World Titles Being Passed Around?

Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t posted on the rash of World Titles that have recently changed hands in the UFC. That’s one of the things I love about MMA. Nobody has a title “locked in” for very long like some boxing divisions that cause the fighters to change weight just to get a fight and a decent paycheck. They are that good!

In the world of the UFC and other lesser followed MMA venues, this is not as common, as some new gunslingers show up regularly to challenge for the various crowns “up for grabs.” These are no “fluke” fights either since these new fighters possess formidable skills in both striking and ground/submission work. I love it!

Well, Ken Shamrock won’t be spending as much time sneering at the camera lens since Tito Ortiz finally put their personal business to an end recently. It almost seemed scripted to allow Ken to take just a “little bit more of a beating” than in their last “early stoppage” fiasco. Tito commenced to taking up where he left off – administering further punishment to Ken Shamrock, with the referee allowing just a few more hard blows (than last time) by Ortiz, before again stepping in and ending the carnage early – a good stoppage.

Ken apparently apologized?? to Tito, but he obviously whispered the right things to Ortiz who then held up Ken’s arm in the air himself! Then Ken did a switch and was holding up Tito’s arm as they marched around the Octagon. A more perfect scripting of “passing the torch” has never been seen. It was a bittersweet moment for some of us UFC old timer fans.

Matt Hughes was “jacked up” by GSP in short order, who had always claimed that his loss to Hughes was a fluke submission and that he “owned” (my quotes) Matt Hughes and would prove it. Well this young Canadian fighter wasn’t kidding and threw Matt a pretty sound beating. Matt still looked confused as he was leaving the ring, a testimony to the explosive power that St. Pierre displayed while TKO’ing Hughes, thought to be unbeatable at his weight.

Tito Ortiz also tried to lift the light-heavyweight crown from Chuck Liddell, but Liddell administered plenty of “tough love” to Tito and after a decent 2nd round, Ortiz again found himself at the end of Chuck’s sledgehammer ground and pound style, and was TKO’ed in the 3rd round. Sorry Tito, I like you, but you needed a little more time before taking on Chuck again and now who knows if we’ll ever see them in the ring again. Chuck has nothing to gain – but it’s up to the customers – so we’ll see.

Rich Franklin was destroyed by Anderson Silva in the first round, displaying awesome striking abilities. Another crown changes hands. Well that leaves Tim Sylvia who after many lackluster wins, will finally be fighting not only a legend, but one of the other “World’s Most Dangerous Men” in taking on Randy Couture. Randy has come out of retirement for a shot at the “Maine-iac”. I think he has a better than even chance of knocking out Sylvia, who hasn’t fared well against several lesser opponents. I believe that he will stop Tim Sylvia. We’ll see? Keep your eye on the UFC it’s jam-packed with action and no end in sight!

Where Have We Heard That Before?

I was talking to a pal about some problems I had run into while troubleshooting my father’s new anti-virus software. It just wouldn’t play nice with his current OS and previously installed software/hardware. I told him I had spent about 15 hrs. over the past few days trying to get the PC to turn off without hanging up at shut down. I read hours of forum posts and MSN KB Articles but in my gut I always felt it was the antivirus program that he bought. After finally uninstalling it and gutting every remnant of the program, I installed a popular, free antivirus program on his system and beside being much smaller in required space, it installed smoothly, automatically installed updates and scanned his PC. Went through the standard Windows shutdown procedure and it was off in a matter of seconds. I then wrote customer service and had the company refund his money as per their money back guarantee. I had been fixing his OSystem when there was nothing to be fixed, it was the new AV program all along. All is well again!

My friend listened patiently and said “you forgot the old rule of thumb – when something’s suddenly gone awry, go back to the last thing you did!” Ah yes, my insightful buddy – hindsight is always 20 / 20.

So where am I heading with this? You must have guessed if you read the title and got this far! Ok, last night I wanted to do about a 45 minute karate workout. Just enough to get the old heart rate up and loosen up the joints a bit. Not a hard workout but a very basic workout with the focus being on – well – perfection in performing basic skills, like some favorite hand strikes, blocks and kicks and then combining them in sequences that flowed with power, speed, and exerting explosive force.

