3 MOST POPULAR INTERVIEWS OF 2010

The CombativeCorner has had one heck of a start!

What started out as a small blog has turned into a legitimate, informational center for anyone wishing to explore the martial arts (and themselves).  The exploration is one in which readers can get a broad perspective, an even balance if-you-will, of the ins-and-outs, from self-protection, to each and every individual martial style.

Help us in our goal to break 100,000 views this year!

You can help us do this by bookmarking our website, by sharing our articles and interviews on Facebook and Twitter… and by continuing to spread the word to friends.

Of the various articles we run at The CombativeCorner, none has been more popular than our 10 Questions With… articles.

Here’s our

TOP 3 INTERVIEWS OF 2010

• 10 Questions With Tony Blauer
• 10 Questions With Chen Zhonghua
• 10 Questions With Chen Huixian

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Let us know what YOUR favorite was… and why?

We look forward to hearing from you!

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Don’t miss the first 10 Question Interview of 2011,…

with none other than Mr. Rener Gracie!

* Top 3 Interviews were based solely on hit count.

Roundtable Discussion 007: Year’s Best

“List one exciting thing that happened to you this year (in your business/ personal life) and explain why it had such a big impact/or why it topped your list.”

We, at the CombativeCorner would love to hear your highlights!  Let us know in the comment section below.

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[Guest – Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu]

I had two moments, one when I won the worlds nogi weight and Open, which was a dream come true.  And the second, my fight against Braga Neto at the semifinals at the worlds which won as the “Best fight of the Year” by GracieMag.  I had a huge comeback after loosing by 6×0, lasting less then 30 seconds of fight after scaping of many tight chokes, I got out of a back attack and tapped him out in a beautiful triangle. It was a tough fight and an amazing finish.

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I think some of the greatest things we know were discovered by accident. This past year, I was teaching a Grade 10 girls class self-defense and I had to end the class early in order to get to another scheduled class on time. I was not sure what elemets of the curriculum to teach or not because I had to cut some stuff out for brevity’s sake.

I anazlyzed the curriculum (on the fly) and chose to teach one technique that I thought could be applied to many situations, and that in this case the girls would still be getting some high value instruction.

And man, let me tell ya…that opened up a whole new world for me. I couldn’t stop thinking about that technique, all its applications, and the greater implications for the Hybrid Fighting Method and self-defense in general. The Hybrid Fighting Method now teaches this as a primary means of defense/offense, and will continue to do so for the forseeable future. I will have video up in 2011 demonstrating these things.  (YouTube Link)

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For me there cannot be one exciting thing, every year and every day since the year of 2002, the time of my awakening I have viewed every day to be special. I have been living within the present moment since then. While living within the present moment, there is no day that is more significant than another. I do not celebrate holidays like the way common people celebrate holidays, I see everyday to be a holiday, everyday is a birthday, everyday with my wife is our wedding day. Of course there are times the mind or ego interferes and tries to bring in the future or past, but I have learned to identify this ego and become a master over it.

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The year two thousand and ten has been an amazing year.  Even though I managed to put this website together and recruit such talented and helpful contributing authors,… even though I was able to create my first audio cd (Fear Shedding) in my audio series on self-protection, my highlight was on July 2nd of this year when I proposed to my fiance, Jenny.

It was a very touching time because we were at Sunset Beach, staying with my best friend’s parent’s home.  July 5th, the year before, my best friend (of over 20 years) passed and our being at Sunset was not only time to be with his mother, but to come together as a family to recognize his life and what he meant to us.  My friend Cyprian (page) would have been enormously proud of Jenny and me, and would have been tremendously honored by my choice of using this time of mourning as a time of celebration.  I know this to be true.  And I’m looking forward to my “highlight” of marriage happening in 2011.

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Unfortunately this year has been one of the toughest we’ve faced so far. Literally from Jan. 1st till now this year been a non stop trial by fire and I honestly can’t wait for it to end. Having said that, my high point would be that I’m still here at the end of it all and looking forward to the new year. Also that I had a long list of friends and family to help distract me and get me through it all. Thanks to all of you, you know who you are!

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The highlight of 2010 is actually something that happened to my wife. She got tenure, which is a huge deal for a professor. Not only am I happy for her, but it also means I don’t have to move again in the foreseeable future. The nomadic life of an academic made finding training partners and getting classes established a little tough. Every time we moved, we’d have to spend another year just learning about the new place and making friends, only to have to move again. I finally feel like I can settle down.

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2010 has been a very hard year for me. Lost a lot of family. Also new Health issues for me have also made this a very hard year.
But we learn from the bad as well as the good.
My Top highlight of the year is that I am Married to my best friend. I am very lucky to be so happy with her. Many other good things as well came to pass this year as well.  I wish you Happy holidays. And I look forward to 2011! Keep training hard everyone!  Yours In Aiki, Robert.

 

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Happy Holidays Everyone!

From All of us at The Combative Corner

(Follow Us On Twitter)

Harvard, Not Tufts. Most Dangerous Campus

I few weeks ago, an article stuck my attention entitled “Most Dangerous College Campuses.”  The source of the information came from The Daily Beast and was based on the most recent 3 calendar years.  As a self-defense instructor, this Top 20 countdown was more than just intriguing.  However, as I turned a more detailed eye towards the numbers, something didn’t appear right.

