MMA Flashback: Lashley Blitzes Cook In Maximum Fighting Challenge Main Event
October 12, 2009 by Ross Everett · Leave a Comment
Heres a word of advice to future opponents of Bobby Lashley”dont make fun of his background in professional wrestling. Mike Cook found that out the hard way in the co-main event of the Maximum Fighting Championships MFC 21: Hard Knocks event. After spending the run up to fight week making fun of Lashleys tenure in the WWE, Cook lasted a mere :24 seconds before being choked unconscious.
In prefight interviews, Cook had suggested that Lashley would soil himself once he entered the ring (though in not so erudite terms). That clearly incensed the massive 64 250 pound Lashley, who despite his inexperience in MMA is hardly the sort of individual prone to losing bowel control at the prospect of a fight.
A smirking Cook attempted to tap gloves with Lashley before the fight, but his obviously insulted opponent would have none of it. Even after the opening bell rang, Cooks arrogant approach to the fight continued as he immediately clinched with his opponent as if he had no regard whatsoever for Lashleys strength. Lashley immediately locked in a guillotine choke and basically yanked Cook down to the mat by his head. Once on the canvas, Lashley cinched it in deeper as Cook flopped around”partially in an effort to escape, partially in an involuntary muscle reaction as he sunk into unconsciousness. Cook didnt even get the chance to tap out as veteran referee Big John McCarthy recognized he was out cold and pulled Lashley off of him.
After the fight Lashley gave his opponent a hug and flashed his trademark megawatt smile as if to say I told you so. In his postfight interview, however, he did slip in a final verbal jab toward his vanquished opponent saying that he didnt come to play and that he is all business before quipping that now Cook can go put the mask back on and have fun with himself’.
Despite the fact that mixed martial arts and professional wrestling have been interwoven from the beginning, the American Top Team trained Lashley has been singled out by less knowledgeable fans for his tenure in the WWE. Against his next opponent, Bob Sapp, hell be facing a foe that has also spent some time in the worked environment of professional wrestling. In addition to his legit fighting experience in K-1 and PRIDE, Sapp has worked for several Japanese pro wrestling organizations and briefly held the prestigious IWGP Championship. The IWGP title has been held by pro wrestling legends such as Keiji The Great Muta Mutoh, Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami, as well as reigning UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.
Even though Sapps days as a serious fighter are long past and he likely spends less time in the gym during a given year than Lashley does in a month, he does present an element of danger. Hes still got decent punching power, and his sheer bulk will be a challenge for Lashley who could give up as much as 100 pounds come fight night. Still, Sapps only victories in several years have been against overmatched and/or outsized opponents. In his last fight against an opponent of similar stature he was destroyed in under a minute by Jan Nortje who entered the matchup with a 1-6 career MMA record. Sapp remains a hugely popular personality in Japan, however, and simply by fighting him Lashleys marketability in the lucrative Japanese fight sport market increases significantly.
The Legacy Of Bobby Hull
October 12, 2009 by Ross Everett · Leave a Comment
Bobby Hull”nicknamed The Golden Jet for his blond hair and his style of play”was the most feared goal scorer of the 60s and 70s and along with teammate Stan Mikita made the Chicago Blackhawks one of the NHLs true offensive juggernauts. He and Mikita were the first NHL players to use curved stick blades, which made his already wicked slapshot even more difficult to stop.
Born in rural Belleville, Ontario Hull rose quickly through the ranks of junior hockey and by the time he was 18 had joined the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. He was a very effective rookie, and by his third year in the league was leading the NHL in scoring. In 1961, he played an important role in the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup championship victory.
In 1966, Hull broke a hallowed NHL scoring mark by becoming the first player to net more than 50 goals in a season. His 51st goal broke the record of 50 goals held by Montreal Canadien greats Bernie Boom Boom Geoffrion and Maurice Rocket Richard. Hull would go on to score 54 goals in the 1966 and would surpass that mark by scoring 58 in 1968.
Hulls tenure with the Chicago Blackhawks ended in 1972, when he jumped to the upstart World Hockey Association (WHA). Initially, Hulls response that he would jump ship for a million bucks was an offhanded joke but when the WHA ownership agreed to contribute to that sum thinking that it would provide instant credibility for the league it became a reality.
The NHL attempted to prevent Hulls jump to the WHA via litigation, but eventually he would join the Winnipeg Jets and resume his offensive dominance. On a line with Swedish superstars Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg called The Hot Line, he led the Jets to two league championship AVCO Cup victories. In 1977, he set a new professional hockey record with 77 goals in a season which surpassed Phil Espositos 1970-71 mark of 76 by a single goal.