Tall order? No, not really at all. I just performed an abbreviated “basics class” as so many that I’ve taught over the years to white belt through green belt range students. I didn’t even “crank up” the juice at all so that I could really think about what I was doing. After awhile – well years actually, your body talks to you and tells you when your thumb isn’t tucked in place (I’ve had mine smashed more than a couple of times over the years for letting it hang out and getting caught on a garment or while deflecting an incoming blow), or my leg will nag me that it isn’t locked out when stepping into a forward stance. I recommend this to all martial arts practitioners as an occasional training tool. After warming up and stretching out for a few minutes, you’ll be ready to begin. Just drop into a nice horse stance and start throwing firm, but measured techniques, not too hard or too fast but at just the right speed for the mistakes to really show up. And they will – you’ll be going slow enough to look at your stance and correct it while doing the same thing with the mechanics of your blocks and hand strikes. Get rid of the old “shortcuts” and make sure that every portion of the technique shows up as you practice it.

Moving through several blocks and strikes – work your other stances like 2nd and 3rd horse stances, cat stances, while watching your foot placements and other body mechanics with an eye toward posture and using your “core” or “center” to deliver extreme power behind your techniques. This is readily noticed when the trunk is coiled. When it uncoils it should be “doing something” like defending or attacking and completely “uncoil” as impact is made. Many martial artists “muscle” or “push” their strikes. With proper understanding of your body mechanics you can effortlessly throw blocks, punches and kicks with exponential force – the better you get at understanding your basics.

There’s a couple of old sayings in the martial arts “if a man masters just a few basic techniques, he will be unbeatable” and another “in a real fight one will always fall back on the basics”. So let’s stop working on frivolous stuff and concentrate on the obvious problems (me and the PC episode above) and get busy – let’s practice our basics!

Alarms Reduce Incidence of Burglaries

We all want to feel safe within our own homes right? It’s always a great idea to have your home, condo, apartment or room secured by some type of alarm. Please remember that an alarm is only as good as the operator – so remember to have everything locked up when you leave, but also have your alarms armed and ready to go.

We have some excellent, low cost alarms available and patterned toward different needs and areas that are to be protected. You don’t need to have a lot of money to purchase some first rate gear. Hook yourself up with some good alarms that target areas of weakness in your dwelling and also cover areas of higher traffic within it. We sell infrared home alarms for maximum coverage, window alarms and door alarms to specifically target these points of intrusion.

Also, look at alarms like the Mini Alert Room alarm and electronic watch dog that barks loudly and exactly like a German Sheppard, plus it increases in intensity as a person approaches – plus it’s sensor sees through walls! Don’t forget to use door braces which are lightweight steel, fit any door, and can be set in place in seconds. Someone would have to kick the door off at the hinges to open a door secured with a good adjustable door brace. Pretty cool stuff and it’s not going to set you back an arm and leg to secure your doors, windows, room or apartment. You can secure two sliding doors, six windows, and the main living space of a condo or apartment for about $110 – solid! If you don’t believe it than give me a shout and let me know what you need to protect with an alarm and I’ll steer you right to the best and least expensive option – and it will work!

You can spend a fortune on home security but it’s worthless if it’s not used correctly – which sadly is the case with many overly sophisticated systems. People eventually will forget how to use them properly – or abandon them altogether, leaving them unprotected after a large outlay of cash for the system. Some folks don’t have several thousand to spend on securing a few areas, that’s where less expensive gear shines – if you have it and use it properly, the alarms will trigger and you’ll have one want-to-be burglar high tailing it down the street. It’s not how much you spend but how well you use what you have available that will carry the day. That sentence sounds strangely familiar…??

Dog Bites – A Serious Consideration

Evidence shows that there’s an epidemic of dog bites in the US and around the world. In the US alone, there’s almost 5,000,000 dog bite victims a year, roughly 2% of the entire population. Of these, about 800K victims needed to seek out medical attention. About 1,000 dog bite victims per day, need treatment in hospital emergency rooms. Of these victims, between 15 to 28 die every year. Of the victims who get medical attention, most are children and half of them are bitten in the face. Monetary losses resulting from dog bites are over $1 billion a year, with about 1/3 being paid by insurance. (Hmmm…who’s paying for the other $670 million?)

Our self defense store offers some safe and humane animal repellents that can be counted on to boost the odds in your favor if you’re ever attacked by dogs – even your odd black or grizzly bear!

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) published a study concerning deaths from canine attacks. Although often cited, the CDC report cautioned that the accuracy of the data “requires complete ascertainment of deaths and an accurate determination of the breed involved, and the denominator requires reliable breed-specific population data (i.e., number of deaths involving a given breed divided by number of dogs of that breed). In other words – we don’t know what the CDC said and I read it three times myself…lmao!

