its first year.

In one class this week, nine girls sat on the sidelines as 12 of their classmates took part in the lesson. It was not clear how many sat out because of their parents’ objections and how many merely lacked interest.

One trainer, Luciana Nader, said that in a typical class there were about five girls refusing to take part, claiming they preferred other sports.

“I am sad when some students decide they don’t want to participate,” said Ms Nader. “I tell them in my country if the government paid for jiu-jitsu, the kids would be so happy because many children now pay a lot of money to learn jiu-jitsu on their own.”

Ronkonkoma Karate Instructor Admits Sex Abuse

Mar 7th, 2009

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Karate Instructor Admits Sex Abuse

The following story creates a bad name for all martial arts instructors!!!

A former Ronkonkoma karate instructor admitted Friday in court that he had sex with a dozen boys, some as young as 13 years old, among a long list of other crimes.

James Bonfiglio, 38, sat with his hands cupped together in front of him in a Riverhead courtroom as Suffolk prosecutors read two indictments containing a total of 70 charges.

Bonfiglio, wearing black-framed glasses and a tattoo of Asian lettering on one forearm, has been held on bail at the Riverhead jail for more than a year. Over 40 minutes, he calmly answered “Yes” to dozens of questions about sex acts dating to 2003 with students at his Excel Karate Academy and with one boy at a Smithtown karate school where he was previously an instructor.

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