Sunday, April 26, 2015

Happy 52nd Birthday Jet Li!! (The Bodyguard from Beijing (1994) (Full movie))

Happy 52nd Birthday Jet Li!!



In Jet's honor, I'm posting The Bodyguard From Beijing which was also known as The Defender and The Bodyguard.


Enjoy!







The Bodyguard from Beijing (1994)

Traditional 中南海保鑣
Simplified 中南海保镖
Mandarin Zhōngnánhǎi Bǎobiāo
Cantonese Zung1-naam4-hoi2 Bou2-biu1
Directed by Corey Yuen / Produced by Jet Li
Starring Jet Li, Christy Chung, Kent Cheng, Collin Chou


SYNOPSIS

A corrupt businessman commits a murder and the only witness is the girlfriend of another businessman with close connections to the Chinese government, so a bodyguard from Beijing is dispatched to help two Hong Kong cops protect the witness. Complications arise when the bodyguard and the witness must confront their deep feelings for one another. 




TRIVIA
  • A remake of Kevin Costner's/Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard



For more information, please check out:





For other posts on Jet Li, please check out:



Thursday, April 23, 2015

5 GIFs of stickchoke from Daredevil S01E08

Marvel's Daredevil premiered on April 10, 2015 on Netflix. 


I just finished watching the 13 episode first season.


AWESOME!


Not for young kids. Very dark and gritty. Not a superhero show per se this first season. More of a crime show. Matt Murdock as a young boy saved an old man from an oncoming truck. The truck spilled some radioactive material on Matt's eyes and he was blinded as a result. However, he discovered his other senses were heightened. Murdock, by day is a lawyer and by night he is a vigilante.


I squealed with delight when I watched the eighth episode as it featured a stickgrappling technique! I would be remiss in my duties as a Martial Arts-GIF-making geek if I didn't GIF that per my namesake :) Now that I finished the series, I made 5 GIFs of the stickgrappling technique ... a stickchoke - a version of the RNC.


Enjoy!




Here is the full scene in one GIF






The RNC (rear-naked choke) aided by a stick






Lights out!




Nighty night ... sleep tight!




Mission accomplished
(so hypnotic lol)






For other animated GIFs of stickgrappling, please check out:






I will be making more GIFs from this series, specifically the fight scenes. Check back soon for them!


Enjoy!


Thursday, April 16, 2015

Happy 68th Birthday Kareem Abdul Jabbar!! (Stills/Pictures of Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bruce Lee)

Today is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 68th birthday! 


In his honor, I am posting some of the Game of Death stills of him with Bruce Lee from Game of Death.


Enjoy!




About 2 to 2.5 head-lengths difference!!Click for super large resolution! 

Look at that reach!


Click for super large resolution! 

Click for super large resolution! 

Click for large resolution! 

Look at the extension of Bruce Lee's kick!








Click for large resolution! 





Some Martial Arts magazine covers

Click for large resolution! 

Click for large resolution! 


Click for large resolution! 




For more information on Kareem Abdul Jabbar, please check out:




My other entries on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar:





NOTE:  I thought I had scheduled this to post on April 16, Kareem Abdul Jabbar's 68th birthday, sadly, it was still in "draft mode." Posted April 27 and backdated to April 16.


Bruce Lee taught Kareem Abdul Jabbar to be an "evolved human being"

Today is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 68th birthday! 


In his honor, I am posting something he wrote from the Bruce Lee newsletter, "Knowing Is Not Enough".


Enjoy!







“It’s About Evolution”
By Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
(From “Knowing Is Not Enough”, Spring 2000)

I remember one thing that Bruce pointed out to me in Musashi’s Book of Five Rings. And, you know, Mushashi gives this great test on how to go out and deal with one-on-one combat, but Bruce said to me, “When you learn this, all you know is how to beat people up.” And he reduced it back to all this guy was saying was how to overwhelm people physically and that doesn’t make you an evolved human being. All you’ve learned at that point is how to overwhelm people physically. And you must evolve so much beyond that as a human being in order to use that knowledge in the best and most productive way.



My other entries on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar:





For more information on Kareem Abdul Jabar, please check out:




NOTE:  I thought I had scheduled this to post on April 16, Kareem Abdul Jabbar's 68th birthday, sadly, it was still in "draft mode." Posted April 27 and backdated to April 16.


Tuesday, April 07, 2015

Who Am I? (1998) (Full movie)



It's Jackie Chan's 61st birthday!! 