When I did my own math, I found that it’s not Tufts University in Boston, but rather, the prestigious Harvard University in Cambridge that’s the most dangerous school in the nation.

I’ve always heard the phrase, “You can bend the statistics any way you want”… but in this case, it’s how you measure them.  Something wasn’t right, but even me (not the best math student) saw a discrepancy.  See for yourself.

 

If this data jumped out at me, then why didn’t they jump out to anyone else?  Perhaps, (and this is just an opinion) they didn’t want to tarnish the oldest institution of higher education in the country as being the number 1 most violent?  They didn’t even place it in the runner-up slot (University of Maryland, Baltimore), but instead, placed it third (originally).

A Special Note: When I went to The Daily Beast (to fact check/double check) I found that Harvard was either #2 (all along) or moved from third place to second place.  However, when I first compiled the data, from the order listing via RR.Com’s “News” it listed them in this order: #1-Tufts, #2- U of Maryland, #3- Harvard, #4- Rutgers, #5-U of Hartford.  Either way, shuffling aside, one can easily look at the above statistics and see that Harvard University has the most crime (even given the difference in enrollment).

For all those that are curious (I’ve corrected the first two):  #1) Harvard #2) Tufts (The rest, via The Daily Beast) #3) Rutgers #4) U of Hartford #5) U of Baltimore #6) Howard U #7) North Carolina Central #8) Norfolk State U #9) Morgan State U #10) New Jersey Institute of Tech #11) Illinois Institute of Tech #12) Washington U #13) M.I.T #14) Johnson & Wales U #15) Temple U #16) U of Pennsylvania #17) Brown U #18) Columbia U #19) Standford U #20) U of the Pacific

When picking schools, read the statistics.  If you’re in the media/news/broadcasting field make sure you do your own fact-checking and take responsibilities for your mistakes.

And to everyone, keep your eyes open and your brain… thinking.  Always thinking.

Peace, Unity, Co-Existence & Love.

Michael Joyce

Michael’s Combative Profile (here)

 

Silva: Men, Fighting & The God Complex

Anderson “The Spider” Silva is one of the most dominant fighters in the world today.  Dana White, President of the Ultimate Fighting Championships® has said that “Silva is pound-for-pound the best middleweight there is.”  With a record of 26 wins and 4 losses, it’s easy to admire the guy.

A FIGHTER OF (SILVA’S) CALIBER MUST SHOW HIS HUMANITY, AS WELL AS HIS SKILL

What’s even more awe-inspiring is that he lost, in a unanimous decision, in his very first professional mma fight (2000) to Luiz Azeredo.  Three years later he was submitted with a triangle choke in Pride 26 by Daiju Takase.  He was demolishing his opponent Ryo Chonan in another Pride Fighting match until, on a desperation attempt, Ryo shocked the martial arts world with a perfect “flying” scissor takedown into a heel hook.  Finally, Silva’s final blemish to his record came on a disqualification for an illegal kick in Rumble On The Rock 8 (2006)- which, (in many a fan’s mind) felt and probably should have been legal.

Silva has from that point on, fought and won 12 straight fights against world-class fighters such as: Rich Franklin (twice), Dan Henderson, Nate Marquardt, Forrest Griffen, and just recently, Demian Maia.

The Latest Fight: UFC 112® versus Demian Maia

UFC® Pay-Per-View on April 10th, 2010 was met by many with great expectation.  You have Matt Hughes fighting Renzo Gracie, B.J. Penn fighting Frankie Edger and last but not least, Anderson Silva vs. Jiu-Jitsu expert Demian Maia.  In Portuguese (Silva’s native tongue), Silva mentioned to his trainers that he had “something up his sleeve” – what exactly, we don’t know.

From the start of the fight Silva was in control, throwing jabs and leg kicks – and like his last several fights, looking like someone who knew he was in complete control.  Fans and commentators were completely snowed and drawn into the the picture of dominance that Silva was painting – elaborately all over Maia’s face.

What seemed to turn the fight sour was Silva’s continuous in-fight boasting, chest-pounding, and lunges (which seemed to be out of boredom).  I must admit I was happy to see him bring some capoiera-stylings to the fight, but for someone looking to remain in fan favor, he wasn’t giving them the finale that was owed them.  On the one hand, a fighter that can’t match the speed of his opponent (Maia) should “hang it out there” and let loose with whatever’s left in the tank.  On the other, a fighter of Silva’s caliber must show his humanity, as well as his skill.

It is clear that the utter bulldozing of such big names like: Griffen, Franklin, Marquardt, Leben and others have given him (to put it mildly) a God complex.  In my eyes (only personally) his loses have been as a result of those two submissions; one of those being the closest thing to “A miracle” that I’ve seen in MMA (see, Chonan fight).  This last fight, although one may understand why Silva is beginning to flaunt his cloak of invincibility and beat his chest for a tougher challenger, the one thing that he must absolutely… without a doubt prove… is that he can finish him.

Much Respect.

Although I was entertained, I sure hope Silva learned his lesson.

Kudos to Maia for not sticking to his game plan, however “human” and futile it was.

Fight fans, give us your thoughts.

-Michael Joyce