Hull suffered from knee trouble throughout his career, and it eventually forced his retirement from hockey in 1979. He would play in a few games for the Whalers before calling it a career. With the exception of an abortive comeback attempt with the New York Rangers in 1981 that was the end of his professional hockey career.
Hull’s legacy lived on in flesh and blood with his third son, Brett Hull. The Hulls are the only father/son combination to ever score 50 goals in an NHL season and Brett will follow his father into the Hall of Fame this year.
Hull is still in good health and splits his time between Canada and Chicago, IL. He currently serves as a PR ambassador for the Blackhawks organization. He is expected to formally induct his son into the Hall of Fame at the ceremonies later this summer.
Taido – An Evolving Martial Art
October 12, 2009 by Bill Williams · Leave a Comment
Taido was thought up Seiken Shukumine. He founded this Japanese budo school in the early 1960s. The meaning of Taido karate is “way of the body, and it is based on a classical Okinawan fighting method known as Te. Taido was not the only time that Shukumine had founded a unique martial arts style. When he was not yet 30 years old, he created a new kind of karate he called Gensei-Ryu.
Karate and other martial arts have been widespread in the West for a number of years. In the 1960s, prior to the founding of Taido, most teaching was rudimentary and the original techniques for this “empty handed” style of fighting saw little change. yet, society was changing and Shukumine was a student of philosophy and tried to anticipate what would have to be rethought as far as how classical karate ideas of training were concerned.
Shukumine understood that there were some problems with karate that limited the way it was able to be applied and taught. There was a lack of innovation and originality and the repetitions of the essential punches and kicks would quickly cease to challenge many students.
This martial arts teaching consisted of rigid and uninspired movements. Karate never seemed to adapt over the years with new methods and instructions that were given to the students.
Shukumine saw that the martial arts would be accepted as a defensive art form if he could conceive a way to generate more movements and innovations. He wanted to allow students the opportunity to be inspired by their training and for this to happen the work and teacher had to inspire them. These thoughts became the driving force that would help him to create Taido karate. Before he founded Taido, Seiken Shukumine launched a martial arts form that was called Genseiryu karate. This was quite popular, but still he knew it wasnt enough.
He felt that he could expand upon traditional karate techniques and training methods, and finally after ten years of experimenting his new Taido karate form opened. Taido is a contemporary, sophisticated styleof martial arts that used many aerial moves. It requires a student to make use of twists, spins, speed and changing angles of the body. Shukumine’s wish was to use Taido karate to evolve the study and practice of karate and other martial arts.
The purpose of Taido is to improve the awareness of the students who train this martial arts form. Shukumine had one ultimate goal as far as the study of Taido karate was concerned. He expected to be able to help all Taido practitioners reach their maximum potential in everything they do.
Taido Principles
Taido practitioners must make sure that their mind is calm and relaxed. The mind needs to be as reflective as a polished mirror. Then they can understand the very heart of any situation. If the mind is kept calm and clear it will keep a student from being confused.
Taido teaches students that the mind and body must be united in their purpose. They must function as a single entity. When a person conducts himself in the right manner, any type of threats will not bother him.
Taido students are encouraged to learn to call upon the deepest power that is at the center of their being. Once a Taido karate practitioner has achieved this level, they will not experience any anxiety of confrontation or battle.
If a Taido student follows these actions, he will always manage to conduct themselves in an honorable and correct manner.
Taido teaches creativity, adaptability and flexibility in both movements and ideas. When a person has the correct moves, their opponents cannot best them.
Taido’s Technical Movements
Sen- Taido techniques that involve vertical spinning. Un – movements making use of wave like motion that ascends and descends. Hen – techniques that are initiated by a toppling motion resulting in changes to the axis of the body. Nen – movements with horizontal spinning. Ten – diving or rolling motions.
Besides the punches and kicks, there are two movement ways to set up the strikes. Unsoku – fast and strategic stepping movements for controlling space and angle to the opponent. Unshin – locomotion movements that are acrobatic in nature and dont involve actual stepping on the floor.
Taido Tournaments
There are a few special types of Taido Karate competitions that students can engage in. Jissen is the act of sparring, Taido style. Taido forms are called Hokei – closely related to kata in Karate. Tenkai- these are bouts that are acted out by teams of Taido members in which the central hero must stand against five of his “opponents” and demonstrate challenging or unique techniques.
Bodybuilding Diet to Build Bigger Muscle
October 12, 2009 by Harley Radowski · Leave a Comment
Eating to build muscle is an important part of your bodybuilding program. Eating food that helps build muscle will ensure that you are not wasting all that hard work you are doing in the gym.
Working your muscles utilizes considerable energy. And the only way to replace that energy is with food! So what happens if you fail to eat the right type of food to build muscle mass? It will take longer to build muscle, and it may even prevent effect muscle building altogether once you reach a certain point.
