“Some people have found their way. Others are looking for the way. I was a fighter once. I hadn’t found the way yet. It is ok. We will search and search until we find it. If people don’t know any better yet, how can we blame them? We have to allow them to search.” Explained […]
Flashes of steel the clank of metal, blades blazing like fire: This is a practice session for Kru Pedro Villalobos and his trainer, Adjarn, one of the last living masters of Krabi Krabong, the Thai art of stick and sword fighting. “If I do not block, he will definitely hit me.” Says Kru Pedro Villaobos, […]
Muay Thai Chakrit A Brooklyn Monk Training in Bangkok By Antonio Garceffo Coach Adjan Chakrit moves in circles, holding up the focus mitts, he calls out the commands. “One, one two.” I throw a straight left, right combination. “Four!” That means, left, right, hook, straight. This part is easy for me. I have been boxing […]
An old man slapped me under the chin with the palm of his hand. My head whipped back, and I saw stars. "Did you find what you were looking for?" Asked my Vietnamese friend and guide in Ho Chi Minh City. "I guess I did, but I hadn’t counted on it hurting so bad." I […]
"If you want to train for fighting number one, you must be fit." Says Paddy Carson, a professional trainer for Bradal Serey, Khmer Kickboxing, in Phnom Penh. For the last four years I have been living in Phnom Penh, off and on, and Paddy has been my teacher, pushing me beyond the limits time and […]
Click here to see the trailer for the movie, about Bokator Khmer martial art: https://youtube.com/watch?v=617qPJPBSPM Before there was Muay Thai, there was Bokator, the complete fighting art, developed by the Khmers during the Angkorian Empire. Bokator is the predecessor of modern Bradal Serey, Khmer kickboxing, also called Pradal Serey. Where kickboxing is limited to kicking, […]
"We have to remember why we are in that ring we are there to hurt the other guy we aren't in there to make love to him. So, the quicker we can hurt him, the better. You want him to think I don't want to get hit like that again." Paddy Carson. The pads POP! […]
When Keanu Reeves was on the Jay Leno show a few years back, Jay asked him what he had been up to lately. Keanu's reply was that he had spent the last several months learning movie Kung Fu. Jay asked him, "Do you feel you could defend yourself now." Without hesitation, Keanu answered, "No." "But, […]
“In manila there is a lot of trouble on the streets. People learn street fighting as a kind of self defense. A few years ago underground fighting was still popular. They would meet in the cock fighting arena and bet money.” Said Master Frank Aycocho. I told the master I had heard that there were […]
In a recent Discovery Channel series about martial arts, they determined that the knee kick is the single most powerful weapon in the human arsenal. Hooking professional fighters up to all sorts of computer equipment, they discovered that the force of impact of a knee kick is equivalent to being hit by a car. (In […]