In the late 1930s, New Zealand mat fans had hopes of seeing world champion Bronko Nagurski in a title match in New Zealand against their own champion Lofty Blomfield. Nagurski, it is understood, had agreed to come to New Zealand for the largest guarantee ever offered a boxer or wrestler in the Southern Hemisphere Plans […]
The Auckland Boxing Association's monthly tournament at their stadium on June 30th did not terminate until midnight and the capacity crowd enjoyed a mixed card of amateur, semi-pro and professional boxing. Celebrities in attendance at the venue included character actor Mark Nua, night club owner and former boxer Billy Smith and musician/singer Graham Brazier. Best […]
Antonio's training and pro-boxing in Thailand are some of the adventures featured in his new book, Bikes, Boats, and Boxing Gloves: Adventure Writer in the Kingdom of Siam. On the night that I heard about Thailand's last Muay Thai Temple, The Golden Horse Monastery (Wat Acha Tong), near Chiangrai, I was pre-occupied with packing. In […]
The Mexican Middleweight Roberto Pena came to New Zealand in 1965 and stayed here for some time. His beautiful wife Sierra accompanied him, and acted as his second, and tended to him in the corner between rounds. Sierra became the centre of attention out here as fans craned their necks to get better view of […]
Integrating my dark side was a fairly torturous process for me, partly because I made it harder than it had to be. Apparently I do that a lot. :) One of the problems at the time was my ability to get out of my own way and I continually tried to micro-manage the process rather […]
By Dr. John M. Berardi, Ph.D. and Dr. John K. Williams, Ph.D., authors of the bestselling optimal nutrition ebook, Gourmet Nutrition. Few meals are as hearty as slow-cooked beef smothered in a red wine sauce. For this recipe, we used a bottle of cabernet sauvignon, given its powerful flavor that is able to withstand 3 […]
The Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Kung Fu and modern Chinese Buddhism, is the oldest and most mysterious kung fu school in the world. It is an exotic and mythical destination of daydreams to millions of people. In the history of the temple, very few foreigners have ever had a chance to study there. Foreigners […]
'Knowledge is not power, the ability to apply your knowledge is true power.' I am often surprised by how much the word 'practical' or 'effective' is used to describe a certain Martial Art system. While I agree that many fighting skills are practical and effective within realm of fighting, I question how practical these skills […]
In the early days of New Zealand wrestling, it was virtually impossible to break into the sport here. Walter Miller, the American promoter and booker, liked to bring a team of American's over to meet Lofty Blomfield and later Ken Kenneth. But New Zealand talent was just not used. Some boys went overseas and did […]
If you've been doing the exercises that I've described then by this point you've probably had some interesting experiences with feeling your own internal energy and drawing energy into your body. Now we're going to work with feeling external energy. As you progress with this you'll not only be able to feel your own energy, […]