When looking into the types of food that helps build muscle, you probably immediately think of eating a low fat diet. That is great, but probably the most important type of foods that build muscle are foods containing high levels of protein. Foods like meat, fish, chicken, eggs, cheese and other milk products. Nuts are also a great protein source.
There is an optimum amount of protein that your body needs for building muscle effectively. Do you know your lean body mass weight? Yes? Great! Take that figure (in kilograms) and multiply it by 2.75. You have now got your daily protein requirement. If you do not know your lean body mass weight, you will need to apply one of the formulas that calculate this.
Carbohydrates are also important foods that build muscle – or rather carbs are important components of foods that build muscle. Choose foods that are high in carbohydrates that are also high in fibre – oatmeal, rice, and potato are all good.
Fats need to be reduced when you are consider what foods build muscle mass. Fat can never be eliminated completely (and nor should you try to do this), but reducing fat can have a healthy effect on your attempts to build muscle mass. Most foods that contain protein also contains fat, so when choosing your proteins, providing you opt for the ones that are low in fat, you will be on the right track.
When eating to build muscle, make sure you drink water. Liquid is important for hydration, and a dehydrated body is sluggish, and can even make you sick. This is not a recipe for obtaining the healthy, fit physique you are striving for.
Most experts agree that between 1.5 to 2 liters of water a day helps flush toxins and hydrate the body. And that is for everyone, regardless of activity levels and desire to have a buff body. So for those of us on bodybuilding diets, who are conscious of building muscle, water is even more important.
Regular bodybuilding workouts are also essential to maximise the effects of good bodybuilding diets. It is all very well knowing what to eat to build muscle, but if you do not combine this great new diet by building muscle mass with weight lifting exercises or other bodybuilding routines, you will not be able to build muscle fast. So do both – eat foods that build muscle, and undertake bodybuilding workouts, and you will end up with a body you will be proud of.
Pedometer Types
October 12, 2009 by Henry Calhoun · Leave a Comment
As people have begun to exercise more pedometers have become a very popular gadget. For those not familiar with a pedometer it is simply a tiny gadget whose primary function is to track how far a person walks in any given period of time.
A pedometer is normally about the same size as a credit card or a pager. Depending upon the model you buy, you can also have pedometers that are capable of a lot of different functions. On top of just tracking the distance walked, pedometers can also count steps and then convert that number into miles and also tell you the number of calories burned. Some pedometers are even more advanced are can even store your data for up to several weeks and that makes it possible to track progress or improvements.
The pedometer can even serve you as a motivator by letting you be able to see how much further you have walked or steps taken thus giving you incentive to do more each day. For those who wear the gadget on their body you are always looking for other ways to add to their daily total steps. For example taking the stairs rather than ride the elevator or a walk around the block, after dinner, all add to your daily steps.
The most important question when it comes to purchasing such a device is which pedometer is best for you. Many assume that the most expensive models are the best, but that is not always true. The best pedometer is the one that has features most important to you, such as the number of steps you take, conversion into miles or even the calories burned. You may want one of those features or even all three of them and that is what your purchase will depend upon and what you buy should have the features you will use.
Don’t forget that a new pedometer will take some getting used to. It may even be necessary to practice some with it so that you know how to work it and all the features. You also need to let your pedometer know about you and that means entering information such as the length of your stride, the pace you walk with and where on your body it should be worn. Once everything is set up, then the pedometer will be able to accurately track your steps.
Once the pedometer is ready for use, it is then time to start setting your goals. For those that have not exercised for a long time then consulting a physician before setting up a routine is important, as well as starting off slowly. Best is to begin with a specified number of steps or distance each day and once that goal is easily reached, then you can increase those amounts and take things to the next step.
There are a variety of everyday things you can do that normally you did not think of. The first is to take the stairs versus the elevator or when you park your car do so a little further away than you normally would. Taking your sneakers with you so lunch time you can maybe take a little walk around your work building
Walking is an inexpensive way to exercise every day. All you need to do is put on a pair of comfortable sneakers, clip your pedometer to your waist or shoe, and start moving. Pedometers though small and inexpensive can be your motivation while you are walking and help you reach your fitness goals. What are you waiting for? Go purchase a pedometer and getting walking today, you’ll be so glad you did.
Having Balloons Delivered For A Special Occasion
October 12, 2009 by Ben Sparks · Leave a Comment
There are many occasions when you can have balloons delivered. They can brighten up any special day in the world. Special occasions can be made that much more special. Times of hardship and strife can be brightened with balloons as well. That might sound corny, but continue reading and you will see the many benefits of balloon delivery.
Birthdays are very popular occasions for having balloons sent. The birthday boy or girl – or man or women – will be thrilled by a special balloon bouquet. Naturally, tons of balloons are specially designed specifically for celebrating birthdays. Mylar balloons are probably the best example of this.
