I’m typing this with a bag of fruit flavor Lobster Crisps in my lap that my girlfriend bought from the Japanese supermarket as a jokeI’m typing this with a bag of fruit flavor Lobster Crisps in my lap that my girlfriend bought from the Japanese supermarket as a joke (knowing of my obsession with the TV show Iron Chef). Little individually wrapped crackers that I can’t tell if they’re supposed to be fruit flavored, lobster flavored, or both. Hey, if I’m too sick to make it into practice this week, you’ll know why. If you want your own bag of Lobster Crisps, check out (yes, they have a URL on the bag):
www.keeweehupkee.com
Well, it’s been awhile since the last column, eh? Cut me a little slack this time around, getting the new site up was an insane amount of work, and my travel schedule has been hectic to say the least. As of right now I’m looking at a nearly two week stretch where I get to stay home, so I’m trying to get caught up on a few things.
Thanks for all the kind words and support on the new website. We’ve been working on it for close to a year and we’re glad to hear you feel it was worth our while. Be sure to check us out EVERYDAY now, as we have new stories and news reports going up all the time, and we can bring you the latest news and results instantly now! There are also some other features you should be taking advantage of:
The big news broken by our buddies at www.Sherdog.com is that MMA is finally THIS close to being legal in California (shows held in California currently are on Indian Reservations, which tend to be several hours away from WHEREVER in the state you happen to live and mostly serve as reminders that our forbearers really did screw over the natives). You might recall that the bill had actually passed the legislature twice but was vetoed by former Governor Gray Davis, but indications from Governor Schwarzenegger’s is that he will sign the bill into law.
For those of you curious, reports are that most people feel that Governor Schwarzenegger (gawd, that still takes some getting used to saying) is doing a good job.
What exactly that means for the sport of MMA in the future is uncertain. Will we see larger venues opening up and more prestigious events taking place? Or will we see lots of smaller and lower budget shows pop up? Probably a combination of both, and it will take the efforts of all you “informed fans” to insure that the legalization of MMA in California is a huge step forward it should be. Can you imagine a UFC at the forum with the likes of Jack Nicholson and Will Smith Cageside? Get ready!
If you haven’t entered your school into our new school database: why the heck not? It’s fast, it’s easy, it’s FREE, it allows you to upload graphics and a description and resides on the most trafficked BJJ and Submission Grappling Website on the planet. What better way to increase business to your school? It’s got an awesome engine behind it, but naturally the school database is only going to be as cool as the information listed in it, so do us and you a favor and check it out!
http://onthemat.com/school_database.php
Speaking of schools, are good friend Shawn Williams is having his grand opening to his new academy in Redondo Beach on October 13th. Now Shawn earned his reputation as one of the top instructors in country by teaching everyday at Renzo Gracie’s main Academy in Manhattan and is among the nicest guys in this sport. At first I though Shawn was insane to be opening up an academy in probably the most congested BJJ area outside of Brazil, but now that’s he in Sunny Southern California, with an academy facing the beach and enjoying the celebrity lifestyle he definitely deserves I’m glad he didn’t listen to me.
Cameron Earle had planned on taking some time off. The Ralph Gracie Black belt had fought in four tournaments in the past 8 weeks when the opportunity to do a jiu jitsu demo at a night club came up. Sounds good, good opportunity to promote himself, the school and the art so he calls up his good friend Kurt Osiander and the two plan to work together and we all figure we’ll party that night. Turns out that there are a few other martial arts demo being planned as well, and the person in charge of the Karate demo wants to have a challenge match against Cameron!
I actually give this match a low probability of taking place and expect to see the demo as scheduled. After all, we’ve all seen Gracie in Action, right? I mean really, who makes these style vs style challenges anymore in 2004? Apparently this guy didn’t see the video, as he wants to swing by the academy to see what jiu-jitsu is all about. Those of us in the know have a pretty good idea on how these challenge matches tend to turn out. For that matter, a fight against Cameron would be about the last person you would want to get an introduction about jiu jitsu. It goes down October 9th in San Francisco:
www.upperisland.com
Cameron and I used to work security at a club together. The club was notorious for having several “hard bounces” each night and most of the staff fancied themselves as being tough guys. After hours they would have their own “training sessions” to determine who was the top dog, and the undefeated was the lead bouncer who weighed in about 260 and a former college football player who took on all comers. The first night that Cameron worked they got him to participate in this sparring session against the champ. Takedown, to the back, to the choke in a little less than thirty seconds is how the first match and the rematch wound up going. Cameron was pretty insistent that he didn’t want to participate in these sessions, if they actually wanted to learn something they were welcome to come to the academy and actually train, but these sessions were actually bullshit. The former champ however had a whole week of teasing from his buddies to ponder how a guy 90 pounds lighter had dispatched him so easily. So come the next week he was pretty eager to get yet another rematch, and after a lot of protesting from Cameron another match took place. Takedown, to the back, only this time Cameron DIDN’T look for the submission.
Not only was the request for a rematch not repeated, the whole after hours training sessions were scrapped all together.
Now that I’m actually going to be home for an extended period (two weeks of NOT being on the road, whoo-hoo!), I can finally work on some articles and videos that have been on the back burner for quite sometime. Better late than never is our motto around here (although with things settled we’re definitely looking to change that) In the next few days be sure to look out for the Grappler’s Quest Virginia and Copa Atlantica reports, as well as the 2nd IGJJF, Music City 2004, SportFight, and the West Coast Jiu Jitsu Championships!
Until then
Train HardFight HardParty Hard
Your friendGumby