In his honor, posting his 1998 movie, Who Am I? And you can expect some crazy stunts in any Jackie Chan movie, especially this one and it has some great fights.


Happy Birthday Jackie!! Enjoy!!





A secret agent loses his memory after falling from a crashing helicopter. He is then chased by a number of other agency operatives, but he has no idea why.



Trivia

  • In the movie, you saw Hotel Room # 1954 - the year Jackie Chan was born.
  • In the rooftop fight scene, 'Bradly James Allan' doubled for Ron Smoorenburg's footwork.
  • Winner: 1999 Hong Kong Film Awards - Best Action Choreography (Jackie Chan)
  • Nomination: 1999 Hong Kong Film Awards - Best Actor (Jackie Chan)



Please check out these links for further info:




In case you missed my previous Jackie Chan posts:



Monday, April 06, 2015

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Marvelous Marvin Hagler X Sugar Ray Leonard (Apr 6, 1987)

Photo Credit:  http://sugarrayleonard.com
Click for larger resolution picture.



28 years ago on this date of Apr 6, 1987 ... 


Sugar Ray Leonard, after a 3 year layoff, stunned the world and won a controversial split decision to take the WBC and The Ring's Middleweight Championship Belts from Marvelous Marvin Hagler.


TRIVIA


  • Marvelous Marvin Hagler 62-2-2 (52 KOs) vs Sugar Ray Leonard (33-1, 24 KOs)
  • Leonard vs Hagler is one of the most publicized and controversial bouts ever
  • Hagler was a 3 to 1 favorite.
  • Talk about Ring Rust - Sugar Ray retired in 1982, came back for one bout in 1984 before retiring again. This was Leonard's first bout in 3 years and only his second in 5 years.
  • Leonard decided to challenge Hagler after watching his fight with John Mugabi on March 10, 1986. "I was at ringside," Leonard said, "sitting with Michael J. Fox. We were sitting there having a few beers, and I'm watching John "The Beast" Mugabi outbox Hagler. Of all people, John "The Beast" Mugabi."
  • Hagler was guaranteed $12 million. He was also working on a percentage deal, and promoter Bob Arum said, "Hagler is assured of at least $15 million" and could earn much more. Leonard was guaranteed $11 million and had 50% of the closed circuit television rights in the Baltimore-Washington area.
  • After Leonard agreed to let Hagler have the larger purse, Hagler agreed to let Leonard choose the gloves (ten-ounce Reyes), the number of rounds (12, instead of 15), and the size of the ring (20-feet) .
  • Hagler had made twelve defenses of the Undisputed World Middleweight Championship, which he won on September 27, 1980, and he had not lost a fight in eleven years.
  • Leonard had never boxed as a middleweight, having previously campaigned in and won titles at jr middleweight and welterweight
  • Hagler at ~32 years old was slightly past his prime while Leonard, at 29, had ring rust from retirement
  • Marvin Hagler Landed 291 punches and threw 792 (37%); Sugar Ray Leonard Landed 306 punches and threw 629 (49%)
  • There was talk of a rematch, but it never happened. Seth Abraham, who was president of HBO Sports, said, "Marvin made it very clear — he thought he was jobbed and he was never going to fight again. And he never did. There were conversations, but they were never at the level of negotiations."
  • Hagler announced his retirement on June 13, 1988 and, unlike Leonard, stayed retired.
  • Hagler vs. Leonard was The RING Magazine's Fight of the Year and Upset of the Year for 1987. It was later named "Upset of the Decade."



Are you ready? Enjoy!



Copied from http://sugarrayleonard.com/


MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY 

28 years ago today….I came out of retirement to defeat The Marvelous Marvin Hagler. It would be my first fight in 35 months and one of my proudest achievements in the ring. Many had doubts that I can come out of retirement and fight such an amazing fighter, yet I never stopped believing in myself. People thought I was crazy, and believed that I would take a beating from him. 

I never stopped believing in myself. I never stopped working my training my hardest. I never wanted something so bad. You can never underestimate the heart of a fighter. Here’s a video of that fight to help motivate you this Monday!









For more information:




For other posts on Sugar Ray Leonard:




NOTE:  My sincerest thanks to my friend Mentoir K. for the reminder!

Friday, April 03, 2015

Info on Orascions from Amante Marinas' and Mark Wiley's books

Last year on Good Friday, I posted:


Well it's Good Friday today. I felt it appropriate to delve into Orascion more. You may recall that an orascion is like a prayer that provided the possessor/reciter special powers. I transcribed some info from 2 books by Amante P. Marinas, Sr. and Mark Wiley below for your edification.