You can also send balloons on an anniversary. If you send them to your significant other or your spouse, he or she will definitely be thrilled. Send them right to his or her job, in fact, and the day will be brighter right away. The occasion will immediately be even more special.
Now, when someone is celebrating a special achievement, such as graduating high school or college or getting into a school, balloons are also a great way to show how you feel. Again, having them delivered is always a great idea. They will make the person receiving the balloons even happier than they already are.
Finally, if someone is feeling under the weather, a fantastic way to bring some light into there day is by having their balloons delivered to the hospital or their house. Balloons are fantastic for anything from tonsils being taken out or even for someone who just had a child!
As you can see, there are tons of different times that you can incorporate balloons in and make your event that much more special. You really just have to pick the right occasion and you will see the light in everyone’s face when the balloons show up!
About Martin Archery – Fun For All Ages
October 12, 2009 by Michael DiNapolis · Leave a Comment
Without a doubt Martin Archery has the experience and expertise or making bows with more than 50 years being spent at its craft. What helps Martin archery stand apart from its competition is the importance it places on the accuracy of its compound bows. For over 50 years Martin has continued their tradition of creating the highest quality archery products.
The world of archery is quite exciting with the art of hunting and shooting a bow and arrow. One of the great bow hunters and producers of bow and arrows is Gail Martin, known by many for his specialized bows. Let’s learn about Martin Archery it started over fifty years ago Martin Archery has provided hunters with the bows and arrows they need and want to use.
Since the beginning of man-kind archery has been around, for the sport and for finding and getting food. Now Archery is no longer strictly for food but for fun and as a stress relief. Shooting ranges, especially bows and arrows all encourage the art form of archery. The more products being patented will improve the world of archery
Eva and Gail Martin made the company based on quality, perseverance and integrity they are not just a company all built on fun it has also became a family tradition. Their sons have helped them out tremendously and are the creativity behind new bows and help improve the company and invent new products.
The Martin Archery name has been around for 57 yrs and is still strong today. Martin Archery began in the familiy’s car garage and then they used the dining room table to make arrows by hand.
New products are introduced annually to hunters, so that ideas are always fresh. Bows are made so that the art of archery is perfected and made to have fun. Martin Archery has become one of the biggest sellers of bows and likes to instill a lifelong art of archery to increase character.
Martin Archery was first founded by a man and his family it shows determination and creativity because his hard work has paid off they were the first online site which was invented over 10 yrs ago. Archery started hundreds of years ago to aid people in catching or hunting prey and now it is used as a fun hobby.
Australia Is A Perfect Gay Travel Destination
October 12, 2009 by Howie Holben · Leave a Comment
Australia is an incredible gay vacation destination, filled with nature adventures and exciting cities. Its cities are open and gay friendly. and vibrant, perfect for gay visitors. The country is diverse with wonders, both natural and manmade.
Australia is a welcoming destination for the gay traveler. There are activities to fit the needs of all travelers. Many gay couples and singles are heading for this beautiful continent.
When you’re in Australia you are rarely far from experiences that will excite you as never before. For the wine connoisseur, try going to Yarra, Coal River or Swan Valleys. Visit the wineries and their tasting rooms to experience first-hand the contrast between a smooth white and smoky red. Excitement junkies can go diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland or Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia.
At Ningaloo, visitors can swim with giant whale sharks, a gentle yet intimidating animal. In Darwin Harbor in the Northern Territory, visitors dive through World War II shipwrecks that now house fish and other marine life. Or how about hiking through Tasmania’s national parks and ancient cool-temperature rainforests, home to ancient flora and exotic animals, such as the Tasmanian tree frog?
No gay traveler can miss Melbourne, the second-largest city in Australia. This is a multi-cultural metropolis where Victorian and contemporary architecture blend seemlessly. In this very gay friendly city, you can spend time with the sculptures in Werrebee Park, shop to you drop at high-end shops or less expensive boutiques, go to first class theater productions, and then end your day with a visit to one of Melbourne’s hot clubs!
For gay travelers who enjoy driving, consider embarking on the Pacific Coast Touring Route and take in the lush and quaint scenery. But remember, Australians drive on the left side of the road! If that sounds too sedate, you can get your heart pumping during various water sports, such as river rafting or kayaking.
Australia is located in the Southern Hemisphere, its seasons are upside down from those of the Northern Hemisphere. Summer in Australia takes place December through February. Australia is a very big continent, so check with your travel agent for weather information about your particular time of travel and your destination.
Australia has a very wide range of accommodations. From hostels to small inns for romantic holidays, to high end spa retreats and everything in between, making a gay vacation to Australia affordable, no matter what you budget might be.