Sadly we lost Samoan Joe last week. He died in Melbourne Australia after a long illness. He was a star of Steve Rickard’s “On The Mat” show for many years. He travelled the world and was one of few local wrestlers that went to Pakistan. He was frequent visitor to Singapore and Malaysia. Sad day as Joe loved coming […]
In military close quarters combat and close quarters battle pivoting sliding and swiveling in footwork stance and directional changes as well as impact contact enhancement are vitally important. The pivot is a means of foot work where sound ground contact and stability are maintained while directional changes can be made including utilising target orientation and […]
Sensei Gary Rasanen, an 8th degree grand master of judo grabs my sleeve and my lapel, similar to a grip used in Chinese shuai jiao wrestling. He pulls me into his hip, sits down slightly, while pulling my arm across his chest, and suddenly, I am airborne. I slam, hard on the mat, as his body […]
For the first time in about a year, I had no classes, no work, and no wrestling team practice for three days. So, I took my san da training mates and my wrestling teammates from Shanghai University of Sports to Fighters Unite MMA gym. In one night, we did boxing, san da, MMA, muay Thai, […]
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It’s no secret that MMA in the US is dominated by former wrestlers. In fact, 8 of the 10 current UFC champions are former collegiate or high school wrestlers. In China, MMA is dominated by san da fighters. MMA in China pays a lot better than san da, which attracts a lot of fighters, even […]
I first met Bob Gibson back in 1985 when he was walking boxer Steve Renwick to the ring at Carlaw Park. However it was not until the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, that we became friends. Bob was in charge of the sound system at the games, and he soared unintentionally to international […]
The Todd Systems being a current military employed close quarters combat system must provide skills that enable operational objective achievement that are as safe as humanly possible against a formidable enemy combatant. The evasive counter offensive principles must as a primary option provide an orthodox primary means to counter wide-ranging threats by the best and […]
Sad news with the passing of Tongan born Manny Santos, one of our all time great fighters. I was a big fan of Manoel Santos and used to watch him spar at the Waverley Street Gym in the mid 1960s. I recall the first time I ever spoke to Manny. He had been sparring with […]
He was one of the nice guys of professional wrestling. Sad news this week with the passing of Giant Dutch wrestler, Onno Boelee. Onno was a giant of a man and represented New Zealand at Judo before turning to professional wrestling. His booming voice and roaring laughter will be sadly missed at our house as […]