Enjoy!







Another librito had orasyones that provided protection before a fight, during a fight, after a fight and during flight. Fourteen of these are presented so that we may gain insight into the mental state of the possessor as he recites the orasyones. These are:

  1. Sa paghasa ng patalim:  For sharpening a weapon
  2. Sa paglakad sa daan:  While walking on the road
  3. Upang hindi mabigla ng kaaway: Against ambush or surprise
  4. Sa paglapit ng kaaway:  At the enemy's approach
  5. Laban sa nagpapagalit:  Against one who incites to anger
  6. Laban sa  naghahamon:  Against the challenge to a fight
  7. Upang hindi matakot:  For courage, to conquer fear
  8. Pagsira ng loob ng kaaway:  To weaken the enemy's will
  9. Laban sa doce pares:  Against the doce pares (twelve attacks)
  10. Pagbali sa armas de mano: To break the enemy's weapon
  11. Pagagaw sa armas:  To disarm the enemy
  12. Laban sa sugat: Against wounds
  13. Upang hindi abutan:  Against pursuit
  14. Upang hindi makita ng kaaway:  For invisibility

SOURCE:
Panananadata Knife Fighting
by Amante Marinas, Sr.
Pages 99-100
Copyright 1986
Paladin Press







The Filipino warrior places a great deal of faith in the power of orasyon to provide his ability to control the spirits for his benefit. He is practically close to them prior to engaging in mortal combat. Orasyones are words, phrases or sentences considered to possess mystical powers when recited mentally or verbally. Considered divine acts of protection and power manifestation, their possession is not limited to practitioners of martial arts. These prayers also serve to bestow good luck on newlyweds for a happy marriage or to farmers for a bountiful harvest. These general orasyones can be found in little books known simply as libritos. These booklets contain many prayers devoted to the martial arts on various levels, such as to obtain skills in sharpening a sword, for protection against an ambush, to maintain a clear and focused mind in combat, for the ability to disarm an opponent, to break his weapon, or cloud his mind when engaging in duel.

The following is a list of seven of the more common or "generic" orasyones (relevant to the Filipino warrior) and their intended meanings:


  • Licum salicum solorum - A prayer for disarming an opponent 
  • Oracion de S. Pablo contra armas de foigo ip. Ntro. y Aw. - A prayer against firearms and other projectile weapons 
  • Sa paghasa ng patalim - A prayer for skill in sharpening a weapon 
  • Upang hindi mabigla ng kaaway - A prayer against being ambushed 
  • Upang hindi matakot - A prayer for courage or for conquering fear 
  • Pagsira ng loob ng kaaway - A prayer to weaken the enemy's will 
  • Jesucristo maria bedreno et curo tenaman - A prayer to weaken the enemy

It must be noted that for these prayers to be effective they must be inherited like the ancient martial arts of silat or kali, the Filipino warrior's orasyones, too, are considered to be mana (an inheritance or family heirloom to be handed down from parent to child, or from master to disciple). When a possessor is on his deathbed he assigns an heir to take over the practice of the guham (power or force) and kalaki (manly prowess or virility). If no inheritor is appointed or available, the possessor must then tear the orasyon into small pieces and devour it in a serving of samporado, a rice porridge mixed with chocolate milk and sugar. It was only then that the anito or engkanto would be set free.

Orasyones have been preserved by tattooing them on the possessor's body or weapon in ancient Filipino Baybayin script, Latin, Sanskrit, Jawi, or any combination thereof. Cato notes: "The Moros did, at times, add talismanic symbols and phrases from the Qur'an, written in Jawi script, to the surfaces of their krises. To confuse their meaning if the wrong person attempted to translate these prayers (and hence use them for his own gains) abbreviations were often used for many of the words. While this method of preservation prevented the wrong person form using one's orasyon, it was not uncommon for the rightful heir to not understand the various dialects in which the prayer was encoded, thus being unable to interpret its meaning and invoke its power.

According to folk beliefs the mandirigma also engaging in specific acts in an effort to counteract orasyones his enemy might possess. For example, prior to facing an opponent who is believed to possess an orasyon that makes him impervious to being cut, the warrior would rub his sword with boiled rice to render his opponent's orasyon useless.


SOURCE:

Filipino Martial Culture
Mark V. Wiley
Pages 74-75
Copyright 1996
Tuttle Publishing



NOTE:  I apologize in advance for any transcription errors.


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