artwork by Matt Peppler
Apr 16, 2014
Apr 11, 2014
Apr 10, 2014
Samurai flowers
During the Muromachi period (1338-1573), Samurai culture created the idea of artist-warrior. Samurai training began to include the ritualized tea ceremony and flower arranging to add refinement and balance to the warrior persona. (from trueswords.com)
Photos from Natori Ryu's Facebook page
Apr 9, 2014
‘Karate Kid 2,’ starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, moving forward with new director: report
(by Ethan Sacks nydailynews.com 4-8-14)
Sony Pictures is moving forward on “Karate Kid 2,” a sequel to the surprise 2010 box office hit, with Breck Eisner in the director’s chair, Deadline.com first reported.
Chan and Smith, who will reprise their roles from the “Karate Kid” remake of the 1984 cult classic, provided the muscle in the 2010 version that earned $343 million worldwide at the box office.
A sequel had been announced immediately after the last installment’s $56 million opening weekend — but news of any progress had been sparse ever since.
Eisner, the director behind the “The Crazies” remake, takes over behind the camera for Harold Zwart.
Sony Pictures is moving forward on “Karate Kid 2,” a sequel to the surprise 2010 box office hit, with Breck Eisner in the director’s chair, Deadline.com first reported.
Chan and Smith, who will reprise their roles from the “Karate Kid” remake of the 1984 cult classic, provided the muscle in the 2010 version that earned $343 million worldwide at the box office.
A sequel had been announced immediately after the last installment’s $56 million opening weekend — but news of any progress had been sparse ever since.
Eisner, the director behind the “The Crazies” remake, takes over behind the camera for Harold Zwart.
Apr 6, 2014
Great looking gi
Great looking gi!
I like the black pant, white top combination along with the orange belt to add a splash of color. And the belt is nicely tied and even, notice both ends are equal length, one doesn't hang lower that the other.
I like the design of the patch and that there is only one, not multiple patches everywhere.
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6 Year old uses smarts to foil kidnapping outside own home
(by Mel Baily nbcnews.com 4-5-14)
A 6-year-old Washington state girl is safe thanks to her street smarts — and her mother's sound advice — when two men tried to kidnap her in broad daylight from her own neighborhood.
Savanna Norman of Parkland, south of Tacoma, used the skills her mother taught her when a pair of men tried to grab her Wednesday afternoon as she crossed the street in front of her home.
"I looked both ways, and there was no one coming but … then I went halfway across the street, two guys came out of nowhere," Savanna told KOMO-TV, which first reported the attempted abduction.
“They grabbed me.”
“They grabbed me.”
Savanna said she screamed, ran, kicked and punched — just as her mother instructed for such a scary situation.
Mom Amy Norman said she saw the attempted kidnapping from her front window, and dashed out the door to help her daughter.
Norman was shaken up by the incident but remains proud of her girl. “I’m bearing with it as normal, but it was very scary for all of us,” she told KOMO-TV.
Police ended up catching the suspect, local resident Jakeel Rashon Mason. He was booked into the Pierce County Jail for investigation of unlawful imprisonment, and is being held on $150,000 bail.
His first hearing is scheduled for May 8.
Apr 5, 2014
Lyoto Machida
www.lyotomachinda.net
Lyoto Carvalho Machida (born May 30, 1978 in Salvador, Brazil) is a Japanese-Brazilian professional mixed martial arts fighter. Son of a Japanese-Brazilian Shotokan karate master Yoshizo Machida, Lyoto is considered by many to be a superstar of the UFC. In 2009 he won the UFC light heavyweight title by defeating Rashad Evens in near perfect fashion. He is the 1st UFC fighter to win a title with a perfect record (16-0). Leading up to his title he secured victories over talented opponents such as Tito Ortiz, Rich Franklin, B.J. Penn, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Stephan Bonnar, Thiago Silva, and Sam Hogar. Machida is noted for his semi-orthodox fighting style, known as Machida Karate. As a karate practitioner, Machida uses an unorthodox (or southpaw) stance.
Machida currently fights out of the Machida Dojo in Belem, Brazil. He trains with such fighters as UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva, former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Comments on Lyoto Machida:
“I didn’t see the kick at all. He a lot of times starts a left kick and then follows with a straight punch, and I’d seen that combination a lot in training. I’d never seen him do that particular set-up starting with a left kick and finishing with a right kick anywhere in any of his films, so it was a different deal.” – Randy Couture
“My trainers are in there and told me I won the fight. But when I was in the fight, I just had a one-track mind to knock him out. In the third round, he came at me so much, I forget what happened in the first two rounds. … It’s one of those things where at the time I thought I was getting my ass whooped because I was just on the ground taking a flurry to my face.” – Rampage Jackson
Elusive? You know what weren’t elusive? His feet. You know what else weren’t elusive? His fists. Somebody should have clarified that for me before the fight. If he was elusive tonight I don’t want to face the man when he decides to stop being elusive. Rashad Evans
“He’s very elusive and it was tough to chase him down, he’s a great fighter.” - Tito Ortiz