A follow-up to the study published in 2000 by Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association suggested that “generic non–breed-specific, dangerous dog laws can be enacted that place primary responsibility for a dog’s behavior on the owner, regardless of the dog’s breed. In particular, targeting chronically irresponsible dog owners may be effective.” While I agree that targeting “chronically irresponsible dog owners” and putting the onus on them for the result of damage their dog has inflicted on a victim, it is hard to design a “catch-all” law to handle the problem. Courts would need trustworthy guidelines regarding how many bites does “Peppy” get before the owner has to buy the neighbor a new pantleg. Or, how do you demonstrate irrevocably that a pet owner is “chronically irresponsible” when his neighbor is some anal retentive who hates the owners’ dog and calls the Sherriff anytime he spots the neighbors’ kids out playing with “Spike” who hates him back, but has never bitten him. Cops have a lot to do as it is now. Legislation as wide-sweeping as JAVMA suggests is probably going to be a long time coming.

Insurance Trouble?

Many homeowner’s insurance companies in the United States are reluctant to insure owners of dogs that are considered to be a dangerous breed, like Allstate, which will not insure homes with Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, Boxers, Akitas, Dobermans, Chow Chows, or Wolf hybrid dogs. The Pit Bull Terrier and Rottweiler in particular are usually considered to contribute the most to the serious injuries caused by dog attacks and are the most common breeds that insurance companies will refuse to insure.

Comparison of Dog Attack vs. Shark Attack Fatalities in the U.S.

2001 Dog Attacks = 23………Shark Attacks = 3

2002 Dog Attacks = 15………Shark Attacks = 0

2003 Dog Attacks = 25………Shark Attacks = 1

2004 Dog Attacks = 22………Shark Attacks = 2

2005 Dog Attacks = 28………Shark Attacks = 4

Do the math! – fatal dog attacks = 113 – fatal shark attacks = 10

Dog attack statistics: National Canine Research Foundation.

Shark attack data: International Shark Attack File.

Maybe the next time we watch Animal Planet or some other show, we can appreciate that having pet sharks might make safer and scarier guardians or are just plain cooler than dogs. Man’s best friend eh – yeah right??

Don’t Freeze in a Street Attack

For those armchair streetfighters who elbow up to the local tavern after work to rinse down the day’s travails with a few cold beers – here’s some advice. I know you guys, I worked for a large UAW Corporation for about 18 1/2 years. I have watched and listened to your railings about how bad you are, how you did this or did that, to the poor unfortunates that find themselves in your crosshairs.

This usually is a 16 hr a day monologue involving family, friends, work associates and any sort of person except those who’s weakness (a quadriplegic for example) would deter from your reputation of being a tough man. After work the noise gets louder as the barley and hops lubricate the jaw and entice the mind. I want to assure you that being physically large, able to talk louder and faster than others and being a phony tough guy doesn’t begin to cut it around real tough guys.

We sell a lot of self defense products like telescopic steel batons to people you’ve scared the heck out of and don’t even recall. It’s a wise man who is “slow to speak and quick to hear”…you’ll get it..just read it several times. One of these days you may get broadsided by a long forgotten target of your ridicule. Sound crazy? Not, I have seen it too many times (in person) to pull your leg about it.

If you don’t train to fight or at least play a sport like basketball (can be very brutal) or football etc. you may find the explosiveness of a really determined opponent, a terrifying and overwhelming reality, which you may have forgotten over the many years since the playground, where it was “put up or shut up”. A gift card of mayhem from a long forgotten target of yours. I only mentioned contact sportsmen since they may be able to take a few square punches or a full power shot with a baton before they hit the ground. If you’re a bully of the couch potato strain and have no physical skills whatsoever beside casting a fishing rod, you will probably wake up looking at your friends and trying to understand what happened in the blinding meteor shower you saw after you got sucker punched from the side w/o warning.

The best way a man can carry himself is in a humble manner. If a man is a bully, proud and arrogant, he’ll usually be brought “down to size” in time, in a most undignified manner. It’s a long fall from the top of the heap and always a long walk through the corridors of work, after everyone there either saw or heard about your beating, administered by some long forgotten adversary. Most really tough guys don’t talk serious trash. For those who do – you’d better be prepared for the eventuality of a Pearl Harbor payback – up close and personal!